E3 2012 Press Conference Summary: Sony

Thanks to everyone who commented on my Facebook feed as I streamed information live as it happened. This is something new I wanted to try out, and aside from blowing up everyone's news feed, I feel like it went well.  I would like to take a few posts to summarize some of the information gathered from the E3 press conferences primarily for Sony and Nintendo, with more details than I included in the Facebook posts. These articles won't cover EVERYTHING in the conferences, but I'm going to focus more on the games and products that are announced. So without further ado, the Sony press conference.

Sony came out of the gate strong by introducing their new project done by Quantic Dream.  For those of you who don't know Quantic Dream, their track record of games include The Indigo Prophecy and Heavy Rain, both games that are held in very high regard to the gaming community.  The new game is called Beyond: Two Souls, and we follow the story of a girl through 15 years of her life.  The twist is, she is allied, or at least accompanied by a spectre or spirit of sorts. Something between this life and the next. The good people at Quantic Dream also enlisted the talented Ellen Page to do all the character work for this title, and it's going to be a hot pick on everyone's wait list.  Check out the trailer below:

Sony follows up their strong start with another big title: Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. The official announcement was made that a version of All-Stars is in development for the Playstation Vita, AND the two versions will be cross-compatible. This means you can have either version, and play against the other which is pretty sweet. They proceeded to play a 4-player, three-minute match using the characters Sweet Tooth (from Twisted Metal), Colonel Radec (from Killzone) Sly Cooper, and Fat Princess (the latter two both being from their self-named titles). After the match was over Sony confirmed some of the speculation on the internet by revealing two more playable characters for the game: Uncharted's Nathan Drake,  and Big Daddy from Bioshock!

The focus of discussion moved over to the Playstation Vita as Sony announced Call of Duty Black Ops 2: Declassified,  marking the first time a blockbuster first-person shooter will be available on a powerful handheld system, with online connectivity.  Up next, Vita isn't missing out on all the Assassin's Creed goodness; Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation is announced, featuring a new female assassin in a side story to compliment the console version. Alongside this, a bundle is announced for the new Crystal White Playstation Vita, packaged with a copy of Liberation.

Continuing with Assassin's Creed 3, we look at brand new footage of the console version, featuring sea exploration.  Your characters are on a ship at sea and you have to navigate large rocks, unpredictable swells, and changing weather. But if you thought nature was the only hazard, guess again.  Your ship will come across other boats, and engage you in cannon battles both up close and ranged. Check it out.

FarCry 3 was next on the list, and with it, new footage of a new mode: 4-player cooperative play. This seems not only like a fantastic idea but it works really well. Ubisoft also made mention of a new map editor to be used in multiplayer matches for this game.

Unfortunately, the next 15 minutes of the Sony press conference was put towards their new Wonderbook IP.  In theory, this is a fantastic concept but I don't feel like it will take off very well.  Using the Playstation Eye (included with the Move bundle), players will sit in front of the TV with a physical book in their lap whose pages consist of QR scan codes.  The camera will pick these up, and display an augmented reality on the screen, with books coming to life.  Moving images, narration, and interaction bring stories to life and provide a new level of interaction.  Headlining this new product is a book called Book of Spells, written by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.  Book of Spells will use augmented reality and the Move controllers to teach players how to cast spells, such as shooting fire from their "wands" and put their training to practice against in-game targets.  As I said, this is an interesting concept, but I'll be very surprised to see it last.

The next big title up for display is the highly anticipated God of War Ascension.  This game is the prerequisite to the entire God of War series, and we find out more about Kratos' origins and just why he's so angry all the damn time. They did what seems to be a short level playthrough of the game, complete with awesome combat and gory finishing moves. This game does not look like it will disappoint.

And lastly, a title many have waited for, we get a new look at The Last of Us. This is a post zombie apocalypse world that has been ravaged and destroyed. Not only are the "infected" walking around and attacking, but Joel and Ellie also have to worry about other humans who are fighting for survival just like they are. That's exactly what we focus on in this segment.  Our protagonists make it to an abandoned building, only to discover other survivors there who engage them in combat. This gameplay footage showed us some cool new maneuvers for taking out opponent's, but rather than listening to me blather on, you should just watch the video.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check out my coverage of the Nintendo Press Conference as well.  As always, I'd love to hear from you with any comments or questions you may have.