Thoughts on the Sony E3 2011 presentation

Note: The following thoughts are of Gabriel May’s and are not the overall opinion of Push-Start.

If you want to read an in-depth recap then I urge you to check out Daniel Williamson’s look at Sony’s E3 2011 presentation right here, as he did an impressive job.

Last year Sony delivered a very good (if not great) presentation in E3 2010. There was energy, excitement, and detailed look at games that weren’t a major IP (Sorcery) and some nice surprises (Twisted Metal). It may have started to run out of steam towards then end (until the aforementioned Twisted Metal was revealed) but overall it was a fun press conference. So is this year’s line-up any good or will it simply be the case of business as usual?

Uncharted was up first and well it looks good. I’ll come clean and say I haven’t played the first two Uncharted games so my excitement for this title is neither high nor low. With that said, it did look as we saw Drake sneak around a boat and seemingly get captured but at the last minute get away with a well placed head butt and grenade throw…Of course this also makes the ship go into Titanic mode and we see Drake trying to escape while getting assaulted by falling ship debris. It was a very exciting set piece and should get fans storming their subway to get a taste of the game. The last sentence not make sense? Well (Americans) will be able to get access to the “complete” multiplayer by going to Subway. Jared will be pleased with the results (look at me with my American cultural knowledge). The 3D trailer also looked nice, even in non 3D; Sony didn’t send Push-Start a 3D TV with 3D glasses so we had to make do.

Last year Killzone 3 got the spotlight and now this time Resistance 3 get it’s chance to shine. We didn’t see much (three minutes of ambushing aliens and then trying to get away with a “power core”) so those not convinced with Resistance 3 won’t be swayed here. Around five-eight more minutes of gameplay over different environments would have made Resistance 3 a lot more impressive looking.

There was a brief mention of the God of War PSP games (Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta) as well as ICO & Shadow of the Colossus being remade in HD and 3D for the PlayStation 3. While I can see ICO & Shadow of the Colossus only being given the slightest of mention, I did think Sony dropped the ball on only giving  the God of War 3D+HD remake a passing mention, which is amazing considering that God of War has really helped Sony’s consoles over the many years. A trailer showing Kratos kicking ass and then saying “Now in 3D and HD” would have gone down really well.

If $499 is a price that you would pay for a 24 inch 3D monitor (that comes with 3D glasses, Resistance 3 game and cable) then Sony has you covered. You only need the glasses because optical surgery to see 3D without glasses hasn’t been invented yet? That will cost you a naughty $69.

Anyone can play NBA 2K12, even a basketball player such as Kobe Bryant, who was brought on to demonstrate how using the PlayStation Move for NBA 2K12 – a feature called “NBA on the move” which must have had the staff laughing at their own wittiness – is easy. It looked kinda awkward but I guess with practice your reflexes would improve to quickly be able to select who to pass or have to defend. There’s really no need to talk about the game itself because fans of the series will have pre-ordered it and selected their dream team, while those who aren’t (like me) are wondering how Kobe Bryant demonstrating a Final Fantasy game would go.

Medieval Moves: Deadman’s Quest is up next and it’s from the creators of Sports Champions, which is “the best selling Move game”…Because I remember there was a lot of choice when the PlayStation Move was released. Ahem, anyway Medieval Moves viewpoint reminds me of the Neo Geo game Crossed Swords. As you wield a “bow and throwing-star wielding character who moves through levels (on rails) and must solve light puzzles to progress.” You have no inventory, instead picking up weapons on the go. The levels will have branching paths and secret room where you can stockpile on items. It looks decent but I could only see young children getting a lot of enjoyment out of it while older gamers may get bored of it. That is unless there is a lot of charm in the characters and story to keep the player hooked.

inFAMOUS 2 still looks badass and since I’ve seen so many gameplay videos and demonstrations (including at Eurogamer 2010), I’m willing to let it slide that all we were shown was a kickass trailer. Also since the game is out today (in North America) there was no need for any detailed talk about it, though there was mention that you can also use the PlayStation Move to create missions on inFAMOUS 2, just in case that was what kept you from buying the game.

Oh and you can now do the same for and LittleBigPlanet2, in case that was what…You get the idea.

