Sony E3 Live-Blog/Impressions

And it’s time for Sony’s E3. Refresh the page to see it get updated.

Watch it here.

8:53: 7 minutes until Sony goes on stage. I’m hoping to see the PS4, but I doubt it. Instead, Sony needs to deliver quality games for both the PS3 and Vita, or else they’re going to continue being left behind. The games department for Sony has been losing money, so I’m interested in what they’re going to tell investors today.

8:55: Games I’m looking forward to: Playstation All-Star Battle Royale, Last of Us, and Parappa the Rapper 3 (please Sony) and Sly 4.

Also any Vita games would be nice. The device is sleek, but I gotta see interesting software before I can justify a purchase.

9:00: Unlike Microsoft’s conference, it looks like Sony’s is just going to be online. Microsoft’s was also on Spike TV, so if you tune in there you’ll just see 100 Ways to Die. Peep the link above to watch live.

9:02: Here we go! The stage is pretty nice, and tons of Sony games are on multiple screens. Sly 4, The Last of Us was mentioned.

9:03: Now Sony’s showing a bunch of games, both new and already released, that are for the PS3 and Vita. Hey look, there’s Bioshock Infinite! Forgot about that one. So far this has been a pretty nice montage, but we haven’t see anything that wasn’t previously announced.

9:05: There are noticeably less shooters for the PS3 than there are for the Xbox 360. CEO Jack Tretton has come on the stage. Calls his consumers “the most passionate in the world.”

9:06: “This is the Super Bowl for those of us that live in the industry.” So true, Jack.

He has to be nervous. Sony has a lot riding on this conference, business-wise and in the eyes of the consumers. Sony’s broadcasting this in four languages, and if you have a PS3 you can “visit” Sony’s booth. More on that later.

9:08: Kaz Hirai is in the audience, gets a standing-o. Tretton introduces a new IP from the creators of Heavy Rain. Quantic Dream makes triply games (Heavy Rain), so this next one should be no different.

David Cage (for Quantic) is on the stage. New title is called Beyond: Two Souls.

9:11: Game is about what happens after death. It explores our fears and thoughts about dying. Focusing on 15 years of two character’s lives, the game is sure to be emotional. Not much is going to be discussed, but the actress playing Jodi Holmes is no other than Ellen Page (what). I guess this is important to the game, as Cage raves about her talents.

9:12: Now we get to see gameplay. Page’s character is being questioned by a police officer inside his office, but she doesn’t respond to his questioning. The sheriff found Jodi on the road but cannot figure out how she got there. Jodi does not speak.

9:14: Ominous music plays in the background as the building vibrates. As the sheriff approaches Jodi, a coffee cup fly from his desk, leaving the freaked-out sheriff to go back to his office.

We hear Jodi’s thoughts, saying something’s coming. That something is the SWAT team, who has it out for her for reasons unknown. Note that this is a trailer in realtime, though there’s been no gameplay, it will look the same since it’s rendered by the same engine.

We leave the scene to see a few clips of Jodi escaping the SWAT team, as well as Jodi wrecking havoc on a local city. Jodi tells the head SWAT team member to leave her alone, or she’ll “kill everyone” next time he messes with her. Trailer ends.

9:18: Tretton is back on the stage. He says that even though the PS3 is six years old, it is still a strong platform.

9:19: Tretton is talking about that cool PS3 ad (“To Michael,” I’ll link it later). That ad turned out to be a teaser for Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, which they’re showing a trailer for now.

That ad is really cool, by the way. To Michael!

9:20: Battle Royale trailer showing off many characters for the game, including Parappa and Kratos from God of War. Game team is on stage, talking about how well the game has been received. Also announces that the game is available for the Vita as well as the PS3!

9:22: Demo involves six human players, with two playing on the PS3 and two on the Vita. This connectivity might not be as interesting as we think. Talking about each character’s fighting style, from Fat Princess’s melee to Sly’s stealth abilities.

9:24: To be honest, demonstrating games live isn’t so effective. There’s time to do that at their booth, and so much could go wrong on stage. It’s risky, and it’s also boring for the audience.

“Supers” are the only way to gain points in this game, and Sweet Tooth just showed off his, transforming into a tank. Demo ends with a Fat Princess victory. Game will be on the show floor.

