This console generation has proven to be quite… Unique, hasn’t it? Typically, console cycles go through the same motions – all of the big console manufacturers release a system roughly around the same exact time (like, say, the PlayStation 1 and Nintendo 64), the consoles are around for a bit and receive a nice library of games, and a few years later they receive the next generation (in this case the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube), which has completely new features and an entirely new library of games – you can’t play PS2 games on a PS1, or N64 games on a GameCube. However, with this latest console generation, starting in late 2012 with the release of the Wii U and really kicking into gear a year later when the PS4 and Xbox One saw the light of day, was completely different from all of the others before it. Technology advances at a break-neck pace, and less than four years later, highly advanced gaming PCs have already left the consoles in the dust. But it’s too early to discard the console generation and introduce the PS5 and the Xbox Two, right? People who bought those systems three years ago would be royally pissed! So, what do you do?

Well, Nintendo, as always, have taken the rather inelegant option of simply scrapping the Wii U and releasing a new console, the Switch – which, despite a lackluster launch, seems to be doing well, in no small part because it launched alongside one of the best Zelda games ever made. Sony and Microsoft, on the other hand, have taken a different solution – releasing what are essentially .5 versions of their platforms with updated hardware meant to help gamers who desired more power obtain it without cutting off the early adopters, who’d still get to play every game that comes out until the next true generation is released. Sony’s mid-tier console, the PS4 Pro, released last year and offered a smoother experience during VR, the ability to stream 4K video from sites like Netflix and the option to artificially upscale the resolution of certain games to 4K or increase their framerate, alongside many improvements across even games that didn’t officially support the new hardware. It was… Kind of underwhelming, to be perfectly honest, and I’m saying this as someone who typically prefers PlayStation over Xbox. The games didn’t run in native 4K, the improvements weren’t drastic enough and there was no 4K Blu-Ray drive, so you were only limited to streaming in 4K (which isn’t going to become mainstream for a really long time, while 4K Blu-Rays are consistently released as we speak).

As the PS4 Pro came and went, all eyes were on Microsoft’s successor. Now, it’s very important to note that Microsoft already released one upgrade to the Xbox One called the Xbox One S (which, unlike the PS4 Slim, which released around the same time, wasn’t just smaller, but also had actual hardware improvements), so Project Scorpio would be their third major system this generation. One would be excused in wondering just why they’d ever bother… But a look at the specs should be enough to put any doubts to rest. Keep in mind, those technical specs are official, released and confirmed by Microsoft, so we are absolutely getting this when the Scorpio launches. Needless to say, this system’s going to be a beast. With 12GB dedicated RAM and an 8-core processor clocked at 2.3GHz, it’s going to be more than capable of running 4K games natively. True, the framerate is rarely, if ever going to exceed 30 fps, but games should look far better than they do on the PS4, if the technology is fully supported and integrated. Microsoft promised to deliver us the most advanced console ever, and I’ll be damned if they didn’t do just that… But of course, specs like that carry a pretty hefty pricetag. My own prognosis? Project Scorpio will get a new name at E3 in June and will be announced for release in October or November 2017, at the price of $699. Of course, Microsoft would be wise to not announce the price at E3, or else they risk repeating Sony’s mistake from 2008.

It’s time, ladies and gentlemen! VR technology is finally here! With the release of the PlayStation VR in just a few short days, all three major headsets, as well as numerous cheaper ones (like the Samsung Gear) are already out on the market. That’s exciting news for those of us who have been waiting for all headsets to hit store shelves and be reviewed by the pros before making an informed decision on which one to buy, but it also means that we’ll finally be able to get a good estimate of the install base of VR users. If, by this time next year, more than a million people worldwide own a Vive or a Rift, then perhaps that means the time is ripe for VR casino games to finally be placed in development. Obviously, these games will be a lot more expensive to develop than your average slot, requiring fully 3D backgrounds rendered in high definition in order to, well, recreate the feeling of virtual reality. There’s little point of VR if the simulation doesn’t look anything like reality, right? With that said, most casinos probably wouldn’t be able to afford to create successful builds of all types of games. That means it’s up to us to decide which games are worth being given the VR treatment and which are better left in the 2D world!

