Sony E3 2015 Press Conference Impressions – Sean Capri

So many tears

Microsoft and Sony couldn’t have approached E3 more differently than they did in 2015 and it is all about position. Sony is in first and Microsoft is not. When you have the fastest selling console of all time you don’t have to worry about the little details, like release dates. If you’re in second place, the strategy looks a little different.

At this point, Sony is selling dreams. Actually, Media Molecule will literally be selling Dreams but we don’t know when that or many of these other games will be available. The only release dates presented at this press conference either were already announced or for an expansion pack.

I feel like I’m taking crazy pills! Did nobody else notice that zero new release dates were announced at this conference? Sony doesn’t have time for details like that and apparently nobody cares. But whatever, The Last Guardian is coming out soon. Oh wait, no it isn’t.

Okay, I’m done complaining about the release date situation. Let’s talk about each announcement as if there isn’t a prominent theme running throughout the conference.

The Last Guardian | 2016 | PS4 Exclusive

Doesn’t it seem like The Last Guardian is being developed on Miller’s planet from Interstellar? We are all waiting decades for this game but perhaps time is dilated for Team Ico. Finally, the game has emerged and looks completely engrossing on PlayStation 4. The giant bird-dog. The love and character he/she/it emits demands my locked gaze. I need to know more about this…thing and why or how it has such an unbreakable bond with the boy.

The collaboration is most intriguing. The best instances of cooperative play, either with a live player or AI, typically involve varying sets of strengths and weaknesses between the two players. In the gameplay demo for The Last Guardian, it seems the giant bird-dog (we really need a name for this thing) will be the platform to bring the boy along for a journey featuring enormous landscapes. The dichotomy of big with small will most certainly be a theme throughout The Last Guardian and I cannot wait to see more.

Japanese developers used to have Nintendo for their beautifully artistic visions but ever since Final Fantasy made the jump back in 1997, PlayStation has been the destination for otherworldly masterpieces like The Last Guardian. This presentation is bigger than the game alone. This was a statement for the types of experiences you find on PlayStation 4 and there were a few of those this conference…

Horizon: Zero Dawn | No date | PS4 Exclusive

And the award for the Best Game with the Worst Name goes to Horizon: Zero Dawn, a new “franchise” from Guerrilla Games. Later to be described as post-post-apocalyptic, this game stars a Lara-influenced bow-and-arrow-armed female protagonist in a world rising from armageddon. The reveal uses a clever misdirect and begins with caveman-like etches and murals leading me to think we’re in for something prehistoric.

The premise of tribes colonizing a world with our technology archived beneath layers of life and foliage is something I hope can offer plenty of unique story-telling opportunities. The narration says “the stories don’t tell where the old ones went, they don’t tell us why the machines rule these lands, but they warn us this balance cannot last.” This single line opens the whole thing up for conjecture which will surely be a key mechanic in the game. Are the machines actually people with transferred consciousness? Robots wouldn’t necessarily need the amenities we do…

Of course the action looked tight and powerful. There’s something about an arrow with explosive tips that simply demands to be shot at giant robot dinosaurs – which I’m calling robosaurs.

In my review of the Microsoft conference, I mentioned my yearning for another “Gears of War moment.” One that forces you to consciously close your mouth because the world, the vision, and the visuals, of the game are so jaw-dropping. This was it. Horizon: Zero Dawn easily made it on to my pre-order list.

Hitman | No date | Exclusive content

A stylish CG trailer for the new Hitman game is really all we get here. This appears to be a reboot with no title or numerical suffix to indicate a traditional sequel. We learn PS4 players will be first to play the beta (with a pre-order) and have access to exclusive missions.

This is filler.

Street Fighter V | No date | PS4 Console Exclusive

The nine year old in me is really excited for Street Fighter V but because I haven’t dedicated much time into fighting games over the past twenty years, this one hits my radar only from a nostalgic perspective.

A shiny trailer introduces us to new character Birdie and returning challenger Cammy for those keeping track. I may not be playing these games much  but everyone knows Street Fighter is one of, if not the, leading games in the genre. That alone makes the news of the PS4-exclusive beta through a pre-order perk starting July 23, 2015 and its console exclusivity a big deal. Microsoft has Killer Instinct and Sony has, arguably, the better exclusive.

No Man’s Sky | No date | Ambiguous Exclusivity

You don’t have to be told No Man’s Sky is a game developed by a few friends when Sean Murray from Hello Games appears. Everything up until this point is very polished and practiced. Almost as if mocking the time and energy investment that goes into Triple A presentations (and maybe development?), Murray grabs a controller, shows a glimpse of space combat and chooses a planet to land on, completely at random. Not a single person, not the audience nor the presenter, knows what will happen next.

