By Leo Stiles
When’s It Happening?
Tuesday June 7, 1.00am. Sadly, we won’t have a JOE LIVE tracker as it’s past our bedtime.
Why Should I Care?
As you might have noticed, E3 is nearly upon us, bringing with it a tsunami of new consoles, games and booth babes. This year the stakes are as high as they have ever been, with each of the ‘Big Three’ having massively different priorities for the expo.
Sony has been making headlines for all the wrong reasons over the past two months and with the furore of the PSN hack finally starting to die down, Sony are likely to use the E3 expo to come out with all guns blazing.
What Should I Look Out For?
The Apology – At the time of writing, the Playstation Store has finally gone back online and you can almost hear the massive sigh of relief emanating from Sony HQ. If the Playstation Network was still down during E3, chances are that it would be all that anyone would be talking about.
Even with the PSN up to full strength, Sony are going to have to pull out all the stops to highlight just how robust their security is and we would expect some sort of formal apology to be thrown into the mix. What form this apology will take is still a matter for concern as Sony’s PR machine has a record of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time or simply saying nothing at all.
We reckon that it will be a simple sorry and then backed up by a few slides on just how beefy the security is- let’s just pray they don’t deploy marketing character Kevin Butler to make light of it, as gamers are in no mood for that.
The NGP – Internet buzz is somewhat muted for this new machine but that should change with the final specs, price, games line-up and launch plans being revealed during the press conference. If you haven’t already seen the NGP (or Next Generation Portable) then the best way to describe it is a PSP with a kitchen sink of features thrown at it.
As handheld gaming devices go, this thing is at the bleeding edge of what is possible from a portable gaming machine, boasting specs which are a whisper away from a PS3 and one of the highest definition and beautiful screens of any handheld console we’ve ever seen. Added to this are proper twin analogue sticks, full internet and wireless connectivity and a touch screen and an intriguing touch panel at the back of the device.
Obviously, the name NGP is hardly going to set fire to the imaginations of consumers but with PSP now a tarnished brand thanks to a poor catalogue of games and the colossal misfire that was the PSPgo, Sony has yet to put a name on its new baby. Current rumours suggest that they are going for the Playstation Vita – yes, you read that right, they might be calling this thing the Vita.
Never mind that Vita sounds like something Gillian McKeith might call here latest anal suppository or that the word might summons up images of cardboard-like wholemeal bread; Vita seems like it was conjured up by the same marketing team that brought us Sony’s absurdly named Qriocity music streaming service. Seriously Sony, is that the best you can do?
Uncharted: Golden Abyss – for the fledgling handheld console, the games line-up is all gold, with the jewel in the crown being a brand new Uncharted game.
If current demos are accurate, Golden Abyss looks to be close enough to its PS3 siblings to raise more than a few eyebrows. In fact every game revealed so far looks stunning and will surely be a selling point for the Vita/NGP or whatever the hell they call the thing.
Stellar games aside, if Sony goes for a typically insane price for the machine, then it might be dead before it gets a chance – just ask Nintendo, who it appears have priced their 3DS console out of the reach for all but the most flush gamers.
Unbeatable PS3 exclusives – This is the one area where Sony has to play its hand right and from what has already been confirmed so far, it’s looking like they will have their strongest slate of games for the coming months since the heady days of 2005.
Already confirmed to be at the show are infamous 2, Resistance 3, Ratchet and Clank: One 4 All, The Last Guardian, Twisted Metal and what will like be E3 Game of the Show; Uncharted 3. If that was all there was then Sony could rest easy, with a first-party slate of games that is almost certain to be unmatched, though there are a few heavily-rumoured titles that if they surface at E3, will certainly make the PSN debacle a more forgivable situation.
So far this rumoured list includes God of War 4, a new Final Fantasy, Grand Theft Auto 5, the PS3 exclusive Agent from Rockstar Games, Starhawk, Sly Raccoon 4, a new franchise from Killzone developer Guerrilla Games, a new Jak and Daxter from Naughty Dog and the possible announcement of a Playstation-exclusive Metal Gear title.
Tellingly, there has been no advance hype for 3D or Move supported games, which suggest that Sony is going back to basics here, with high profile exclusive games that appeal to their core audience. If you add the massive range of stellar third party titles to this list then the future is bright for Sony and every Playstation gamer.
What Not to Expect?
Anything less than 100% from Sony. It’s impossible to overestimate how much Sony needs to well at E3 and with Microsoft enjoying stellar sales figures and momentum and Nintendo getting back in to the core gaming arena with their Wii successor, the pressure is on for Sony to dazzle us.
This year Sony must remind people of the power of Playstation and that the PSN hacks are a thing of the past. Failure here is simply not an option.
Any Crazy Rumours?
The best rumours coming out of the Sony camp suggest that Kaz Hirai and his boys have finally gotten the message with the NGP (we’re not calling it the Vita until we absolutely have to) spec being reduced slightly, in order to get the price down to around €250.
Now we know what you’re thinking; that’s bloody expensive but it is around the price of the 3DS and is easily what you will pay for an average iPod Touch. If Sony go any higher than €250, then those declaring the early demise of the new portable may well be right.
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