Home Gaming E3 2009 – Sony Press Conference Coverage: – Part Two – Exclusives and Surprises

E3 2009 – Sony Press Conference Coverage: – Part Two – Exclusives and Surprises

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SonyPart2.jpg

Ok, so finally Part 2 of the Sony Conference coverage is here after some crazy days and announcements.

This one looks into some of the bigger surprises from Sony, with the announcement of a new exclusive from a big developer and some new and old IP announcements as well as an unexpected surprise.

This is where Sony conference picked up, so be sure to check it out.

Elusive Exclusive

Okay so let’s kick things off with a surprise announcement of an exclusive. Sony announced that a brand new IP titled Agent, will be developed by Rockstar exclusively for the Playstation 3, and we all know that anything Rockstar touches usually turns to solid gold. I have a feeling that the game is in it’s very, and I mean very early stages, so don’t expect any major details any time soon.

Roof Hopping, Throat Slashing Madness

We were then treated to the first showing of gameplay for Assassin’s Creed 2, which Sony had obviously secured and pre-arranged with Ubisoft. The game is looking incredible in so many ways, and it looks like Ubisoft have listened to the gamers and really improved on all the aspects that gamers didn’t like from the first game. Visuals were absolutely amazing as well.

Do The Loco-Motion

So here comes the surprise that not many people saw coming. Sony starts talking about motion controllers and the EyeToy and then brings two guys onto stage to show off their new motion controller, which is somewhat still a work in progress. The controller basically looks like somewhat of a wand with a glowing ping pong ball on the top, and works together with a camera that picks up the little ball with its sensors.

A tech demo was shown and to be honest, things started getting a little awkward. The guy demoing the controller, was having a lot of trouble doing a simple action like knocking a ball with a tennis racket and the visuals of the tech demo were very basic. As far as tech demo’s go it was pretty successful, but I really think that Sony should have rather packaged together something a little smaller and polished, and only shown that off instead.

Some of the stuff looked really cool, like using two remotes to shoot a bow and arrow, as well as a sword and shield combination. At the end of the day it really comes across as very similar to the Wii-Motion Plus, so it will be interesting to see what Sony does to push it forward.

Mix and Mash

Next up, we were shown a new IP that focuses on creativity and sharing, and was titled Mod-Nation Racing, scheduled for 2010. Some of you may hate me for saying it, but it really does look like something that I would call LittleBig-MarioKart. It’s a cart racer, a lot like Mario Kart, but with lots of customisation options and outfits that look very similar to LittleBigPlanet.

A demo of a track builder was done and a full track was built and customised in under 5 minutes. The editor was really slick and easy to use, with some good results, but didn’t do anything new. As a matter of fact, the entire game didn’t do anything new or fresh really, but it still looks like a heck of a lot of fun, so I’m not sure if I even care. Fun is fun and it looks like it has a lot of it.

ICO-Friendly

Okay, so most of you have seen the leaked trailer of the new title from Team ICO recently for a game titled Project Trico. The footage we saw was from over a year ago, and we expected to see a newer, better version at this year’s E3, and so we did. The game has it’s final title now and will be called “The Last Guardian”. We saw some changes to the characters and environments and it is looking very pretty and incredibly interesting. The game was also called a part of a trilogy, meaning that the Shadow of the Colossus and ICO were in fact linked, and that this game may reveal why. We have no idea of when this game is set for release, but I am going to guess 2010.

Stalled On The Grid

Disappointingly, we were not shown any gameplay, but rather only a trailer for the highly anticipated Gran Turismo 5. It really is about time we get to see this game running in full force, and it’s still unclear as to when it will release. With Forza 3 announced, looking good, and available in October, I have the feeling that Polyphony really needs to start getting to an end point.

What, What, What?

Here is another shocker that came out of Sony though, and it started off with the showing of Final Fantasy XIII, which we all know about and also know has gone multi-platform.

All of a sudden, we get an announcement of Final Fantasy XIV (Yes, 14) as a PS3 exclusive, coming out in 2010 which left us all very much confused. That is, until the end of the trailer, when we saw that it was subtitled “Online”. So basically a new Final Fantasy Online is on it’s way and will release in 2010 and from the trailer is looking quite magical, so keep an eye out for more details soon.

