Sony has stuck very close to its long-time playbook at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), aiming to please the most passionate of video game fans by unveiling three games so long-awaited they had almost become mythical: The Last Guardian, Shenmue 3 and a full remake of Final Fantasy VII.
Many had predicted the PlayStation conference at E3 might make headlines by detailing Sony's VR headset Morpheus or by stealing the annual Call of Duty demonstration away from its regular home at the Microsoft show. While both of these things ended up happening as well, they seemed to be buried under the weight of game announcements.
In addition to the above mentioned three titles, Sony studios Guerilla and Media Molecule unveiled the projects they've been secretly working on, the former with Horizon — an exploratory action game in a foresty post apocalyptic world — and the latter with Dreams — a collaborative drawing and animation game.
Elsewhere a new Hitman game was also announced, and an impressively lengthy demonstration was given of next year's Uncharted 4.
The Morpheus VR headset will be on the E3 show floor this week, so impressions should start appearing by Thursday.
For the time being Andrew House, chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, said one of the device's points of difference will be its ability to link multiple users into the same virtual world. Because the headset runs on a PS4 and not a PC, multiplayer VR gaming will be seamless, he said, announcing a new multiplayer mech combat game called RIGS.
Sony's handheld Vita system was mentioned exactly once, solidifying the fact that the company has all-but dropped the powerful system which has struggled to make an impact in the age of smartphone gaming.
New games announced
Horizon (TBA). After the fall of human civilisation, nature reclaims the world and humans grow again in various tribes. But the Earth is ruled by a race of animal-like robots, possibly left over from the former civilised world. Gameplay footage showed a female protagonist hunting the machines for resources with a bow and arrow.
Hitman (2015). A stylistic departure from the last game, a trailer shows people in all sorts of situations doing all sorts of things, but all of whom appear to resemble enigmatic protagonist Agent 47.
Final Fantasy VII remake (TBA, probably a long time in the future) Square Enix has always maintained it could not recreate the incredibly popular Final Fantasy VII because to do it right would require all the time and resources of a brand new Final Fantasy game and millions of dollars in funding. A brief trailer indicates they are set on doing this right, but don't expect it any time soon.
Shenmue 3 (TBA, if at all). The sequel to Sega's cult life simulator is not being published or developed by Sony, it is actually being crowdfunded by the series' creator. Its appearance at the conference was merely meant to give the campaign (and Sony's good standing) a boost, which it surely has.
RIGS (TBA). A very brief trailer shows a multiplayer mech combat arena game with a twist — it all takes place in virtual reality with Sony's Morpheus.
World of Final Fantasy (2016).
Other games shown
The Last Guardian (2016). A story about friendship featuring a boy and his massive puppy-bird hybrid, this platforming puzzle game has been in development for the better part of a decade with no firm release window given, until now. A good chunk of a level was shown in a gameplay trailer, and Sony says the game is coming next year.
Street Fighter V (2016). Characters Cammy and Birdie were revealed in a very brief trailer for what is a huge exclusive game for PlayStation.
No Man's Sky (TBA). Another great showing for this unbelievably big indie game, as the galaxy-sized game world was shown off and a random planet was explored for the first time ever. Still no release date, so if this one's at E3 again next year people could start to get impatient.
Dreams (TBA). The makers of Little Big Planet showed off their newest take on collaborative gaming with this title, all about expressing yourself with simple but powerful animation tools and having those snippets join a global fabric of ideas that gamers can explore stream-of-consciousness style.
Firewatch (2015). This intriguing narrative indie was revealed to be getting a PS4 release.
Destiny: The Taken King (2015). A new expansion for the popular online shooter RPG.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III (2015). Call of Duty was shown off being very Call of Duty, but this time with the option of playing the campaign co-operatively.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End (2016). A brand new demo showed Nate and familiar pal Sully escaping heavily armed thugs in what appears to be a mediterranean coastal town.
Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015)
Batman: Arkham Knight (2015)
Disney Infinity 3.0 (2015)
Star Wars: Battlefront (2015)
