With E3 just a hop away, Sony is likely finalizing announcements for their press conference. It's been a little while since I've written a blog and I'm feeling that a modest contribution to N4G's content is never a bad thing. So here are some things I'd like to see announced at E3. I'll break it into news for 2015 and 2016, as well as niche and megaton announcements. Keep in mind, I won't be discussing things we already know about much, but rather what they could throw at us that are currently unknown.
2015:
Since we're halfway through the year, it takes a lot to be realistic about what's coming in the next six months. For 2015, I suspect we'll see...
"GOLD" PULSE ELITE HEADSET
This one's a bit left field, but it would be surprising for Sony to not announce an improved headset. The pricing of the headsets don't make too much sense right now where the Pulse Elite's only advantage over the Gold wireless headset is the bass feedback. The quality of the build leaves a lot to be desired too.
POWERS: SEASON TWO AND OTHER SHOWS
Sony's television studios are about as prolific as every other where a series releases a new season every year around the same time. I know it's earned a decent following since its inception, so I would not be surprised to see it return at E3. Even then, Sony mentioned "PlayStation Original shows", I emphasize the "s" at the end of "show". I'm sure Sony didn't mean for Powers to be the only thing to watch for PlayStation owners.
BLOODBORNE DLC
Who wouldn't want this? Since its announcement (and with FromSoft possibly working on Dark Souls III), gamers have eagerly anticipated Bloodborne's expansion. With good reason, too. I imagine they will work with Sony to get the DLC out of the gate so they can go full steam ahead on other projects.
GRAVITY RUSH 2:
Who knows when we'll hear about it or what platform(s) it would even release on? At the very least, PlayStation All-Stars may have done for some of Sony's franchises what Super Smash Bros. 3DS/Wii U (also known as Smash 4) did for Xenoblade Chronicles and that's increasing awareness of their games. It's a bit meta, but it does function as a useful advertising tool. That said, thanks to Smash 4, Xenoblade Chronicles and Shulk are better known. According to VGChartz, (yes, I know) the game sold better on Wii than 3DS by about 100,000 copies, but consider that you can download 3DS games which isn't exactly an easily obtained figure. The Wii's sales are purely physical, so it's entirely possible that the 3DS version outsold it. Anyway, I digress. My point is, Gravity Rush likely isn't a franchise Sony wants to give up on. All-Stars had your legacy group (Sir Dan and Parappa to name a couple), but Kat doesn't exactly have a legacy. Not yet. Her only game was on a great device that's struggling to make a name for itself in this industry. Sony also offered it for free via the Instant Game Collection. Obviously, they want more Gravity Rush and they know we do too. If you've played it, you'll likely agree.
VITA HD COLLECTIONS OF PLAYSTATION 2/3 TITLES
Inevitably, we will be hearing about remasters for Sony's platforms at E3.
2016:
RESIDENT EVIL: OUTBREAK FILES 1 & 2 HD REMASTER
Operation: Raccoon City wasn't good. At all. The main games with co-op haven't been stellar either. Sure, Outbreak had its gripes from players, but the scenarios and level of involvement were awesome in an online setting. The PS2's online definitely hurt the game more than help it, but it would be so grand playing through these scenarios with friends. No, they weren't perfect, but each scenario could've played out in such intense ways. Why not revive it? Capcom has been going for the easy touch-ups (REmake and Resident Evil Zero, which already have good-looking renders rather than giving Resident Evil 2 and 3 the complete overhaul). We could do better.
GRAN TURISMO 7
With three Forza entries on Xbox One once Forza 6 is released and an alleged release of GT7 sometime this year or next on PS4 (I'll push this into 2016 because this game alone would take away the "sparse" connotation they gave their holiday lineup), Polyphony Digital has their work cut out for them. They can't simply let Microsoft take all of the racing game fans. Driveclub didn't make the splash it could have, which left PlayStation gamers with a hole in their libraries. Sure, there's Project CARS, but Sony doesn't have their own racing sim on PS4 yet. I understand they want to take their time and make it right, but the clock is ticking and if they have ANY hope of this game releasing this year, it will be at E3 and not the PlayStation Experience.