Sony did however, save the best for last, and you know exactly what I mean. Yes, God of War III.

We were shown some live gameplay footage of the new game that lasted for a decent couple of minutes and it is looking mind-blowing. The visuals and scale are just gorgeous and the gameplay looks as good as it has always been, with some improvements and additions here and there. Needless to say that this is going to be a big seller and a great reason to be proud to own a PS3, I cannot wait. Speaking of waiting though, the game has been given a March 2010 release.

Round Up

There is a lot of good stuff coming out from Sony, but it looks like a lot of it will only be seeing the light of day in 2010, which is a little disappointing. We want, and we want it now! Something else… where was Heavy Rain? Many of us were really looking forward to seeing even more of the upcoming title, so it’s absence felt somewhat strange.

On the whole Sony had a very strong presentation, but neither them or anyone expected such a strong showing from Microsoft and pre-E3 leaks hurt Sony’s “wow” factor quite a lot as well. This just means that the game is on and we are going to have a very exciting battle between the two behemoths over the next year.

So bring it on Sony and Microsoft, let’s see who brings their absolute A-Game!

Last Updated: June 3, 2009

9 Comments

  1. Dont worry guys 2010 will be the year of the PS3.. giggle :angel:

    Reply

  2. StarCraft 2 News

    June 3, 2009 at 23:48

    I didn’t think Sony could top Microsoft’s conference…

    I was wrong

    Reply

  3. WitWolfyZA

    June 4, 2009 at 07:47

    I was also first like .. WHAT FFXIV Exclusive… then i read theonline part and suddenly got a sigh of relief 😆

    Reply

  4. Banana Hammock

    June 4, 2009 at 08:56

    Lol, funny how the company who’s had 2 shockers in a row (Nintendo) is wiping the floor with the so-called behemoths.

    MS and Sony did very well, i own a PS3 and i was happy, if i owned an XboX i would be happy too. This was one of the better E3 shows.

    Reply

  5. DarthPenguin

    June 4, 2009 at 09:51

    Just to start fanboy wars… 😛

    Sony disapointed me… the motion controller doesn’t compare to what MS showed.. the exclusive lineup.. well.. nothing really new (except for MAG.. it now looks good)

    The collisions were really bad in GOW3.. enemies were just bouncing off Kratos… I was actually dissapointed in the video.

    And nothing touched how awesome Splinter Cell Conviction looked… not even close…

    :biggrin:

    Reply

  6. Squal123

    June 4, 2009 at 16:27

    Just my two cents. I think Sony had the better conference. Lets look at it this way E3 is all about games and sure M$ show had the more wow factor with them bringing up celebs and all, Beatles anyone, Tony etc. but Sony showed us alot of games and that’s what they concentrated on this year: The games. Not as flashy as M$, but hey if your company made a $1 billion loss, you would leave the light show at home. Looks like lazy is a true xbot fanboy, sorry just the way I see it.

    Reply

  7. Nick - Lazygamer

    June 4, 2009 at 16:44

    I think they were pretty equal, I don’t think you can just say that someone is an xbot because they think MS had a stronger conference, because face it, it was DAMN strong, especially considering that no one expected anything special from them. Sony brought some big stuff with them as well.

    I give it to MS because they brought so much when everyone expected little, and Sony lost out because they were just so incredibly hurt by leaks on the internet over the last month.

    Reply

  8. easy

    June 4, 2009 at 17:09

    thats hardly a fair reflection then, not that i particularly care who won.
    but by saying ms ‘won’ based their willingness splurge silly amounts of money (especially in the current economic climate) and sony having the wind taken out of their sails by leaks, is basically saying ms ‘won’ by default.
    whether or not that is a legitimate win, its a hollow victory.

    but before a ‘who had the best show’ war erupts, both companies put on class shows and both should be proud of their efforts as well as the developers who obviously worked over time to make it happen.

    Reply

  9. Nick - Lazygamer

    June 4, 2009 at 17:15

    Sorry ya, let me rephrase – Sony was really strong, but had their been no leaks at all, they would have blown everyone out of the water.

    Reply

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