Sony State of Play is a semi-regular digital event, which showcases the latest and greatest PlayStation news, updates, reveals and announcements.
Since the showcase began in 2019, Sony has used State of Play to reveal The Last of Us 2 release date, debut gameplay footage for Ghost of Tsushima , and drop new trailers for games including Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Returnal . So it's always worth tuning in to the State of Play live streams if you want to be alerted to any big announcements for PS5 games , PSVR games and PS4 games .
The last State of Play may have only taken place on March 9, but Sony has already announced it will host a special Hogwarts Legacy edition of the event on March 17 - meaning we get not one but two State of Plays in March 2022. The showcase will see us finally getting a look at Hogwarts Legacy gameplay, as well as insight from developers working on the upcoming Harry Potter RPG.
Want to know more? Read on for everything we know so far about the next Sony State of Play event and make sure to check out our guide on how to watch Sony State of Play March 2022 to catch all the action live.
When is the next Sony State of Play?
Sony has confirmed it will host a special edition of State of Play, dedicated to Hogwarts Legacy, on March 17 at 2pm PT / 4pm ET / 9pm GMT (or March 18 at 8am AEDT).
The stream will last around 20 minutes and will be available to watch on Twitch or YouTube .
What can we expect from the next Sony State of Play?
This State of Play will solely focus on Hogwarts Legacy so expect a bunch of juicy details about the upcoming Harry Potter RPG.
We know that the 20-minute showcase will feature over 14 minutes of Hogwarts Legacy PS5 gameplay before concluding with "some insight from a few members of the team at Avalanche Software".
But will the State of Play finally give us a Hogwarts Legacy release date? We certainly hope so. We know that the Harry Potter RPG is still on track to release this year (despite further delay rumors), with rumors pointing to a September release window, and this event seems like the perfect time to nail down a solid date.
With this State of Play dedicated to Hogwarts Legacy, don't expect any news or updates on other upcoming PS5 games, like God of War Ragnarok , or on hardware like PSVR 2 .
What was revealed at the last Sony State of Play?
Sony's last State of Play took place on March 9 and had a special focus on games from Japanese publishers.
The 20-minute stream revealed a bunch of upcoming PS4 and PS5 releases, including Exoprimal , Valkyrie Chronicles , and a co-op expansion for Returnal . It also gave us a pre-launch trailer of Ghostwire: Tokyo , which is due to release on March 25.
Unfortunately, we found the last State of Play to be a bit tepid but hopefully the next showcase will be a bit more captivating.
Missed the action live? We've embedded the showcase video above so you can catch up on everything you missed.
HBO Max joins Netflix in offering viewers a shuffle option – but there's a twist...
HBO Max has added the option of shuffle play on a select number of shows.
Shuffle, which chooses something at random for you to stream, is already an option on Netflix , and has been trialled by both Prime Video and Hulu .
HBO Max launched the option on Tuesday (March 22), but it's only available on the service's desktop interface at the time of writing. Announcing the plan, a spokesperson for the service said: "With an added element of serendipity, selecting the shuffle button lets you kick your feet up and start watching faster."
But, unlike Netflix's shuffle offering, which launched in the middle of 2021, HBO Max's new function has a twist...
What is Shuffle Play?
Much as you would with a lengthy playlist of songs or an artists' back catalog on a streaming service, Shuffle Play offers viewers the chance to be randomly assigned something to watch.
With Netflix, that's a button called 'Play Something', which picks a TV show or movie based on what the streaming giant's algorithms think you'll love, or something you've already popped on your watchlist.
HBO Max are now getting in on the act, but their offering is different to Netflix in that it’s limited to 45 shows, at least initially, and the shuffle option will choose a random episode of one of those shows for you.
Why have HBO Max taken this approach?
It's a different aim from Netflix, which wants to turn you to something entirely new. HBO Max's feature, though, knows you like the show already – you just don't want to scroll through multiple seasons to find the episode you want.
The list of shows in the initial 45 are offerings like South Park , Friends , Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Big Bang Theory; shows with 100s of episodes and shows that HBO Max subscribers will watch over and over again.
Likewise, with travel programming like Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown, where each episode finds the sadly departed TV chef in a different city across the world, or cooking shows like Selena + Chef – where Selena Gomez cooks alongside different chefs – you aren't following a narrative. Being taken to a random setting is part of the joy of the show to begin with...
Which HBO Max shows can you shuffle?
The list, thus far, is as follows:
Poco has made the kind of gaming phone I wouldn't be ashamed to use
You might know Pocophone for its budget and mid-range Android phones that tend to have a focus on processing power - and now the company has taken that to its logical extreme with the new Poco F4 GT.
This is the brand's newest handset and it touts some pretty impressive specs like a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, 120W charging and a big 6.67-inch screen. It also continues Poco's tradition of rather boring names.
Beyond those specs, the F4 GT also has a few gaming-specific features like a 120Hz refresh rate, 480Hz touch input rate and, most interestingly, pop-up trigger buttons that you'll be able to map to functions, giving you a slight edge in competitive online games.
That's a feature we've seen on a few gaming phones in the past, and it would make the Poco seem like a new entry in this market niche - the fact that the device launched alongside some headphones themed around Genshin Impact helps with this reading too.
However the Poco F4 GT has that gaming phone feature, without the big issue that plagues lots of gaming phones.
Opinion: a gaming phone I wouldn't be ashamed to use
When I'm testing gaming phones, I find them useful when gaming out and about, but I'm often rather ashamed to be seen with them. Not because there's still a stigma around gaming phones - it's 2022, everyone and their moms game now - but because these phones are pretty ugly.
These phones are often big, bulky, bedecked with LED lights and angular designs - you can see one such example above.
I'll admit, 'gamer aesthetic' isn't something that really matches with my own fashion, and I'm often tentative about pulling out a giant glowing smartphone as a result.
But the Poco F4 GT has a rather understated design (well, the black and gray versions do, the yellow is arguably a little garish). If you pull one out your pocket, people aren't going to think "what is that? " with a judging stare.
Unlike most other gaming phones, I wouldn't be ashamed to use it in public, or put it on a table when I'm at a pub or restaurant - and for that reason, I'm looking forward to testing it... whenever it comes out. We don't have a launch date or price for it yet, so stay tuned for those, as well as a full review.