Sony Introduces PlayStation Stars Loyalty Program For Gamers

HONG KONG, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Malaysian group Genting has emerged as a strong contender to unseat an incumbent Macau casino operator for a new license, analysts and executives say, unleashing possibly the biggest shakeup in the world´s largest gambling hub in over two decades.

Lenovo launched the Yoga line 10 years ago with Windows 8 and now, with Windows 11, the flexibility of the design has only gotten better. The company's flagship 14-inch Yoga 9i Gen 7 has an updated look with comfortable, rounded edges and 12th-gen Intel processors that give it a big multicore performance jump. A beautiful OLED display and improved audio make it excellent for work, video conferences and entertainment. Lenovo includes an active pen and a laptop sleeve to complete the premium package. 

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The PlayStation Stars program will launch later this year, though an exact time frame hasn't been provided yet. CNET reached out to PlayStation, but the gaming giant didn't immediately respond for comment.

'Mr Carey is prescribed anti-inflammatories and pain killing medicine to help manage the significant pain caused by debilitating football injuries - including a shoulder that needs replacing and a neck injury that requires three discs to be replaced,' he said upon taking up the Carey case. 

"You should think of collaborations on the game development side first and foremost, but it's also not unthinkable with our PlayStation Productions efforts that we explore opportunities," Hulst said of the FromSoftware investment.

"Macau has been told over and over again to focus less on Chinese VIPs and more on non-gaming but they pretty much paid lip service to that idea. So now... they have to really make a hard divert to that philosophy," Yin said.

Digital collectibles are also on their way to the PS5 via the Stars program. Collectibles could be figurines of iconic characters -- think Solid Snake or Ratchet & Clank -- or they could be representations of famous Sony devices throughout history. 

Sony on Thursday introduced its PlayStation Stars loyalty program for PS5 and PS4 gamers. It'll be free to join, and players will be able to earn loyalty points by completing a variety of campaigns and activities. Players can choose from a catalog of options to redeem points, including PlayStation Network wallet funds and select PlayStation Store products.

It would cause "far too much disruption" if any of the six operators were replaced, said Terry Ng, an analyst at Daiwa in Hong Kong, although other industry watchers note the incumbents have left themselves vulnerable to an operator like Genting which lost out on a Macau licence in 2002.

Campaigns will include PlayStation's "Monthly Check-In" campaign, where you can earn points just for playing any game on your console. Other activities will require you to win tournaments or unlock trophies to earn points -- or even be the first player in your local time zone to make it to platinum for a blockbuster title (which indicates that a player has achieved 100% completion in that game).

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

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.
If one of the incumbents lost their license it's likely to send tremors throughout Macau´s gambling industry as the companies have collectively invested more than $50 billion in the past two decades, are tied closely to the economic fortunes of the former Portuguese colony and employ tens of thousands of people.

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Although this Microsoft Surface laptop is not the , the Surface Pro continues to hit all the right notes if you're looking for a do-it-all Windows tablet that doubles as a Windows laptop. Microsoft recently overhauled it for the , which has a larger 13-inch display, 11th-gen Intel Core processors and two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports. The Surface Pro 7 is still around for the time being at a discount, and an updated version called the Surface Pro 7 Plus will stay in the lineup, so you'll still be able to get the classic Pro design but with new processors.