E3 2012 Overview - Sony

After Microsoft's mediocre showing, it was Sony's turn to flex their muscle, was there enough to impress gamers across the globe?

As usual, Sony started off with the usual thank you to PlayStation fans, and then pushed ahead with the unveiling of Quantic Dream's (Heavy Rain Producers)new IP, entitled Beyond: Two Souls. Beyond looked impressive with great visuals and a great lead character in Jodie Holmes. Her face was almost instantly recognisable as the character is played by Ellen Page. A big scoop by Quantic Dream and a blow to Naughty Dog as will be discussed further along this article.  A cut scene showing Holmes being interrogated by Policeman and then showing her using telekinetic powers by moving a coffee cup and smashing it against the wall. Nothing was given away in terms of gameplay, will it have the same gameplay style as Heavy Rain? Quantic Dream's head David Cage promises that this will be the first time in a video game that you will be "living the life of the character". What does that mean? Will it be as immersive as Heavy Rain was?

Things then got a little less serious, moving onto PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. For those in the unknown, this is Sony's version of Nintendo's highly successful hit, Super Smash Bros, which pit many of Sony's famous faces into one game to slug it out. Characters such as Kratos and Sly Cooper from PlayStation's history are in there, while two more characters were announced at the conference, in the forms of Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series and Big Daddy from Bioshock. Sony also showed off the cross platform capability of the PS3 and PS Vita, allowing PS3 players to play with PS Vita owners and vice versa.

Speaking of the PS Vita, Sony decided to leave the Vita out of the spotlight with only brief mentions of cross platform play, announcement of indie games and a new Assassins Creed bundle. The big announcement from the Vita being a new Call of Duty game in the form of Black Ops:Declassified.

Playstation Move did not get left out, with the unveiling of Wonderbook. Wonderbook utilises AR technology by bringing books to life. Working with many authors across the world, Sony claimed that Wonderbook will reinvent story books. A collaboration with the one of the most popular; JK Rowling is not a bad opening statement for Wonderbook with the Rowling's first book "Book of Spells" to be the first title for the Wonderbook. A demo on stage showed being able to learn and cast spells in front of their TVs and see them come to life.

Sony ended strongly by showing off two of their biggest upcoming titles, first up was God of War: Ascension. Ascension will be a prequel to the first three games. The demo shown had great visuals and as expected from God of War games, massive action sequences and even bigger bosses. With a March 2013 release date, it looks like Sony has a massive hit already planned for the next year.

Ending the show was the highlight from last year's conference, The Last of Us. From Naughty Dog the creators of the Uncharted series, The Last of Us follows Joel and Ellie, two survivors of an as yet unknown apocalypse which destroys Pittsburgh. As mentioned earlier in the article, Naughty Dog has changed the look of their main character. Although Naughty Dog deny that it is because Ellen Page's likeness is being used by Quantic Dream and that they wanted the character to look like the actress who was playing Ellie instead. hmmmm... As with all the games on show in the Sony conference, visuals were superb and Uncharted style game play was prominent, but the violence on this was raised to the max. The game has a very gritty and hardcore style to it which is the main difference from Uncharted, with graphic scenes like the man being shot with a shotgun and an enemy being set on fire with a Molotov showed a move away from the Uncharted tone.

Unlike Microsoft, Sony did not dwell on non-gaming issues. Much emphasis was placed on what was going to appeal to the people watch the conference, the games. Games are what keep people at E3 on their toes and excited. But the severe lack of Vita coverage was disappointing and could be reflecting the lack of success it has had so far in its short life.
The same can not be said about the PS3, with great games like The Last of Us, Beyond:Two Souls and God of War coming soon it could be a great year for PlayStation fans and a fairly successful E3 for the Japanese technology giants.


Next up will be my analysis of Nintendo's E3 showing. With much riding on the Wii U, will it deliver or will it leave gamers disappointed?

Feel free to leave comments below!

E3 2012 overview - Pre E3 and Microsoft Conference

With the dust settling after another intriguing E3 show, it is time to have a look back at the events and happenings from a interesting couple of days in sunny Los Angeles.

The fun started pre- E3 on the Sunday, with Nintendo having an online only stream to showcase their new console, the Wii U. With many expecting more information to be shared by the big N, we were given a sneak peek of what the new console would offer. First off the bat, was Miiverse. Miiverse is Nintendo's big social network where players are able to communicate with fellow gamers using the Wii U gamepad. Miis will gather around icons of the most popular games and enable players to find others and/or friends who have similar game tastes. You will be able to send text messages as well as images, screenshots and even in game tips to friends all across the world.

As with tradition now, Microsoft kicked off the week with their press conference. With many rumours swirling around, would Microsoft show off their next generation console? The answer was No, instead of looking to the future, they looked to the present, but more specifically Kinect. Much of the conference was revolving around Kinect and the many new uses it would have. Gaming wise, EA Sports showed Kinect usage for Madden 13 and surprisingly Fifa 13 while there was some useage in the "Need for Speed"esque Forza Horizon.

But Microsoft's big highlight for Kinect was its partnership with the biggest sports brand in the world; Nike. Nike Plus Kinect Training allows people to find other people online to work out with as well as compare fitness stats with. Not the most interesting thing to announce at a games convention right?

Making this even more like CES than E3, Microsoft showed off SmartGlass. Smartglass is the new technology which enables the use of a tablet as a companion to the TV. The example given was setting up plays in Madden 13. The tablet contained a playbook which the players could use to select plays while the TV showed the action. Sound very similar to another console mentioned previously?
The non gaming presentations continued with the announcement of IE9 coming to the Xbox 360. A browser is finally coming to the Xbox 360 but is it really what gamers want to hear?


Finally moving back to the gaming part of the presentation were demos of Tomb Raider,Resident Evil 6 and kicking off with Halo 4, with the latter two having timed exclusive content for the Xbox 360. Major coups for Microsoft as the two mentioned games are two of the biggest gaming franchises. With teasers for new indie games on the XBLA in the form of Lococycle and Matter showed that Microsoft did have some games up their sleeves.

A highlight of the conference was the introduction of the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone to show off a new South Park titled: South Park: The Stick of Truth which puts you into the shoes of a new kid who has just moved to small town. Not much else was shown but seemed to be a sort of MMO.

Ending the conference was a demo of Black Ops 2, showing off some new guns and showing diversity in the single player mode where players are able to choose between two decisions which could lead to different consequences. Cool highlights included a remote controlled hovering drone and a sort of x-ray sniper rifle.

With so much emphasis on Kinect and not so much on games Microsoft put up a pretty weak showing, but were able to boast timed exclusives for two major titles and showed off the new entry in the Halo franchise. Was it enough to "win" E3?  Find out my views on the two other major conferences later on to find out my verdict.