E3 2010: Sony Press Conference Impressions

From the start of the Ps3 Press Conference, there is one impression – it’s an over load.  Of all the stages so far, the Sony stage had the most presence as they pull no punches on the overall look and design of their stage as well the attending guests not limited to first party developers and Kevin Butler. Still, we don’t really care about stages, guests – we want to know what games are coming out for system, exclusives, and other unique content on the platform.  Much like the Nintendo press conference, no new major IPs were listed other than new games and titles that are coming out for the Move controller were mentioned but Sony, like Nintendo, had no problems showing off some first party titles and third party exclusive content to the masses.

First up was Killzone 3 as audience members were presented with a live 3D demonstration of the game’s fourth level.  From the resulting cheers, it was obvious that this game was delivering on the same kind of action you would expect from the title.  We are reminded that Killzone 3 is still exclusive PlayStation 3 this February 2011.  Originally the new element added to this title was 3D but it seems that Guerrilla Games is also implementing PlayStation Move functionality as well. It should be interesting to see how this plays out with Killzone style FPS.

With regards to 3D implementations though, it’s not just Killzone 3, just about all of the games geared towards their Move technology will also implement 3D game play. It would be silly to say that Sony doesn’t support 3D now; especially given all those TVs I’m sure that they want to sell.  Even some old titles, like Sly Cooper is getting an updated 3D treatment as well.  Whether or not gamers like 3D, it looks like Nintendo and Sony are into the technology and it is here to stay, with camps showing a stronger list of games using the technology.  My personal hope is that the technology becomes affordable a lot sooner than later or it gets so good that we don’t need glasses to enjoy it.

Christian Busick was then up again to show some new game play footage using the PlayStation Move technology. These titles were not seen before, and include Socery; a game that resembles the Harry Potter game for Wii released last year as well as a Tiger Woods golf game.  It’s up for debate as to which one is better though but the implementation seemed similar to that of Wii.  This game will also be part of the Move Demo disc – which has all the Move games in one place.  There seemed to be some note-able lag in the game play demo for the Tiger Woods game but like the Zelda demo, both these games are pre-Alpha.  Sony promises that it’s Move will support all genres, pointing out one of it’s newly announced titles – Heroe’s on the Move. This features the gathering of characters from Sly Cooper, Jak and Daxter, and Rachet and Clank.  This is an impression that gamers did not get from Microsoft’s Natal/Kinects technology.

At this point, Kevin Butler walks on to the stage, and everyone goes nuts to remind us that “Gaming is having rediculously huge TV in a one room apartment.”  The man is funny and he has captured a lot of gamer hearts out there.  Some might argue that he is sole reason why Sony has taken up such a large momentum of the past months.  It’s obvious that this might be the best part of the show and while his jokes were funny it actually focused on all the new elements the Move hardware and it’s release date (September 19th 2010).  If you already own a PS3, expect to dish out $129 for motion technology.  Sony is also offering a $399 ps3 Bundle that includes the move as well – a “move” that I’m not sure was wise.

A lot of gamers wanted to hear that a nother PSP was being developed but unfortunately, that was not the case.  The introduction of a new comedic characters, like Kevin Butler, Marcus gave me mixed opinions.  It would seem that Marcus will be focused on the portal side of things, so it remains to be seen if this will work in Sony’s favor. From a personal stand-point, Marcus doesn’t have the same impact, but it is a little too early to tell.

What followed was a presentation from Alex Evans demoing Little Big Planet 2.  LBP 2 really took it to another level in terms the Play Create Share genre that Medial Molecule is pushing.  The game really seems to be platform for games.

In short, LBP2 looks and sounds extremely promising for those of you that enjoy the CREATE, PLAY, SHARE mentally that the first game endeavored.  There really seems to be so much more that you can do with this new title in comparison to the current game.

The above is a game that was created where users are given the ability to the match several buttons to items created in the LBP world – something that community members had asked for via an update in the first game.  The below photo show’s off a game that was created in which the user change the local gravity of the room, that mimicked walking in space.

Media Molecule is not holding back with this game – giving their consumers way more flexibility to create a wider arrange of genres with Little Big Planet 2.  The title is expected for release later this year, and I am definitely looking forward to it, and the games that LBP community are going to create with it.

Then there’s that paid service that was rumored for weeks now.  The official name of the new service will be PSN+.  Among several other features, users will have the option to play games ahead of time, get early access demos, betas, and free access to existing paid services (like Quore).  All your current services will stay the same, free.  No official mention on cross game chat yet though – but it is rumored to be part of the service.  The service will cost gamers $49.99 a year, or $17.99 per fiscal quarter (3 months).   The first three (3) months of the service will be free.

To give some love to it’s third party developers, EA was brought on stage to introduce some exclusive content that will be available on PlayStation 3 for Medal of Honor.  Due out October 12, 2010.  Just like EA mentioned in their own Conference, DICE is working on the multiplayer element of the game. The new multi-player demo showed a few more elements that resembled some of the elements from the current Battlefield game and even Call of Duty.  Dead Space 2 was presented as a direct continuation from the previous day’s presentation over at the EA Press Conference.  The demo shown at the EA Press conference ended with the main character being faced down by a gigantic necromorph – the live PlayStation 3 demo continued right from there.

At first, Kevin Butler showing up was a little bit of a surprise. KB had been previously announced as not showing up to the event but I guess it was all a ruse on Sony’s part.  When Gabe Newell, long hated by hardcore PS3 fanboys, walked onto the stage, the reaction was can only be classified as a – WTF Moment.  No worries, he didn’t talk much but said enough to introduce that Portal 2 was coming to PS3 as well as Valve.  I don’t even know how to react to this but if any of you were fans of Portal, then I’m sure that this reaches you as good news as well.

You can’t have a Sony Press conference without Final Fantasy, and in the least Final Fantasy XIV was shown.  Like all other console makers, there were some good titles that weren’t present during the presentation that probably should have been.  In the case of Sony, Final Fantasy XIII Versus and the new game by Team ICO, The Last Guardian, were not shown; both Sony exclusives by the way.  Some were shown briefly though, like Motorstorm, but perhaps it deserves a longer showing -

This was a common pattern for all the conferences this year it seems – a lot of content during the shows focused on first party, 3D, or motion technology and less so on DLC titles, and third party titles like Castlevania: Lords of Shadow; which is amazing by the way.  It’s a wonder that Sony or Microsoft did not squeeze that or titles like Vanquish into their Press Conferences to push the hype for their systems even further.  Still you can argue that Sony had the best press conference of three – even though they showed a lot of titles that we knew about already; ie Gran Turismo 5, Infamous 2 and others.  Expect to finally see Gran Turismo 5 this November.

David Jaffe was on stage to show off the much rumored Twisted Metal game for PS3 and showcased what will probably go down as one of the most complicated and elaborate online modes ever developed for a game.  To sweeten the deal even further, Sony even threw in some stage props by having a real life Sweet Tooth roll onto the stage, Ice Cream truck and all, sealing in the Gold Star for best presentation at this point.

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• June 16, 2010 -- E3 2010: SOCOM 4 Gameplay Extravaganza!
• June 15, 2010 -- E3 2010: LittleBigPlanet 2 Floor Gameplay
• June 16, 2010 -- E3 2010: Hothead Game Reveals Swarm
• September 30, 2008 -- WipEout HD Review (Updated)