Microsoft killed it in their E3 2015 Briefing yesterday that you can read about here, leaving Sony in a position to need to impress in their own press conference last night. While we don’t have to have a “winner” per se, if I were ranking each company’s respective showings, I would say Microsoft probably won but Sony really came through with the games this year. Their showing was not perfect by any means. I think we really need to start getting more pieces of the Morpheus puzzle, especially when Microsoft is getting more aggressive with HoloLens and has announced partnerships with both Oculus and Valve VR. All of that being said, let’s talk about the games.
The Last Guardian
This may be one of the most unicorn-like vaporware games of all time and Sony finally showed PS4 gameplay footage and announced it would come out next year. The game has been in development since 2007 and comes from the team that developed the cult classics Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. It was originally to be a PS3 exclusive and eventually got pushed back to be a PS4 exclusive. Hopefully, the game plays as well as it looks and it has better financial success than Team Ico’s previous games.
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Sony-owned Guerilla Games, makers of the Killzone franchise, introduced a new IP called Horizon: Zero Dawn. The game appears to be set in a post apocalyptic future in which technology and modern society has crumbled resulting is nature taking back the world and humanity existing in smaller tribes. What they showed was a 3rd person action/shooter with female playable character taking out what appear to be some type of techno-biological creatures. As you would expect from Guerilla Games, it looks gorgeous.
Hitman
Square Enix announced a new Hitman coming as an exclusive beta for pre-order customers with exclusive content on the PlayStation 4. It’s Hitman. You kill people.
Street Fighter V
Capcom showed off Street Fighter V with new characters. It will be a console exclusive to PS4 with beta access starting on the PS4 on July 23 for pre-order customers.
No Man’s Sky
“Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known.” Carl Sagan. The ambitious No Man’s Sky was shown off a little more, and this display really showed the scale that No Man’s Sky will be working with. The description of the video tells you to look at all these dots, those are all suns, and you realize all of them have planets, and planets have ecology and life, and then the game proceeds to zoom out over and over, getting constantly faster you really do start to see how massive this game truly is. It’s obviously designed to be bigger than anyone can ever finish and it is literally profanity inducing.
Dreams
It’s obvious that the folks at Media Molecule, developers of Little Big Planet and Tearaway are thinking big and thinking about what gaming is and what we can do with it other than shoot things. I don’t even know how to pitch Dreams to you. Just watch the video and see that this is going to just be one of those games that will either be groundbreaking or fail trying.
Firewatch
I’ve never heard of this or seen it but apparently it is exclusive to PS4 on consoles. It’s a first person game and is set in the wilderness of Wyoming. I did not see a gun in the trailer which always gets me excited. I like shooting things, but not shooting things is cool too. We should shoot less. Firewatch is not unattractive.
Destiny: The Taken King
You know the players. You know Bungie and Destiny. They sold a few copies and Sony secured some exclusive content on the initial launch and subsequent DLCs. Last night the next DLC, The Taken King was announced. You killed Crota Guardian and his daddy is mad. Watch the video. It’s cool. PS4 will get some more exclusive content.
Assassin’s Creed Syndicate
You are an assassin.You are in London.You might be a lady.You kill people and scale walls.You give Sony exclusive content for money.You are a formulaic mainstay coming in October.
World of Final Fantasy
Have you ever been playing a Final Fantasy game and thought to yourself, man I wish these characters looked more like Muppet Babies? Well hold on to your hats because Square Enix has your back. This new Final Fantasy game will let you toggle between a cutesy big headed visual style, and a less cute but still unrealistic visual style. It is simultaneously awesome and disturbing and really emphasizes the J in JRPG. This game will be an exclusive for PS4 and VIta and is coming out in 2016.
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Minds blown, faces melted, glasses shattered, these are the things that happen when you announce that you are remaking a classic game for modern audiences. Very little was revealed but very little needed to be revealed about a game like this. No release date and as they said on stage coming “first” to Playstation. I’m sure we will learn more over many months.
Devolver Digital – Ronin, Eitr, Mother Russia Bleeds, and Crossing Souls
Four games announced from indie darling developer Devolver Digital as exclusives. They all look cool if you are into retro 2d games. Not much information other than that they are coming to PS4.
Shenmue III
If there is any game not named Half-Life 3 that can take attention from Final Fantasy 7 remake surely Shenmue III is the one. For those that don’t know or remember, the first two Shenmue games were Dreamcast exclusives and are cult classics. Last night a Kickstarter campaign for Shenmue III was announced and went live. With a goal of 2 million that was surpassed in 9 hours, it should make it’s way to PS4 and PC in 2017. Fingers crossed for some awesome stretch goals!
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
This may be surprising but Activision and Treyarch are making a new Call of Duty game. It’s called Black Ops III. The game will launch November 6. Sony will get DLC 30 days earlier than Microsoft.
Star Wars in Disney Infinity 3
I don’t do Disney Infinity. I can’t talk about this but it is a thing that exists that I assume some people care about. Just watch the video.
Star Wars Battlefront
It’s Star Wars Battlefront and it’s a big deal. It looks cool and it comes out November 17th. The PS4 will get timed exclusive content.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
To end the press conference Sony showed off the newest installment of it’s belle cow franchise, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. There’s not much to say about Uncharted other than, it is what you would expect. It looks gorgeous and awesome and is sure to move some consoles.
And that is that. What do you think? Did Sony do enough to wear the E3 crown for a year or is Microsoft keeping it thanks to backwards compatibility and VR? Is there any chance Nintendo can jump in the ring and compete like they did last year? Let us know here and on our social media channels!
Last Updated on November 27, 2018.
