The Weekly Round-Up

TALKING POINT: PLAYSTATION 4 LAUNCHES

The PlayStation 4 has launched across Europe this week, just a week after Xbox One arrived on these shores. Sony's UK boss has confirmed that "demand for PS4 is phenomenal", while Andrew House has expressed his surprise by the reaction to Microsoft's now infamous 180. Sony UK also thinks the PS4 lifecycle could be shorter than that of PS3.

With the PlayStation 4 out in the wild, we've offered up our hands-on verdict of the console, which will be particularly helpful if you're still undecided which way to go this generation. To help you as you're making some key decisions this weekend, we've collected all the PS4 launch reviews into one convenient article. We also got fresh screens of Infamous: Second Son for your viewing pleasure. And linking us nicely to the next section is the report that suggests the Xbox One costs $90 more than PS4 to make.

TALKING POINT: DEFECTIVE BLU-RAY

Faulty Xbox One Blu-ray drives were being reported by gamers all over the world (although it was confirmed that those who were waiting for a replacement console would get a free game to keep them busy), and closer to home there was some TV issues in Europe. It was negative news that came at the same time as confirmation that Xbox One had stormed the British charts. The next-gen console also sold more than twice what the Xbox 360 did at launch (and has already nearly matched the Wii U's lifetime sales in the UK).

In other Xbox related news, the player with highest Gamerscore in the world has been rewarded with a solid gold Xbox Live Gold lifetime membership card, and there's a DIY solution to Xbox One's headset problems.

TALKING POINT: HAPPY BIRTHDAY WII U

With all the talk of Xbox One and PlayStation 4, it was easy to forget that this week marked the first birthday of Wii U. It's been a tricky year for the console, with low sales and poor third party support. We talk a look at the fortunes of the console over the last twelve months, and look at what the future might hold for it in Wii U - One Year On. It's not all doom and gloom, for the console and for those who've already bought one: for a birthday present, we can think of nothing better than Super Mario 3D World, which was released this week. Might that be the turning of the tide and the killer app the console has long needed?

THIS WEEK ON GRTV

We talk to producer Ryo Mito about the PS3 exclusive fighting game Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers.

We've got a BlizzCon 2013 Special for fans of all things Blizzard.

Snow could be heading to PS4 next year according to the game director.

We've livestreamed Batman: Arkham Origins and Lego Marvel Super Heroes, and there's two hours of Super Mario 3D World.

We also played lots of PS4 games, and prepared for this launch of Sony's console by revisiting PlayStation 3 launch titles.

OTHER HEADLINES

GTAV audio files point to potential new content.

Is an open world Star Wars game in development?

Remedy has been talking about Quantum Break & Alan Wake 2.

Industry legend John Carmack has left his position at id Software.

Ashes Cricket 2013 was cancelled after some scathing fan feedback.

Activision are looking for ways to bring back Crash.

Lego The Hobbit was confirmed by TT Games.

Crowd funding behemoth Star Citizen has passed $30 million.

Call of Duty: Ghosts claims next-gen leadership.

There's more details and screens of the first non-Valve Steam Machine.

We've also got a healthy selection of reviews on the site this week, from the sublime to the terrible (the games, not the reviews). We give our scores to Lococycle, Knack, Contrast, World of Warplanes, Xcom: Enemy Within, Resogun and Need for Speed: Rivals.

AND FINALLY...

Interesting developments this week for movie fans. First there's the news that the Warcraft movie got pushed back to early 2016 (word on the street is so it can avoid the new Star Wars movie, which is due to arrive at the same time as the original 2015 release date). Much more interesting is the news that Sony Pictures has registered domain names for a possible The Last of Us movie. Sure it's ripe for an adaptation, but given Hollywood's treatment of gaming over the years, might this one be best left alone?