E3 2014 – PlayStation
One year ago, Sony revealed the PlayStation 4 at E3. Now there are 7 million PS4 owners. A huge number compared to the Xbox One owners. Andrew House, president and group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. says that “The Destiny trailer that kicked off tonight’s show is the embodiment of our vision. From its graphic fidelity to its dynamic social experiences to its deeply immersive gameplay. Destiny will help define this next generation of gaming.” PlayStation owners will be happy to know that they will be able to get their hands on Destiny before anyone else. Additionally, PlayStation owners will be able to enter the Destiny Beta first starting July 17th, 2014. Those that cannot wait until next month for the Beta to go live can play the Destiny first look Alpha starting thursday 12th of June which will last for an entire weekend. Furthermore, an exclusive white PS4 Destiny Bundle will be available as of September 9th, 2014. The White PlayStation 4 will have a 500GB harddrive and will be accompanied with a white DualShock 4 controller. It will also have a 30 day voucher for PlayStation Plus. All-in-all, the Destiny Bundle looks incredible and will look fashionably next to my white Wii.
Another brand new IP that will be available exclusively on PS4 is The Order: 1886. The gameplay trailer starts off in a dark, eerie house that reminds me too much of a basement in an abandoned loony bin. The protagonist finds a creature that resembles something like a zombie werewolf sort of thing and starts to run away while trying to fight it off. Some pushing and shoving get’s done and that’s about it. The Order: 1886 is an upcoming action-adventure game set in an alternate historic London. However, I have to say that the horrid creature and eerie setting of the game makes it feel more like a soft-horror. A release date is yet to be announced.
The trailer for Entwined is rather abstract and many will have their own vision of it. I see a fish and a bird but as I said before, you may have your own idea of what is what in the trailer. Entwined is developed by Pixel Opus and is their first game ever. The game is about two souls that are deeply in love but cannot be with each other due to unfortunate circumstances. In Entwined, you will be able to control the two characters at the same time which will take some time to master. Guiding both characters through obstacles is your main goal, ultimately bringing both souls together which will result into a beautiful dragon. The game will deliver a unique experience and the trippy visuals certainly agree with that statement. Entwined is available for PS4 as of today. Additionally the game will also be available on PS3 and PS Vita via Cross-Buy.
inFamous: Second Son will receive a new, standalone DLC that will be available later this summer. Owning inFamous: Second Son is not a requirement if you wish to play the newest DLC but those that do own the game will obtain exclusive content. inFamous First Light features a female protagonist named Fetch and will be available in August 2014.
Little Big Planet 3 is coming to PS4, huge news that deserves some whistles! Furthermore, the game will have new features such as more depth, power-ups, a completely new friend called Oddsock which can jump up on walls, yet another new friend named Toggle which is not only the biggest chap in the game but he can also transform to the smallest chap in the game. Swoop, a third new character, has a fantastic flying ability! The gameplay of Little Big Planet 3 looks like a ton of fun, with new characters each with their own abilities to complete the various puzzles through teamwork. Little Big Planet 3 will be available on PS4 in November 2014. Furthermore, Yoshida, the president of Worldwide Studios Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. mentioned that the community has created over 8.7 million levels for Little Big Planet 1 and 2. Each of these levels will be playable in Little Big Planet 3, giving you countless of hours of gameplay in the newest installment of the series.
Yoshida is also honored to announce yet another brand new IP for PS4, namely Bloodborne. Developed by FromSoftware, Bloodborne is an action RPG exclusively for PS4 that features horrid, zombified humanoids and beasts in an ancient city. You will travel through the gothic city of Yharnam with a unique arsenal of weaponry that includes guns and saw cleavers. Bloodborne will feature stunningly detailed gothic environments with an atmosphere that will creep you out. The game will be available in 2015.
Earlier Ubisoft showed us the first five minutes of gameplay in Far Cry 4, introducing us to the protagonist of the game. The second trailer of Far Cry 4 we see is a co-op gameplay in the lands of Kyrat. You can check both trailers out, right here. Furthermore, if you own Far Cry 4 on PS3 or PS4, you will be able to invite your PSN friends for a co-op game even if they do not own the game themselves. This nifty feature will only be available on PlayStation but it is as sweet as hell to be able to do something like this so who’s complaining?
Dead Island 2 is announced but there is not much more we can tell about it. What we do know is that The Last of Us will come to the PS4 but what we didn’t know yet is that it will also infect Diablo 3 Ultimate Evil Edition when it releases in PS4. You will be able to slay bloaters, clickers and stalkers in an exclusive themed dungeon that is deeply integrated in Diablo 3.
