My Thoughts on Sony’s E3 Conference

I know. Why did it take so long for a PlayStation 3 fanboy to do blog about his favorite system? Here’s the answer. My jaw was still on the floor, until now. I thought Nintendo had this one in the bag, but Sony put a stop to that madness. At first, I thought Sony was going to pull a Microsoft and talk only on the PlayStation Move. Either way, that’s how they opened up. Gave us a look at what to expect from it, and that isn’t a lot. They did, however, show some nice in-game footage of Killzone 3. It was originally in 3D, but of course us viewers at home couldn’t see such a sight. Apparently, the game has been planned to be made in 3D for a while. Guerilla Games stated specifically that it was designed with 3D in mind. A ton of games were also revealed to utilize 3D gaming. After seeing such a lineup, I was easily convinced that I need to pick me up a 3DTV. Games like Tron: Evolution, Gran Turismo 5, Mortal Kombat, and the newly revealed Sly Collection. The Sly Collection is clearly a gaming collection of the three games in the Sly Cooper franchise, following the same vein as God of War Collection. Could this mean a new Sly Cooper?

Also announced was a Move launch title, Sorcery. Nothing exactly special about it. Its a spell casting game that uses the Move control for wand actions. It does show how accurate the Move is, but so does Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2011. Judging by the way the character looked in game, this looks like the most accurate motion controller out to date. The character follows every motion perfectly. I don’t necessarily hate the Wii, but this Move is shaping up to be superior. Not to mention the good number of hardcore and family titles launching with it. Speaking of family titles, there was also a new game featuring this raccoon again though. Heroes on the Move is SORT OF the game I’ve been wanting for a while. I have been waiting for a game featuring all of PlayStation’s heroes on one epic adventure. I’ll have to settle for this: Sly Cooper, Bently, Jak, Daxter, Ratchet and Clank. Still got a nice selection, and with Move support it only enhances the opportunity.

The most loved guy in video games also made a special surprise today: Kevin Butler! He gave an inspiring speech to all gamers. My favorite line? “Gaming means living in a one room apartment with a giant TV in the middle.” Not to mention the nice Kinect diss. Also, a final release date for the Move was announced, along with pricing. The PlayStation Move is being sold alone for $49.99, $99.99 with a PlayStation Eye and launch title Sports Champion. I’m sure we’ve had enough of Kevin Butler now though? No? Well, oh well, because now the PSP got its own marketing hero-Marcus. PS3 only does everything. Well, the PSP allows you to step your game up.

After the Move was finally over, some word on the PSP was shown. No, the long-rumored PSP2 did not make an appearance. However, the camera did. Why? Because EyePet is now going to the PSP, and a new game called InviZimals. Another PSP title that was revealed in the recent months, Ghost of War: Ghost of Sparta, was shown. Oh, did I say Ghost? Well, that’s what the announcer said and it was HILARIOUS. Of course I meant God of War: Ghost of Sparta. A whack teaser was shown that shows literally nothing informative. Just Kratos, water, and the title logo. Now, yes its nothing spectacular, but, hey Kratos is back. I think that is enough to get all of us God of War freaks happy. Now all I have to do is go get me a PSP.

Next up is LittleBigPlanet 2. Little bits of gameplay was shown. Not much. It did, however, show us what they mean by it being a platform for games. They showed just how many genres of games you can create in LBP2. Bumper cars, arcade games, and even strategy games! I don’t even like strategy games, but being able to create one. That’s just epic. Also shown was the ability to create weapons for the game. One example of it was shown as four players ran around blowing each other away with what appears to be some sort of projectile launching weapon. Also, we were told that we can create objects from objects. In other words, we can have a flower bloom from, say I don’t know, grass. Adds some realism and more creativity. I do, however, have one complaint. I was hoping to be shown what it would be like to create cutscenes and custom voice work. Guess with the time left we will be able to see what the platform of all games, LittleBigPlanet 2 has to offer.

Everyone grew skeptical when Sony announced they planned on giving the PlayStation Network a Premium Service. Well, here it is, people. And I can honestly say I’m wiling to pay $50 a year for what it has to offer. I will be posting a separate entry on this new feature, but I must say it looks great. As a tease, one thing we will get is a trial of inFamous 2.

EA came up on stage next to throw around the word “exclusive” just like Microsoft did with Kinect. Except now its PS3, beyotch. The first time we hear this amazing word (did I mention its amazing) is when the executive producer of the new Medal of Honor comes on stage. He gives us some nice gameplay footage of the game and shows us a new character: Deuce. He also mentions that with online we will get unlockable beards. They showed us some videos of the multiplayer, including a new map. Did I mention we get unlockable beards? Finally, he gives the exclusive announcement. The Medal of Honor Limited Edition including a remastered version of Medal of Honor: Frontline will be exclusive to the PlayStation 3. Sounds great, and I must say, Medal of Honor does look like it could give Modern Warfare 2 a run for its money.

Next up from EA was Dead Space 2. Some nice gameplay footage was shown. Now at first I was skeptical on this game after reading the GameInformer article. Something about more open environments doesn’t seem to bring the scare. After seeing this footage, I was VERY surprised. This looks like it will keep me up all night shaking in my comforters again. Did I mention we get, no not unlockable beards, more exclusive packages though. One that certainly will leave all Dead Space fans excited. PlayStation 3 will get a Special Edition of Dead Space 2 that includes a Move compatible Dead Space: Extraction. And here is where the boredom starts. Nothing more to announce. Nothing special at all. Ohh wait.

Even when you thought I was done, I’m still alive.

