Even Kevin Butler approves!
Whilst the E3 expo has finished only its second day, they have now finished showing all the keynote presentations, therefore leaving the rest of the event to be based around the show floor and all events respective to that. However, there are still keynotes to review, so I bring you my second review in The Otaku’s E3 Study, this time focusing on the Sony announcements. You will all be disappointed to know, that Kevin Butler himself does not interrupt or take part in the presentation this year, instead I believe he was used as some sort of threat towards some of the third party presenters, as he was stated as VP of Sharpening Things last year, and I hear he is a master at using a Katana.
We are first treated to a trailer which outlines a few games released in the past and the future and a quick view at the new NGP and Move games. After approximately 4 minutes, Jack Tretton comes out and gives a public apology for the PSN Outage, also saying “Your Welcome” to members of the press who had a field day with the outage. Also the normal blurb about the improvements in the last year, and how there was an increase in sales of 27% last week in comparison to last year. They also promote the free tools that Playstation 3 has such as Vudu, Netflix etc… of course, none of these are actually available in Australia. CinemaNow is also announced for the console, it isn’t Youtube but it will do.
Naughty Dog takes the stage to introduce Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception. Whilst the image above doesn’t show much in terms of quality, the overall gaming environment appears very detailed, with Drake appearing on a cruise ship during a storm and wandering around the environment taking out different people. For those who liked the design of the first one, prepare to be astounded as this beats Uncharted 2 by far. The trailer primarily focuses on the sneaking and taking out aspect of the series, ending in a rather epic cinematic and a shoot-out, escape and swimming scenes. From what I can tell, it wasnt a scripted sequence either.
After the significantly long gameplay sequence, they discuss the online multiplayer with the beta test beginning on June 28th, and a partnership with Subway Restraunts to get access to the complete multiplayer experience in October. Ending with a 3D trailer, which of course we can only see in 2D. It does seem to be a lot less forest and temple exploring and allows you to journey through more city and town environments.
Next up, they had Insomniac to present Resistance 3. As with most shooting games, they are not of much interest to me, but they do claim there will be a Demo and will be supported by both PS Move and 3D.
They then announced two HD Remakes that they have coming out this year… the first being the God of War Origins Collection, a HD remake of the PSP games in the series which will also be in full 3D. I have personally never played God of War, with the third game in the series failing to work in my PS3, however for fans, I am sure it will be something not to miss.
The second title announced is the ICO and Shadow of the Colossus HD remake, which I have already done an article on HERE: http://otakustudy.com/?p=5023. It was evident that it made the crowd excited with the sudden increase in cheers…. and did I mention it is in full 3D?
What could be more of a bigger announcement then the ICO Collection? How about a PS3 branded 3D television? It is a 24″ 3D television with a special option…. you can play multiplayer between two people, and each see a full screen whilst wearing the 3D classes. Whilst it is not possible to see 3D with this, each of the glasses pick up either the left or right side signal from the television…. so no having to worry about your best mate getting an advantage over you in a war simulation. As well, 3D television owners can get cheap 3D Glasses.
Price? For the 24″ television, Resistance 3, HDMI Cable and a pair of 3D glasses…. $US 499… not too shabby eh?
Finally, they arrived at the inevitable: “Playstation Move Experience” section of the presentation, starting off with a sports demonstration with 2K Sports and their new NBA game. This is actually where I started watching upon waking up yesterday, and I thought in my dazed state that it was an actual game of basketball, so it is realistic looking enough… as for move integration… I remain hesitant.
Remember the game Sorcery that was announced last year for the move which had you taking a Harry Potter sort of role as a spell caster, allowing you to roam through many different levels and dungeons whilst casting spells? Well that didn’t make an appearance in this presentation, instead the opposite to it, MediEvil Move: Deadmund’s Quest was announced, which focuses on more of the physical skills then the magical. With weapons such as a sword, bow and throwing starts, as well as many branching pathways, there seems to be a lot on offer in this game, but the childish design and lack of overall gameplay potential may disappoint some.
Infamous 2 was previewed, but with it coming out very soon, no real need to talk about it. They are promoting Playstation Move and a Quest Creator. In terms of Move, LBP 2 also has new move support.
and a Generic looking War/Sci-fi game StarHawk…. any relation to Warhawk?
With the classic PS2 game Sly having a HD remake out last year, this time they have a new game Sly Cooper: Theves in Time, indicating that there may be something to do with Time Travel in the series. Either way, the game series is fun, and no doubt this game will be no exception.
Originally hearing that CCP is presenting, I was hoping EVE Online would be released on the PlayStation 3. Instead, they have announced a new title called Dust 514, which is all about space battles and more importantly… Space DOMINATION! However, EVE Online will have connectivity in this game, and changes in Dust will have some impact on EVE online, taking place in the same universe and game for that matter… thus the slogan “One Universe, One War”. They also promote that there will be Move Compatability, Dedicated Home Spaces and NGP Connectivity. Oh, and the game seems to still have the same financial basis as EVE Online, so everyone get ready for Capitalism Ho~!
