So another conference, Gamescom, and now another person to dissect what we saw. No need to throw jabs at either side, because Sony threw enough for all of us. Again!
Who won? That argument can be left up to the message boards and nerds on Twitter.
I’m Robby Steltenpohl. A writer for Wethenerdy.com. I am a former employee of Game Stop (7 years) and have about 24 years of gaming under my belt. Me and fellow writer Brenton Conlan have taken it upon ourselves to break down Gamescom. Let us begin …
Release Date
Finally! The wait is over. We have a release date for one of our coveted game consoles. Friday November 15th! I like the date. I wanted it to be earlier, so it could release with Assassin’s Creed 4 or even Battlefield 4 but I’ll take it. It allows Sony to be completely prepared for the weeks before Christmas. This date allows stores and websites to sell out day 1 or 2 and then be restocked by Black Friday. I do believe this date is significant because it completely blows away the doubters, who thought Sony couldn’t get the product out by Christmas. It was essentially a wink at Microsoft with a sexy … “Your move.”
Vita
Depending on who you speak to, many believe that the Vita is a dying product. I mean can you blame them? Super pricy, not too many great games, and not a lot of the remote play that we were promised for the Playstation 3. I give a nod to those that point to those arguments, but then I show them today’s showcase. Sony made a clear statement, “Our Vita is awesome and it’s hear to stay.” I witnessed Sony show us new games, remote play announcements, and most importantly, a price drop.
Games
We got announcements of games coming for the Vita. Most of these are independent developers, which has been a huge focus of Sony moving forward. The games are: Helldivers, made by Arrowhead Game Studios. These guys made Magicka, which is a pretty fun game and enjoyable by most that play it. It looks like Starship Troopers, honestly. I hope we get to see Rico! Next we have, Volume. This game is coming from Mike “Thomas was Alone” Bithell. It looks like a game that will let players create, mix, and share your own game worlds online. That’s all we have at this point. It should be another solid game. It’s also a Vita and PS4 exclusive. A few other titles coming out for Vita are action platformer Starbound, the awesome game Fez, and Velocity 2X. The biggest news about games has to be the announcement that Borderlands 2 is coming to Vita. This news probably sent many gamers straight to stores saying, “Take my money!” The critically acclaimed shooter RPG is coming to Vita. That was some great news to hear. Sony made a battle cry for their gaming handheld and let me tell ya, I loved every second.
Price Drop
The news that both Vitas, 3G/Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi only, are now $200. WOW! This was not a shock to anyone, but it was big news for most people waiting to buy one. This past Sunday many retailers had this price already set, what made it look like a special sale. In reality, it was dreams coming true for many people. This was also big for Sony because they have been pushing the remote play heavily. Heck, we even saw some of it today for Killzone. It was great! If the Vita can be used for “most” games like they’ve said, this could open up some great options for gamers.
I was overly impressed with Sony today. They have always shown well at Gamescom and that held true today. I got everything I wanted and more. My grade for Sony today is A-
If you’d like to watch the Conference, please check out the embedded video below.
There were many other announcements and games shown but that is for another person to cover. Brenton will be bringing you the rest of the Sony conference. Look for Sony Gamescom Impressions Part 2 coming later today!
