PlayStation E3 Press Conference recap!

Sony’s E3 press conference is where dreams come true.  While watching this press conference a grown man wept at the announcements, and we all cheered with joy.  I apologize for not have much objectivity, but the excitement this created is unparalleled.  Sony opened with the long awaited Last Guardian.  Yes, The Last Guardian was shown for the first time in nearly a decade.  We got a six minute gameplay demo of the game, and it was revealed it will be launching on PS4 in 2016.

Next up, Guerrilla Games unveiled their newest IP called Horizon: Zero Dawn.  It is set post apocalypse, when humanity is rebuilding all while dealing with robotic animals that look like dinosaurs that roam the landscape.  No release date was announced, but we got a significantly long demo for the game, which culminated in our heroine fighting a mechanized T-Rex of sorts.

Square Enix showed a new trailer next for a new Hitman game with a CG trailer.  No release date or any real info was given, but Square does have their own press conference tomorrow, so expect info then.  Ubisoft followed them announcing exclusive content for the PS4 version of Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate would have exclusive content on PlayStation.  They also showed off a trailer for the game’s secondary lead, Evie Frye.

Capcom revealed two new characters for Street Fighter V: Birdie and the returning Cammy.  PS4 owners will also get an exclusive beta starting on July 23rd.  Expect SFV in early 2016.

Hello Games took the stage next and showed off an extended walkthrough of their upcoming sci-fi exploration game No Man’s Sky.  Sean Murray of Hello Games showed the massive scale of the universe, and let us see just what we’d do in the game.  We will be exploring new worlds, scouting new life, and battling the NPC forces that prevent you from doing this.  No release dates were announced.

Media Molecule returned to the PlayStation stage to demo their new game called Dreams.  The unique game will let players create their own dream worlds where anything is possible.  More of the game will be shown at Paris Games Week, but no release window was given again.  We also got a trailer for the upcoming indie title Firewatch, which again had no release window.

Adam Boyes took the stage next to announce the new Destiny Expansion: The Taken King.  It was exactly what was in the leaked document, and Boyes promised that the new expansion would give new supers, as well as PlayStation exclusive maps, strikes and gear.  It launches on September 15th.

Next up we had two Final Fantasy reveals.  One was obviously bigger than the other.  First was a reveal of a Chibi-style World of Final Fantasy. But never mind that, Sony and Square Enix announced a remake of Final Fantasy VII.  A full blown remake of the beloved PS One classic.  No release date was announced but honestly, don’t expect it anytime soon.

Dreams continued to be fulfilled with the announcement of a Kickstarter for Shenmue 3.  That’s right folks, the long awaited game will be made if fans fund the $2 million goal on Kickstarter.  You can fund it here.  It’s expected release window is late 2017, so it’ll be a while.

We also got new trailers for Batman: Arkham Knight which launches next Tuesday, and four new games from Devolver Digital.  Sony went on to talk about Project Morpheus and talked about a few titles that they are bringing to it.  From there, they announced their streaming tv service PlayStation Vue will have an ala carte style of channel purchasing.  So, if you don’t want HGTV, you don’t have to get it.

Sony’s Andrew House announced a new deal with Activision, revealing that all DLC for Black Ops III will be coming to PS4 a month early, a similar deal to Xbox’s in previous years.  We got a four player co-op campaign demo for Black Ops III as well as a multiplayer reveal trailer.  It looks like it takes a lot of ques from Titanfall as well.  Check them both out below.

Star Wars was next, with Sony announcing an exclusive limited edition of Disney Infinity 3.0 that will include the Rise against the Empire playset, and it will be the only place to get it for the first month.  This limited edition will also come with a Boba Fett figure, which will once again be exclusive for a month.  DICE took the stage next to show off their survival mode, which pits four players against 15 waves of co-op.  It all looks really good.  Look for Infinity in September, and then Battlefront on November 17th.

Finally, PlayStation closed with an all new demo for Uncharted 4: Thieves End.  This extended gameplay demo was a return to the swashbuckling style of previous games with Nate and Sully fighting through a bazaar and running away in a 4×4 from a massive APC.  They were chasing Nate’s brother, only for it to end with an awesome grappling hook moment.  Uncharted 4 launches sometime in 2016.

