E3 2014 Recap: Sony/PlayStation
Didn’t catch the Playstation press conference? Here’s everything that went down.
Before the festivities began a few small announcements were made. Mortal Kombat X was shown and given a 2015 release. Kingdom hearts 2.5 is getting remastered and will launch December 2, 2014. Although no footage was shown, a small teaser mentioned that Kingdom Hearts 3 is currently in development.
To start the show, a beautiful Destiny video was shown, going over the story of the game.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6RZlKWkTyg&w=560&h=315]
Andrew House then took the stage and welcomed everyone to the event. Focusing on Destiny, he announced that the open beta would start on July 17th. For the lucky ones, the alpha starts this Thursday. Playstation was definitely trying to flex their muscles, mentioning that the Destiny experience would be enhanced on PS4 due to early betas and additional exclusive content. This thought was further established with the announcement of the white PS4 bundle, being released on September 9th.
Next came gameplay footage for The Order: 1886, a new PS4 exclusive. The game is being developed by Ready At Dawn
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4haT64zEZXc&w=560&h=315]
Following the video, Playstation changed the pace by showing gameplay for a new game called Entwined. The player controls both souls at the same time, using one analog stick for each. Entwined was released that moment and costs $9.99.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv5SEynpCWQ&w=560&h=315]
Scott Pohde took the stage next to announce Imfamous Second Son: First Light. The content is stand alone DLC and does not require owning Imfamous Second Son, however will deliver bonus content if the user has both. The DLC will be released in August.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpS-oadeewo&w=560&h=315]
Immediately following the video, came the announcement of Little Big Planet 3, complete with a full gameplay demonstration. The game will have a new co-op mode and can seamlessly access user created levels from Little Big Planet 1 and 2. Little Big Planet will be coming out this November.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymCDdrMKPrY&w=560&h=315]
Shuhei Yoshida made his annual E3 appearance, sporting a new Playstation exclusive. Developed by From Software and directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, Bloodborne will be arriving in 2015.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G203e1HhixY&w=560&h=315]
Alex Hutchinson took the reigns next, showing up with some fresh Far Cry 4 gameplay. The gameplay showed off new equipment and weapons and used the new co-op mode to take down a enemy base. It’s also worth noting that players don’t need to have the game to join a friend’s co-op mission.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMW_UCvqbsI&w=560&h=315]
Adam Boyes, VP of Publisher and Developer Relations had quite a bit of stage time, kicking off his stay with the announcement of Dead Island 2. While the game will be coming out on Xbox One and PC as well, PS4 will additionally have a 30 day beta.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST262ZbNcos&w=560&h=315]
Disney Infinite got a shout out, as PS4 will have exclusive access to 6 Marvel characters.
After that, the tone downshifted for a bit as arcade games got some time in the spotlight. Paradox Interactive showed off a pretty funny trailer, in support of their new game: Magicka 2.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDj6bjvDiY0&w=560&h=315]
Like Xbox, Playstation also had a cult classic remake. Tim Schafer’s Grim Fandango will be coming to PS4 and Vita in the near future.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG2wFVfi5Rw&w=560&h=315]
Bringing in a slew of games was Devolver Digital. Games will be available on PS4, PS3, and Vita.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED8mnRErMlc&w=560&h=315]
Accompanied with a brutal trailer, Let It Die took the stage as a new PS4 exclusive.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0t3ajWCT8U&w=560&h=315]
Giant Squid, the creators of Journey, debuted their new game ABZU. The translation literally means water to know. The studio must take it’s name seriously as the character spend most of his/her time swimming around giant fish.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=403DsARZqoo&w=560&h=315]
A game that I’m still impressed by is No Man’s Sky. Created by the four man studio of Hello Games, players are put into an infinite, ever expanding universe. Additionally, every player starts on his own, new planet.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLtmEjqzg7M&w=560&h=315]
Since Sony is such a huge company, there was more then just games to talk about. Andrew House came back on to talk about Morpheus and how it was set up at E3 booths. Shawn Layden followed announcing YouTube would be on PS4 this summer, adding to the possibilities of video capture. Free to play reared it’s head in the presentation, showing that Playstation wasn’t afraid the idea, which normally isn’t seen on consoles.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8Mr2u7sf5s&w=560&h=315]
July 31st marks the date of the open beta of PSNow, coming to PS3, Vita, and select Sony smart TVs shortly after. 100 PS3 game will be available to play in the beta.
For hardware, PSTV will be launching in the fall for $99. This will allow users to access their PS4 on a television in the house unconnected to the system.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PScLl0vUDjY&w=560&h=315]
Seeing that Sony is so large of a company, they can also do original movies and shows. While there won’t be a new Ratchet and Clank game, there will be a movie coinciding with the re-release of the first game.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Y_cY_miDxo&w=560&h=315]
Brian Micheal Bendis’ Power comic book will be turned into a PS exclusive show. Going by the same name as the comic, Power’s first episode will be free, with the entire season being free for Playstation Plus users.
The Last of Us got even prettier thanks to the remastered version coming July 29th. Additionally Last of Us villains can be fought in the PS4 version of Diablo 3.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaOWRvmtEFQ&w=560&h=315]
As expected Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain debuted a fancy new trailer for the world. No release date was stated, but the game looks better every time we see it.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfn4UBmhfAM&w=560&h=315]
Although this was previously unknown, GTAV being released on PS4, Xbox One. and PC this fall was somewhat of a no-brainer.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWzV0AFXukI&w=560&h=315]
Rocksteady and Warner Brothers came in next with gameplay for Batman Arkham Knight. Not only was Batman seen beating up bad guys, but the batmobile also made it’s debut in both forms. Footage was cut short, as Scarecow came in and disrupted the broadcast. Nightmare missions will only be available on the PS4 version of the game.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCcKyxX15e4&w=560&h=315]
Finally, the show wrapped up with the announcement trailer for Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Rx-Bbht5E&w=560&h=315]
Ton’s of awesome stuff announced here. Plenty of games, new hardware and even a movie and show. It’s also worth noting that Vita was given some love and has over 100 games in development for it.