Editorial: E3 Predictions Part 2: Sony

E3 is now only a couple of weeks away and every major player in the interactive entertainment industry is going all out with announcements of their biggest titles. Sony has done a very impressive job at E3 for the last couple of years. Their 2006 press conference was a disaster which has been spoofed by many on the web. Thankfully after all that, there are no more giant enemy crabs or talks of a $599 price. Not only but I remember watching the 2006 conference live and Sony started thirty minutes late. They really have recovered since then and I even thought last year's showing was the best lineup of all major hardware companies. This only covers first party titles and does not reflect the opinions of the other GamersCast Podcast staff.

How Sony has done its press conference in recent years is that they at first focus on announcements that will be effective during the holiday season. All surprises that will release this year are usually announced within the first three quarters of the conference. The rest of the time is used to focus on titles for the following year. This is the one thing I like about Sony at E3. They focus more on next year at their conference than Nintendo or Microsoft. Some of what Sony has to offer on Playstation 3, PSP and Playstation 2 is already known and I think there will be fewer surprises this year than last year. What do I think Sony will talk about at E3?

Games Sony will definitely show:

Playstation Move launch titles- Sony has already revealed many titles such as Sports Champions, Move Party, The Shoot, and many more that will most likely launch with Playstation Move. There will no doubt be new titles shown for the first time at Sony's conference. They have already announced that for $99 you get a starter kit which comes with the Playstation Eye camera, a Move controller, and a game. I believe there will be multiple starter kits featuring many different games. I am also interested to see Playstation Network titles that will support Move other than the ones that will be updated to support it. I believe all of that will definitely be revealed at Sony's conference

God of War: Ghost of Sparta- There is no doubt that this will be the most highly anticipated PSP game of 2010. Sony has yet to show footage of the game to the public and E3 is the perfect opportunity to demo the game in front of the world.

Killzone 3- It was just announced last week and Sony will definitely reveal a few new things about the game as well as debut a trailer and possibly demo the game.

LittleBigPlanet 2- LittleBigPlanet 2 is one of those games that just has so many features that not all of it will even be revealed until the game's launch. According to what I have heard, there will be announcements at E3 concerning the "create" function of the game. Some new information will be revealed and it will most likely be something unexpected. I think Media Molecule will definitely surprise all of us with great new information at E3.

Socom 4- Although it was previously announced, more information on Socom 4 will be revealed at E3. It is likely that a release date will also be confirmed at the show.

The Last Guardian- The trailer at last year's E3 blew everyone away and there is no doubt in my mind that Sony will reveal more about The Last Guardian.


Games Sony might at E3

Resistance 3- The announcement of Resistance 3 was leaked on a movie set when a bilboard on the set revealed information on the game. I believe Resistance 3 is in development and will release in 2011. If this is all true, Sony will reveal the first trailer and information on the game near the end of their press conference.

Heavy Rain Chronicles DLC- Heavy Rain has done so much better in sales than its developers at Quantic Dream expected. There so far is only one piece of Heavy Rain DLC (downloadable content) and I believe that there just has to be more in store. This would be the perfect venue to unveil details on Heavy Rain DLC and I would not be surprised if the release of the second piece of content was released only a couple of weeks after it is unveiled.

Games Sony will not show at E3

Eat Sleep Play title- David Jaffe has said hundreds of times that his company's game, whatever it might be, will NOT be on the E3 show floor. End of story.

There is more than just games being revealed. Sony has already confirmed that they will be releasing a paid service for Playstation Network in which you pay for membership but receive extra content. I have heard many things about the service such as that it will allow users to download one free PSN game per month. Only certain titles will be eligible. I also heard the Playstation Protection Plan will be included in the service as well. I think that they also need to give these users free subscriptions to Qore, special "meet and greet" opportunities in Home, getting some content earlier than users not paying for the servie, similar to the way Xbox Live releases demos. Another thing I heard is that cross-game chat will be included with the premium servie. I think if they do all these things, they will get users to sign up. I would think rather than a monthly fee, users should have an option to pay for a full year of service so they do not have to worry every month about paying rather than getting it over with then.

Another huge rumored announcement is the debut of the successor to the PSP. The PSP has been out for five years and Nintendo will be revealing information on the successor to Nintendo DS at E3. Based on this information alone, it is easy to believe that Sony will say something about the new system at E3. I don't think that the PSP 2 will be coming out anytime soon. I think will will come out before Summer of 2012 but I think Sony really needs to think about whether they can compete against Nintendo 3DS and even iPhone which really is a true competitor. I think the PSP 2 does need to avoid putting games like the PSP Mini games on the system. iPhone has taken over as a much better spot for games like that. PSP 2 needs to be closer to bringing the console experience to a handheld. This was the goal with the original PSP and it did not do as well as it should have. The addition of a second analog stick would help so many developers in making great games. I hate using the face buttons as controls for the camera. It does not work. The one thing that will drive the system to success is that it will be much more powerful than the first PSP. This will mean more capable games will released for the system. A high definition screen and built in hard drive with options for expandable memory also must be included in order for the system to succeed. I think the PSP 2 wil not be unveiled at E3 but instead may be at the Tokyo Game Show or at Gamescom.

Sony will no doubt do nothing but impress at E3. What will they really show? We will have to wait until June 15 to hear more information. The final part of my E3 prediction will arrive later this week so stay tuned for that.