9:27: Teasers for Uncharted and Bioshock Infinite being show. Tretton comes back, and is talking about Cross Play, a feature that allows players to play PS3 games on the Vita. Battle Royale will demonstrate this, and it comes out this holiday.

9:29: Looks like the PS3 is able to use the Vita as a controller, much like the Wii U. Cross Play allows other features not available in the regular game to occur. Little Big Planet 2 will receive an update to allow this.

Tretton also says that 80% of PS3 and Vita games are available for download, and calls the PSN the “best platform for indie games.”

9:31: Playstation Plus has saved gamers “thousands of dollars” by offering games for free. Playstation Plus members will be able to download 12 titles starting tomorrow. Offers an “instant” library for $5 dollars. People who are in the audience get one year of Playstation Plus for free.

9:33: Tretton announces PS1 classics will be back for the Vita, starting this summer. Includes FFVII and Tomb Raider. Tretton also mentions that the PSN supports ESPN, Vudu, Amazon Instant, and others, making it a great entertainment system. Youtube and Crackle are coming to the Vita later this year.

9:35: Sony reaffirms that Call of Duty is coming to the Vita with Call of Duty: Black Ops Classified. That should help Sony gain a market for their handheld. Also showing of a trailer for Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation for the Vita (using a white device, nonetheless). Looks to be a different game than the one coming to consoles. It features a female assassin, the first in the franchise.

Tretton announces a bundle for the game that features copies for PS3 and Vita, as well as the first white Vita device. Ubisoft employees are coming to the stage to demonstrate the game.

9:39: Liberation is being made “specifically” for the Vita. Trailer features colonels sailing into America, with the player walking around on a boat. We’re actually captaining the ship! Nautical.

We’re being attacked by the British! We’re maneuvering around the enemy vessel, dodging cannonballs and loading our own. We attack the British ship with a barrage of cannonballs! Everything is running silky smooth.

9:43: We’re now fighting the Brits in a fierce thunderstorm. With a successful attack, we’ve downed the ship, and the crew lets out a cheer. We board the enemy ship, and our protagonist attacks their captain with an axe! The trailer ends.

9:45: Now more info about Far Cry 3. Drop in and drop out play. We’re in the jungle, fighting insurgents with heavy weaponry. The players are healing each other, using teamwork to dispatch enemies.

9:48: The gameplay goes on. Random thought: has Sony mentioned their Move controller yet? I don’t think so. Weird that they’re forgetting about it after just two years. If the Vita continues to struggle, will they abandon it so early? That’s a scary thought for purchasers.

9:49: Dev also mentions map editor for the game. Looks forward to the rest of E3. Tretton announces that PS3 users will receive exclusive DLC for Far Cry 3.

9:50: And now we’re talking about Move! Tretton says that Move offers “the best way to experience games.” Andy House, Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, comes on stage.

9:52: Says the PlayStation platform is about innovation. They’ve been hard at work on a completely new experience, to create a shared experience for families and gamers. Lets have a look.

9:53: Trailer shows us an interactive book, with a dynamic world. It’s called Wonderbook, and it provides the player with a physical book that interacts with the PlayStation Eye. It’s going to be a portal for authors and developers to write their books and showcase their stories. “Traditional reading experiences can take on a new meaning.”

9:55: One of the titles is called Diggs Nightcrawler, and more will be showed later.

What’s this? Looks like J.K. Rowling is writing for Wonderbook, in something called Book of Spells. Wonderbook will also integrate with Pottermore, which will expand the online universe.

9:56: Demo time. “Welcome to the reinvention of the storybook.”

You use the Move controller as a wand, and the spells show up near the book. A dragon flies off the pages and spits fire, burning our book! We pat it down with our hands, and clean off all the soot.

9:59: Now we’re seeing the discovery of the levitating spell. We’ll see more of that story later, and now we’re doing another demonstration, which is failing.

This is what I warned about before! Now it worked after watching her try to cast a spell for one minute. We see more into the book, which is teaching us Incindio. We draw a zig-zag shape in the air with our wand. I honestly don’t know why we’re spending so much time on this. I must say, the art style does look cool, though, and text-based games could use Wonderbook as a platform to distribute their games.