Holy cow.  PlayStation announced a ton of things that everyone has been waiting for, but no real massive titles exclusive for this year.   What was your favorite moment of the presser?  Let me know in the comments below and get hyped for even more E3 tomorrow with Nintendo and Square Enix!

by, Bobby Marquardt

Bloodborne is releasing in Japan on February 5th

Bloodborne, the spiritual successor to Demon Souls, will launch in Japan on February 5th.  The announcement came fromSony during their pre-Tokyo Game Show press conference.  . Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida announced that the FROM Software developed title will have a limited edition, including an art book and soundtrack.  Sony has not revealed when Bloodborne will come to the US or Europe, but the February 5th Japan release date falls in line with Sony’s alleged plan of an early 2015 world wide release of Bloodborne.

by, Bobby Marquardt

PlayStation’s exclusive Destiny content detailed in new trailer

Earlier this year, Bungie revealed that PlayStation owners would recieve exclusive content for Destiny, including gear, weapons, and strike missions.  Today, PlayStation and Bungie have detailed the exclusives in the above trailer.  The first exclusive is the Dust Palace Strike mission.  The PlayStation Blog describes the strike as follows: “You’ll track a Cabal extraction team through the husks of an ancient human skyscraper, the Dust Palace, buried in the shifting dunes of Mars and face a new enemy, the Psion Flayers,” .

Next up is the Exodus Blue competitive multiplayer map.  The design looks directly ripped from the campaign’s Earth section, with Bungie describing it as a medium sized map, perfect for Skirmish and Control matches.  “The Exodus Blue, a long-dead vessel, once brought hope and humanity to worlds beyond Earth. Here, Guardians challenge one another, forging a new hope and future in the fires of the Crucible.”  PlayStation owners will also have access to exclusive weapons and armor sets for each class in the game, as well as three unique ships, “Aurora Wake”, “Crypt Hammer”, and “Outrageous Fortune”.

Look for Destiny on PS4, Xbox One, PS3, and Xbox 360 on September 9th.  I hope to have a review of it up by one week after launch.

by, Bobby Marquardt

Infamous & Sly Cooper developer Sucker Punch hit with layoffs

Sucker Punch, developer of the Infamous and Sly Cooper franchises has been hit with layoffs.  IGN reported the news this morning, and Sony has confirmed it.  Sony gave IGN the following statement on the news, “SCEA can confirm a reduction in workforce has taken place at Sucker Punch Productions. Sucker Punch is appreciative of the tremendous work team members contributed to the inFAMOUS and Sly Cooper series, and wishes them the best in their next endeavors.” 

No number of the layoffs has been found, but the studio Sucker Punch was founded in 1997, and went on to have a working relationship with Sony; developing all of it’s titles exclusively for PlayStation platforms.  Sony purchased the studio outright in 2011, and released the critically acclaimed Infamous: Second Son earlier this year.  Sucker Punch is currently finishing work on a spin-off title for PSN, Infamous: First Light, which launches this coming Tuesday.  We wish all of those effected by the layoffs the best of luck and hope they land on their feet.

This reporter’s opinion:  This is really sad news.  Second Son was a rather successful game; placing #2 in the NPD sales charts for March, with only Titanfall beating it.  The title sold over one million copies in under 10 days of being on the market.  It’s metacritic score sits at a very respectable 80, and I would argue it even deserves to be higher as it’s my favorite next-gen game yet.  The game was, by all measures, a success.  This could just be a few layoffs, a natural part of the development cycle as their work on Infamous comes to an end.  Hopefully, we still have plenty of amazing games from those great devs at Sucker Punch.

by, Bobby Marquardt

Journey & The Unfinished Swan makes the leap to PS4, both will be free to those who own them on other PlayStation platforms

Two indie darlings from the last generation are coming to the PlayStation 4.  thatgamecompany and Giant Sparrow have announced that Journey and The Unfinished Swan will be coming to the PlayStation 4.  Each will run at a native 1080p, and will be coming to the PS4 later this year.  Development of Journey on PS4 is being handled by Tricky Pixels, while Batman: Arkham Origins: Blackgate devs Armature Studios is handling the port of The Unfinished Swan.  More details on each will be revealed throughout the Fall as they get closer to release.

Both Journey and The Unfinished Swan are cross-buy elibigle, so player who bought the games already on PS3 or PS Vita will be able to get the game for no charge on PlayStation 4.  Journey was the winner of hundreds of awards during 2012 video game award season, including Game of the Year from the Game Developer’s Choice Awards and IGN.  Unfinished Swan was heaped with praise as well, winning two awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts including the award for Innovation in 2013.

by, Bobby Marquardt

June’s PlayStation Plus Instant Game Collection revealed; PS4 will now receive two games a month

PlayStation Plus is seeing some new changes starting in June.  Plus subscribers will still receive six games each month, but now it will see an even distribution across platforms, with PS4 now receiving two games every month.  June will see PS4 owners receiving Trine 2 and Pixeljunk Shooter Ultimate.  Trine 2, which has been on PS4 since it’s launch in November, is a side scrolling action platformer where you can control one of three heroes.  It has co-op where you and two friends can play each of the classes, or you can swap between each if you are playing solo.  Pixeljunk Shooter Ultimate is a twin-stick shooter filled with action and puzzle solving while you try to save trapped scientists.

