Click here to see a slideshow of photos from Day One of E3!
Sony Computer Entertainment of America just held their annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) press conference at the Shrine Auditorium earlier today, showing off the games and technology that they will have to offer for the year. Hosted by Sony CEO Jack Tretton, the two-hour event included a number of surprise guests, impressive demonstrations of new technology and numerous games that were announced for the upcoming months.
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The show opened with a very impressive demonstration of Killzone 3
in 3D. Although it'll cost you a small fortune to get the full 3D
experience, there's no doubt that the game looked amazing.
All of the
attendees were given 3D glasses to experience Guerilla Games' upcoming
release. Everything about the game became a much more enriching
experience–the added depth that the 3D provided made the environments
within the game feel much grander in scale. Enemies approaching the
player felt much more threatening, and the platforming sequences were
more frightening and realistic. It's a shame that Sony didn't push 3D
technology as the main focus of the press event, it clearly was the most
impressive part of the conference. Whether the game was seen in 3D or
not though, it looked stunning. The game will also launch to be
compatible with Playstation Move support.
Other games were
announced to support 3D, including Motorstorm Apocolypse, Gran
Turismo 5, and The Sly Collection, which is a HD remastered
version of the Playstation 2's Sly Cooper games. It appears that Sony is
completely supporting the concept that 3D is the future of gaming. At
this rate, Sony just might convince the world to upgrade to 3D-ready
TVs.
Sony's next focus is the Playstation Move, which is supposed
to be a more precise and “immersive” answer to Nintendo's Wii remotes.
With all of the attention and demonstrations that Sony gave to the Move,
it is clearly Sony's main focus during the conference.[The first
game that was demonstrated using Move support is Sorcery, a
third-person action/adventure game with a Harry Potter-esque feel to it.
Players control a youthful character simply named “The Apprentice” by
using the Move control to control the motions of his wand. During the
demo, he selected various spells using the on-screen cursor of the
controller. When he moved his hand in a specific direction, the
character would move it in a similar fashion. The demo ended when The
Apprentice encountered a large golem, and the audience appeared to have
been relatively excited for the game. The problem with this game however,
is that the game feels so generic, and the environments are a bit
repetitive. At the current state, the game seems a bit mediocre, even if
it was Wii game. The use of the Move isn't anything new or all that
exciting. The game has a long way to go before it's completed, and there
is plenty of room to turn this game into something memorable.
The
next game that was used to demonstrate the Move was Tiger Woods PGA
Tour 11. The game uses the Move controller in a similar way to last
years' iteration of the game for the Wii using Wii Motion Plus. Similar
to Sorcerer, the use of the Move technology for this game is much too
similar to other games to make it very interesting.
Currently,
the Move hasn't been shown to differentiate itself from the Wii
controllers enough to make it stand out on its own. Sure, it has the
potential to do so much more than the Wii's controllers. Although it's
currently in its infancy, the Move technology is doing what the Wii has
already tried and gamers need more to grab their attention.
Kevin
Butler, Sony's smart talkin' advertising star, then made a surprise
appearance. Every stab that he takes at competitor Microsoft and
Nintendo drove the fans nuts, and he successfully managed to pump up the
energy in the audience. he continued to say “Playstation Move changes
everything,” which ended up as the main theme for the afternoon.
The
pricing for the Move was then announced by Tretton. $49.99 for the Move
controller alone, and $29.99 for the navigation controller. Considering
that the required Playstation Eye camera costs $39.99 retail, that'll
cost you about $110 to experience Playstation move… yikes! Considering
that the Wii system can currently be purchased for $150, the Move will
be one heck of a tough sell to anyone, whether they're a seasoned or
casual gamer.[The next focus was the PSP, but nothing too
exciting or new was shown, other than the new God of War: Ghost of
Sparta and Invizimals, a casual pet game which requires the
PSP camera. Considering that the PSP Go can't use the camera, it's clear
that Sony is starting to lose interest in their most recent iteration
of the handheld.
“PlayStation Plus” is
announced, which is a subscription based networking plan not too
different from XBOX Live. Priced at $50 per year, the service offers more on top of what current PSN users can get for
free. Offered in the upgraded service are things like exclusive/early
access to demos, beta invitations, QORE, and “freebies” such as avatars,
themes, PSX games, and minis. The audience did not know how to react to
this announcement, it was followed by an awkward applause.
Developer Media Molecule demonstrates Little
Big Planet 2 next, and it completely expanded what they have started
with the original game. Players are now able to create all sorts of
different games of different genres. In the demonstration, games were
shown that involved shooters, platforming, racing and even sumo
wrestling. Although many gamers have lost interest in the original, the
sequel may be enough to grab the gaming community's attention once
again.
The new Medal
of Honor, the sequel to Dead Space, Infamous 2, and a
teaser for Portal 2 were shown, and these games look pretty damn
impressive. Gabe Newell, co-founder of Steam, even goes out of his way
to say that the “Playstation 3 version of Portal 2 is the best
version on any console.”
To close
the show, a surprise announcement of a new Twisted Metal game
was made by Eat Sleep Play's David Jaffe and Scott Campbell. The two of
them entered the stage by a replica of Sweet Tooth's famous ice cream
truck–and the crowd went wild, of course. Various new multi-player modes were
shown, and the game appears to retain the same dark and twisted sense of
humor that made the series so popular so many years ago.
Sony made a very impressive demonstration of their commitment of how
they plan to change the way players experience gaming during this year's E3 press conference. With 3D-ready
games and the Playstation Move, Sony wants players to become more
immersed into the games–even if it'll cost players a lot of money.