Blackjack is a great first candidate, mostly because it’s one of the most popular online casino games (that isn’t slots) ever. Hundreds of people play online blackjack on the top rated blackjack sites every day, including me – there’s nothing quite like the feeling of sitting down and playing a game that’s equal parts chance and mathematical skill as opposed to just pure luck like most other casino games. Sure, even though in an online environment you can’t really count cards, which drastically reduces the odds of winnings when compared to physical locations, blackjack is still one of the games that provides the best chance of winning consistently, as long as you know how to play and aren’t just hitting whenever you feel like it. With that said, though, unfortunately, I don’t think that it would be a right fit for VR. Think about it – VR is all about spectacle. It’s about recreating environments in virtual reality that you can’t have in real reality. Most of us don’t have access to things like physical slots and roulette tables in our daily lives, but with VR we can use them whenever we want. On the other hand, what do you really need to play blackjack? A table and a deck of cards. Anyone has that. Recreating it in VR would be a waste.

However, you know what I think wouldn’t be a waste? Making a blackjack game for Google Glass, or another Augmented Reality (AR) glasses set. While virtual reality focuses on recreating the entire surroundings from scratch, augmented reality only seeks to alter it in some interactive way, such as, for example, by allowing you to play blackjack right on the surface of your very own desk! And sure, the Glass itself is pretty much dead at this point, but who knows, it’s entirely possible that other competitors (like Microsoft’s HoloLens) might step up and deliver that augmented reality blackjack experience we all deserve!

Last night (UK time, at least), Sony held a press conference in order to announce their newest hardware, namely – the PS4 Slim and the PS4 Neo. Of course, they hadn’t announced any of that beforehand, but pretty much anyone with half a brain cell could figure it out solely based on what has been happening in the last few months. I mean, there have been rumors about a new version of the PS4 that would be able to output in 4K Ultra HD resolution as early as March of this year, with Kotaku reporting that this new piece of hardware will have an upgraded GPU in order to increase graphical fidelity for PSVR titles (and you should be more than familiar with PSVR, as I’ve talked about it more than once on this blog before). A few months later, rumors about a different version of the PS4 – nicknamed the PS4 Slim – began emerging, with one of the units even showing up for auction. In the days leading up to last night’s conference, several reviewers managed to get their hands on fully functioning PS4 Slim units, doing their best to review them and even open them up. That made the conference a bit awkward, because Sony pretty much had nothing new to announce other than to reveal the new name of the 4K capable PS4, which will now be named the PS4 Pro. Hooray.

As expected, the console will be able to stream 4K video from Netflix, and will also output certain games in 4K resolution. The bad part is that not ALL games will be upscaled – developers will need to specifically make their games compatible with the new model, so it’s a fair guess that only future triple A releases will be this lucky. So far we’ve got confirmation that Ubisoft’s “For Honor” and “Watch_Dogs 2”, as well as Activision’s “Call of Duty: Black Ops III” and “Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare” will support PS4 Pro, which means that we can probably expect games from those publishers to look phenomenal on 4K TVs. All first-party PS4 games, such as “Horizon: Zero Dawn” and Insomniac’s “Spider-Man” title will also be supported, but that goes without saying. The nicest (and only) surprise of the press conference was that we got the first ever live gameplay footage from “Mass Effect: Andromeda”, which means that there’s a very good chance EA might join in on the 4K game.

The PS4 Slim will cost $299 and the PS4 Pro will cost $399, and they’ll both be out this November. But what does that mean for you? Should you be buying either of them? Well… As it stands, neither is a “must buy at launch”, but they are pretty good deals under certain conditions. If you still don’t have a PS4 and are looking for a relatively cheap way to get one, then the Slim is definitely a pretty good idea – it’s small, reliable and will get the job done. After all, the standard PS4 is a pretty damn amazing console in its own right, so a slimmer version can only benefit it. If you have a 4K TV and/or are considering buying PSVR, then a PS4 Pro might be for you. As I mentioned in the beginning of the article, the Pro will greatly increase the graphical fidelity of the VR experience (the conference mentioned the ability to render twice as many pixels), so even if you don’t have a 4K TV, the Pro is a great purchase just for that extra punch in VR (not to mention, the added GPU will undoubtedly have other benefits even on standard HDTVs, such as increased framerate). I personally have pre-ordered the PSVR, and am planning on buying a PS4 Pro and a 4K TV in the near future. I probably won’t get the console at launch, I’ll wait a bit to see the reviews, but for now I’m certainly interested!