While everyone is wondering what this game is about, this brave move allows Sean Murray to introduce us to the most important game mechanic in No Man’s Sky: discovery. Normally, I turn my nose at something so vague and vast because I like to finish games. We were able to share this sense of discovery with the guy who made the game. His reactions were infectious like when he dove under water and cried out “fish! There’s fish!”

No Man’s Sky is an infinite game put together by finite team facing immeasurable expectations. I’m sure it will be fine.

Dreams | No date | PS4 Exclusive

This could not have gone any more differently than what I expected from Media Molecule but now that I know what the Little Big Planet is working on, I can imagine nothing else. Dreams continues the create/play/share foundation that Media Molecule so famously developed last generation.

Integrating the motion controls from the Dual Shock 4, Dreams will allow players to sculpt and create anything they want. The look and feel are what you might expect from Media Molecule and hopefully for this team, the success of Little Big Planet will carry some momentum from fans to help this game sell. Because Project Spark was a similar idea and it did not do well.

Super Mario Maker has Mario and Little Big Planet has Sackboy. Dreams is going to need something cute or at the very least, identifiable, for it to sell.

Firewatch | No date | Console debut

Self-proclaimed “small but scrappy video game studio” Campo Santo presented one of the more palatable games in Sony’s line up. You play as a man’s man forest fire lookout with a walkie-talkie connecting your supervisor. There seems to be an interesting relationship between the two characters. My guess is she’s probably the one behind everything that happens to you.

Destiny: The Taken King | September 15, 2015 | Exclusive content

Adam Boyes celebrates 2014 launch and reminds me this was the game that got me excited about PlayStation 4. I have since moved on but learn I might be in the minority as Boyes goes on to say that 20 million people have played Destiny! Luckly for Boyes, he doesn’t have to utter the fine print that this number is across all platforms.

As somebody who’s walked away from Destiny, this trailer did a nice job to make me consider jumping back in through an enticing voice over.

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate | October 23, 2015 | Cross-platform

Assassin’s Creed games sell like mad each and every year. So this spot was clearly for someone – just not me. Although I have to admit, the twin characters offerings two variants on game play looks interesting. 

World of Final Fantasy | 2016 | Console Exclusive

Right before the conference, a rumour was going around that a remastered Final Fantasy 7 would be announced. Sony capitalizes on this as Adam Boyes purposefully begins with “Final Fantasy has had a long history on PlayStation.” The crowd is tickled.

It isn’t Final Fantasy 7 though. The last time fans were trolled like this, we learned the Final Fantasy 7 PC port would be available on PS4 and that was it. This time would be different but we’ll get to that in a second.

Set in Grimwar, World of Final Fantasy features characters from the…err…world of Final Fantasy but in a ridiculously cute art style. Little bodies, big heads, giant eyes. If this doesn’t make you go “aww” then stop reading this and go find your soul.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake | No date | Console debut

“By popular demand we have very special treat for everyone.”

We all thought we knew what Adam Boyes was talking about. Then a CG trailer launched and didn’t seem to show anything terribly familiar. The music was more like Jaws or Halloween, the setting could have been anywhere, and the voice over was creepily ambiguous:

“Long ago, we looked up on a foreboding sky. The memory of the star that threatened all burns eternal in our hearts. In its wake came an age of silence. Yet with each fond remembrance, those encountered were not forgotten. That someday we would see them again. Perhaps, it was no more than wishful thinking. But after the long calm, there are now the beginnings of a stir. The reunion at hand may bring joy, it may bring fear, but let us embrace whatever it brings. For they are coming back. at last, the promise has been made.”

At this point, there is no doubt. Cloud’s Buster Sword. The Final Fantasy 7 logo. Remake.

This should have closed Sony’s conference. Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a mic drop moment. Now, somebody has to awkwardly pick the mic back up and move on to some indie games. It isn’t yet clear how this project is going to be executed but Square Enix needs to do is reconstruct the character models and I would be happy. Yet, I know (read: don’t know but hope) its going to be much more than that! Voice acting, high definition Summons, and maybe even an orchestral soundtrack. Giving Final Fantasy 7 the full modern makeover has to be  more than just a visual upgrade.

And with that, let the hype and expectations ignite like the snake fireworks in South Park: ugly, endless, and destructive.

Devolver Digital | No dates | Console debut

Ronin: Looks like Guacamelee plus Super Time Force and Mark of the Ninja, with a little Hotline Miami?