THE NICHE...
Moving into the niche territory, I'm going to mention some awesome titles that are less known, but really need to happen. I have no real expectation of a time table, so any time between this year and next is fair game. So for niche games, I think I'd love to see...
DARK CLOUD 3
DAAK CLOWD SURI, GAIZ. DAAK CLOWD SURI. NUFF SAID. Level-5 needs to come back and do right by gamers, fans and newcomers to the series alike. This series made those of us who've played it jump for joy, especially at how great Level-5 has been with improving the series. The first one was touted by some as a "Zelda killer" much like Killzone was treated as a "Halo killer". We can argue about which one is superior, but if we're honest with ourselves, the first Dark Cloud was disappointing if you compared it to Zelda. Fun, but it didn't meet that hype. Not even close. The second game vastly improved upon the mechanics and combat of the first. Imagine the depth of a Georama on PlayStation 4. Yikes. But I should also talk about getting people on board with the series...which brings me to my next game(s) on the wishlist.
DARK CLOUD COLLECTION
Piggybacking my last game on the wishlist, it makes no sense to not have this happen, especially if Sony wants to revive the franchise. They may not wish to do so at all and this is extremely wishful thinking, but never say never. If any company would be willing to revive old games, regardless of sales potential, it's Sony. Such a collection may be more fit for Vita given its audience, but if they want to make Dark Cloud 3 massive, they need PS4 gamers on board; alternatively, they could put it on Vita to inspire Vita-only gamers to pick up a PS4. Oh, but what if you have neither and only have a PS3? Hmmm... Y'know what, Sony? I GUESS THE ONLY THING THAT CAN BE DONE IS TO RELEASE IT ON PS3, PS4, AND VITA WITH CROSS-SAVE FEATURES. Hint-hint, wink-wink.
CHILD OF EDEN: MORPHEUS EDITION
This would probably give me an intense, beautiful seizure where I drop to the ground, foaming at the mouth as I laboriously utter the words, "worth it". A game like Child of Eden would definitely complement Morpheus and Morpheus would hopefully earn this title some recognition. I can't imagine how vivid and insane it'd be at 120fps
THE MEGATON ANNOUNCEMENTS...
This is where it gets fun. What could Sony announce that would make many of us drop brown bricks? Well, for starters...
A PLAYSTATION EXCLUSIVE KICKSTARTER PROGRAM
Yes, yes, a thousand times YES! If Sony could secure exclusives by having gamers launch an app from their consoles and pledge a certain amount to fund a game's development, why WOULDN'T you be all over that? It's genius and would really help support the industry.
EA ACCESS ON PLAYSTATION 4
And why the heck not? Sony wants to prove they're for the gamers (and so far, I'd say they're doing okay in this regard), but giving us choice would be awesome. Some of us don't want PlayStation Now and wish we had backwards compatibility (we can thank x86 for taking that away from us). I personally haven't played much of EA's titles since Burnout: Revenge and the early Fight Night games on Xbox 360, but never rob your consumers of choice just because you want to lock that market down. It scares me to think about what Sony would be doing if they had no competition at all. To that, I say keep fighting, Xbox.
AN EXCLUSIVE PLATINUM GAMES TITLE
Bayonetta 2. Scalebound. I think Sony needs to set up a contract with Kamiya and make it happen. No, we don't need Metal Gear Rising 2 to be a PlayStation exclusive. Something new. Unless of course, Rising 2 would only happen if Sony funds it, a la Bayonetta 2. I'd like for it to be something new, but given the sensitive nature of what's happening over at Konami, this game has some failure potential. Again, a new IP would suffice.