You might remember my previous article (please include an internal link to here) where I briefly compared the various VR headsets that will be coming out this year. Suffice to say, with the information that we had back in April, it’s pretty easy to say that you’d have a much easier time if you had to pick a safe online casino than a proper VR headset (not that it’s particularly difficult to find a safe online casino, but come on, you know what I mean). Anyway, my point is that since then we’ve received some new information about Sony’s foray into the world of virtual reality, and thus far, what we’ve seen is actually very, very promising, to the point where it might actually be your best bet of entering the world of virtual reality!

Now, don’t get me wrong – if you’re looking for objective quality and nothing else, the PSVR is definitely not going to be your best bet at all. When it comes to quality, both the Oculus and the Vive are better options than the PSVR, with much higher resolution and providing a much clearer picture. However, there’s also the fact that this high graphical fidelity requires a TON of processing power, with people estimating that you need to spend at least $700-$800 on a gaming PC if you want to use VR on it… And that is if you build it yourself. If you want to buy it pre-made the price will definitely jump by a few hundred, and here we’re talking about a bare minimum. There have been certain claims online that you can build a VR-ready gaming PC for as little as $200-$300, but these claims are mostly anecdotal and, in many cases, just not true.

On the other hand, the PSVR has been designed to work with a PlayStation 4. While the VR headset has been optimized to run best on the as of yet unreleased PS4 Neo (which is expected to ship sometime next year), all VR games that were shown at E3 ran on original PS4 models, and they looked just fine. While the PS4 itself isn’t all that powerful, the PSVR comes with an additional processing unit which does the heavy lifting, boosing the console to the required level of power. According to Amazon, you can buy a brand new PS4 bundle for $350, and a used console for about $250 – which, I personally believe, is very affordable. There’s also the price of the unit itself. At $400 for the PSVR alone or $500 for PSVR, the required PS Camera, two motion controllers and a game, this is the cheapest possible way of entering the world of virtual reality, especially when compared to the $600 price tag for Oculus and $800 price tag for Vive.

And then there’s the matter of games. Sony has absolutely committed itself to not repeat the mistakes that it made with its PS Move peripheral where the unit wasn’t supported by any decent games. Currently, there’s over 230 developers working on either PSVR-exclusive games or on implementing VR features within their games. In addition, there’s over 100 games confirmed to be in development for PSVR, half of which will be released at launch when the system is released in October and the other half will be released in 2017. Some look absolutely amazing (like “Robinson”), others I’m very curious about (like the Batman VR game by Rocksteady), and some look like absolute trash (like the “Until Dawn” spin-off, which is an on-rails shooter… Because, you know, that’s what we liked most about “Until Dawn”, the shooting), but in any case, you can’t deny that Sony is very committed to supporting PSVR. Whether that support will continue in the future or if PSVR will go the way of the Vita will depend on how many people purchase the unit, but considering just how quickly pre-orders tend to dry up, I feel like there’s plenty of reasons to be optimistic. So if you’re looking for a very cheap, and yet also very effective way to experience VR, don’t go buying those cheap Google Cardboard knock-offs that hurt your eyes – PSVR just might be the way to go!

Virtual reality is about to officially become The Next Big Thing™, and thus far the reception from those who have tried it for themselves has been overwhelmingly positive. For the five of you who are still unaware of the technology, VR headsets are basically small monitors designed to be worn over your eyes which correspond to the movement of your head. By showing you a highly detailed three-dimensional image, the headset creates the illusion that you’re somewhere else – in a virtual reality. Naturally, everyone and their mother trying their hands at building a VR headset and jump in on the bandwagon. From Sony through Google to Facebook, there’s dozens of these highly expensive pieces of immersive technology, so many that it can get a bit confusing. Huge, detailed guides have been made to help navigate the average consumer through the market, but I’m going to try something a bit smaller and try to give a basic rundown of each major headset in 300 words or so.

Let’s start with the obvious one – PlayStation VR. It’s going to be a very high-quality headset which is also going to be utilizing existing PlayStation technology to keep the cost relatively low (we’re expecting a price point of about $300-$400 as opposed to the $600 of other headsets). It’s definitely going to be one of the best VR headsets out there, but the downside is that it’ll only work with the PlayStation 4 and will require the PS Camera. Now, the PS4 is a very solid console, probably the best of this generation, so it’s definitely worth the investment if you’re a gamer, but if you’re not you’re probably better off going with another headset. I’d personally write Google Cardboard off entirely. While it’s by far the cheapest headset out there, costing only a few dollars, it’s not one designed to be used for more than a few minutes, and is overall little more than a novelty. The Samsung Gear VR is slightly better, but it still requires that you use your phone, and as such you won’t get the optimal high fidelity when it comes to both the screen and the processing power that you’d get from other headsets.

