E3 2015 - Sony in 500 Words


Also: Microsoft in 500 Words

It was 2am and I was fading fast. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it past the opening montage, let alone stay awake long enough to see Shawn Layden’s strange beard. However, by 3.30am I was wide awake, unable to stop thinking about impossible games come true. Sony owes me a good night’s sleep.

The Last Guardian, straight out the gate. It’s not vapourware, it’s a game and it looks magnificent. I was mesmerised by the way the creature moved and I cannot wait to learn more about how it interacts with the boy. 2016 is a very vague release date, and I do worry about further delays, but TLG is alive and well and Sony has turned a potential disaster, and a long running source of embarrassment, into the toast of E3.

Guerrilla’s new IP, Horizon Zero Dawn, looks great and is a huge departure from their previous work. We can all now stop making jokes about Killzone RPG and look forward to hunting robot dinosaurs in 2016. New Hitman fell flat and I can’t muster much enthusiasm for Street Fighter V. Hello Game’s Sean Murray made sure that we knew exactly what kind of game No Man’s Sky is and successfully demonstrated the breath-taking sense of scale that makes his game so unique. I was disappointed that no release date was offered, especially as I had hoped it would be out this Summer/Autumn.

Media Molecule’s Dreams was the most intriguing game on show. I have so many questions about this project and I do wonder whether other people are going to enjoy experiencing my dreams - they get weird, yo. Firewatch was a game that was mentioned and I have no idea why we are still talking about Destiny nine months later. World of Final Fantasy looks just like the kind of game I’d never play.

And then Sony brought the house down, again, by announcing Final Fantasy VII Remake, coming first to PS4. Those crazy bastards at Square-Enix actually went ahead and did it, and I’m very conflicted about the whole thing. I’m obviously excited but also cautious. Will VII shot through the Advent Children lens please anyone? It’s great the Square-Enix is listening to their fans, but I wouldn’t expect the FFVII you remember. Still, wow!

Next, Sony provided a stage for Yu Suzuki to announce Shenmue 3, a game I would’ve bet a lot of money on never happening. I love the excitement surrounding this announcement, even if I’m not the biggest fan of the series. Once I’d composed myself, I realised Sony had pulled a fast one here, basically just pushing a Kickstarter and putting the onus on the audience to make it happen. Still, good on Sony for pulling it off.

Batman, Morpheus, Call of Duty, montage, something about Star Wars – these all seemed very insignificant following TLG, FFVII and Shenmue 3. Uncharted 4, however, regained my attention and closed the show in style. The technical issues were a bit embarrassing, but that was quickly forgotten once the demo got going. Naughty Dog knows what I like, and they gave me plenty of it here.

Sony should not get a free pass for failing to offer games for 2015, nor for killing off the Vita. However, it’s hard to get mad at them when they made the PS4’s future look so irresistible. Sony delivered, and gave us an E3 presser for the ages. So, pretty good then.

Comments

  1. markheg16 June 2015 at 21:37

    Matt - I was in total shock man! TLG and FF7 all in one conference. not a shenmue fan (never played) but from what i read and peoples reaction that is another huge release. it was already been funded 2 million dollars. I am alittle autos on FF7 too. it is going to be ALONG time till this one comes out too. but glad to finally see TLG. people are talking it down cuz it looks 2010's but that is how team ico's graphic look inn their game. gott say sony won that one last night. they totally dropped the bomb!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. toomanywires17 June 2015 at 06:04

      Hey Mark. Thanks for stopping by.
      I agree that FFVII is probably a long way off. Read sonewhere that SE have only recently started development, so it must be a couple of years away. As for TLG, I'm just glad that it still exists and I can't wait to play it.
      Cheers

      Delete
  2. TripOpt5517 June 2015 at 10:33

    Even though only TLG interests me personally, it was crazy to see it, Shenmue and the FF7 remake all pop up in one conference. It still seems made up. My favorite parts of the show were Uncharted and Horizon. They looked awesome. I am intrigued by Dreams since I love Media Molecule, but am still unsure how it will come together. It was really a hell of a conference.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. toomanywires17 June 2015 at 22:07

      One of TLG, FF and S3 would have been enough, let alone all three! I'm not sure how Sony can top this next year.

      Uncharted 4 and Horizon both looked great, as did No Man's Sky. A bit concerned that we didn't get a release date though. Hope it's not going to take forever to finish

      Cheers

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TGS 2019 - PC Engine Mini Hands-on

Image
"Push run button" Run button? Does it mean press forward? That must be what it means. Hang on, no there is a Run button - how weird. I'd best press that then. I had never played a PC Engine until three days ago, when I spent some time messing about with the Japanese Mini at Konami's booth at Tokyo Game Show. I am assured that the emulation is excellent, being that it comes from developer M2. I can confirm that the games run smoothly, but I have no frame of reference for comparing them to the originals. The system looks tidy, the controller is solid, and the audio, experienced through headphones, is crisp. Despite there being 57 games available, the interface is uncluttered and the option menus are easy to navigate. Now we've got all that out the way, let's get back to my never having played a PC Engine, TurboGrafx-16 or whatever you prefer to call it. The original console has long been a mystery to me. I have no history with it, and don't recall
Read more

It's 2024 and I'm Buying a Nintendo GameCube

Image
Buying a new-to-you retro console is a lovely thing. A complete and well-appraised library ready to be experienced, an array of affordable games, and a wealth of written features, histories and buyer's guides to delve into. You're getting a new piece of hardware to explore, an unfamiliar startup screen to gawk at, and controllers to get to grips with. A new medium via which you can experience, or relive, a time past. A new box to pour some of your passion into. While the Nintendo GameCube isn't quite brand new to me, I've never owned one myself. However, I'm planning on changing that very soon.  Aside from chasing the new-console high, the decision to buy a GameCube was partially inspired by talk of Eternal Darkness a few weeks ago on The Back Page pod. I'm a sucker for historical-timeline-switching, and being that it's only playable on GameCube, Eternal Darkness is the perfect excuse for a console purchase. I was semi-familiar with it beforehand, but not o
Read more

The Massacre at Guthrie Farm

Image
I just wanted to say hello. I was out on my horse, exploring Red Dead Redemption 2 for the first time. I was overwhelmed, unsure of the controls and equally unsure of where to go. I'd just skinned a bison and was combing my horse when I spotted a small farm on the horizon. There will be people there, I thought, and perhaps they'll have some important information for me. At the very least, they'll have something entertaining to say. I slung the bison pelt on the back of my horse, made sure my guns were holstered and headed straight for the farmstead in search of conversation and companionship. I spotted a farmhand working the field a stone's throw from the house. "Howdy partner", I said in my head, in a silly cowboy voice. The middle-aged man took one look at me, shouted something unpleasant, and drew his weapon. What a dick. Turns out Arthur (me) is a wanted man. Earlier that day, I'd unintentionally murdered a travelling salesman. I just wanted
Read more