Microsoft already made their announcements earlier this morning, but now Sony has finished their gamescom presentation and revealed new information about the PS4, PS Vita, and even some PlayStation 3 news as well. In case you missed it, here are all the highlights from the Sony gamescom 2013 presentation:
- Jim Ryan was the first to take the stage to discuss the importance of gamescom and the European gaming market. He then queued up a new demo of Gran Turismo 6 utilizing the brand new GT6 physics engine to showcase the next-gen powered graphics and detailed car models. He then announced that LittleBigPlanet Hub will launch later this year.
- Michael Denny came on stage and was in charge of passing along brand new Vita announcements. Additionally, he discussed the importance of international development bringing a variety of cultural influences to an assortment of titles.
- Lead system architect Mark Cerny took the stage to discuss the PS4.
- Shahid Ahmad came on to show off some of the new indie games coming to the PS4.
- Andrew House, president and group CEO of SEO, took the stage to close out the show. He announced details about the launch of the PS4, and reaffirmed that the PS3 will have continued support.
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PS4:
The new PS4 UI was shown off in detail for the first time. While the XMB (cross-media bar) from the PS3 era is still in tact, many additional features that have been previously announced all seamlessly branch off of the side-scrolling icon tray located at the top of the screen. The PS4 is capable of switching between watching trailers, downloading/playing content, or viewing another player’s livestream gaming session with relative ease.
Mark Cerny discussed how the powerful hardware will allow developers to create the very best games. He claims the PS4 is “the most powerful gaming console.” The console is “by game creators, for game creators,” combining accessibility with powerful performance to bring gamers the “greatest launch lineup in PlayStation History.” Sony decided to push support for indie developers because of the passion of small teams to create diverse experiences. The PS4 supports the Unity development engine, making it easier to bring indie games to the console. Cerby believes “a renaissance of games is coming to the PS4,” combining indie titles and exclusives to offer a wide-range of content that will appeal to all gamers.
Some upcoming indie games coming to the PSN include:
- Rogue Legacy, which will make its exclusive console debut on the PS4 and PS Vita sometime next year.
- The Binding of Issac Rebirth is a new version of the popular PC indie game coming exclusively to PS4 and PS Vita.
- N++ will debut on PS4 sometime this winter.
- Volume, a new game from the developer of Thomas was Alone, will debut worldwide on PS4 and Vita first next year.
- Guns of Icarus Online will be on PS4.
- Wasteland Kings makes a console exclusive debut on the PS4 and Vita next year.
- Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number will be making its console-exclusive debut on PS4 and Vita next year.
Media Molecule and Naughty Dog are working on brand new, unannounced titles coming to the PS4.
The Chinese Room is a developer studio working on a new title called Everyone’s Gone to the Rapture, a post-apocalyptic title. After a brief teaser, the tagline “the story begins when the world ends” appeared.
Tequila Works is working on Rime, a puzzle platformer headed to the PS4.
Helldivers from Arrowhead Studios is a new a cross-play title for the PS3, PS4, and Vita. The game is a squad-based top-down shooter featuring up to four players.
Assault Android Cactus, Witch Beam’s twin stick shooter which I recently featured on a segment of Indie Spotlight, will also be heading to the PS4.
Shadow of the Beast is being reimagined for the PS4. A total graphical overhaul and additional enhancements will offer a next-gen look at the classic action-adventure title.
The Playroom will be pre-installed on every PS4 at launch, allowing everyone to jump in and check out smaller games and experiences that experiment with the DualShock 4’s functionality as well as other motion/gesture controlled activities.
Sucker Punch debuted a new trailer for inFAMOUS: Second Son. Conduits – people who’ve developed powers – are running rampant across the city. The protagonist not only controls smoke-based powers, but can also acquire new abilities. The trailer ended with the character absorbing electrical energy, a small nod to the abilities of previous protagonist Cole MacGrath.
A new trailer for Killzone: Shadow Fall was shown off that included some footage of the game’s multiplayer modes, included the recently-announced Apocalypse mode.
New multimedia features for the PS4 include Twitch integration, as well as applications from a number of content providers such as IGN and Music Unlimited. The PS4 will include the ability to listen to music/customize playlists from Music Unlimited while playing games.
All PS4 owners will get a two-week trial of PS+, with access to the Instant Game Collection, including the PS4 launch title Drive Club.
Ubisoft will have strong launch support for the PS4, including Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Watch_Dogs. ACIV will feature remote play, allowing gamers to switch off and play the game on PS Vita. The new demo offered a look at ship combat and the seamless transition from playing on PS4 to resuming gameplay on the PS Vita. The demo ended with a new trailer detailing some of the game’s story beats.
Yves Guillemot, the co-founder of Ubisoft, came on stage to debut a new trailer for Watch_Dogs. He also announced that Ubisoft is teaming up with Sony to produce a Watch_Dogs film. The trailer contained new story details about Aiden Pearce. A third party is using Pearce’s ability to hack the city of Chicago’s network as an example of why the government cannot be trusted and cause civil unrest. The PS4 version of Watch-Dogs will contain sixty minutes of exclusive footage, including 4 bonus missions.