CG trailer of Starhawk looked interesting but I guess we’ll have to wait till next major video game convention to get a better idea of the game.

How weird is it that I’ve never played ANY of the games, and yet within a few seconds of seeing the trailer, I guess it was to do with Sly Racoon. I just guessed the art style was something Sly Racoon would be associated with.

Dust 514 is from the creators of Eve Online (The MMO choice for scheming champions). What I got from the presentation is that it is a FPS that will be connected to a Eve Online. In other words events that happen in Dust will affect what happens in Eve. It sounds really ambitious and if it works, it will be a huge step forward in the world of MMO (which has gotten pretty stagnant). Judging from the trailer, Dust 514 looks to be a very good FPS itself, as the graphics looked really sharp. This maybe a title to keep an eye on.

Quick look at Bioshock Infinite. Elizabeth still looks hot in a Bioshock way, the game looks to be awesome and it will now support PlayStation Move. Yes that’s right, the main talking point of Bioshock Infinite was not about the game itself but how Irrational Games went from cynic to believers about how the PlayStation Move can enhance the gameplay. I know Irrational games couldn’t really talk about the game itself (multiplatform games don’t get that pleasure on platform specific press conferences) but it was till kind of annoying to see a trailer of the game and then having to hear about why the PlayStation Move is so great. At least say why the Move will make using plasmid powers so awesome dammit. The exclusive bonus of the original game being included is a nice bonus but I do find it funny that BioShock 2 wasn’t included.

Saints Row 3 gets a very small mention. Boo.

Sony got to reveal a new Star Trek film that will tie in with the coming film next year. By the looks of things, it is third person. The footage was pre-alpha so I’ll overlook the rough shape of the graphics displayed in the trailer.

PlayStation 3 next revealed it’s exclusive deals it’s reached with EA, with SSX having an exclusive track down Mt Fuji, Need for Speed: The Run’s exclusive bonus being seven super cars and Battlefield 3 will include a free copy of Battlefield 1947. Will be interesting to see what the Xbox 360 versions offer as an exclusive bonus.

Kazou “Ridge Racer” Harai came on to talk about the NGP…Well he would eventually after the obligatory hardware talk of Sony’s recent consoles. Finally though he unveiled the NGP and straight away Sony make their first mistake for the new portable device by having it renamed to the PS Vita. Yes the NGP is a bit generic and also stands for Neo Geo Pocket, but it also rolled off the tongue and just sounded right. Besides I don’t think many remember the Neo Geo Pocket. Well I’ll get over the name so I’ll stop ranting about it.

Not a surprise to see the portable version of Uncharted being used to show off the PS Vita. But it’s not surprising as it really does look smooth and the option of using touch screen controls combined with traditional controls is a pleasant feature and very well implemented. Plus if you have a phobia of touch screen controls, you can just use the standard controls. The success of the Uncharted franchise looks set to continue.

Street Fighter X Tekken looks fantastic on the PS Vita and the inclusion of Cole MacGrath as a exclusive character may seem like an odd choice at first but seeing him in action (albeit briefly) quickly eliminates any doubt as he looks pretty badass. The fact that it supports cloud-based technology is a nice feature to as is the simple command feature. Hopefully the analog and/or directional pad will be more suited to beat ’em ups then the PSP was.

For more information about the E3 presentation of the PS Vita, click here.

Conclusion: Say what you want about Microsoft but at least they are punctual. Either that or hackers got to Sony again which lead to their delay. Still when the Sony Press conference did finally kick off, we got an enjoyable press conference with some very exciting games announced, as well as more information on the NGP…I mean PS Vita. If there was one huge fault, it was that there was a lack of energy which made this year’s presentation inferior to last year’s. The best example was for the PS Vita, which should have had it’s speakers at least somewhat excited and yet it was quite subdued. Only Yoshinori Ono and to a lesser extent Travis Williams from San Diego Studios gave off some energy and while the PS Move wasn’t as excessively plugged as the Kinect was at Microsoft’s presentation, it still felt it was shoehorned at times. Overall though core and casual gamers were addressed and the PS Vita is looking more attractive with each mentioning. But no Kevin Butler?! What’s up with that Sony?