A revised version of the Processor Unit allowed for HDR passthrough, which was a feature added to all PS4s via firmware. The DualShock 4 marked the first time the PlayStation controller was given a significant aesthetic redesign. The new Share Button, which let you take screenshots and record video, replaced the Select Button, Fortunately, almost all games moved the Select Button function to pressing down on the new touchpad. Vita Game Packs could also be used on the PlayStation TV, which meant it wasn’t a digital-only platform like the PSP Go was.
No Escape! Special Bot Location
Go past the PlayStation face button symbols in the sand, and punch the shell tucked away under the pipe towards the end. To solve the riddle, jump up to the circular platforms above this area, where on the far side, you’ll see a little clock on the column. The gameplay features minimal cartoonish violence across each stage. For PlayStation die-hards, a run through Astro’s Playroom will be true bliss.
Jump and hold over top of it to ignite it, and when it explodes it reveals this puzzle piece underneath. Puzzle Piece 3/4– At the next checkpoint there are some spots you can bounce on to climb up the platforms. Instead of going up, bounce to the opposite side to find this puzzle piece underneath the platform. Puzzle Piece 2/4 – Just after the next checkpoint, there are a bunch of explosive enemies on the ground you can light using your ship thrusters. When they explode they destroy the ground, revealing an area with this puzzle piece. Puzzle Piece 1/4 – Directly to the left of the first checkpoint there is a hole you can drop down with a bunch of coins and this puzzle piece in the middle.
Astro’s Playroom Studio Is Expanding For Its Biggest Game Yet
Running at a smooth 4K 60fps, Astro’s world may not be massive and require huge draw distances or populate the screen with hundreds of enemies, but it’s certainly pretty. Natural environments come together with PS5 internal parts and other pieces of hardware in a beautiful blend of the environmental with the technological. A grassy plain looks beautiful in 4K, only for the plants to be topped with PlayStation face button symbols rather than flowers.
When this partnership fell through, Kutaragi persevered and developed it into a standalone console, resulting in the original PlayStation. Right next to the PS + easter egg are two Bots next to eight blue shopping bags. The shopping bag is the icon of the PlayStation Store that launched in 2006, allowing PlayStation Network members to buy digital goods such as games, add-on content, console themes and even game soundtracks.
In the game, the player teams up with Captain Astro and goes on a quest to rescue his lost crew scattered across different worlds. The closest parallel to Astro’s Playroom that I can think of is Wii Sports. Both are games that were explicitly designed to showcase a new controller. But both also transcend that goal, shifting from tech demo to straight-up fun game. It takes only a few moments for Astro’s Playroom to show why you’ll want to play with a DualSense, and over the course of its run time it keeps giving you new reasons. In ASTRO’S PLAYROOM, players guide Astro through a series of lands, all of which tout the selling points of the PlayStation 5, including its SSD hard drive and new processor.
If you want curated lists of our favorite media, check out What to Play and What to Watch. I can’t say I had very high expectations for Astro’s Playroom, a game that comes free with every PlayStation 5 console. I figured it might be a cute series of minigames, akin to the robot-themed minigames in the PlayStation 4’s pack-in title, The Playroom. That PS4 game was the sort of thing you boot up once, mess around with for 30 minutes, and then forget it exists. It’s a phenomenal thing, taken even further with adaptive triggers that provide meaningful, forceful feedback.
This references Ridge Racer, released on the PS1 in 1994 and developed by Namco. The car being driven is the one of the game’s boxart, the F/A Fiera, also known as the Kamata Fiera. After defeating the stone dragon boss and reaching the start of Mt. Motherboard, look to the left to spot two fighters, one victorious over the other. The scene depicts the canon ending of the game, where Kazuya Mishima is victorious over his father Heihachi. About halfway into the level you’ll cross over a DualShock Cable that is then blown by a fan.
With rotating platforms, ones that disappear shortly after stepping on them, and lightning platforms that can take out Astro in one hit. That is basically it, a game that even small kids (6y) can play and enjoy. It also uses the capabilities of the controller in creative ways that hopefully all games capture in the future for a better experience. As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators.
Astro’s Playroom is as old as the PlayStation 5, and this is most likely the first game new owners booted up. Despite being a brief experience, this is the kind of game that can be played with family members and is worth playing in 2025. Sony Interactive Entertainment finally nailed the platforming genre, and it only took a cute little robot to give them the courage to innovate. Yet G28 for the Labo area is a Bot throwing a blue boomerang around. The shape is a reference to the infamous “Boomerang” prototype controller, an unofficial name for the controller that was shown alongside the PlayStation 3 when it debuted.