Sony E3 2012 predictions

This year, Sony's press conference is on Monday, June 4th at 5:30pm PT, and we're hearing all sorts of rumors and speculation as to what it might be showing off. We've put our heads together to speculate exactly what we might be seeing next week.

Giving that this year marks the 10th anniversary of Ratchet & Clanks dynamic lombax-robot duo, it wouldnt surprise us if they were the first to cannonball into the Vitas somewhat-shallow pool of titles. Kratos would likely be next in line after the success of Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta on the plain old PSP, a Vita prequel/sequel only makes sense.

We expect at least a teaser to show up at E3 for the game, showing off the protagonist (who might not be Cole) wielding some new, awesome powers in a new, awesome location. If it is Cole, then we expect itll simply by a fairly by-the-books sequel, but after how good inFamous 2 was were not going to complain about more of that.

One of the main issues with the Vita is the lack of built-in memory. The regular Vita unit comes with no storage whatsoever, leaving it up to the buyer to purchase an expensive memory card. By bundling the Vita with an 8GB-16GB card, Sony would effectively dash the price by $50 without actually technically cutting the price.

While it might not release full-fledged games with the service, being able to stream demos instantly, or even being allowed to stream the first few minutes of any game on PSN, would be awesome, and give PlayStation a leg up on the Xbox 360s online offerings for a change.

At the very least, expect to see brand new footage of the game demoed during Sonys press conference. Were chomping at the bit for more info on the games apocalyptic survival horror, and itll be all the more bedazzling when its shown the big stage.

While it doesnt seem all that likely, wed lose our minds if the UE4 features were shown off using well-known Sony franchises. Just imagine: the stunning particle effects of that demonic-looking knight, but on a Killzone Helghast. Hells yeah.

Speaking of Peace Walker, we wouldnt at all be surprised if Hideo Kojima himself teased a sequel to the handheld stealth game for Vita, seeing as its in dire need of some MGS lovin. Wed also welcome any mention of the Zone of the Enders HD collection, possibly with Vita-exclusive gyro-sensor or touch-screen content or even an all-new entry in the ZotE series, for that matter.

We dont want to hurry these games or play them in a rushed state its just hard to stay positive when were being drip-fed information on some awesome-looking titles. Throw us a bone, Sony! Use your press conference for the powers of good!

the Kara short film at this years GDC

That said, Quantics also got quite the track record of never using the same IP twice we might just see something entirely new from it. Theres no better way for Sony to promote the fact that the PS3s still got life in it than demoing a groundbreaking new game from Quantic.

We can see it now: Monster Hunter in beautiful high-definition, utilizing Sixaxis functionality and PSN co-op and leaderboards. If it plays its cards right, Sony could have the Western public frothing at the mouth for a series they previously didnt know existed.

This might be the perfect opportunity for Rockstar to refresh gamers memories on this unproven franchise, and give us more concrete details to sink our teeth into. Just because a games from an unproven IP, doesnt mean it cant be amazing - depending on what we see of the game, Agent could have the same wow factor of Red Dead Redemption and LA Noire.

The possibilities for cross-play between the PS3 and Vita versions is getting us riled up simple things like content unlocks or transferrable stats would work effortlessly between the systems. But that gets us thinking as to what else might be possible

Cross-play and exclusive content would warrant high-magnitude high-fives with the Sony bigwigs. It could be just like the cross-play between the Gamecube and the Game Boy Advance, only not as a lame imagine managing Isaacs communications through your handheld, or controlling the twists and turns of an All-Stars stage as a fifth player on the Vita.

PS All-Stars Battle Royale predictions

Seeing as we havent had official confirmation on Jak and Daxter or Ratchet & Clank appearing as playable brawlers, wed bet they make their debut at E3. And giving Sackboy a shoutout would also make a lot of sense, given that Sony will no doubt be pushing for attention on LittleBigPlanet Karting.

We've heard that PlayStation Plus might get some big updates in the future. Maybe it means we'll be getting bigger games for free every month. Maybe it means we'll actually get to keep those games. Maybe it means early access to more awesome demos or betas? We don't know exactly what it will be, but Plus is due for a boost, and this seems like the year to do it.

Odds are the multiplayer will take the spotlight at the show, but we figure we're due at least a trailer showing off some additional story details. We want to, at least, see what Kratos looked like before he was covered in the ashes of his family members - we imagine he was quite charming.

And if you want to see more E3 stories, check out Microsoft press conference predictions and our 51 most anticipated games for E3 2012.