Eitr: Low-fi Diablo?

Mother Russia Bleeds: Super violent beat-em-up? looks awesome!

Crossing Souls: I just have no idea what that game is.

Shenmue 3 | No date | Console Exclusive

The Last Guardian alone would have been enough. Then Final Fantasy 7. And now this.

The only thing more shocking than the Shenmue 3 announcement would have been that Sony is releasing a special edition Dreamcast console along with it! Who in their right mind saw this one coming? Sure the arrangement is weird and makes everyone question the whole crowdfunding thing but the bottom line is enough people (at this point, 43,000 backers) were excited about Shenmue 3 to give Yu Suzuki and his team $3.4 million!

Batman: Arkham Knight | June 23, 2015 | Exclusive content

 

Rocksteady will have no trouble selling millions of copies and likely would have even without a presence at E3.

This spot was all about owning something Sony doesn’t own. Batman: Arkham Knight is one of, if not the first, now-gen exclusive game that is posed to erase any buyers remorse that may be lingering around the early adopter community. At the expense of a few marketing dollars and a couple minutes on PlayStation’s stage at E3, this is a case study on Sony partnering with powerfully popular games

Scarecrow is easily the best part of the Arkham games and the PS4 version will have exclusive Nightmare missions. Even with a strong demo, I didn’t need to see any of this to convince me to buy the game. I rarely say this with such certainty but Batman: Arkham Knight is going to be amazing.

Just a question about the trailer though. Does scarecrow make a cop shoot up a diner? This game is going to be DARK!

Project Morpheus | No date

I really did not expect Sony to spend so much time on games. Prior to the conference, it seemed there wouldn’t be too much to talk about. This led me to believe an inordinate number of minutes would be spent on the ancillary. Without the ability to demonstrate the wow factor in VR like Microsoft did with AR and the HoloLens, Sony opted to give a brief update on Project Morpheus. Sometimes the best way to speak to a PlayStation audience is to do the opposite of what Microsoft is doing.

Clearly Sony is taking an alternate angle with VR as Andrew House focused on multiplayer and couch co-op opportunities with virtual reality. Sharing a virtual space with friends seems to be the direction Sony is going. With only a few frames to observe, Rigs from Guerrilla Cambridge appears to be a mech combat game specifically designed for Project Morpheus. And that’s really all we heard about it.

PlayStation Music and Vue

After a quick highlight on Sony’s new partnership with Spotify, Andrew House is on point talking about PlayStation Vue. Whereas Microsoft started the next-gen conversation with TV, Sony is now well established with gamers and well-poised to begin introducing ancillary services like PlayStation Vue. Whether it is through cable or otherwise, there will always be a need for live content and Sony is addressing one of the main concerns for cable cutters by offering a la carte-style channel purchasing without bundle requirements.

Understanding its San Francisco and Los Angeles-centric audience, at least in the room, House proudly announced PlayStation Vue would be coming to those markets in addition to New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia.

Easily one of Sony’s most popular subscription services, PlayStation Plus, is what ties it all together. Subscribers can sign up for PlayStation Vue at discounted rates. If nothing else, this simply enhances the brand of PlayStation Plus and uses it to leverage the adoption of another Sony service.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 | November 6, 2015 | Early access content

Sometimes it is hard to know what we don’t already know about Call of Duty, isn’t it? This series has its own life source and hardly requires even a moment at E3 to sell copies. Like so many other third-party cross-platform games, the presence of Call of Duty on Sony’s stage is purely symbolic.

To me, it’s nothing short of refreshing. It means Microsoft and Sony have something new to talk about and anything that shakes up the cookie cutter format is well-welcomed.

To Sony it represents a new era and proclaims PlayStation as the “new home for Call of Duty.”

For the rest of us who don’t really care which conference it shows up at, the best part was hearing about the four-player campaign co-op mode.  Mark Lamia, the ultimate dude-bro from Treyarch, almost utters under his breath that this mode is only on next-gen, as if trying to dodge the criticism that Black Ops 3 is not built exclusively for now-gen consoles.

The spot closes with Andrew House announcing that PlayStation players will be first to play the multiplayer beta for Black Ops 3 in August.

And as a final shot to anyone who thinks this partnership is temporary or could flake back to Microsoft, Andrew House made sure to mention that PlayStation players will have early access to all map packs from every Call of Duty game from now on.