Minecraft is coming to the PS4 in the near future.
War Thunder is coming exclusively to PS4. The PSN download is a next-gen MMO that features aerial dog-fights.
Sony officially announced the launch date of the PS4. Andrew House stated that the PS4 will be available on November 15 in North America and November 29 in Europe. As if you didn’t already know, the console will launch at a price point of $399.99.
PS3:
Gran Turismo 6‘s new trailer made a point of showing off the extensive catalog of vehicle manufacturers that offered their specs to ensure the game featured the most detailed and authentic presentations available. The game has a release date of December 6, 2013. Jim Ryan also announced that there will be a feature length Gran Turismo film coming soon.
LittleBigPlanet Hub is a free-to-download service for the PS3 that brings all of the fun of LBP‘s customization options in a single package. Users can play, create, and share an assortment of levels, designs, and challenges with the world. No further details were offered.
PS3 will have a GTAV hardware bundle. Anyone who pre-orders GTAV on the PS Store will receive a 75% off discount on any other Rockstar game at checkout.
The 12GB PS3 will release in North America for $199.99.
Andrew House announced that when PS4 versions of upcoming PS3 games such as Battlefield 4, Watch_Dogs, and Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag are released, those who purchased titles on PS3 will have a limited window to download the digital copies of the PS4 versions at a “significantly discounted” price.
PS Vita:
Sony announced the Vita is officially receiving the price cut we’ve all suspected for some time now. Starting [date], the Vita will drop down to $199.99. PS Vita memory cards will also get “significant price cuts” soon, but no specifics were mentioned
3 new Vita bundles are coming soon.
Killzone: Mercenaries and Tearaway were highlighted as examples of new and diverse experiences available on the Vita.
Murasaki Baby is a new Vita game using touch functionality to lead the protagonist by the hand through the side-scrolling stages. Puzzle solving and mild platforming elements were also shown. The character has a heart-shaped balloon that must remain close to it at all times, requiring the player to drag the balloon back to the character’s hand, otherwise the baby stands still and cries.
Bigfest is a game tasking players to become the greatest music promoter. A new trailer showed off online leaderboards to compete with friends and to see who brings in the largest audience and represents the most popular bands.
A video presentation showed off why indie developers love the PS Vita. Developers claim it’s very easy to develop for the Vita; that it’s a gaming platform first and foremost. The powerful hardware and intuitive developer-minded tools allow teams to make games specifically targeted for the audiences some niche indie markets want to reach.
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A ton of really exciting news for Sony fans came out of gamescom this year. Not only did the stage demos all go off without a hitch, there were a number of great announcements and trailers to show off all the new content coming to the PlayStation brand over the next year. First off, the North American PS4 release date of November 15 is pretty much par the course. While there were murmurs that Sony wanted to get a couple week head start over the Xbox One by launching in October, the mid-November launch window makes perfect sense. It gives all the ravenous Battlefield, Call of Duty, and Assassin’s Creed fans the chance to pick up the game as a final send-off to their current-gen consoles, and then encourages folks to re-buy the games once more when they make their next-gen debut.
I’m most impressed by the outpouring of affection Sony is laying at the feet of indie developers. As a strong supporter of the indie community, I’m glad that the PS4 architecture is supportive of both indie development and distribution. After hearing so many developers discuss how easy it is to develop on Sony platforms at E3, speaking specifically about the PS4 and PS Vita, it’s nice to see everyone showing instead of just telling with an incredible catalog of indie games launching on the PS4 and Vita in the near future. I’m admittedly disappointed we didn’t see more about Young Horses’ PS4 version of Octodad: Dadliest Catch, but there were so many other great indie titles flashing across the screen in rapid succession that in the moment I nearly forget about the game entirely.
The only part of the presentation that was missing was a status update for the Gaikai cloud service. Sony mentioned at E3 that the service, which many incredible catalog features of the PS4 hinge on, would be delayed until sometime in 2014. Unfortunately, gamescom didn’t provide any sort of detail as to how the service’s integration was coming along. Instead, today’s focus was unsurprisingly centered around the PS4 hardware launch and software lineup. It’s a shame they didn’t yet detail the idea of upgrading from PS3 versions of games to the PS4. It will be interesting to see just how much of a discount Sony offers to re-buy the next-gen versions of the AAA games most folks won’t want to wait for.
All in all, Sony did what needed to be done to cement their place as a top console manufacturer by showing off the games people wanted to see, making a necessary price cut to the PS Vita, and reaffirming strong support for the PS3 even after the initial launch of the PS4. Things are going to get crazy this holiday season, with both console makers looking sharp thanks to a solid catalog of launch titles.
What did you folks think about Sony’s 2013 gamescom presentation? Was there anything missing from the show that you would have liked to see? Aside from the software titles, what other PS4 features or applications are you most looking forward to trying out? Share your thoughts in the comments section, and don’t forget to like IGXPro on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or give us the ‘ol +1 on Google+. If you can’t get enough of my shenanigans, (who could blame you?) you can check me out @GamingsNirvana, or add +VinnyParisi to your circles.