EA Games already showed us the Heist gameplay mode for Battlefield Hardline and opened up the beta, as you will be able to read here. A second new gameplay trailer at PlayStation shows us grappling hooks and zip lines! As I said in the EA Games overview, Battlefield Hardline is not your average war shooter. Next up is Disney Infinity 2.0 featuring Marvel super heroes, which you can read about right here.
Paradox Interactive will be bringing Magicka 2 to PS4. It looked to be a PS4 exclusive title but it is also on Steam with additional information so I’m not all too sure about this. Another short announcement is that 16 years after the release, Grim Fandango is being remastered for both PS Vita and PS4. Fans mentioned that they love a wide range of variety of games and PlayStation delivers by bringing in a wide range of independent developers. The following titles will make their console debut, exclusively on PlayStation platforms: Broforce (PS4, PS Vita), Titan Souls (PS4, PS Vita), Not a Hero (PS4, PS Vita), Hotline Miami 2 (PS3, PS4, PS Vita) and The Talos Principle (PS4). Coming exclusively to PS4 in 2015 is Suda51’s newest game Let it Die, which features some twisted fighting scenes with a vast range of weaponry that may or may not be seen as a fair fight.
Abzû, which means Water to Know, is a new game under development by Giant Squid. The trailer reveals an underwater world with a diver that is exploring the vast expanse of water, swimming between fishes, sharks and even whales. The scenery is absolutely stunning from what I can tell so far. Abzû will make its exclusive console debut on PS4. A release date is yet to be announced.
Lastly, PlayStation shows us a trailer for No Man’s Sky, a science-fiction game developed by Hello Games, a small independent games studio. Sean Murray, the founder of Hello Games, mentioned that No Man’s Sky was inspired by the science-fiction he grew up. “Worlds that I wanted to escape to but never could”, he explains further. Every single player will be spawned on a different world to ensure that every player will have their own unique experience. The universe of No Man’s Sky is so vast, so boundless that it is truly infinite. “We don’t even know what’s out there”, Murray adds. The scenery, the fauna and flora looks absolutely stunning and from what I can tell, the game will be an absolute blast for those that enjoy countless hours of exploration.
Shawn Layden, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, mentions some statistics. About 95 % of the PS4s world-wide are connected to the PSN network. Over 1.25 billion hours has been spend online and over 1 billion multiplayer sessions has been played since the launch of PS4. The Share button on the PS4 has been used for about 220 million times! PlayStation hopes to improve the numbers of the share button by bringing in YouTube to PS4. Players will be able to upload their game captures fast with a simple click of the share button on the DualShock 4 controller. Additionally, PS4 is the first console ever that allows players to broadcast their gaming sessions live and you can even spectate sessions. In fact, over 150 million sessions has been spectated already over the course of one year. The PlayRoom will receive some additional content over the summer and there will be Free to Play games. In fact, in the next twelve months more than 25 free to play games will be coming to PS4 such as Kingdom under Fire 2, Planet Side 2 and Guns Up.
PlayStation Now is a way to play PS3 games on your PS4. The PlayStation Now service will be available in the United States and Canada as an open Beta on PS4 starting July 31st. Eventually, PlayStation Now will be released on PS3 and PS Vita as well. During the open Beta, gamers will be able to get their hands on more than a hundred PS3 games. The following games are available for testing at the PlayStation booth at E3 this year: Dead Space 3, God of War Ascension, Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes, Ratchet & Clank Into the Nexus and Ultra Street Fighter IV.
Layden continues with announcing that there are more than a hundred games in development for PS Vita, including Tales of Hearts R, Child of Light, Tales from Borderlands and Minecraft!
A few more mini announcements! The original Ratchet and Clank is being completely remastered for PS4 and will launch in the first half of 2015. A Ratched & Clank movie is also coming to theaters in 2015 and I may or may not be excited about this announcement. I love the games and the characters, don’t get me wrong but playing the game and watching an animated movie is something entirely different. The Last of Us, which is being remastered for PS4 is set to release on July 29. GTA V is coming to PS4 in the fall of 2014. Furthermore, players that have played GTA V on Xbox 360 and PS3 will be able to transfer their online progress onto PS4.
Batman Arkham Knight shows a heavy armored Batman and a stunning Gotham City as Batman glides through the city and hops into his Batmobile. The rest of the trailer shows of the combat system that is so uniquely to the Batman series. Faking technical difficulties is always a neat way to show off a character that is as dramatic as Scarecrow. Batman Arkham Knight will come with special Scarecrow Nightmare missions that are only available on PlayStation.
And now, for the last game at the PlayStation panel, Naughty Dogs presents Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End that is coming in 2015. So many games, so many new features coming the PlayStation consoles but which is your favorite?
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