Splash trailer of new games coming to PlayStation

Final Fantasy 7, Metal Gear Solid V, Hitman, Uncharted 4, Assassin’s Creed, Batman: Arkham Knight, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Destiny, Uncharted Collection, God of War, Firewatch, Street Fighter, Horizon: Zero Dawn, No Man’s Sky, The Last Guardian, Until Dawn gets a second more, PS Vita with Persona‘s Teddy and a few indies, Tearaway, Tony Hawk, World of Final Fantasy, Star Wars Battlefront, Rachet and Clank, and a few others each get a few microseconds.

Seems like a weird time for this trailer and feels like filler.

Star Wars: Battlefront, just kidding Disney Infinity 3.0 | No date | Exclusive content

Before we begin with this one, every single person thought the next game was going to be Star Wars: Battlefront. Those guys and gals at Sony…they’re tricksy.

“Star Wars will join FORCES with Disney, Pixar, aaaand Marvel.” John Vignocchi is so Disney it would be unbearable if I wasn’t so jealous of his job.

He tells us there’s lots to spend our money on this year including Star Wars: Twilight of the Republic and Star Wars: Rise Against the Empire, two sets of figures and playsets for Disney Infinity 3.0.

The Limted Edition Dinsey Infinity 3.0 Starter Pack is exclusive to PlayStation, much like last year’s entry, and will include the two playsets and figures a month before being available anywhere else. This seems to be a hollow attempt to make PlayStation 4 kid-friendly. Not that I’d expect Sony to spend any more time speaking to this audience but more than anything else in the presentation, this felt out of place.

Then I realize this isn’t for kids as Vignocchi pulls the whole “oh, by the way” and announces Boba Fett is a Holiday Exclusive and included in the Limited Edition Saga Starter Pack. Kids don’t care about Boba Fett. Collectors do though.

Touché, Sony.

Star Wars: Battlefront | November 17, 2015 | Cross-platform

As far as visuals go, Star Wars: Battlefront is the best looking game from E3 this year. There. I said it. The explosions, lasers, and spark effects – and we’ve  heard this from games that haven’t aged well – are so lifelike its hard to tell they are rendered in-game. What impressed me most were the character animations. Everything seemed so real as if being filmed…with a film camera!

Sure, there is no campaign in the traditional sense but DICE made a concerted effort to address the audience who might be interested in playing but isn’t too crazy about competitive multiplayer. If nothing else, these modes will help us ease into how the game works and feels. We learned about the plainly named “Battles” and “Hero Battles” where you or you and a friend go head-to-head supported by AI players. Trials is basically a training mode to help refine your skills. Finally, there’s “Survival” which appears similar to Horde made famous by Gears of War 2.

When I played the original Star Wars: Battlefront on Xbox, we had just moved to cable internet so my experience playing online was limited at best. So the inclusion of these modes excites me because that is mostly how I played two console generations ago.

For anyone who’s been waiting for that game to show off to your friends, this is it.

Uncharted 4: A Theif’s End | No date | PS4 Exclusive

Similarly to Microsoft’s conference, Sony had a poor ending to an otherwise strong conference. I’m not talking about the awkward controller glitch.

Just like with Gears 4, I wanted to know more about the story. Where is Nate? At one point, Sully says “we can never come back” and I’m thinking, where? Instead of showing what is different about this new game, Sony only showed us what’s the same. And my comment from Gears holds true here. If you told me that was Uncharted 3 remastered, I would have believed you and that’s not a good thing.

When Drake crashes through some debris, not only does the demo end, the entire conference is over. This just seemed lazy. There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance and Sony doesn’t seem to be putting much effort into making me care about Uncharted 4. But at least Microsoft did the same thing.

Final verdict

It is being called the trifecta of the Sony conference: The Last Guardian, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, and Shenmue 3. Three shocking announcements that has sent the gaming world into a tizzy. Tears were shed. Hugs were shared. All things in life were forgotten. Now 20 years old, PlayStation is in a a sweet spot, where new games are thrilling and sexy and a dense catalog of classic titles has a powerful ability to cast nostalgia magic upon all of us. Anyone who identifies with this will be the same person to tell you Sony had the best conference. While I can observe this, I am not one of those people.

Let me reiterate: zero new release dates for anything but an expansion pack. In 90 minutes, we learned Destiny will release more content on September 15. We already knew about Batman, Assassin’s Creed, and Star Wars: Battlefront. The next best thing was Disney Infinity 3.0 “this fall.”

Sony had a strong conference with many excitable announcements. Even so, the egregious lack of urgency shows a failure of foresight and a sense of egotism reminiscent of the PS3 launch.   This is an exciting time for the PlayStation 4 and all its fans but gamers are a scornful bunch and our trust is not earned lightly. And it is fragile.