I turned into a giddy schoolgirl who had 20 double shot espressos about an hour before Sony's E3 2010 press conference began. This was the day I was waiting for, what has become a national holiday on my calendar. It was Christmas, New Year's, and my birthday all rolled into one and I was hyped, beyond hyped. Once my heartbeat stopped ringing in my ears, the sound of music started, and PSPs began falling from the sky - I was able to sit down, get my notebook ready, and watched the one thing I have been waiting for all year - Sony at its best.Two things I really love about Sony press conferences - they have great montage videos and they have a lot of executive support. Now, I know everyone has montage videos but I've always felt that Sony is able to choose the perfect music, the perfect clips, and the perfect pace to a video. Ubisoft's soft rock and euro pop really didn't set the mood properly but Sony's energizing rock beats helped set up a great presentation. And I love seeing Jack Tretton and Kaz Hirai but it was great and most deserving that Peter Dille also got the spotlight because if it wasn't for him, the PS3 would not be where it is today. That man is a genius and he should be given a really big trophy. This year's conference had a lot of focuses: 3D, Move, PSN+, IP expansions, and a lot more. To truly analyze all that happened, I'm going to be basically moving down each point as they were presented at the press conference.
Killzone 3 - When Killzone 2 was released and I had the chance to play the game, I was shocked at its graphical beauty and appalled by its horrid controls and lackluster gameplay. So, when news of Killzone 3 started to hit the web, I wasn't interested at all - until they showed a live demo. It looks tighter, cleaner, and overall just more engrossing than the previous game. And who does not like jetpacks? I am actually kind of excited about this game and I'm looking forward to seeing what a truly experienced Guerrilla Games can do with the PS3 this time around.
3D Gaming - I have been adamantly against 3D gaming from the start. New TV, glasses, no HD, headaches, have to sit directly in front of the TV, and the fact that your eyes will probably explode out of your head after 2 hours are the reasons why I think 3D is a fad . . . until they totally sucked me in with Gran Turismo 5 in 3D. Yes, GT5 people! I don't care about Killzone 3 in 3D, Crysis 2, Ghost Recon, Sly Cooper Collection, Mortal Kombat, MotorStorm: Apocalypse, or EyePet . . . but GT 5 is the one and only game that has me totally sucked into the idea. I have always felt that racing games are the genre were 3D gaming could thrive. In my gut, I thought GT5 was far enough along that they wouldn't be able to add 3D support, I was wrong and now I'm thinking it wouldn't be that expensive to get a small 3D TV . . . you know a 17" or something. I still believe 3D is not the way to go but the idea of seeing all those glorious cars and tracks in 3D really has my interest peaked.
PlayStation Move - With a date set (wow, Europe is actually getting something first) and a pretty reasonable entry price ($50 for the Move, $100 for the bundle), Sony came out with the one-two punch to counter Nintendo and get the step up on Microsoft. While, I'm not overly excited about Move, I have always felt that if the precision was there, it could be a great push for the PS3 to get into the casual game market. After seeing Socom 4 running with Move, I started to see that Sony wasn't going after just the casual market and were looking for a more robust experience. The live demos at this event were no different. From magic wands to golf clubs, Sony was able to show off some great gameplay that we have never seen before. I have to admit Sorcery (pictured above) was the game I was most interested in. The idea of using Move just like a wand and summoning spells up has me really excited. I know a lot of people don't like the glowing ball but I actually think it's kind of cool that it changed color to match which spell you selected. I had the problem in Oblivion of using the wrong spell because the icons were too similar. Now, the Move will actually tell you visually what spell you have selected, I think that's a great, little intuitive addition that could become pretty useful.Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 was also shown and I'm excited to hit the course with the Move and see what it's like to really swing the club instead of flicking an analog stick. I know a lot of gamers are really questioning the longevity of motion controllers but I do think Sony is going in the right direction with the great combination of lighter games to more hardcore games. Plus, the pricing point is a lot lower than I originally anticipated which will help bring more people into the fold. And then there's Heroes on the Move, a smash up of Ratchet, Jak, Sly, and their sidekicks - who doesn't want to play that? Oh, and there's Time Crisis, need I say more?
