Over the weekend Reddit users started reporting that some PlayStation 4 players were receiving messages that bricked their consoles, forcing a factory reset to return the console to working condition. To avoid facing this fate on your own console and losing your precious PlayStation data, here are some steps to make sure your console and account are secure and protected.

The identity politics of tech are real. We become obsessed with the devices that power our lives, and they can drive us to heated arguments — however preposterous — with anyone who loves a competing product, platform, or service.

If you’re having problems with your PlayStation 4 and need to get it fixed — or need a replacement — you don’t need to lose your game save data. Using cloud backups, you can upload all of your information beforehand, allowing you to quickly download it again and continue playing once you get your system back.

E3 2018 is here, and companies have already announced more games than you can shake a Joy-Con at. But what about consoles? The last few years have seen E3 inundated with either rumours or news about new consoles from the big three. This year's gaming expo has been a touch on the lighter side when it comes to hardware announcements, but still had an interesting reveal or two from the show's biggest players. Depending on your console of choice, that might be a good thing.

The PlayStation 4 just released a firmware update (5.50) that brought a ton of great features, such as comprehensive parental controls. Here's how you can set age restrictions for certain types of games and movies, set spending limits in the PlayStation Store, and regulate game time each day using the new Family Management feature.

Here's an absolutely bangin' deal from Amazon Australia. You can grab a 1TB PS4 for just $329 - easily the cheapest price you'll find for a stand alone console right now.

After putting up with what my roommates and I like to joke is the "first Roku ever made" for the past few years, I recently decided to do all my video watching through my PlayStation 4 instead. The experience has been a million times better (no more lag, random crashes, or app designs that haven't been updated in years), but it also got me thinking about whether I could use a virtual private network (VPN) on my gaming console to improve things even more.

Sony gives you more than one way to add friends to your PlayStation 4 via services you probably already use. In addition, it alleviates the problem of managing lists of friends with long emails and gamer handles, all with a game controller. There's a simple way to make sure you have all the online friends you need to boost your rank in Destiny 2 and it doesn't involve sending messages to everyone you know asking for a 12-digit code or using a D-pad to spell everyone's email address correctly.

No matter what your console is, you can add passcode, verification methods and two-factor authentication options and do it either through your web browser or on the console itself. Sorry, but you're out of excuses of why you haven't secured your account from people looking to steal your personal information.

If you're a PS4 owner, you may turn on your console today and find a surprise home-page advertisement for Destiny 2, a video game in which players travel through space, battling against adversaries like the Fallen, the Cabal, and the Eververse.

So the launch of Amazon Australia wasn't earth-shattering. In fact, it was downright disappointing, mainly from a price standpoint. It's not all bad news however -- you can still get some bargains if you keep an eye out, such as this deal on Sony's PS4 Pro.

Last week's 4.50 system update introduced a bunch of new features to the PlayStation 4. Unfortunately for some, that includes crippling wireless network lag. While Sony looks into the issue, there are a couple of temporary workarounds to keep you playing online.

You will probably never get these kinds of speeds from the PlayStation Network. And the funny thing is, neither could we. That was until we made one single change.

The holidays is a great time for gift-giving and an equally good time for discovering something new. But not everyone has cash to blow on new console games or the Steam sales, and sometimes you just want to try something for free. So if you're looking for something to play on the cheap over the holidays, or want to install something at minimal cost to keep your relatives at bay, here's 11 titles to help you out.

A lot of families and kids will have gotten a shiny new console for Christmas, and given that Nintendo's new console isn't out until March, chances are that console is either a PS4 or a Xbox One. There's more PS4's in Australia right now, and so there's a good chance that you or someone you know has one.

But part and parcel of the console experience these days is typing things in - names, emails, passwords, the whole lot. And doing so with the controller is a miserable experience. Fortunately, your phone can help.

In truth, 2016 was not "The Year of VR." It was the year of the start of VR. Multiple major tech companies released impressive VR systems that were clearly the first of their kind; flawed and fascinating, destined to be improved upon and replaced. The age of immersive technology is upon us, but its future remains uncertain.

The PlayStation Store seems to be throwing a big sale every other week. If you still need some games to see you through the summer, here are the latest 'Mega Weekend' deals for the PlayStation 4. You can get up to 77 per cent off with prices start at just $8.95. Here are the links to each deal.

You find the strangest things at bankruptcy auctions. Like, say, PlayStation 4 development kits full of stuff from the now-closed developers of Sleeping Dogs.

Sony today launched a suped-up upgrade to the PlayStation 4 video game console dubbed the 'PS4 Pro'. Packing in a faster CPU, an upgraded graphics processor and a 1TB hard-drive as standard, it has been tailor-made for the next wave of virtual-reality, 4K and HDR content. Here’s a rundown of the specification for the new console, where to buy it and how much it costs in Australia.