With no show-stopping Uncharted demo at E3 this year to whip the eager young mob of journos into a frenzy at its press conference, Sony is going to have to pull something else out of the bag to impress.
With Vita only recently launched, and with analysts already predicting that it will fall short of its sales targets, there’s a good chance that a decent chunk of that press conference will be used to try and convince gamers that the gaming handheld is worthy of a purchase. But, we can also expect a number of new PS3 game announcements and more details on the titles that we already know are coming.
Here’s what we expect to see, and predict, from Sony at E3 this year…
The PS3 exclusives are coming to town…
– Naughty Dog’s The Last Of Us will steal the show with cinematic gameplay footage and live demo that wows the audience. The gameplay demo will pick up following the Truck Ambush trailer that has just been released.
– An extended trailer of God Of War Ascension will be revealed and further new gameplay features will be uncovered. The focus will largely be on the new multiplayer.
– We’ll see more in-depth footage of LittleBigPlanet Karting and learn about the ridiculously in-depth customisation options. Once again we’ll hear the "Play, Create, Share" motto echoing around the Convention Center.
– PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale new characters will be revealed including SackBoy, Nariko, Solid Snake, Princess Yorda from Ico, Cole from Infamous,and Nathan Drake
– CCP, the developer of PlayStation 3-exclusive DUST 514, will confirm that the open beta test of its MMOFPS will kick off in June. A release date will also be confirmed.
– A teaser for Killzone 4
– At GDC earlier this year Heavy Rain creator Quantic Dream showcased a new tech demo running in realtime on PlayStation 3 and confirmed that the technology would be used in an unannounced PS3 game. This will revealed at E3 and confirmed for release in 2013. We’ll only get to see a brief trailer, but it looks just as good as that magnificent Kara demo.
– Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time release date revealed
– New coloured PS3 models for North America and Europe
– 3D gaming is pimped once again and the Sony 3D TV, announced at GamesCom, gets a price drop
It’s all about the Vita…
– We know a lot of people who want to see a Vita price-drop, but this won’t happen during E3. Sony will instead focus on why people should buy it.
– Monster Hunter, Call Of Duty, Killzone, Grand Theft Auto, Resident Evil, Assassin’s Creed (exclusive spin-off) and God Of War ports confirmed
– PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and LittleBigPlanet karting ports confirmed with cross-platform play
– A couple of new IPs revealed with a focus on fun and Vita’s various control schemes
– Classic PlayStation range announced with Vita owners able to download the games from immediate effect
– Remote Play functionality is going to get better with confirmation of more compatible games
– New apps showcased including the already seen Paint Park, Treasure Park and Wake Up Club (what the hell is that all about?). YouTube app confirmed
Move along, there’s nothing to see here, or is there?
– Sony’s last push to make Move a peripheral that’s worth dusting off, so we expect it to confirm that a host of core titles will utilise the motion-sensing tech over the next year. People will yawn.
Possibly?
– A new Uncharted. Oh yeah? This is actually quite possible. There’s still time for one more Uncharted before the PS3 bows out! And what a way it would be to go.
– Announcement of the PS4? This surely would have leaked by now, but wouldn’t it be a great time to announce the new console, especially if Microsoft doesn’t announce the Xbox 720.
-Diablo port confirmed as PS3 exclusive. We want it, it’s been hinted at, though we actually doubt it will be announced quite yet.
We’d love to hear your predictions and expectations, so please do join us in the forums.
We’re excited this year to be at E3 in force, so stay tuned for all the latest news and hands-on with the latest titles from the world’s biggest names.