Sony's E3 press conference has come and gone for another year, and it's time to offer our thoughts.
First of all, they actually didn't spend as much time addressing the PlayStation Network fiasco as I would've expected, and interestingly enough, I didn't notice much of an apology. We got a lot of thanks to consumers and partners from SCEA president Jack Tretton for sticking with Sony, but "I'm sorry" wasn't really part of the speech. I was surprised and a little miffed, to be honest. But recently, I've been thinking about it another way-
They've apologized like crazy. Kaz Hirai did so when the PSN came back. They did it in every post at the PlayStation Blog. And once again, we have to remember to place the blame in the correct location. That was the fault of criminals and nothing more. While we could argue all day about the susceptibility of the Network, past weeks have essentially proved that nothing is safe, as both Nintendo and Microsoft has experienced hacking issues. And really, it was a good idea for Sony to step past that and focus on the games.
And speaking of the games, those were definitely in abundance at the conference. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception looks absolutely ridiculous and at this point, there isn't a single other game that is even remotely close to competing on that technical level (at least, not so far as I can see). I also liked the look of Resistance 3 , Starhawk , and DUST 514 , despite the fact that I will probably never play the latter. Oh, and you gotta love the return of Sly Cooper !
As for the PlayStation Vita, I've often talked about it in the past: no matter how slick it is, I remain on the fence simply because I'm really not a portable gamer. That being said, Uncharted: Golden Abyss looked incredible and the launch lineup of titles is impressive (love me some Wipeout ). Obviously, the Vita was the highlight of the conference, which is both good and bad. Personally, I was looking for an unknown PS3 exclusive that would finish the conference with a bang.
I really thought Sony started strong and put on a good conference for the majority of the time, but they sort of went out with a whimper. It really was lacking that one total surprise to blow us all away. And where the hell was God of War IV ? Or Final Fantasy Versus XIII , for that matter? I really expected to see GoWIV. It seems Quantic Dream isn't ready to present their next project just yet, but I also wanted to see more from the PSN titles…what about Journey ? Kinda wanted that one.
All in all, I'd say the conference was well-paced and I always appreciate an emphasis on the games, which has always been Sony's strong point. The Vita also looks like a winner and Uncharted 3 is just going to dominate the world. Just lacking a little oomph at the end, you know? If I had to assign a grade, I'd say a solid B.