HIDEO KOJIMA MORPHEUS HORROR GAME
We can't call it Silent Hills since the onus is now Konami's to bear. Kojima can't create a game with that name unless Konami contracts him, and I highly doubt that's happening...so let's call it "Hideo Kojima Morpheus Horror Game". If P.t. was any indication, the man really knew what he was doing. The procedurally generated enemies really made the demo since the experience was never really the same. I've gone through P.t. without being bothered by the apparition and times where I get turned around and I'm staring death in the face and freaking out. People often complain that horror games have no longevity, but that's the ultimate solution. Not only that, but Kojima has expressed a desire to make a game so scary, it could kill. Whether he meant it or not remains to be seen, but VR is the medium to deliver that experience. Although, it may not be possible; Spencer did in fact debunk any talk of Silent Hills exclusivity...but he didn't debunk Hideo Kojima's horror title. Hopefully we'll have answers, but I'd say if this project survives, given Kojima's relationship with Sony, it would be difficult to imagine Sony never getting anything out of it.
THE LAST OF US 2
Very optimistic, but Naughty Dog isn't a company to sit on its laurels for long. The fine people at the studio pride themselves in being prolific and Uncharted 4 will be out before then. At the very least, they could talk pre-production.
VALKYRIA CHRONICLES ON PS4
Three games, an anime, characters with appearances in Project X Zone, and characters appearing in Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax. There is no way in the hollowed halls of Valhalla that SEGA wants this series to die out. It's among their better-received titles in recent memory They may be shifting focus, but if Sony funds this, it could and should happen. Since the first game came to PS3, 2 came to PSP, and 3 came to PSP and was never localized, I think it would be a grand idea to release a remastered collection with supra-PS3 artsy visuals on PS4. You get those people who skipped out on PS3 last generation as well as those who never owned a PSP and just about everyone outside of Japan can finally play 3. Best part? Trophy support, something none of the games had before. Hopefully, that'd sell well and set up nicely for a fourth installment on PS4.
RELEASE WINDOW FOR EPIC UPDATES
Something we often overlook is that E3 is not limited to gaming--electronic entertainment is, after all, an incredibly broad term. What would the updates be? Besides DLNA and some other stuff, I don't really know, but surprise us, Sony. The big updates so far have been grand, but you're the creative minds, we're the consumers.
CUSTOM THEMES
Do it, Sony. The fact that the PS3's slogans were "Play B3yond" and "It Only Does Everything" and the PS4's is "Greatness Awaits" isn't exactly one would call conducive for consumer goodwill. PS3 had custom dynamic themes and I think I speak for a fair share of us when I say, "I'm not paying $1.99 for a bloody butter theme". I get that they're trying to be encompassing of our interests by throwing up random, generic stuff like that, but instead of toiling over what themes to add and searching for as many ways to get money out of consumers as possible, just let us do us. You can't possibly give us everything we want in the store, so give us free reign over that. Of course, keep making themes, but let us make the stuff that you can't or won't make.
THE LAST GUARDIAN COMES OUT RIGHT AFTER SONY ANNOUNCES IT
It won't...but it would be awesome. Let's face it, if Andrew House said, "The Last Guardian will be available on PlayStation 3/4, the moment I finish this sentence", that still wouldn't be too soon. You had time to pre-order it when his sentence began.
So this would be my perfect E3. It won't happen, but if even 10% of my desired titles show up on this list, I can honestly say I'm excited. Of course, that depends on what 10% they choose. You've probably read this, realizing I didn't mention any indies. I don't dislike indies, but I feel like they should occupy no more than a 5-7 minute montage of indies coming to PlayStation, not take up 2-3 minutes for a single trailer. You also probably noticed I didn't talk too much about multiplatform titles. That's because I wanted to focus on exclusives.
So that's what I'm dreaming of. What are you thinking about? As always, feel free to agree/disagree/contribute in the comments and most importantly, thanks for reading. I get long-winded, but I like to explain myself. To compensate, please enjoy some images from some of the games I mentioned:
CHEESE-ITZ RICE
Not quite "Zelda Killer", but definitely a time sink in the best possible way.
The Last Guardian...to the gate halting an A+ E3
No vaccuum sounds in my house. Not this time, Kaz.
Perhaps the greatest masterpiece of the last generation
Fear the Old Blood
I'd be disgusted too if not enough people played my game.
A number of leaks have popped up that reference Pokemon Black and White remakes in some way. Are they all coincidences or real in 2024?
The Final Fantasy VII Rebirth combat director has expressed that he wants the final part in the trilogy to offer players "even more freedom".