That leaves us with only 2 major options – the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift, which kick-started the entire fad. Now, the Oculus is definitely the best option, as under the leadership of Facebook its creators at Oculus have spared no expense in making it the absolute best it could possibly be. However, that perfection comes at a price – $600 for the headset and $1500 for a computer powerful enough to support it. The Vive is more expensive than the basic Rift unit – at $800, but it also comes with two motion controllers you can use for maximum immersion, and also requires a less powerful (and thus less expensive PC) in order to work properly.

That’s pretty much it, really. While there are more options being developed, such as Valve’s own VR headset, the five I outlined are the most prominent sets that you can purchase starting later this year. Keep in mind that I’m excluding augmented reality headsets and glasses from this list, such as Microsoft’s HoloLens – we’ll save those for another time. I hope this rundown has been useful, and I’ll see you in the virtual reality!

PayPal is by far the world’s most popular e-wallet services, to the point where its name alone has become synonymous with the entire concept of e-wallets in the same way that Windows has become synonymous with computers. But many people I’ve spoken with have no idea what PayPal actually represents, or why it’s used. “Can’t I just use my credit card?” is a common question asked. So when I came upon this infographic, I knew I had to share it with you, guys.

Image Source: http://www.ponlinecasinos.co.uk

In my opinion, that makes things a whole lot more clear than a 500 word article ever could. Bottom line is that, sure, you can just use your credit card, but PayPal is a lot safer, faster and more convenient when it comes to online transactions. I hope that you now have a much better understanding of what PayPal actually is and how it works. Thanks for your attention, and I’ll see you all again with another tech-based article soon enough!

Ever since the popularisation of smartphones, online casinos and software suppliers alike started working on preparing their platforms and games for the small touch-screen devices. Right then and there, it was already clear that this was the future of gambling and the operators that didn’t ignore it are the ones that today are the market leaders. This is exactly how Leo Vegas Casino, for example, quickly found its way among the best online casinos on the market. Though it was launched way later than most of the other popular casinos, it was the first one to truly put the focus on mobile and that’s why now it is considered by many to be the best real-money games operator for mobile, having over 300 mobile-friendly casino games – way more than any other casino on the UK market and in the world in general. But anyways let’s forget about the specifics and focus more on the general fact – what makes gambling on the go so appealing and what are the challenges that the industry faces when it comes to providing solutions for the touch screens.

Advantages of Playing on the Go

I think that most of the advantages that mobile gambling offers are more than obvious but let’s cover them all, just in case. First of all, come on! Who wouldn’t appreciate the option to play their favourite game anytime, anywhere? Especially if the mobile version of the game is good enough, you will get the same experience like playing on a desktop computer if not even better one, because playing on your phone is often even more immersive. Then there’s the fact that sometimes, there are additional bonuses and promotions at the mobile casinos that are not featured in the desktop ones. In rare cases, there are even some games that have only mobile versions. Other than that, most mobile casinos have the same functionalities as the desktop ones – you can check your balance, deposit, withdraw and collect comp points while playing for real money anytime, anywhere.

The Challenges and Disadvantages of Mobile Gambling

Sure enough, mobile gambling doesn’t only offer advantages, but some disadvantages as well. First of all, there’s the obvious issue that the mobile sites don’t feature as many games as the regular ones. This is due to the fact that most desktop casino games are developed using Flash, a technology which is not supported on mobile. Therefore, the software providers have to code the game completely anew, using mobile-friendly languages such as HTML5 and Java. Also, when it comes to native apps, the providers have to develop at least two separate ones – one for iOS and one for Android. Also, most games don’t work on Windows Phones and Blackberries, as the software houses don’t find it necessary to develop game versions for the not that popular devices. Furthermore, at some casinos, not all the payment methods that are accepted on desktop are also accepted on mobile. The good news is that the online operators are well aware of those issues and are working on eliminating them little by little. Hopefully soon enough, mobile gambling will be so advanced that it won’t have anything less than what’s available on desktop.