Review, regroup, reassess. Let’s face it, our ideas were probably a little fanciful, and most likely complete nonsense – there’s not going to be a PS4 at E3 and the PS3 isn’t going to let you stream games from the future. It’s not. It was a nice idea, but we were – probably – way off.
I’ve been thinking since, though, and attempting to read between the lines and project a bit – and although I’ve not really been following what Nintendo and Microsoft are up to (I’m guessing Wii U and Call of Duty, respectively) this year, naturally I’m keen to see what Sony will pull out of the bag.
So, and feel free to disagree and throw tomatoes, here’s what I think is going to happen. I’m not going to pretend to base all this on ‘insider sources’ or anything more than a little bit of intuition and guesswork, but it’s reasoned, considered and – I reckon – probably pretty close.
New Hardware
[drop]Sony will be concentrating on PS Vita and the PS3 line-up is too strong for a new console to appear, right?Well, sure, we won’t be seeing the PS4, but what’s to stop Sony pushing out a new, cheaper, lighter, smaller PlayStation 3? Nothing, assuming the tech is there – what format this will have escapes me though.
No Blu-ray drive? Possibly, although unlikely. No online? No chance. Built-in streaming of PS3 games over the web (and Gaikai)?
Well, possibly – we hinted at this before and it seems like an obvious route to take, but it’s been years since the slimmed down PS3 and it might kick start some sales. And remember trade mag MCV were 100% confident that there’d be new hardware this E3 (even though they changed their mind a bit) – doesn’t necessary mean a PS4, does it?
New PlayStation Plus
We’ve said this before, and although the teases haven’t exactly been numerous, a couple of Tweets from SCEE staff (and some notable retweets) strongly suggest that PlayStation Plus will play a big role over in LA shortly. To what end? I’m guessing that it’s going to be two fold.
Firstly, the surveys that appeared asking what game subscribers might like to see free with the service will likely come to fruition in some guise. Again – don’t go out and buy Plus on my say so – but I’m guessing that there’s going to be some free games on offer, or at least a few to chose from even if you’re only allowed to grab two or three.
Secondly, the Gaikai thing – let’s be realistic here, this isn’t going to suddenly kick off future compatibility even if that concept is hugely exciting. No, I’m thinking that if there is a link between Plus and Gaikai (if indeed it’s Perry’s company that all this is about) then it’s probably going to be streaming of PS3 games only.
Demos only, possibly, meaning that users can quickly try out a game without downloading tens of gigabytes – but we’ll see.
New Games
[drop2]Well, sure. Sony might have already shown off The Last Of Us, LittleBigPlanet Karting and God Of War: Ascension (among others) but there’s more to come – that much is certain. What they are we don’t know, yet, but they’re coming, and are highly likely to be rather massive.And that’s just PS3. The Vita needs to step up and if it’s going to demonstrate any sense of potential it needs to do this at E3. Especially, Sony need to have third party support well and truly onboard.
And by that I mean confirmation of the big guns and exactly what those games will be – Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty – rather than just a logo and then silence for twelve months. And some nice big AAA first party stuff would be great too – let’s see Killzone 4, a new portable Kratos adventure and more from Evolution.
Whatever happens, at this stage at least we can be sure that Sony still have a few secrets left to reveal – they’ve done the majority of the ‘leaking’ themselves, keeping the console and its new games in the public’s eye nicely for a good few months. But there’s always a surprise and nothing we’ve heard would suggest otherwise for E3 this year.
What those surprises are – games, hardware, services – is anyone’s guess, but it’s fun to speculate and who knows, I might even be right with a couple of those, eh?
KeRaSh
Still hoping for a Vita FF and release date for FFvXIII…
samiro05
This is definitely a must for the PSV
Devil2k
VII remake? ;)
taurus82
…with cross-platform play with PS3?
Lymmusic
E3. Love it. Hyperbole and disappointment at what seemed like pre-announcements that turned out to be actual announcements. Yay
damoxuk
Well personally I believe Sony are going to mainly focus on Vita at this E3, simply because they have announced quite a fair few PS3 exclusives before the event. Maybe meaning they want to have there attention on the handheld.
So hopefully what Vita need’s is proper unique exclusive games. Like Gravity Rush.
No point in saying Black Ops 2 coming to Vita or Assassins Creed 3 coming to Vita as a lot like me would rather play those on there home console like ps3. No what it need’s is what Rockstar did with psp – new games based on the IP.
So more new IP or games based on existing IP which is unique to Vita.
Multi-format releases won’t sell the Vita. Even if it does have the words COD. Unless it’s unique.
seravok
Still waiting for a Monster hunter for my vita. :(
Erroneus
That would be nice.
JBoo
I would buy another PS3 if there is a slimmer version coming out :P But i am not going to think about it(i.e I WILL NOT GET HYPED ABOUT E3)(it’s getting harder not to tho) LoL:-D + i really only want 2 things i.e PS2 playback on a PS3 & a MGS5 for the PS3 only(so them 2 will never happen, shame) :-(
stueeeee
Lol imagine, on the cusp of possible new hardware, their big announcement turns out to be…..a new ps3 that can play ps2 games!!
Radiitz
Its 2012. I can’t believe there are still people begging for PS2 compatibility with PS3. Haven’t you brought a PS2 for £25 from Cash Converters yet?
