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If you go strictly by the numbers, Sony is pretty much winning the console war at this oh-so-early stage. So how did its E3 2014 press conference go? Pretty good...but maybe not as phenomenal as last year's Microsoft shame-fest. Still, the PS4 game line-up with games like Destiny, The Order: 1886, and LittleBigPlanet 3--along with announcements like PlayStation Now and PlayStation TV--are making Sony look pretty damn strong.
Destiny goes into beta on PS4 this July
Sony's press conference started with a new trailer for Destiny that began with a trio of explorers on present-day Mars, before expanding to showcase the terror that has overtaken the universe. Fortunately, your soldier (and your Guilty Spark-like companion) are there to fight against the glowing aliens and giant warships laying waste to humanity's empire.
...and Destiny will be bundled with a new White PS4 model
Capping off the new look at Destiny during Sony's conference was a surprise announcement that Sony will be releasing a white PS4 console as a bundle with Destiny on September 9. Beyond the initial excitement of "Dude! White PS4!", this was a pretty no-frills announcement, with Sony even skimping on one important detail: The price.
The Order: 1886 finally debuts its supernatural enemies
Just after the reveal of the shiny white PS4, Sony showed off new gameplay of The Order: 1886, dropping players into the darkness under the city streets and giving us our first look at the werewolf-like monsters the heroes will have to face. The game plays with a mix of cinematic elements, quick-time events, and fully controlled gunplay.
Infamous: Second Son gets First Light DLC
Sony revealed a new title from Sly Cooper developer Sucker Punch in Infamous: First Light. The newly announced game is a standalone expansion for Infamous: Second Son, much like Festival of Blood for Infamous 2. All we got was a brief CG trailer, but it did confirm a few details. For one, it looks to be straying a bit from the urban environments of the previous three games in the series, with a snowy, mountainous landscape being the initial focus of the trailer.
LittleBigPlanet 3 brings whimsical creation to PS4
LittleBigPlanet 3 returns with new features, allowing players to jump into the background environments, use a pump gadget to manipulate objects, and partner up with tons of new characters. In this sequel, you won't only be required to play as Sackboy--you'll also be able to play characters such as the dog-like Oddsock, size-altering Toggle and the flying Swoop.
Bloodborne is the official name for FromSoftware's Project Beast
Hidetaka Miyazaki (the mind behind Demon's Souls and Dark Souls) sat out Dark Souls II for a reason. That reason is the PlayStation-exclusive horror-adventure Bloodborne, where an armor-clad soldier explored frightening environments like caves and desolate streets, discovering weird sights like a bloodied and bandaged warrior and a creepy misshapen skull amongst what seemed to be a batch of unlit candles.
Far Cry 4 gameplay demo has grappling hooks, wingsuits, and intense car chases
Complementing Ubisoft's cinematic Far Cry 4 presentation was a full-on gameplay demo at Sony's conference. As expected, it looks similar to Far Cry 3, but the differences in the environment--namely the more vertical nature of the Himalayan setting--made for some interesting gameplay changes. The first, and perhaps most significant, is a new grappling hook, which allows players to scale walls and swing across gaps.
Dead Island 2 zombifies another tropical paradise
It seems zombies still have their teeth sunk into gamers. A new trailer featuring the walking undead revealed that developer Deep Silver is working on Dead Island 2 for new-gen consoles. The trailer showed a jogger that got been bitten by a zombie, running as the people around him get eaten by zombies, helicopters crash into buildings, and cars careen into buildings.
Disney Infinity's Avengers are exclusive to Sony systems
If you're hoping for Hulk to crash your adventures in Disney Infinity, it's looking like Sony consoles will be your home for Marvel's first additions to the the action-figure-driven adventures. The big green dude and his Avenger friends will be exclusive to the PS3 and PS4.
Diablo 3: Ultimate Evil Edition will have an exclusive dungeon
Who's up for some cross-genre synergy? For some reason, the worlds of The Last of Us and Diablo are mixing on the PlayStation 4. The infected creatures that haunted Ellie and Joel over the course of Naughty Dog's award-winning adventure will be coming to Blizzard's action RPG.
Magicka sequel coming to PS4
It was revealed through a clever live-action trailer that Magicka 2 is in development, and it will be a PS4 exclusive. After the comical intro, some brief gameplay footage was shown. Very little is known about the new title, but in brief: Dude, it looks like Magicka. Not a bad thing.
Grim Fandango to be reborn on PS4
While reading its fanmail, Sony brought up one special letter that was written by young Sally. She asked that Sony make some of the classic games playable on current systems, specifically asking for some of Tim Schafer's old games. Turns out it was Schafer all along, posing as a 10-year-old girl. Classic Tim.
Devolver Digital injects even more indies into PlayStation's bloodstream
Is there such a thing as a big-name indie publisher? Because Devolver Digital may just be that company, as it revealed a batch of PlayStation 4-bound downloads. Bro Force and Not A Hero will deliver 2D action on par with the Xbox's Super Time Force. Titan Souls promises epic-yet-retro-feeling battles. Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number should allow for even more top-down 1980s-style murder.