That picture tells no lies. Left 4 Dead creator Gabe Newell announced that Portal 2 will indeed be coming to the PS3. I know all PS3 owners who are also fans of Portal are pleased. He also says they will make sure Portal 2 will be best on the PlayStation 3 out of both consoles. Of course we all know this guy said some pretty mean things about the PlayStation 3, but like he said, we can put all that behind us now that we got one of the greatest puzzle based shooters ever. Don’t forget he also does Left 4 Dead. Could we get that next? Who knows. We got Portal 2 and that’s about all we need. Gives me reason to go get that Orange Box now. A nice gameplay trailer was shown. Certainly convinced me to buy the game. Also looking forward to hear another amazing GlaDos song. Expect to see the game go multiplatform next year.

Next up was some nice Final Fantasy XIV footage. I just recently became a fan of the Final Fantasy series, and I must admit I’m taking a liking to it. I definitely will be getting Final Fantasy XIV and look forward to hearing more about it in the near future. Ohhh look, exclusive again. The first trailer showing off Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood’s online is shown at Sony’s conference. Why pick Sony? Well, PlayStation 3 owners get the online beta EXCLUSIVELY. That’s right, only PlayStation 3 owners get to try out the new stealth-based online for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. How awesome does that sound? Not to mention the online looks pretty sick. The cloaking mechanics shown in the trailer also seem very interesting. Looking forward to seeing more on this new gameplay mechanic. Hopefully, it can be integrated into the single player as well.

Now, Gran Turismo 5 has been in development for a good amount of years. Since 2005. Over millions of dollars have been spent making this game that packs over 1000 real-brand cars. From the Lamborghini to the BMW, to the Bentley all the way to the Ferrari’s. What could possibly be the reason this game isn’t released. Well, now we know it packs a ton of ‘stuff’ into one dual-layered Blu Ray disc. Clearly, it has a lot. For the time this game has been in development, it no doubt better win some rewards and perfect scores. From Gran Turismo 5 Prologue to the actual demo released on the PlayStation Store. Well, the wait is over now people. Gran Turismo 5 will be hitting store shelves on November 2, 2010.

The moment I have been waiting for: inFamous 2. From the moment the game was announced and the moment I saw “Cole,” I couldn’t and still can’t stand the redesign. Not only do I not like the look, I see no purpose for it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Well, Sucker Punch tried. And honestly, the results aren’t too appealing. This guy doesn’t even look like Cole. I am not here to go on and on about this redesign, but I will express my opinions and hope you all understand through the eyes of someone who was a big fan of inFamous. Anyways, the reveal trailer was shown. The game does still looks amazing. I have no doubts that it won’t be. The gameplay looks improved, and the melee looks fantastic. Not to mention the climbing looks superb. However, another thing becomes shown: Cole’s new voice actor. In the words of my parter in blog, he sounds like a “broke pornstar.” It sounds too shabby for what Cole was. His attitude does seem to remain unchanged. He sounds like he holds that badass feel with a little added comedy. I just hope Sucker Punch doesn’t take this redesign too far. Such as these ice powers. Cole was all about electricity. Sucker Punch promises not to go too far and I hope they do. I still can say I am very excited about this game and what the trailer had to show for it. Not to mention the amazing cinematic moments. Whoever that boss is, he looks epic. inFamous 2 will be arriving in 2011.

That’s about it. Nothing else to see here. Move along, move along. Make like the All-American Rejects and move along. There is nothing else to show unless you like demonic clowns driving rally course Ice Cream trucks. Holy crap, its Sweet Tooth. After so much word and so much rumor, it has finally been announced. Twisted Metal is making its first appearance on the PlayStation 3. David “Amazing Game” Jaffe stepped on stage to show off his new title. And to an amazing surprise, besides a hysterical trailer, they showed gameplay. Actual gameplay. Showed off some of the newest game modes to hit the online. It looks great. This would be my first Twisted Metal game, but it certainly wasn’t the first I played. I played the original on the PS2 and I was easily impressed. As a fan of driving, action and adventure games, Twisted Metal gives me a taste of it all. I am greatly looking forward to its release in 2011.

Certainly, Nintendo put on amazing show full of surprises. Kirby, Donkey Kong, and even Link. Sony showed us a lot too. Personally, I find it hard to tell who “won” E3. With Sony unveiling a new Twisted Metal and their teaming up with Valve. Its a hard decision. A decision that kicks Microsoft out of the choices. Before I make my final decision, I’d like to rate Sony’s conference. At first, they had us going. They wanted to give us a slow start, and lead to all the epic announcements they had. As you can see above, they did that in a nice manner. Left me surprised and with a giant smile on my face. I honestly have no disappointments. Nothing beyond personal thoughts on certain games. I think this is another good year for Sony no doubt. Sony gets an A.

Now, onto the next subject. Who won. Now, the Kinect is indeed interesting and the new 360 packs a nice new look, but I’d have to say Microsoft definitely put on a poor performance. Nintendo on the other hand did the complete opposite. Nintendo’s spokesman sounded great, and was really enthusiastic. They found a perfect way to bring out the new Zelda game with a nice guest to do so. They revealed some pretty big surprise games, including Wii debuts Kirby and Wii debut classic Donkey Kong Country and GoldenEye. Nintendo also offered something special to the show: the unveiling of a brand new system. The Nintendo 3DS is already showing to be loved by many. Aesthetically and technically it proves to be great. Nintendo definitely did well keeping this all hidden and dealing an emotional shock that no other company could do.

Sony did the same. They definitely delivered a great shock to all gamers when Portal 2 was revealed to go multiplatform. Same goes for Twisted Metal’s announcement. They definitely delivered an emotional shock with that, but nothing similar to people who have been playing Kirby and Donkey Kong alike. Sony definitely comes close, and put on a great performance, but I’m going to have to say Nintendo wins this years E3. The line-ups are as follows for the three main companies.