Better late than never for the update on Sony’s E3 press conference. In my defense I just got off a plane from a wedding in the South of Ireland where the only place I saw video games was in the kiddie arcade in Shannon airport. There was a lot of rapidly changing weather in Ireland which is a surprisingly apt lead in for Sony’s press conference.
You can watch the whole conference here or here’s my abridge, jet-lagged stream of consciousness run down of each game they showcased.
They kick things off with a live band playing mysterious music and an actual waterfall in the theater. I don’t quite recognize the franchise at first but correctly guessed it's Uncharted with ladies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8qzBkHjk_0
(5:14) Next up it’s snowing in the theater for another franchise I know nothing about Horizon Zero Dawn The Frozen Wilds (for a such a Sony fangirl it's weird how few of their exclusive titles I care about). More female protagonists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5Xx3MdqdgM
(6:50) Now it's raining for the motorcycle version of Dances with Wolves?! That coat looks a little familiar… err is Watchdogs a Sony exclusive? Umm they have actual people hanging from the ceiling in the theater at E3 to match the ones in the video game? OK so zombies! Oh right I think I got Dead Island free last time Sony did something stupid so this is probably a sequel to that? Why were the ladies trailers so short and this one is taking FOREVER?! I guess it's called Days Gone.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd0d0CKwsk8
Next up is suit laden executive Shawn Layden who confirmed that he did walk under zombies hanging from the ceiling and I was not in fact hallucinating! Thankfully he wasn’t up too long and just cut to more trailers.
(17:13) Running water and rainforest noises this time. Whatever that weapon he’s carrying is makes me think of Crocodile Dundee. Dinosaurs are involved. Skyrimasaur? Nah this ain’t Bethesda quality. Capcom is still around? Guess its Monster Hunter World which is not a Sony exclusive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ro6r15wzp2o
(20:53) Now there is actual fire on stage. I hope the ceiling zombies got out of the way…
Now we’ve got wind and water noises. Is that a giant stone monkey monster?! Perhaps since it's the new Shadow of the Colossus. Another Sony exclusive which is an HD remaster slated for 2018.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdZQ98mWeto
(22:37) More fire! Marvel is involved so it's probably not an exclusive. Err is that the chick from Street Fighter and Megaman? Marvel vs Capcom? Wasn’t that already a thing? Oh right it was but this one is cooler cuz its “Infinite!” And you can download a demo today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2q8itjifDY
(25:07) Not sure if I can count the sounds of war as weather but I’m committing to this theme! They tricked me into thinking it was the new Wolfenstein II since it was set in WWII but instead it’s Call of Duty WWII. Graphics do look pretty amazing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42GiPMtJ-1I
Virtual Reality Time
(28:03) VR stuff doesn’t get any weather which I guess is appropriate since it's like staying home and pretending to go outside…oh wait that’s ALL video games.
OK *THIS* is Bethesda quality. I’m not really sure I want to go to virtual Skyrim but I bet there are a whole bunch of people psyched for The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim VR. It’s a timed exclusive for Sony that will eventually be out for other platforms.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uelzOUIksk
(29:23) Spaaaaaaaaaaaaaace! This music sounds a lot like Portal but it's another VR title called Star Child.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRKiFsXvdyw
(31:16) I feel like psychological horror games in VR might not be a good idea. Guess we’ll get to find out when The Inpatient comes out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGWrUjN7huo
(32:03) I’m not sure my final VR fantasy is VR fishing with the dudes from FF XV but if it's yours I’m sure you’re super excited about Monsters of the Deep Final Fantasy XV.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6kvMNXR9sE
(33:07) More war. With Bravo Team
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nDdbO7X4Jk
(33:58) Still in the short VR trailer section of the conference. Pretty forest and a cute little mouse. I will either be obsessed with this game or think it's boring. And with the lack of voice acting in the trailer I’m leaning towards boring…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukArKoIcm-8
At this point I am regretting deciding trying to do a short spot for every game they showcase...I might be here all night…At least the VR stuff is over now…
(36: 30) We’re back to water sounds on stage...I think we’re at the beach. Did the dude in God of War always have a beard? He seems to be training a small child, oh spoiler alert it's his son who thinks there is more to life than killing things! Is dad beard the new dad bod?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOE2BVRCUkM
OK the jetlag is definitely setting in since this was 4am where I was yesterday…powering through!
(41:50) Singing cyborg dude...Detroit. Robocop? It’s snowing who wears an off the shoulder shirt in the snow, she’ll get frostbite, oh wait maybe she’s a cyborg. I bet this game involves parkour. Ooh is this the EA thing I read about that’s trying to use real time machine learning and data analytics from players to craft the story line? No wait, seems to have Heavy Rain choice mechanics. Nailed it it is Quantic Dream! Who as much as I loved Heavy Rain I still have not forgiven for that other awful one that involved Ellen Page that was so bad my brain is repressing the name of. The trailer looks interesting and the graphics look amazing. This is the first one I’ll probably actually buy...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfCbw8wfdXk
(47:35) This one started with aircraft noises. It still feels weird to have Bungie not be a Microsoft thing even after all these years. Looks kinda like bounty hunter robot dudes, probably multiplayer. Oh I’m going to be disowned by at least one person reading this (sorry Luke!) for not recognizing its Destiny 2. Looks like the PS4 version will have some exclusive content.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF59LNrcFQM
(50:06) Suit dude is back. Can haz nap? Here comes another Sony exclusive.
(51:10) Cityscape. Superheros? Yup! Spiderman. Cool this trailer is all actual gameplay. Interesting Marvel gave Sony the exclusive. Has there been a Spiderman game recently? I’m too tired to google it now...
Wrap up montage and some more stage fire.
While not a lot of games *I* want to play (no indie love at all this year) there certainly were a lot of games! And kudos Sony for just showing games without a lot of yakking.