Last year Sony had Gabe Newell presenting Portal 2 to the masses, despite his initial complaints about the console, no doubt due to the lovable VP of Sharpening Things. This year, they have brought in Ken Levine from Irrational Games who has made some rather dis-satisfactory comments (To fans of the PS3) about the Move. No doubt due to Kevin Butler’s awesomeness and persuasion methods, has resulted in Bioshock Infinate, the next game in the Bioshock game franchise to have Playstation Move support, the original Bioshock game (Woop-de-doo, I already have it) and hints that Bioshock will be coming to the NGP.
New partnership with THQ / Saints Road to bring new unique content to the Playstation version of the game.
There is also a new Star Trek game that has been announced for the Playstation 3 in a deal with Paramount. Nothing special to me, it looks like an average quality game.
Whilst not having much in the way of trailers, Electronic Arts have three exclusives for the console, this includes:
- SSX (Exclusive level riding down Mt. Fuji)
- Need for Speed – The Run (Special Blu-ray Disk with even more supercars)
- Battlefield 3 (Extra storage capacity for a second game – Battlefield 1943)
Kazuo Hirai, I agree…. Bow Ties are cool!
Playstation Suite is aimed at delivering Playstation quality content to other devices, such as Android Smart Phones and Tablets
As this will be the last time I use the term, I would like to take the time to say NGP a few times….. NGP! NGP? NGP+ NGP*
The new name for the NGP is Playstation Vita, and boasts a number of new features such as a Two Dualshock Analog Sticks, Full LED Touchpad, Six Axis and Dual Cameras which can be used to create an augmented play experience. This console will have both Wi-fi and 3G models, and it is most probably going to be that like the iPad, that 3G model will be very pricey in comparison. In America, at&t will be the exclusive carrier for the 3G Vita…. sucks to be those on different carriers.
Many other things have been revealed about the console, there will be trophies, there will be crossgame chat, there is a party room to keep in touch with friends regardless of console (??) and a social networking service called Near which allows you to connect and play with the people around you. More specifics will be released in the future.
The first game announced for a console is always the special one that gives people the impression if it will do well, or is targetting the Gimmick market. Thankfully, the first title announced for the console was Uncharted: Golden Abyss, which looks rather stunning on the Vita. This game was non-scripted from what I can tell, and for a pre-release title, has very minimal lag or any other annoying gameplay bugs. Also allows you to use both the touch screen and analogue sticks to control… personally I will stick with the sticks.
The second game previewed for the Vita is Ruin, which looks like a Platforming Action game, that whilst using a simpler overhead display, has some very good colour designs and keeps the level active and detailed. It also allows you to connect the Vita and PS3 together, to switch between the two, so no two copies of the same game and two different save files.
Two weeks after ModNation Racers was released, I was still sitting infront of the television playing the game. So I am happy to see that this game is getting its chance to shine on the Vita. Featuring all the same mechanics as the previous version of the game, it also comes with brand new features that will be released over the months to come, and will have access to the PS3 custom creations.
As with every current-gen Playstation console, there is a new LittleBigPlanet coming out for the Vita, allowing you to use new features such placing body parts such as your hair in the game, arcade, PS3 –> Vita Costume sharing, touchscreen compatability and many other gameplay features we all know and love from the original games.
Only one third party Vita title was announced and previewed during this presentation. It is a fighting game by Capcom, it is… the next game in the Street Fighter series… Street Fighter X Tekken, which actually looks pretty good whilst maintaining its 2D charm.
The one vital flaw with the PSP originally was that the cost was too high to be a valid competitor to the competing consoles, in this case, the Nintendo DS. Whilst the PS3 had the same flaw, it managed to overcome it, however in countries such as Australia, the PSP soon died out. HOWEVER, Sony noticed this and has offered a very good deal for those looking to purchase the Vita upon release. The original RRP for the Wifi version will be $US 249 with the 3G offering being $299.99, with the price having the same neumerical value in pounds. Does this mean the console will only cost $AUD 249 in Australia? Only time will tell…. Either way, the price is sure to give the Vita a competitive edge against the 3DS, and hopefully the undoubtedly stellar potential of this console will be recognised by game studios and quality titles will be made for it in return.
Personal Opinion of Presentation
A nice balance of 3D and Move gaming, however did not forget the core gamers that have neither. The PS Vita is looking very impressive and I cannot wait to get my hands on it next year. I am once again however, disappointed with the lack of Eastern-styled games in this presentation. Also, I am disappointed with there not being any Kevin Butler on stage, however, he has appeared in a very recent TV Spot, which can be seen below:
