As a certified and proud PS3 fanboy, two things have been on my mind since I popped my proverbial E3 cherry. In what manner would Sony apologies for the PSN breach, and would the NGP be everything we want it to be? Two question that for me, if answered in the wrong way, could ruin a potentially outstanding conference.
After a somewhat boring Ubisoft conference, we walked out onto a slightly overcast Downtown LA, boarded the shuttle and headed to the 2011 E3 Sony conference. What was waiting for us was not what I ever would have expected! Hit the jump for more.
Right from the word go, it was clear that Sony had gone too every measure to make this conference the one to be remembered. After entering the grounds to the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena we were greeted with a smorgasbord of free drinks and eats. Swanky promotion girls in tight fitting white dresses pranced around handing out Coronas like they were going out of style, while guys dressed up in Uncharted’esk uniforms handed out lunch boxes sponsored by Subway. This was a welcomed change to the other three press conferences we had sat in before.
After a bit of schmoozing and far too many Coronas (who can pass up the classic promotion girl smile) we headed into the arena, and what an arena it was. The arena had been cut right down the middle by three huge dividers. The two on either side had three circular screens perfectly spaced and complimented the center divider that housed the biggest and most prevalent screen of all.
Unfortunately by the time we got into the arena the only available seating was in the nose-bleed section and after picking up our 3D glasses from another promotion girl that I was pretty certain wanted to have my babies (I decided to let it slide and save her the disappointment) we sat down and started to once again tweet our little fingers to the bone.
The lights dimmed and the curtain went up so to say. We were asked to put on our 3D glasses and were shown a round up video of things to come. Nothing new, but the 3D was a nice touch and set the mood for what would hopefully be a great conference. Then, without any warning Jack Tretton graced the stage and jumped right to the topic on everyone’s mind. He spoke with the calm voice and didn’t try to be funny, or forthcoming. It was a strange way to start the conference, but it was needed and I think everyone appreciated his honesty. Thinking back now, I am glad he didn’t harp on about it.
The first game of the show was Uncharted 3 and while from first glance the gameplay seemed to be much of the same, it was clear that Naughty Dawg (sorry my Mexican is a lot more prevalent now days) has spent a lot of time on graphically polishing the lighting, texturing and PhysX mechanics of the game. Water slides off a sinking ship’s deck as Drake tries to steady himself in the harsh winds. All in all, a very promising demo.
We then got to see a live demo of Resistance 3. I have never really been a Resistance fan, so this was kind of over my head. But the game is looking great and plays well. We got to see a whole range of new weapons being used, and a bunch of new beasties to shoot at.
Last Updated: June 7, 2011