Well its not an action game.
Even Elden Ring added jumping as an evolution of the combat system since Dark Souls did not feature jumping.
I want jumping as much as the next action game fan but this isnt that type of game.
I love the game so far but please don’t make the final part a mini game fest
Everytime I get to a new part in Rebirth it’s “mini game time”
Hope ya don't mind me asking since it seems like you've played it, did it feel like a decent step up from the last game or was it more like the best from the last but more polished?
It makes Remake feel like a demo.
9.5/10 imo. And I think the “mini games” did a great job of adding variety to the gameplay. Purely optional as well.
Here's my thoughts
I think it's a big step up from the first instalment, I'm enjoying it way more.
I thought keeping it just in Midgar was silly, it felt dragged out and it didn't have much variation in terms of the scenery.
However with Rebirth, as soon as you get out of Kalm you have a big world to explore and it's great to just wander round and explore.
Now that I'm half way in though, despite still liking what I'm playing, the gameplay loop is now starting to slow down on me. I've got to a new region and I'm like "Yaaay...need to go and find those towers again, oh look another special beast marker, is that a bird I see in the distance? Better follow it to another Mako Crystal"
It's like....you know how Peter Jackson was only supposed to have two Hobbit films then Warner Bros wanted a third film so he stretched the second film out as much as he could so he could keep stuff for the third film making a trilogy? Yeah it feels like that, so these mini games are a part of that overall gameplay loop to keep us going and stretch the game out overall so they have something for the third and final game.
I personally think you could have had the first instalment get you out of Midgar and through to Grasslands / Junon and the second game finishes things off.
I had a weird cycle of love/hate for all the mini games as I played through. At first I really hated the seeming need to check all these boxes while exploring the grasslands. I didn't enjoy the Gilgamesh quest initially, and thought Queen's blood was fine but didn't want to commit to it. The side quests didn't really grab me either.
Then for some reason everything in Junon region changed my mind and I did pretty much everything. I liked most of the side quests, I actually liked playing fort condor (didn't care for it in the intergrade dlc). And my interest for completing these quests stayed pretty much through to Cosmo Canyon.
Then they added that horrible Lifestream memory/battle mini game and I started getting so burnt out of it all. I just wanted to do the story. I didn't do any side quests in neibleheim and beyond except for the summon. I abandoned Gilgamesh.
So what I'm saying is I would like the third part to go back to the focused progression from remake. Keep the mini games to the gold saucer. Start the game snowboarding if you want, but from there keep the story rolling.
That's funny you say that because I did everything in the Grasslands but once in Junon I started to slow down a little until Corel where by the end I was burnt out. I'm still currently going but I'm just doing what I can while things keep getting thrown at me.
I would have preferred half of these mini game side fillers / collectibles for some really beefy side quests that really adds onto the world of FFVII.
Sounds like they hadn't really figured out what they wanted to do with Remake and this one is more of what they thought of doing which is probably why they're dragging it out to make a trilogy. Disappointed to hear it has towers cause man do i hate towers lol. It's been a while since I've played the first and it'll be a while longer to play the sequel, but it sounds like I'll enjoy it. 7 really impressed me especially after being disappointed with 15, felt like Square finally realized that FF was THEIR big franchise again.
How many hours are you into it at this point?
My friend got like 20-30 in and pretty much quit because of its mini game era. He loved and basically binged through Gran Blue compared to Rebirth
As long as it comes out on PS5 to have the entire series on one platform, do whatever you want
The combat is my favorite thing about Rebirth. Would be really cool if they can improve it even more.
I hope after FF7 Square will either give a new FF game the remake treatment. Or give some of their older titles a remake treatment like Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, even Xenogears.
Wccf tech writes: "Kingdom Come Deliverance 2's scope was impacted by the Xbox Series S hardware limitations, as developers could only make a game that was 25% bigger than its predecessor."
This is the issue with things like this
Xbox Series X is apparently to MS the worlds most powerful console
However the Series S is obviously a limitation because it’s underpowered and developers have to go for parity.