Awayze
I really hope at this E3, Sony bring a major update to the PS3 such as instant trophy syncing as soon as they’re earned.
Shaggy2Dope
I know this is a European site, but is anybody from the site or sraff going to the event?
uncleniccius
I believe so, I’m pretty sure someone said they went last year… so it seems likely.
colossalblue
Alex went last year, Microsoft invited us over. This year, they ran a kind of competition for sites to “win” an invitation to go with them based on how many of their announcements were posted as news so I opted out because I didn’t think it was ethically acceptable.
Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford to send anyone ourselves either but luckily, Isaac (Delriach) is attending and has agreed to do some appointments for us so we’ll still get some of the special stuff :)
The Lone Steven
\o/ You did tell Delriach that it’s not just fighting games that he has to cover and to not beat up other fighting experts from other sites right?
Delriach
I was at E3 last year toooooo.
Radiitz
Personally, I would like the PS4 (when/if it releases) to be like the Onlive console. You buy what is basically a small box, connect your wireless controller to it, get it connected to internet (either wireless or by cable) and access the PSN. Where all the PS4 games are, and simply stream them, like Onlive, but in a more PlayStation fashion, amongst extra, unique features (obviously it can’t just be a carbon copy of Onlive with PS4 games).
The price tag of making such hardware would be very small. Which would give them a big advantage over Nintendo and Microsoft (and maybe even Apple, if they join). You could access the internet over it, stream movies and music, etc. Only problem is, there are still people that are living in the stone age (aka, don’t have internet, haha) and others with slow internet (mines fast, but my router isn’t very close to where my PS3 was when I had it). If this is the case, maybe Sony could partner up with some broadband companies (obviously this varies in different countries). For example, here in the UK, Sony could partner with Sky to have the PS4 console come with a built in Sky router. So you have internet there and then, and pay a monthly subscription for it which is cheaper than your standard internet router, but is only able to be used with your PS4, and nothing else can connect to it.
Obviously, I’m not in the gaming business. So I don’t actually know Jack about what I’m actually talking about. Unlike some people on the internet who seem to just throw an idea out there, and tell Sony to go with it, without giving a thought that maybe he/she is in the minority of liking said idea. So the above could be a very good idea, or it could be suicide. Just a thought though. Sounds nice.
damoxuk
No thanks. I don;t want to stream games and have worst lag than when I played Atari 2600 games 30 years ago.. :)
Localised gaming for me otherwise i’m not interested.
If it becomes a download only future I can handle that (just) but streaming everything no thanks.
Radiitz
Thats the problem we face today. In another 7 – 10 years, maybe streaming will work. But internet capabilities today aren’t that great. Unless we get the internet speed the likes of Korea (is it South or North?) have. 1000mb!!! I only have 8. 2 When I’m connected to it by wireless from where I am :(
damoxuk
Will it though? No matter how fast the internet is there’s always that lag between communicating between servers in sending receiving.
And that’s before you get into MP.
Speed/Bandwidth has no bearing on lag.
If they find a way to get rid of lag then ok cool but that’s only if you have a fibre optic link from your hosue direct to the servers :)
Radiitz
I think lag will become non-existent. Lets look at it this way. 10 years ago, if you were told you could have a phone, with no physical buttons, with the power to play PS2-esque games, and it was the size of a pack of M&M’s, would you believe it? No chance. You would laugh and say “Not at least for another 20-30 years I bet”.
Technology has moved far in the past 10 years alone. We have gone from Nokia’s that could play Snake II, to phones that can play GTA III. We have gone from CD’s containing about 20 songs maximum, to tiny micro-SD cards that can hold hundreds of songs. People never even thought the internet would ever catch on back then, or become as advanced. Especially not the way it has done now. Heck, it took quite a while to load up a picture from the internet about 15 years ago. Now we’re streaming HD games and movies, through Onlive and Netflix.
So why can’t we have online games streamed to us not lag at all? Technology is advancing faster than you or me could ever imagine. I think some day, it will happen. And I don’t think we will have to wait anywhere beyond about 8 years for that.
damoxuk
It’s not quite the same. Lag hasn’t changed since Braodband came out. Because at the end of the day it’s still transferring over great distances.
Your example is just localised hardware.
The lag people get today is the same as people got when broadband first started coming out around 2000.
Anyhow at the end of the day there will always be a market for physical (better quality) versions.
I’m more a quality kind a guy. Streaming today is worse than 10 year old pc tech. Streaming 10 years possibly will be as good as today’s :)
Radiitz
You’re entitled to your opinion, however, I won’t ever rule out lag-free internet in the future. We’ve come a long way, and things are only getting started. Its just not from a hardware point of view though. As I said in my previous comment about the Onlive example (not much to do with hardware) and especially with the fact that some countries have 1000mb internet connection in their routers. That’s not much to do with hardware. Just like Android and iOS isn’t hardware. It runs on hardware, but the software would have been complicated to make back then. Same with things like Blu Ray.
I’m sure there may be others out there that could be all for streaming. The world, both technically and from a selling point of view, isn’t ready for streaming.
Phizzy
Lag-free internet (instantaneous communication) violates the laws of cause and effect. It’s physically impossible.
Kevatron400
What about if you communicated data at light-speed? Admittedly it’s not entirely lag-free, but I think 299,792,458 m/s should hopefully be enough for most people. In the future, anything is possible.
Foxhound_Solid
Hope infamous 3 is announced.