Being extremely noticeable, there’s been an apparent pattern with both Sony and Microsoft trying to monopolize off of their own motion controls to try and gain a casual audience for their respective consoles. Personally, this has been a detriment to the more “hardcore” gamer such as myself and I found myself lacking any love for the new Sony Move. However, that doesn’t mean Sony’s conference ended in failure. Like Nintendo, they too had a few surprises to reveal.

Killzone 3

At the beginning of their press conference, Sony immediately showed Killzone 3 in its alpha stage which looks pretty good if you don’t mind constant pop-up. Killzone 3 looks gorgeous to say the least with snow along the turbulent winds and ocean waves crash onto nearby icebergs. The action and destruction happening runs at a consistent frame rate of 30 and is perhaps one of the best looking FPS’s of all time. The demo begins with Sevchenko and Rico from the second game, fighting the Heighast on what appears to be a ruined complex in an arctic-like area. Differences from the second game are quite noticeable with more open areas to fight the Helghast instead of a completely linear path in previous titles. A new addition to gameplay seems to be the jet-pack which allows for more evasive and strategic maneuvers against enemies. The demo ends with Sev on a turret in an epic shootout against the Helghast fighting from the complex.

For almost the entire first hour of Sony’s conference, the Move was supposed to be the star of the show. Taking a trip into the future, the Sony representatives thought it would be entertaining and insightful to discuss 3D gaming for their console. It seems that the gamer demographic needs to have a sacrificed frame rate and a lower resolution for an optical effect. Thankfully after all of the greatness of 3D gaming, Sony gracefully shows us the Move and the originally it provides going against the Kinetic and Wii Motion Controller. Tiger Woods Golf definitely got the crowd pumped with constant lag and so many drives in the sandpit that you just want to strangle yourself.

All sarcasm aside, whether you like it or not, the Move is a more precise version of the Wii Motion Controller. Sony also had gave us a little surprise of what a Move gimmick game would play like. Prices were revealed that Sony was going to sell each Move controller separately and with a $99.99 bundle.

Sorcery

Sorcery is a game that fully utilizes the Move’s motion controller. From what the tech demo showed, the positioning of the move controller effects how the protagonist in the game holds his magic wand. Attacking seems simple and easy by just quickly thrusting the motion controller and the protagonist will shoot a beam from his wand in a similar fashion from the player’s movements. Sorcery also has plenty of unique features in there game without having to force the Move gimmick. Using various potions allow the protagonist to transform into different creatures to be able to traverse hidden areas in the game. The player’s magic wand can shoot out many other types of magic other then a beam. From what was shown in the demo the player can fire ice beams to freeze enemies, a line of fire can be used as a temporal barrier, and a whirlwind can be used to trap enemies and toss them across the area. Magic can also fuse to do more damage; e.g. in the demo a whirlwind can mix with the line of fire which creates a firestorm to add insult to injury to foes. Sorcery was a sight to see and maybe Sony is really trying to appeal to the core gamer with innovative motion controls.

After the Move’s presentation, Sony introduced a new component to the Playstation Network known as Playstation Plus. Playstation Plus is an added subscription to get the best out of everything from the PSN. Playstation Plus allowed for exclusive early demo releases, reduce prices on downloadable titles, and much more that were only briefly explained. Hopefully now, PSN can compete with XBLA with the edge of not charging extra for online play.

Little Big Planet 2

Finally after the 3D and Move concepts were tossed out of the way, there was a hunger for games and Sony showed us a few new titles. The first one which was announced sometime ago was LBP2. Media Molecule shows that in Little Big Planet 2, much more then a simple platformer can be constructed. New tools allow for the creation of A.I. bots known as Sackbots which can be customized in creator levels. Levels can be connected to form “creatable sagas” and a new interface allows for friendlier creator tools. Along with existing controls, LBP2 has the option to use a mouse and a keyboard for Level and Game Design enthusiasts to play with. LBP2 is one the more original and innovative titles in Sony’s line-up which seems more than just an expansion pack.

Final Fantasy XIV

Infamous 2

It was kinda disappointing to see a short trailers of Infamous 2 and FFXIV. Final fantasy XIV shows bits and pieces of turn-based online gameplay while Infamous 2 shows a total rehashing of Cole MacGrath. It’s a shame that they’ve changed Cole’s entire appearance and raspy voice to a more generic, Nathan Drake. The graphics are much better then the first and ice power seems to be gained by Cole as teased in the trailer.

Portal 2

It wasn’t a surprise to see Portal 2 revealed at E3 but it was one hell of a surprise to see them reveal the game at Sony’s press conference. It quickly went from Value being to lazy to develop games on the PS3 to them giving Sony the best version of the game. (I was hoping to see Kevin Butler, letting loose on that asshole, Gabe Newell…) The game begins with the protagonist, Chell from the 1st game entering GLaDOS’ various personality cores while again being put through tests. Portal 2 will introduce a two player co-operative mode which will have more complex puzzles then in single player to encourage for the team to work together. There will be a separate storyline for the co-op campaign with its own unique plot and setting. Valve introduced exclusive Steamworks features on the PS3 version which would allow for automatic updates, DLC, and community support.

Twisted Metal PS3

It was a complete surprise to everyone that David Jaffe (Producer of the God of War Series) would appear and reveal a new title in the Twisted Metal series. Eat Sleep Play is working on the game along with the original developers from Incognito Development. The game is very much similar to previous installments, having copious amounts of gore, heavy metal, and all-around destruction. New vehicles were shown ranging from a rodent catching car, to motorcycles and helicopters. Two mode; Team-Deathmatch and a original mode known as Nuke. were revealed for multiplayer. Team-Deathmatch plays as you would expect: gain points for your team by causing destruction and exploding your opponent’s vehicles. Nuke plays like Capture the Flag in which a team must capture an enemy Nuclear Missile and charge it at the friendly base. Once charged, the missile fires at the enemy statue and whichever team destroys the opposing team’s statue wins.

Sony’s Press Conference was almost a complete letdown with there showing of the Move and 3D for the PS3, it was something that aggravated core gamers: the meat of their audience. But at the end, they deliver with a few surprises not so much to make them the best showing though. It’s too bad they tried to shove the Move down our throats and tease us with 30 second trailers of PS3 exclusives; it was a disaster that not even Kevin Butler could save… (Part 4 Coming Soon)