We are mere days away from the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, and I am giving my thoughts and predictions on the show from the big three companies in Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Continuing with the series, here’s part two, featuring Sony.
Sony has been working from behind with the Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita as far as sales numbers are concerned. With losses around $6.4 billion, Sony isn’t a stranger to adversity, as the Playstation Network outage of 2011 will attest. Sony has made some changes internally to combat this, naming Kazuo Hirai as the newly appointed CEO, replacing Howard Stringer earlier this year. Hirai mentioned a new focus for the company to turn a profit. Will these changes affect the Playstation brand? Let’s make some predictions and hopefully look into the future.
What I Want To See
Sony has made a strong case for it’s exclusives. So why should that stop? I want to see more of the Last of Us. I have faith Naughty Dog can put their own unique spin on the survival horror genre, just as they did with the action genre with the Uncharted series. I would expect some more gameplay, or another trailer showing off more of the game.
The other game I’m really looking forward to is God of War: Ascension. I say this because the God of War series is my favorite series of all time. As much as I cringed at the idea of multiplayer, I’m going to give it a “wait and see” approach. Still, it’s a new God of War title, so as much as I hope this game lives up to the other games in the series, I’d love to see a little more.
I mentioned this in the Microsoft portion earlier, but I’d like to see the next Playstation. Again a simple trailer would suffice, possibly to end the show. I still remain a little apprehensive about this because the world’s economy is still a little shaky, and I would think Microsoft and Sony would wait to see how Nintendo does with it’s new console before either one announces a new one themselves. Still, gamers are willing to support their system as long as it’s an upgrade from the previous one. With the current systems being at least 6 years old, we might be closer and closer to the next generation of gaming.
So if they don’t announce a new system, I think it’d settle for a price drop, for either the PS3 or Vita. Since Microsoft announced the $99 X Box, it would be interesting to see if a drop in price is in order for Sony. Heck, maybe even a little bundle where we can buy both at a discounted price. By “we” I mean those people that might not have a Vita yet.
I’d really like to see is Kevin Butler. Two years ago, in my opinion, he single handedly stole the show during Sony’s keynote. The Vice President of Changing Titles showing up to make another awesome monologue would make my day.
One last thing, and I know it’s a long shot, but I’d love to see The Last Guardian. The team behind Ico, and Shadow of the Colossus was working on this game, but a new director, and rumors of it’s cancellation have been running rampant. If somehow, someway, The Last Guardian is shown, I think it would surprise a lot of people and could be one of the big headlines.
Predictions
The Last of Us, God of War: Ascension, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, and Playstation All Stars Battle Royale will, and should get their fair air time. I also expect some more surprise titles from third party developers. The Vita is going to get it’s fair share of exposure, with titles that have PS3 ties such as MLB 12: The Show and others. Speaking of the Vita, I fully expect them to show some numbers on how well it’s doing since it’s launch. Also I expect Kaz Hirai, or Jack Trenton to say something about the new “focus” of the company being that Hirai stated gaming was indeed in the company’s future.
Summary
I think Sony is going to have a decent conference with a lineup of games they have on the horizon that everyone can play. I think people might ignore the Move being integrated into gameplay much like they have in the past, but I doubt it will stop Sony from showing it off. Still, it’s going to be a year where both Sony and Microsoft might need to do something big to steal the show with Nintendo showing off the Wii U. If neither of them do anything big, expect both companies to keep trying their best to keep the system fresh for at least another year.
So there’s part two. Let us know what you think Sony plans on doing in the comment section, and stay tuned for part three where we cover Nintendo.