So what’s the point of the world’s most powerful console if you are holding third party developers back? They aren’t going to push themselves if they have to think about the weakest console.
The issue wouldn’t be as bad if it was just Xbox but you are also affecting the PS version aswell
I think developers need to start just taking advantage of a console and if one of them can’t do X Y and Z then f*** them…why should the others suffer. What’s MS going to do? The bigger the franchise the least chance MS are going to tell them to f*** off. Baulders Gate 3 seemed to have stood their ground and suddenly their “strict” parity rule didn’t really matter. We suddenly got super optimisation efforts for the Series S that got things sorted.
I agree, and the sad part is use normal folk saw it the second they announced their plans.
Agree 100% this is why I didn’t want the M$ Monopoly, now PS5 version will be held back too.
If PS5 Pro comes out and Series S is still a thing it’ll be interesting what differences and what devs choose to do. Really hoping Rockstar pushes the PS5 pro with GTA6 and we get the best version possible.
Good ole S indeed. Everyone knew this all along. S was holding games back...Now where the hell is Orchard i want a word with him.
I ****ing hate the S. The tragic thing is withour the S MS doesn't even threaten 10m units sold this gen 🤣
More info from the author of the article, I think: https://www.reddit.com/r/ki...
Quote:
"1) I was told this info from the producer of the game Martin Klíma.
2) He specifically said the game will have only one mode.
3) And this mode is 4K 30 on PS5/XSX and 1440p 30 on XSS.
4) He said that the game is already running north of the 30 FPS cap so the performance should be stable on launch, much better than KCD1.
5) The limitation was XSS because of the 10GB memory. He said that's why they wanted to make the game 25% larger.
6) Speculation on my part: the output resolution is probably upscaled and the reason why there won't be a 60 FPS mode is because it'll most likely be very CPU heavy, like Dragon's Dogma 2 for example."
Doesn't seem like they're adding a 40fps mode on PS5/Series X for launch even if they can handle it.
I'd much rather have 1440p/60fps or even 45fps. Having just one, even with the Series S in mind, is disappointing.
Remember when xbots were adamant that the series s won’t hold back the gen?
Microsoft just needs to let go of the mandatory parity. Who cares if your grandma doesn’t understand that a game cannot be played on the S. It’s not like it she can buy you a physical game for it anyway. Before buying the game put up a notice that it only works on series X. If you’re buying for a friend-allow for a refund.
Bam. Everyone is happy. Most series s owners are for casuals that want Game Pass anyway and most likely don’t purchase most games.
If the developers want it to run on S, let them figure it out.
If it were Series X only then they'd only be selling to 25% of the Xbox Series userbase, and that's certainly not worth the time and effort into doing a port. Could just do PS5 & PC instead. No compromises needed.
“During the event, the Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 producer also revealed that on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, the game will run at 4K resolution and 30 frames per second“
Another “creative decision” right? 🤦♂️
Since you're not an amateur and clearly know more than them, can you over there and help get the game running on the S without having to sacrifice their true vision. Us gamers would really appreciate you using your wisdom for good 🙏
Thousands of games run just fine on S.
But Kingdom Come is the game that can’t. Must be one hell of a game!
Thousands of games run on PS4 and on Switch. If developers want them to run on those systems. Fine. Those two platforms still get new games. Sony isn’t making studios also make a ps4 pro version, or Nintendo a wiiu version. Microsoft technically is.
If games like Alan Wake 2, GTA6, COD, hellblade all run on S, no excuse for this 100x smaller and 100x worse looking game to be held back.
"Thousands of games run just fine on S.
But Kingdom Come is the game that can’t. Must be one hell of a game!"
Kingdom come 2 runs just fine alright. Its the SCOPE that they want. They had to cut it because of the stupid S series. Hellblade2 ran just fine too..but im pretty confident if it was just the X in mind, the scope of the game would have been much bigger.
Pay Microsoft for a Gears game.
Well I think we all know there's a new model with a 1TB coming. Probably right in time for E3. I predict a $50-75 price drop on the current model of PS4 with 500GB.
