Sony Round Up

Sony took to the stage 20 minutes late and as their conference started it was clear that they have three key focuses of the coming year: PlayStation Move, The NGP and bringing 3D to everyone. In a structured conference there was little in terms of showing off the games and it was clearly rehearsed several times.

After an apology to users, and thanking them for their support over the PSN outage the games came thick and fast. First game to the plate was Uncharted 3. This felt like watching a move rather than playing a game with the occasional need to take aim to shoot a bad guy. It is also playable in 3D and the full multiplayer will be available in US Subway stores in September! Yes that is correct, Subway.

Resistance 3 – or Resistance 3D as I like to call it was next. Only a short demo showing the start of the game and then skipping forward to an alien firefight were shown all too briefly. My interest was in the Shocking Pink Duelshock and why I don’t have one! Resistance Game Pack #1 was revealed: A copy of the game, PlayStation Move & Navigation controllers, PlayStation Eye and the wii zapper PlayStation Sharpshooter will be available at launch.

Also confirmed for a PS3 HD/3D update include the classics Ico & Shadows Of The Colossus (on one disc) and PSP hit God Of War Origins.

Even more 3D goodness next, in the form of the PlayStation TV. A 24 inch 3D TV that projects 3D images with the aid of Sony’s 3D Active Shutter glasses. Split screen multiplayer is a thing of the past as the left hand image is projected to player one (has to be sitting facing the left of the screen) and like wise for player 2. Resistance Game Bundle #2 is the TV, 2 Pairs of rechargeable 3D glasses, HDMI cable and Resistance 3 all for $499 (expect £500). Not brilliant since a brand new 3DTV can be picked up for £700. However it is Sony quality.

2K Sports and Kobe Bryant took to the stage to show off NBA 2K12 for the PlayStation Move. The premise was to create the most realistic basketball game that even casual gamers can pick up and play. It looks more like a point and click adventure on a basketball court.

Combining Move with 3D was Medieval Moves: Dedmund’s Chest a cartoon adventure where the inventory of weapons was selected by the actions performed by the player. For example reaching over your shoulder and drawing an arrow would bring up the bow. The game was slick however simplicity showed when the puzzles shown were simply solved by hitting a target with an arrow, this was followed by the narriator saying “nice job Jeremy” every 8 seconds!

There was also a new video for inFAMOUS 2 which is out on Friday and the news that Little Big Planet 2 will have a huge update to the level editor in September which means Move levels can now be created! Sly Cooper is coming back from the teaser trailer that was presented to everyone in the auditorium. Dusk 514 will link to the MMORPG game EVE, PlayStation Home, NGP and be Move compatible. This is all well and good but why is there so many FPS games?

A PS Move Phaser peripheral will be included in the new co-operative Star Trek game, and an exclusive PSN prequel will launch ahead of the game next year. Bioshock, SSX and Saint’s row the third will also have PS3 exclusive content. Bioshock’s comes in the form of Bioshock 1 crammed on to the bluray disc with Infinite.

Here she is, the moment we have all been waiting for – The NGP is now officially PlayStation VITA! Personally I think Sony should have kept it as NGP, That had a nice ring to it! It will have a Wifi model retailing for $249/€249/£249 and a 3G +Wifi for $299/€299/£299. AT&T was announced as the people providing the data plan – this was met with a lot of jeers and boos from the audience! I would expect o2 or Vodafone to pick it up in the UK.

Uncharted was back this time in the form of Golden Abyss and looked and ran very smoothly and with a changing control system dependant on how the gamer wanted looks like a title to watch.

Ruin is described as a Social Action Adventure on Vita. What sets this game apart is the ability to play the game on the big screen via The Cloud. You can load the save on to the PS3 and continue the game in fully HD graphics. Wipeout 2048 is also bringing a new way of playing by having multiplayer matches between the hand-held AND the PS3.

ModRacers’s level design was shown, using the touch screen to draw any track that comes to the hand of the player. The touch screen and pad was used to add jumps, dips and change the landscape to create tracks in minutes rather than hours.

Little Big Planet Vita was shown a surprise to see but it made sense for the sensational series to make an appearance. In sackboy’s glory you can import all costumes and stickers from LBP2 and use the Vita in ways that are not possible on the PS3.

Finally, a big surprise in that CAPCOM is bringing Street Fighter x Tekken to Vita and will have Cole as a playable character. A short demo was shown, however it is in very early stages of development and won’t be available until the holidays 2012.

Sony’s press conference went as smoothly as it probably did in rehearsals. There were no major incidents, save for the boos at the AT&T announcement. Little Big Planet Vita was a nice surprise and the graphical capabilities of Uncharted: Golden Abyss was impressive. Sony’s drive to bring 3D to the masses continues with the PlayStation TV, it looks good and dare I say original. However always with the TV and Vita, the price is a problem. The Wifi only Vita is going to be the same price as a PS3! I cannot see people buying a handheld over a HD gaming console with a built in Blu Ray player.