Sony also announced a partnership with Coca-Cola to advertise Move as well as do a big giveaway program. If people are saying that Sony is only reacting, I think they should really look at what Peter Dille and his team are coming up with. It's a great "move" that will help expand the saturation point for Sony's ad campaign while partnering with a very strong and positive brand that is not really associated with gaming. Oh, and the appearance by the VP of Everything PlayStation was an awesome touch. I love you KB!
PSP Games - Sony switched gears and talked about the PSP and I am excited to report that there is no new model coming out anytime soon cause I'm already going to be broke as it is with Move, Rock Band 3 Pro, GT 5 3D, and everything else that was announced at E3. I was a little disappointed that we didn't see some more substantial support for the PSP. Yes, they said 70 titles by December of this year, but they didn't show anything new. I found out about Patapon 3 (pictured above) from a tweet by a show attendee - why wasn't this in Sony's mash up? And the fact that they pushed Invizimals which has been out in PAL already as a "new" game made the shunning of Patapon 3 even worse.LittleBigPlanet 2 - You can make an RTS game in LBP2! That's all you need to know.
PSN+ - Then they moved onto the PSN with the announcement of PSN+ which I'm pretty excited about. The pricing, $50 for a year or $18 for three months, is very reasonable and considering that Qore is bundled with it ($25 for a year by itself) made the idea even better. Only thing that has me raising an eyebrow is the fact that if you stop the subscription, you lose all of the free content they give you as part of the program. While they didn't give specifics on what you would get, it sounds like access to early betas and demos, free content, discounts, and an auto download feature makes it appealing to the hardcore PSN consumer. It also hits later this month, so you'll soon be able to check it out with Sony's offering of three months free.
PSN Games - If you are wondering what game that beautiful screenshot above is from, blame Sony for totally keeping PSN gamers in the dark about what could possibly be the best PSN game ever! Yes, I mean "ever" because it is from thatgamecompany, the guys that brought you Fl0w and Flower and it's called Journey. I have no clue why this wasn't in a montage, a demo, or even mentioned at all by Sony when they were on stage. Actually very little was mentioned about PSN games and content. I would have totally taken less Move or less Killzone 3 to just get a screenshot of this game. Seriously Sony, I am a little upset at you for keeping this from me.EA Partnership - Everyone always screams about exclusive content and Sony always seems to get the short end of the stick when it comes to 3rd party exclusives so I was really surprised about the plans Sony and EA have to counter this epidemic. Starting with Medal of Honor and a limited edition that includes a HD remastered version of Frontline just for the PS3. They are also doing a limited edition for Dead Space 2 that will include a Move version of Extraction just for the PS3. They also have exclusive content for 2K's Mafia 2 and Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. Yeah, I think that's a little better than getting map packs early.
Portal 2 - I can die now! Well, after I play the game of course but in all honesty when I saw Gabe Newell walk out on stage I thought that it was some kind of practical joke. So, hearing the announcement that Portal 2 is not only going to be on the PS3 but it is also going to be Steam enabled - wow Sony, I applaud you for doing what I thought was impossible.
Gran Turismo 5 - November 2, 2010 "Out drifting, please come back later"
InFamous 2 - Am I the only one that's slightly bothered by Cole's new look? I mean, it's not a minor makeover, he's a brand new character. Other than that, I love the feel that the early footage has shown from his new powers to the new city. I just don't like the new hairdoo, that's all.
Twisted Metal - Jaffe is back and his game looks better than ever. A franchise that was truly the face of PlayStation years ago is back where it belongs, on next gen hardware. I was never a huge Twisted Metal fan but I have to admit the multiplayer mode Nuke that they showed has me really excited about the game. Just the depth and the shear complexity mixed with total vehicular mayhem has me foaming at the mouth. And if the picture at the top didn't give you a big enough hint, there are going to be choppers in this game too!
Overall, I was pretty impressed with Sony's performance, especially the surprises that were actually surprising. Portal 2 just blew me away, I had completely given up on ever playing that game and now I'm going to get what Valve says is the best console version. There was truly something for everyone at this event and I feel Sony is going to have another strong year. I do wish they showed more from the PSN and PSP side of things but I understand that with their limited time they really wanted to push 3D and Move. Now all that's really left is to make up my wish list and figure out how I'm going to pay for all of this.
