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Their Best: The Last of Us, Twisted Metal, Gran Turismo, God of War III, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Killzone 2
Their Worst: Knack, Lair, Cross Edge, Haze
E3 2015 is almost here, and we’re all starting to get very excited about gaming’s biggest stage of the year. E3 is the time of year that publishers save their big announcements for. So, we’ll undoubtedly see some bombs drop during the show. We’re starting to make our E3 2015 predictions, and now we’re planning these publisher spotlights in the weeks leading up to the show. We’ve already shined a light on Electronic Arts and what they might do at E3, but now let’s go one step bigger — Sony!
Sony is quite unpredictable when it comes to E3 announcements. But in order to properly predict what Sony will do at E3 2015, we have to take a look at what they’ve done in the past and where they are now.
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The Past
Sony Computer Entertainment has made quite a name for itself for releasing high quality games and high quality consoles throughout the years. In fact, I’d say they’ve been the most consistent gaming company out there. How great was the PSone? Great. How great was the PS2? Great. How great was the PS3? Great. How great is the PS4? It’ll get there. But ever since the company’s inception in late 1993, they’ve made it clear that they know what gamers want.
I’m not going to delve far into the history of Sony, because we don’t have a behind-the-scenes look at the publisher, and everything else you can likely find elsewhere (like Wikipedia). I’d much rather analyze what the company is about and how their games turned out, as well as the mistakes they’ve made. To me, Sony’s ability to bring gamers what they want is second-to-none, and that’s why they’re currently “winning” the console war (at least according to the NPD numbers). Sony isn’t always on point, though; they’ve made plenty of mistakes.
Sony’s biggest mistakes mostly come from their handheld device management, with the biggest problem being the lack of software support. The PSP didn’t exactly have a ton of games. The PS Vita doesn’t have a ton of games. And, that’s where Sony has fallen short.
As far as their E3 past is concerned, they definitely announce their BIGGEST titles at E3. Highlights include the announcement of Tomb Raider II in 1997, Metal Gear Solid 2 in 2000, Ratchet & Clank in 2002, God of War in 2004 and Twisted Metal in 2010. And, usually, they don’t just announce ONE huge game, but several. Sony has way too many first party franchises to list, but highlights include the games previously mentioned, Uncharted, MLB The Show, Gran Turismo, LittleBigPlanet, Infamous, Killzone, Resistance and The Last of Us.
The Present
Sony had a big year in 2014, and it’s clear that they’re being favored when you look at the numbers. Sony had a huge showing at E3 2014, and I’d say they won last year’s show. How did they do it? Basically, they didn’t show any bullshit games that fans just don’t want. They didn’t show any family games like Microsoft did. We didn’t see Andrew House dancing in an on-stage scripted demo, did we? No. We saw GREAT-looking exclusive games announced, like Let It Die, Bloodborne, Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain, Uncharted 4 and The Order: 1886.
We also saw some great third-party games during the Sony conference that really enhanced the quality of their E3 2014. Great games like Mortal Kombat X, Dead Island 2, No Man’s Sky, Grand Theft Auto V, and most impressively, Batman: Arkham Knight. So, it’s not as though Sony ONLY had first party PS4 exclusives to show at last year’s E3, and even though none of the third-party games they showed were exclusive to Sony, they were the show’s biggest games (I mean, let’s be honest, you’ll NEVER top a Batman game announcement). You can read more about my thoughts on How Sony Nailed It At E3 2014 here.
As it stands right now, Sony has a ton of console games in development (both first party and third party) that are currently scheduled for a 2015 release: God of War III Remastered, Until Dawn, Ratchet & Clank, Shadow of the Beast, Rime, Tearaway Unfolded, Disgea 5, Dragon Quest Heroes, Persona 5, Godzilla, The Tomorrow Children, Let it Die, Deep Down, Hunger, Fat Princess Adventures, and Alienation. There are also a ton of console exclusives coming, like Killing Floor 2, Soma, Dungeon Defenders II, and Planetside 2, to name a few. So, Sony has no shortage of games to show at E3, and we’ll undoubtedly see many new games announced.
E3 2015 Sony Predictions
Predicting E3 for Sony is a tough thing to do, because we’re not exactly sure where the company’s head is at right now. They’re in the lead in the console wars with Microsoft (and before you call me a fanboy, I own both consoles and play both regularly…I’m referring to the numbers, only), so do they want to continue what they’re doing or change it up and make even more waves in the video game world?
First and foremost, I don’t think we’ll see a price drop for the PS4 and it’s definitely too early for a PS4 slim. Sony doesn’t have much of a reason to drop the price just yet unless Microsoft drops the price of the Xbox One, in which case they can just make the announcement at Gamescomm in August.
I see Sony having a lot of “and you can play it RIGHT NOW” moments at E3 2015. For example, we don’t have a release date for Let It Die, and given that it is supposed to be a free to play title anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me if Sony announced that it was live on the PS4 following their conference. Planetside 2 also falls into this announcement.
I am seriously doubting that Sony will even mention anything to do with DriveClub’s PS Plus version, since they’d be afraid for the boos ruining their show. They botched their promise of the free PS Plus version of the game, and I don’t think fans want to see anything more from the franchise. Ever. But Gran Turismo 7, Sony’s other racing title, will more than likely make its debut with some gameplay footage and a release window.
The developers behind the Killzone series, Guerrilla Games, is rumored to be working on a new project that’s not Killzone. Our very own Elton Jones thinks this will be unveiled at E3 2015, and I’m going to have to agree with him.
We can also expect an official Ratchet & Clank PS4 release date, and possibly an update on the movie’s status. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we saw a new Resistance PS4 game officially announced, since Sony filed a trademark earlier this year and we haven’t heard anything yet. Hopefully, it isn’t a remastered collection but will be Resistance 4 or something similar.
Sony will also announce some more free to play PS4 games that will be free to PS Plus members, like Infinite Crisis. It’s also very possible that we’ll get a date for H1Z1 PS4 (since it already has a huge crowd on the PC and is definitely a buzzworthy zombie game in the video game world right now).
There are also quite a few PS One era classics that could see PS4 reboots, like Parappa the Rapper, Syphon Filter, and Parasite Eve (although it developed by Square Enix). I’d really love to see a Parasite Eve PS4 hit the market at some point during the console’s life cycle.
Sony also tried their hand at TV shows with Powers, and I don’t know about you, but I was less than impressed. I think they need to bring something else if they want to compete with the Xbox One’s appeal for being an overall entertainment device. So, I think we’ll see a new show or two announced, and it’s quite possible we might even get a first trailer for the The Last of Us movie. We’ll also learn that PS Vue is expanding, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were to become a free service to PS Plus members to enhance the value of membership.
Stay tuned to Heavy’s Gaming Section for more publisher spotlights leading up to this year’s E3.
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