10:02: “Ahhh, butterflies!” curses the game as we fail to stun a dragon. I couldn’t agree more. Nice demo, time to move on.

We finally get that dragon and earn 15 house points. 15!

10:04: The Books of Spells will be the first Wonderbook to be released, but no timetable has been given. House comes back on the stage.

10:05: House says thanks to many devices, “there are more ways to play games than ever before.” They’re going to be bringing PlayStation to Android phones and tablets through PlayStation Suite. It’s going to be interesting to see how many of these new devices to get made.

HTC has been revealed as the first non-Sony partner to make PlayStation-capable hardware. House pulls out an HTC phone to reveal this. Also renaming PlayStation Suite to PlayStation Mobile, which sounds much better.

10:07: House says that Playstation is “always thinking about the future” and will be at the forefront of new technologies. House thanks us for our time, and Tretton comes back on stage.

10:08: Here’s a New God of War game. Tretton promises that it will be one of the most epic games on the PS3. Game looks nice, as we see Kratos on a dock. We witness a ram creature stab a helpless bystander, and the fight is on. Kratos uses his chains to kick some serious butt, with a variety of grappling moves. Of course, this all is moving flawlessly.

10:11: Now we’re fighting a Hydra. Our battle damages the dock, but Kratos fixes it, using a glowing-green power, and traverses it. On a funny note, it looks like the stream’s audio has been replaced with ads.

10:13: Kratos gets to a mountain and continues fighting ram enemies. There’s that Hydra we were fighting before! Somehow it triggers a fire baddie (similar to the one in Thor) but that doesn’t stop Kratos from fighting it. Kratos steals the fire guys weapon and uses it to smite him, then continues on to battle more enemies.

The graphics are very impressive. The scale is believable and the camera is fluid and dynamic. In this playthrough, it has not caused us to mess up once, a problem in other platformers.

10:15: Now we’re fighting another boss, who appears to be a bigger version of an elephant. Kratos climbs up the enemy and stabs him in the head repeatedly, ending the fight quickly. And the Hydra is back! Kratos dodges the tentacles, and goes in for the final kill. The gameplay stops, and announces a release date of March 12th, 2013.

10:17: The conference hall goes dark. I’m thinking its Last of Us.

And it is. The screens turn on, and it reveals that our heroes have escaped another horde of zombies (I’m using that phrase a lot this E3). We’re in a city damaged by forestation, suggesting that the zombie infestation has been going on for a long time. The environment is vibrant and bright, which isn’t typically found in these types of games.

10:19: The characters are bantering, with the younger one speaking in a way that indicates she doesn’t know a life before the zombie apocalypse. The controllable character appears to be nostalgic. We hear voices and sneak around, trying to eavesdrop.

10:21: We silently choke one of the guards, who may or may not be zombies. When his friend realizes that we’ve killed him, he brings the attention of other guards. We take cover in a secluded room, firing at enemies. We’ve taken one hostage, and use the threat of killing him to make the other enemies come out.

As we distract one of the guards, this allows the younger NPC to attack. “Good job with, ya know, all the killing and stuff.” She sounds like Ellen Page (she should be voicing this game!).

We make an impromptu molotov cocktail to ignite some of the guards, but others attack. I still can’t tell if they’re undead or not. One of them pins us to the ground, but our Ellen Page friend backstabs him. We shoot the stunned guard in the face, ending the demo.

10:25: Tretton comes back to the stage, asking the consumer to “keep pushing” for the groundbreaking experiences that define gamer’s tastes. And with that, Sony’s conference is done!

I really liked this one. E3 is a time for games, and Sony delivered. Last of Us is turning out to look great, and God of War and Battle Royale will just continue to get better. Wonderbook could be intriguing, but Sony needs to support it. As a consumer, I’m also looking forward to seeing PlayStation Mobile. Most smartphones don’t have buttons, so hopefully Sony can provide a true gaming experience on Android.

I’m giving Sony a B . Despite a lack of Vita games during a time when they’re needed most, they’ve made me excited about the numerous PS3 games coming out. That’s what E3 is all about. Great show. Come back tomorrow for my coverage of Nintendo’s press conference at noon!