Next - I think we're going to see more morpheus. I think the fact that they've been so quiet on that front lately that the reason is they're shoring up something interesting to display and possibly announce (though I predict a late 2016 release). So I doubt we'll see a pricepoint but a vague release window.
More games (exclusives ie: Uncharted, God of War and/or Ni No Kuni 2) more timed exclusive DLC for 3rd party titles (Looking directly at Call of Duty and somehow I suspect Fallout 4 DLC - maybe some very exclusive content) .
We're also likely to see some remasters (Original Uncharted series?)
@Billy,
I disagree. I consider myself a very critical and frugal gamer, so I'm quite selective in my interests. That said, I liked the first Gears of War, but the rest didn't really meet my expectations. I don't think PlayStation gamers are hurting for Gears. Personally, I found Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us' multiplayer modes to be much more fun. Different strokes, I suppose.
@Crazay,
A price drop is possible, but I think they're going to be doing restructuring. They could drop the price of the 500GB model or, to reduce consumer confusion with configurations, just do away with the 500GB and release the 1TB at $400.
I think we'll see a price for Morpheus, but I think that whatever they announce will be a huge turnoff. It's an accessory and Sony would do well to remember that those almost NEVER do well. It has to be a steal for consumers or it won't take off. It also needs exclusive content and lots of it. They can't give you a steep price with no games. They also can't make it affordable with no games because then there's no point to owning one. It'll be an uphill battle, for sure.
More games would be great, but unless it's reviving an incredibly old but loved franchise or new IPs, I don't really care to hear about some of the other stuff. Ni No Kuni 2 would be grand, but I'm more about Dark Cloud 3. Uncharted 4 isn't out yet, so I'd rather not hear about another one right now. If they do, I imagine it'll be a remastered collection or Vita game. Let's just get Uncharted 4 out first. God of War I think we'll hear about, but honestly, I can live without God of War for another 5 years. I can't speak for everyone, but the repetitive combat has finally taken a toll on my patience for it following God of War III.
As for exclusive DLC, I think they should either secure new IPs developed by third parties or collaborate and make forgotten franchises happen. Fund either Shenmue 3 or a new Onimusha, y'know? I don't care for exclusive DLC because all that does is give you a more complete version of a game which you'll undoubtedly need to pay for, timed or otherwise. In the best case, they make new IPs, revive forgotten ones, or collaborate with third parties to bring either of the aforementioned scenarios. Devil May Cry 5 would be welcome.
Yes, remasters are inevitable. I expect to hear about two or three. I've come to be okay with them, but don't take up more time than you need to with demonstrations. Just mention it in a passing breath, upload gameplay to YouTube or PSN and be done with it.
Also, something I forgot to mention in the blog: increase online storage. It's terrible.
i want a classic revival.. i dont care about the uncharteds last of us and others.. they have to revive an old JRPG if they want me to go crazy.They have a massive library of games that are just waiting to be brought back to life.
So far this is PS3.5, apart from Bloodborne.
It's going to be a Platinum PlayStation headset with Pulse technology, it was speculated by insiders that they have been working on a pulse headset and i would assume it'll be called Platinum not Gold pulse.
I want to see GG's new ip, Media Molecule's, SCE Bend's ect.
Anouncement of God of War IV.
Confirmed Morpheus Titles as well as No Man's Sky, Rapture and SOMA confirmed for Morpheus as well.
PS Home on PS4 announcement, why not?
Resistance Collection that includes psp offering "Retribution" on PS4.
Ratchet & Clank reboot gameplay with 3D support, more 3D support on PS4 in general. More info on Let it Die and Deep Down.
I've been overly impressed with PS4 thus far and i love every single PS4 exclusive so far. I know i will get 12345543478 disagrees but i enjoyed the less popular of the PS4 exclusives as well - i enjoyed knack and found it to be pleasurable in an old school PlayStation way and i enjoyed the gadget/crystal building process with contributions from friends who've played the game. I love The Order and do not need to defend that wrongly judged game. I thoroughly enjoy my time with Shadowfall's sp and mp and i liked the larde open maps and gorgeous visual, the Owl rocked!
This isn't "ps3.5" there are a plethora of geat games waiting to be played.