Day: September 2, 2021

Over at the PlayStation Blog today, Sony detailed the many different versions of Horizon Forbidden West now available for pre-order. Which version you order depends on several factors. Do you need PS4, PS5, or both? Do you want a physical disc? How about a $260 box with both versions, no disc, and a statue of a robot mammoth? You’d think they could make this a little less complicated.

Let’s start off with the most basic versions of the game. There are two different basic digital editions, one for the PlayStation 4 and one for the PlayStation 5. The PS4 version costs $60 and the PS5 is $70. If you purchase the PS4 versions there is no upgrade path to the PS5 version, or at least not yet.

The basic retail version of Horizon Forbidden West is called the Launch Edition. There is one for the PS4 and one for the PS5, $60 and $70 respectively. For $10 more there’s the Special Edition for the PS4 or PS5, which comes packaged in a steelbook with a mini art book and a voucher for the game’s digital pre-order bonuses.

Note that the six different editions we’ve gone over so far are platform-specific. And you can play the PS4 version of Horizon Forbidden West on the PS5 via backward compatibility, but not the other way around.

Buying both versions begins with the $80 Digital Deluxe version. It comes with both PS4 and PS5 games, as well as a bunch of digital goodies like a downloadable soundtrack and digital art book. I imagine this means that there might be a $20 upgrade from PS4 to PS5 somewhere down the line, but nothing’s been announced yet.

Now we get fancy. The $200 Collector’s Edition is the version you want if you need a giant mammoth statue. It comes packed with a steelbook case, the mini art book, and the aforementioned mammoth, plus a slew of digital goodies. The Collector’s Edition comes with vouchers for both PS4 and PS5 versions of the game, but no discs. Why is there a steelbook case if there is no disc? Who knows?

Finally we have the most expensive version of them all, the $260 Regalia Edition. It comes with not just a mammoth statue, but a mammoth statue that’s different from the other mammoth statue. There are also a couple of art cards, Sunwing and Clawstrider machine physical strike pieces, a canvas map, and a replica Focus (Aloy’s ear thing) with stand. The Regalia Edition of Horizon Forbidden West also includes digital downloads for both the PS4 and PS5, plus a steelbook for the disc that does not come with it.

Let’s review. To get a game disc you have to choose PS4 or PS5. If you want both versions digitally you have to either get the Digital Deluxe Edition or one of the two super-expensive versions. If you want both versions on disc, you’ll have to buy two copies. And if you absolutely need both versions of the robot mammoth statue, may God have mercy on your soul.

Firefly Aerospace plans to launch its first-ever orbital mission tonight (Sept. 2), and you can watch the action live.

Firefly’s 95-foot-tall (29 meters) Alpha rocket is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California this evening, during a four-hour launch window that opens at 9 p.m. EDT (6 p.m. local California time; 0100 GMT on Sept. 3). 

You’ll be able to watch the test flight live on this page and the Space.com homepage, courtesy of “Everyday Astronaut” Tim Dodd, who will webcast the launch and provide commentary on YouTube for Firefly Aerospace. You can also watch directly via the Everyday Astronaut YouTube channel.  

Video: Watch Firefly Aerospace use a rocket engine to light birthday candles

Texas-based Firefly aims to secure a large share of the small-satellite launch market with Alpha. The two-stage rocket is capable of lofting 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) of payload to low Earth orbit per  mission, each of which will cost customers a total of $15 million, according to Firefly’s specifications page. 

Tonight’s test flight will be the first orbital launch for Alpha and for Firefly, so success is far from guaranteed. The rocket is carrying a payload called DREAM (“Dedicated Research and Education Accelerator Mission”), which consists of mementoes submitted by schools and other educational institutions.

DREAM aims “to capture humanity’s dreams of the future of space and to inspire people around the globe to dream big and reach for the stars,” Firefly representatives said via Twitter on Tuesday (Aug. 31).

Tonight’s flight will also test components of Firefly’s forthcoming Space Utility Vehicle (SUV), SpaceNews reported last week. The SUV is a space tug designed to deliver payloads to a variety of orbits using efficient solar-electric propulsion.

Firefly is developing a number of other vehicles in addition to Alpha and the SUV. The company is working on a bigger rocket called Beta, for example, and intends to build a space plane known as Gamma as well. Firefly is also developing a robotic lunar lander called Blue Ghost, which is scheduled to deliver payloads to the moon’s surface for NASA in 2023.

Mike Wall is the author of “Out There” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook. 

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