Let It Die is the next twisted journey from Suda51
Brutally violent, crazy dark, grimy If not for the numbers popping off of dudes being horrifically injured, you might mistake the trailer for Let it Die, Suda51's new game, for some kind of a Saw revival. This is another reveal that got very little stage time at Sony's conference, so precious little is known about it--but we can definitively say it'll be fairly disturbing.
Abzu is a dreamlike exploration game
The trailer opens in the ocean showing schools of fish and a lone diver that seems to be able to walk on the ocean floor, swim with whales, and explore the depths as he (or she) sees fit. The game, called Abzu, is being made by developer Giant Squid...and that's about everything we know about it so far.
No Man's Sky looks astoundingly good
The new trailer for No Man's Sky, which has been radio silent since December, essentially looked like a gussied-up version of the first trailer we got all those months ago. But we're not complaining: The new title from Hello Games shows as much promise as ever, with the potential we saw in that initial reveal being complemented with greater visual fidelity and more gameplay complexity than was hinted at before.
Morpheus will be on the E3 2014 show floor
Andrew House took the stage to detail new changes coming to the PlayStation 4 hardware. The PlayStation Camera, previously available separately since launch, will work in conjunction with the recently revealed Project Morpheus. Also, a trio of VR demos (EVE: Valkyrie, Street Luge, and Jurassic Encounter) will be showcased on Sony's section of the floor during the conference proper.
A buttload of free-to-play games are also PS4-bound
Sony showed more than 25 games coming to PSN in the near future. Those games will include: Planetside 2, Kingdom Under Fire, Fat Princess, My Singing Monsters, War Thunder, Loadout, and more. So, if you're looking for a new game to play while you wait for the release of your most anticipated title, you'll have plenty of games to take up your time (and possibly some microtransaction money).
More details surface on PlayStation Now
In a resoundingly dull period of Sony's presser, it did manage to squeeze in an exciting announcement: Playstation Now will be available as an open beta starting July 31st for PS4. Shortly after that, it will become available for PS Vita and PS3 as well. The open beta will start with PS3 titles, and Sony claims it will have over 100 games available to start.
PlayStation TV coming to our shores for $99
It's been available in Japan for quite awhile, but PlayStation TV will finally release stateside, bringing the expansive PS3, Vita, PSP, and PlayStation Originals library to audiences at a very low price. For $99, you'll be able to pick up the standalone device (provided you have a DualShock 3 and HDMI cable).
Mortal Kombat X gameplay, new characters, and grisly Fatalities finally shown
At the Sony presentation, the first gameplay trailer of Mortal Kombat X was shown--and we got to see more than just Sub-Zero and Scorpion duke it out. In addition to the iconic ninjas fighting to the death, we also got a glimpse of a few new characters.
Powers (written by Brian Michael Bendis) to become a TV show
Next, Sony announced that original video content will be produced for Playstation (for some reason). Apparently geared towards gamers specifically, their first stab at it will be a superhero series dubbed Powers, based on the comic of the same name.
Ratchet & Clank movie slated for 2015
PlayStation Plus will be expanded beyond its traditional value with added original video content. Plus subscribers will get to watch the entire run of Powers. Sony also showed off the CG film Ratchet and Clank: The Movie (which Insomniac will be making alongside Xbox-exclusive Sunset Overdrive scandalous!).
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain looks suitably grim
We got another close look at Hideo Kojima's upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain in a brand new trailer. The emotional scenes showed Snake doing all sorts of epic things, like standing in front of the burning pyres of dead soldiers, rubbing their ashes on his face as he looks at the open ocean, getting stabbed, and subsequently stabbing a soldier to death. You definitely can't say that Snake isn't a badass.
Grand Theft Auto 5 coming to PS4 this fall
We've been awaiting a next-gen GTA for actually even before GTA5 released on previous-gen consoles. Luckily, Rockstar is finally delivering the award-winning, open-world crime-sim to PlayStation 4 this Fall (along with Xbox One and PC). In addition to the new details and effects the upgraded hardware will bring, you'll be able to port over your previous-gen GTA Online progress onto the PS4, regardless of what console you played on. That's right--your Xbox 360 online data will play nice with the PlayStation 4.
Scarecrow rears his ugly head in Batman: Arkham Knight
With one of the most visually impressive gameplay demos of the show, Sony trotted out a lengthy presentation of Batman: Arkham Knight. It started off looking like a way prettier version of what we already expect from the Arkham games, but quickly showed off some of the new advances--namely, the Batmobile, which is apparently more versatile than we're used to. For example: It can strafe and has impressive firepower.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End teased
Sony's press conference closed with the best-possible non-Last Guardian game. Naughty Dog's next-gen debut for Uncharted started with Nathan Drake passed out in a pool of his own blood as he heard ethereal words of inspiration in his head previously uttered by his pal Sully.
