Sony, where to begin! I was anticipating news regarding games such as God Of War Ascension and Naughty Dog's The Last Of Us but I got so much more!
Let me start at the beginning after the jump.
The keynote started at 9:01EST with Jack Tretton thanking the gamers and then he gave the stage to David Cage of Quantic Dream (who gave us Heavy Rain).
Cage introduces us to their new game Beyond Two Souls. The game's main character, Jodie Holmes, is played by Academy Award nominated, Ellen Page. She is a mysterious woman with a link with an entity of the dead. We are shown a game intro in which Holmes is being questioned by a local police officer. Holmes is just sitting silently offering no answers but then demonstrates a mysterious power. Just then, the swat team shows up. Cut to a montage of destruction. Beyond Two Souls is "a game about death and what's on the other side"
Then came the unveiling of the "Toast to Michael", PS's viral teaser is revealed to be promotion for Playstation All Stars Battle Royale. This game is Playstation's answer to Nintendo's Super Smash Brothers. Available for Playstation Vita and Playstation 3 and works with the new Cross Compatibility between both platforms (CrossPlay) allowing people to compete with friends on either platform via the Playstation Network. The game is slated for Holiday 2012.
Sony announced that they were doubling down with their Playstation Network, with over 200 downloadable games over the next 12 months. They have sweetened their Playstation Plus offerings, for a $5 per month subscription offer, with the promise of 12 free games per month and all of the attendees of the keynote received a free year of Playstation Plus.
Playstation Vita was up next with the announcement of such new games as Call Of Duty Black Ops: Declassified, When Vikings Attack, Retro City Rampage and Assassin's Creed 3 Liberation as well as the announcement of the availability of Playstation One Classics (yes!) starting with Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy VI! Assassin's Creed 3 Liberation will be available later this year in a highly anticipated PS Vita bundle. The new bundle comes with a Crystal White PS Vita and a 4 gig memory card.
Ubisoft's was next on the stage with a closer look at their AAA title: Assassin's Creed 3. Set during the American Revolution, we see Assassin's Creed break new ground with, a new character, Connor battling on land & now at sea with full control of a boat and its cannons! Dan Hay was next on stage for Ubisoft showcasing Farcry 3. The PS version will have an exclusive, intense, 4 player co-op campaign.
Playstation Move had its moment on the stage. Presented by Andy House, the new President and Group CEO, is Wonderbook. Wonderbook is a reinvention of the storybook that is interactive using augmented reality. The announcement of JK Rowling's Book of Spells was the big deal and was showcased by Dave Ranyard. Wonderbook has a lot of potential if I had children I would be very excited about this.
Playstation Mobile is announced in partnership with HTC, a leader in the smart phone industry.
The Keynote then took a turn for the dramatic, on-screen gameplay from God of War Ascension and Todd Cappy simply saying "March 12th, 2013". The room went dark and the ultra violent gameplay for Naughty Dog's (Uncharted) The Last of Us began with a ton of violence and bleeped gameplay dialogue.
Overall, Sony's keynote was pretty eventful. They didn't make me yearn to go out and buy a Playstation Vita but they did make me feel like I was missing a lot by not springing the 5 dollars a month to subscribe to Playstation Plus. I was left with a need to know more about Beyond's Jodie Holmes and what the "Dawn of the Wolf" posters are all about in The Last Of Us.
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E3 2012: home viewing guide
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E3 2012: microsoft keynoteE3 2012: home viewing guide
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