Sony really stepped it up from last year and I enjoyed the show that is E3 (despite the ‘Uncharted’ flub at the end.) In the age of never-ending sequels, remakes and reboots, Sony hit hard on its “best on PlayStation” theme. I mean, I would have liked to see a good bit more first party titles instead of “first on playstation” ones, but I can’t be mad at the fact Shenmue 3 and FF7 remake are even existing. My favorite of the show (outside of ‘Rachet And Clank’ obviously) has to be Horizon. Loved the environment and gameplay so far. My only gripe would be that most of the games shown are probably 1-2 years away, and for the most part Sony is coasting on third party games when my favorite games on their systems are usually first party.
And about the whole backwards compatibility issue, they need to address that. Microsoft surprised everyone at E3 2015 by announcing the Xbox One will be backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games. Sadly, it looks like Sony is not following suit. Seriously? I’m still rocking a PS3 and well, I have a TON of games that I need to finish on there. Every next gen console should be backward compatible with the last, period.
I have an honest question. How can people say backwards compatibility is a bad thing? It’s not a bad thing, it’s a great thing, it’s a great thing that ALL systems should have at launch, and it’s now a pointless thing that’s appearing nearly two years into the life of consoles. Where was it when the PS4 dropped in 2013? I mean, there are plenty of games on the PS4 now, so BC is a nice but ultimately pointless irrelevant feature and not something to get excited about as if it’s a game changer, which it seems to me some people are doing. Edit: For example, the PS4 just launched a media player that plays files the PS3 couldn’t (MKV) which is a HUGE plus and another feature that should have been there at launch. However, I don’t see it as “OMG, PS4 now has a media player, it just won this generation!” type of touchstone.
A solid portfolio of exclusives and big name titles, the PlayStation maker hit the mark this year. Uncharted 4, Ratchet & Clank, Street Fighter V, Until Dawn, Firewatch, No Man’s Sky, MLB The Show will all be out before next E3. Horizon, The Last Guardian, World of Final Fantasy are scheduled for 2016, so a few months after the next E3 at most. Dreams has no release date (probably will be given at PGW) but seeing as it’s been worked on for two years now and they’re showing it off at two conferences in a row, the release date is probably also 2016. FF7R, Shenmue III are the only exclusives (timed/console) shown off that are gonna be a ways off.
Maybe I don’t need to throw down the cash money for the current gen just yet. More often than not, releases are subject to around a year’s worth of marketing. From alleged leaks to teasers to gameplay reveals, the marketing machine that operates behind a major video game release is as intricate and complex as the game itself. And from the initial trailer till the moment you play the game for the first time (and even post-release to fix bugs), developers slog trying to turn hype into reality. And…More often than not, though, the final product pales in comparison to the pre-release noise.
-Dagobot
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