PlayStation Eyes New Investment For PC Mobile Push

SYDNEY, Sept 29 (Reuters) - For Rhys Wareham, a coffee industry technician from Sydney, the start of COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 did not just mean staying home, but having to stop visiting the pub every afternoon to gamble on poker machines.

Sony is producing a growing number of game adaptations, with this year's "Uncharted" movie grossing more than $400 million globally and a TV series based on "The Last of Us" franchise from its Naughty Dog studio launching on HBO next year.

Australia's gambling industry has been in the spotlight in recent years, with public inquiries lashing its biggest casino operators due to lapses in money laundering protections.
Online gambling has also been the focus of inquiries, but with its increasing prevalence, the government has answered consumer advocates with a pledge to take a deeper look.

After decades of gambling deregulation, governments are cautious about reversing course, given tax revenue and industry lobbying, even amid public concern about a habit that strips voters of A$25 billion per year - or A$1,000 per person, more than double the United States.

"I have no doubt making the BDR compulsory for licensees, giving police more agility and the courts more scope to place problem drinkers on the BDR will lead to a reduction in alcohol-related harm and crime."

Gamblers' loss on poker machines was A$11.4 billion in 2021, shrinking A$1.1 billion or 17% from 2019, the year before lockdowns began, showed data from Monash University's School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine.

Sony, whose studios are known for single player console Pkv games such as "Spider-Man" and "God of War", has outlined ambitious plans to release titles on PC and mobile and offer live service games, which provide continuous updated play.

Hulst, who is based in the Netherlands and took up his post in 2019, has overseen the growth of PlayStation Studios to 19 studios, with additions including Nixxes, which ports console games to PC, and mobile developer Savage Game Studios.

However, the online shopping giant is hiring 4,000 new employees in 2022 in the UK, taking its total workforce to 75,000. It has also established a major hub in the UK for Amazon Web Services, the company's 'internet cloud' operations.
It expects to spend more than £1.8billion building and operating data centres over the next two years.

Britain is spearheading efforts to develop the Tempest programme, which is putting together proposals for a new sixth-generation fighter jet that could be equipped with lasers, be able to fly unmanned and use swarming technology that controls teams of drones. 

Despite the recent market turmoil, businesses in industry from energy to film-making are backing Britain. Keeping corporation tax rates at 19 per cent - as Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has done by scrapping a rise to 25 per cent planned by his predecessor Rishi Sunak - will unleash more than £5billion of additional investment, according to think-tank the Adam Smith Institute. 

SeAH Wind, a division of the South Korean steel manufacturer SeAH, has received approval for a plan to build a £400million factory on Teesside that will make offshore wind turbines, creating 700 jobs. 

As lockdowns made a crime of many forms of socialising, gambling became more attractive among "socially isolated or bored" young men, said Rebecca Jenkinson, executive manager of the Australian Gambling Research Centre.

It's-a here! The first trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie dropped during a Nintendo Direct presentation on Thursday. The trailer had its simultaneous premiere at New York Comic Con, which runs Thursday to Sunday.

Fans were eager to hear Pratt's Mario voice, especially because co-producer Chris Meledandri said he won't use the exaggerated Italian accent made famous by video game voice actor Charles Martinet. We won't ruin it for you. Watch the trailer.

Black also made a surprise in-person appearance at the New York Comic Con panel on Thursday, where he threw a cool spiky shell backpack to a lucky member of the crowd. He recalled playing the original 1981 Donkey Kong at the Mini Mart in Culver City, California, and called Bowser one of the greatest video game villains of all time.

Labour MP Carolyn Harris, who co-chairs a cross-party parliamentary group examining gambling-related harm, added: ‘This appears to be proof that football clubs are exploiting their own fans, some of whom will be gambling addicts, by taking a cut of every penny they lose to greedy bookmakers.'

"If Sony can pull off what they did with single player experiences but (as) multiplayer experiences across platforms, on the PC, on consoles and maybe even on the phone, then all bets are off," said Toto, pointing to the success of online games such as Fortnite from Epic Games.

Aside from Pratt, the all-star cast includes Charlie Day as Luigi, Anya Taylor-Joy as Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong and Keegan-Michael Key as Toad. Martinet will also have a surprise role.