PS3 will now receive two games instead of three, but the quality is arguably better then ever.  June will see gamers getting free copies of NBA 2K14 and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time.  NBA 2K14 is the latest installment in the critcally acclaimed 2K NBA franchise.  Arriving just in time for the finals, NBA 2K14 will let you play through multiple seasons as whatever team you love, and of course features a great online system.  Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is Sanzaru’s first Sly Cooper game, as we followed our heroes adventures through time, as he tries to prevent his families legacy from being destroyed.

PS Vita gamers still receive two games each month, with June giving them Terraria and Mutant Mudds Deluxe.  Terraria has been described as the side-scrolling Minecraft, where gamers can build, fight and explore however they like.  Mutant Mudds Deluxe ““12-bit” action platformer full of pixels and platforming fun”.  These Plus games will be available throughout June, and are generally available just over a month.

by, Bobby Marquardt

The Order 1886 delayed to Early 2015

Ready at Dawn has announced that their upcoming PS4 exclusive The Order 1886 will not arrive in 2014, but will instead come to the PS4 in early 2014.  Ru Weerasuriya, the game’s creative director gave Gameinformer the following reasoning on the delay, “To deliver that experience that we’ve wanted, and that we hope players expect, we’re targeting an early 2015 release on the game. …We’re really trying to hone in on getting the whole game to that level of polish.”

The news leaves DriveClub as the only major retail release that will be exclusive to the PS4 this Fall, unless another exclusive is revealed at E3.  For comparison’s sake, the Xbox One has Sunset Overdrive confirmed for release, with Quantum Break, a Forza Horizon sequel, and Halo 2 anniversary heavily rumored for release this Fall as well.  For more on the game, check out Gameinformer, PlayStation Blog, and Polygon‘s hand on previews of Ready at Dawn’s game, with even more coming to gamer’s during Sony’s E3 press conference.

by, Bobby Marquardt

Here’s three minutes of new gameplay from The Order: 1886

This afternoon, Sony and Ready at Dawn showed off a small portion of The Order: 1886 today on Twitch.tv, and we got three minutes of direct gameplay.  The footage is of The Order’s third mission, called Inequalities.  We see the Knights engaging the rebels in a shootout across a street in London, with the Knights having far more advanced weaponry.  Galahad, the player, is using a machine gun with thermite ammo, and Lady Igraine is seen using a lightning bolt gun.

In terms of gameplay, it seems to be standard third person cover shooter fare, with limited environmental destructibility.  The graphics and sound design are just phenomenal, and this early capture of the Twitch footage does not do them justice.  The brief clip is likely a small snippet of The Order’s E3 gameplay demonstration that will probably appear during Sony’s E3 press conference.

by, Bobby Marquardt

Sony revises forecasts, expects addition $200 million loss

Sony has revised it’s financial outlook for the past fiscal year, with it’s new numbers forecasting a 130 billion yen ($1.27 billion) loss, up from the previous forecast of 110 billion yen ($1.07 billion).  The additional loss is attributed to a number of factors.  Back in February, Sony exited the PC business, and as such it is writing off millions in components of those computers.  On top of that, the sales of Sony PCs have dropped off after the companies announcement.

Additionally, Sony has seen a decrease in it’s disk manufacturing business.  This decrease is attributed to lower demand for physical media, especially in Europe.  While they did not announce which kinds of physical media, Sony’s gaming division had an incredibly robust year, this decrease is likely attributed to music and movies.  Due to this overall decrease, Sony has had to the fair value of it’s entire disk manufacturing business, with that causing an impairment to Goodwill.

On the bright side, Sony’s gaming division has had a very strong year.  The PS4 exceeded expectations, with it already selling nearly 7 million consoles worldwide.  Sony is doing what it has to to right it’s ship, and gaming seems to be a pillar that the company will continue to build around.

by, Bobby Marquardt

DRIVECLUB finally gets a release date!

DRIVECLUB was originally going to be a PS4 launch title, but was delayed just before release with no reason being given.  Since then the game has gone dark, with little word from Evolution Studios on when the game would be releasing.  Today, that all changes with the above trailer, that reveals that DRIVECLUB will finally release on October 8th, 2014.

While this date is later then previously assumed, it’s good to at least know the project is still being developed for.  While the trailer did not give any indication, I believe the game will still be free for PlayStation Plus users on day one, though it will not include all tracks and cars.  I’m sure we are going to be hearing much more about DRIVECLUB in the coming months though, especially at E3 2014.

by, Bobby Marquardt