In years gone by Sony had a tradition of creating a video that while not explicitly naming a single game, referenced many of the their big titles. One of the best was the epic “Long Live Play” trailer which brought together Call of Duty, Uncharted, InFamous, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid V and many, many more. However, in recent years these mega mash ups have vanished from Sony’s promotional material.. until now.
Play Has No Limits, the new promotional video, looks very expensive. It shows a chess match being played out across a vast city, the pieces are not a standard chess set but rather are references for vehicles and characters. It also has a rocking version of Blue Monday by New Order, an idea the must have nicked from the Wonder Woman 1984 trailer.
Hidden throughout the trailer are references to games including God of War: Ragnarok and Uncharted, which are shown as pictures on walls, and Final Fantasy which is referenced in the train station. It appears the 06.10 train is going to Valisthea, the setting for Final Fantasy XVI.
The ghosts from Pac-Man can also be seen, along with something that looks rather like an Assassin’s Creed logo but rather more futuristic. It could also be.. a Killzone logo? It looks rather like  like a mix of the UCN and Helghast logos.
Hmm what is that logo?
There’s also the Final Fantasy VII Remake logo on a wall, lots of expensive cars from Gran Turismo 7, and a massive statue of Aloy from Horizon Zero Dawn. The main character seems to be wearing Wipeout inspired clothing and there are some faded posters for the Fall Guys. Another poster shows a woman with braids, a cross hairs over her face and some germanic lettering, probably Lieutenant Polina Petrova of the 138th Rifle Division from Call of Duty Vanguard.
There’s a neon sign for what appears to be the Bright Falls coffee shop, Bright Falls being a 6-part live action mini-series prequel to Alan Wake released in 2010, a very niche reference! The one I cannot place at the moment is “Candy Bar”, a large sign that is at the top of a building, no idea what that is for, let us know in the comments if you know.
There’s also a mysterious cloaked figure running out of the bank a 1m 36s in the left of the screen, who could that be?
double-o-dave
I was playing Spot The White Man… Found him, right at the end stood in a doorway.
Stefan L
Think you need your eyes checked. I can find plenty of white men all the way through the trailer.
double-o-dave
I’m talking in the form of a protagonist/antagonist – Either that or I’m off to SpecSavers!
Aran Suddi
A comment that seems to suggest that white men should be front and centre/default and that any other representation is only supposed shown on the peripheral. Fortunately, Sony realises that us “minorities” also make up a big part of the global audiences it is trying to reach.
Also, SWAT Team features white men. As is guard when the lady is sneaking.
double-o-dave
I agree in the fact I’ve no problem with being diverse, and everyone belongs in the forefront… but it seems some of us are purposely left in the background at the moment to help promote this.
Aran Suddi
Well, we’ve been in the background for centuries. Literally the vast majority of media we consume puts white men front and centre. It’s crazy how there’s even a tiny outburst when that isn’t the case.
MOVE
Regardless of what anybody thinks there were No white males in the video. At least not clearly visible.
PoorPaddy89
Provably wrong, because there was. Secondly, there were exclusively white males in the post-show developer interviews. No comment on that?
MOVE
No there wasn’t. Awake much?
Secondly, never f…… mind the pist show. Not revelant.
PoorPaddy89
Clearly more than you. So that isn’t a white guy at 2:08? No, there aren’t that many white men in the video, but God forbid a Japanese company with a global audience not put one front-and-centre so your ego doesn’t feel threatened!
And of course the post-show relevant. You can draw any conclusion you like when looking at a single piece of media in a vacuum. This ridiculous idea that white men are being purged from the forefront of media is completely baseless. If Sony were trying to do so, they’d have has a more multicultural group of developers in the post-show interviews.
TheDeathAvenger
Yeah I noticed Candy Bar too, don’t know what it’s in reference to either.
Looked like the outlines of Dragon Quest characters on a wall (underneath them running) about 32 secs in.