Gamescom 2013: PlayStation 4 set for launch in November

The PlayStation 4 gets an official release date in North America and Europe, revealed at the end of the Sony conference at Gamescom.

The United States and Canada gamers will receive their pre-ordered launch bundles on November 15th, with Europe and Latin America having their consoles available two weeks later on November 29th.

John Koller, vice president of marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, said on the PlayStation Blog that 33 games will be available on the PS4 by the end of the year.

PS4 truly provides the best place to play. By the end of December, we’ll have 33 titles available for PS4, including NBA 2K14, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Skylanders Swap Force, Need for Speed: Rivals, Battlefield 4, Madden 25, FIFA 14, NBA Live, Killzone: Shadow Fall, #DRIVECLUB, Knack, Assassins Creed IV Black Flag, Watch_Dogs, Just Dance 2014 and Lego Marvel Super Heroes.

Rumors on a PlayStation 3 12GB flash model being released at $199, along with the Vita receiving a price drop to $199, both were confirmed at Gamescom. Yes, thankfully memory cards will receive a "significant" slash in price, but nothing concrete was given.

Plenty of other indie games and various titles were confirmed as PlayStation exclusive today, including console-exclusive Rogue Legacy and a sequel to Hotline: Miami.

[Image credit: Flickr/TheDutchSlayer]

Rumor: PlayStation 4, Xbox One release dates revealed by 'Toys R Us'

It's another edition of potential release dates leaked out for the next-generation consoles, this time from retail giant Toys R Us.

As reported by Den of Geek, TRU has released the dates for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It looks like Sony's console will release a few weeks after Microsoft's in mid-December.

According to the toy store, the Xbox One is due to arrive on shelves on November 29, with the PlayStation 4 following on December 13. Although this certainly shouldn't be taken as gospel (neither Sony or Microsoft have commented on the leak), it's a perfectly plausible release window, especially as the Xbox One's release was already slated for mail-October launch.

Both dates are little later than previous leaks and general beliefs of when both consoles will be released. December 13th definitely sounds late considering that leaves just 11 shopping days until Christmas. Also, as mentioned the release dates seem a little close when compared to other years when two or more consoles released in the same holiday.

I'd take the release dates with a grain of salt, but I could definitely see the Xbox getting an earlier release than PS4.

[Image credit: Flickr/Ian Muttoo]

Rumor: Has PlayStation 4's Release Date Been Revealed?

A picture has been floating around the internet of a poster that could have the potential release date of Sony's new PlayStation console.

The picture contains a PlayStation 4 unit and accessories for a European store called Media Markt. At the bottom of the picture, it details that the system will come out on November 13th, 2013.

Remember that it's a European release date, and that could easily be changed for North America, but it would be around the same timeframe.

IGN's Colin Moriarty was able to get a comment from Sony on the possible release date leak.

Sony on PS4's release date: "No further announcements/comments to make at this time. PlayStation 4 is launching this holiday season."
— Colin Moriarty (@notaxation) June 20, 2013

There's already numerous dates out that could potentially be the console's official release date. Given the history of releases, expect a date within the month of November. It would be hard to see Sony already releasing it four months from now in October or even earlier than that.

[Source photo: Twitter/TheEffectDotNet]