It’s that special time of the year again. New games are being announced left and right, rumors are circulating about secret hardware projects, the internet is abuzz with speculation. What exactly will Sony be announcing at their annual E3 Press Conference?
In the past we’ve seen everything from accessories, services, games, even consoles make their debut. Big-wig Sony execs take the stage to talk numbers and best of all, they reveal the future of PlayStation. But before they can, each year we get all Nostradamus-like and predict what Sony might reveal at the big event.
This year is no different, we’re expecting major announcements from Sony and their partners. Sony will likely address the recent PlayStation Network fiasco, reveal sales figures, then get to the juicy stuff. Here’s what we think you can look forward to at Sony’s E3 Press Conference, which happens on June 6th at 5PM PDT (as always we’ll be there live, covering the event).
PlayStation 3
Price drop – We know the PlayStation 3 is the best value on the market, but the one thing that would make it even more of a value, is if it were priced at the mass-adoption price of $199. Sony has some stiff competition with the Wii and Xbox 360, and it’s only going to get tougher with Nintendo releasing a new console. It’s time for another price drop.
Games – Sony has the best line-up out of any of the consoles. They’re going to provide updates on their biggest titles, such as Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Starhawk, The Last Guardian (we’re expecting a formal release date announcement), Twisted Metal and more. But the real thing everyone wants to see are the new, unannounced titles. Here’s a list of what we could see at the big show:
- Quantic Dream’s new title
- New WipEout Title (WipEout Trinity)
- Sly Cooper 4
- Guerrilla Games’ New IP
- Next God of War (multiplayer-focused)
- Sony Cambridge (Medievil maybe?)
- New retail title from Pain dev, Idol Minds
- New Siren title
- Syphon Filter (we really want to see this one)
- Sony London (please, enough with the SingStar)
- Agent (haha!)
- Final Fantasy Versus XIII (C’mon Square Enix)
HD Classics (Now with more PSP!) – We’re thinking this is going to be a big theme at E3. It may not be at Sony’s conference itself, but we’re expecting plenty of PS2 and PSP classics being remastered in HD and re-released on the PlayStation 3 with much more visual pep and some extra features:
- Metal Gear Solid Collection
- Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker HD
- Final Fantasy Collection
- PSP God of War titles
- Kingdom Hearts Collection
- Jak and Daxter Collection
- … and many more!
PlayStation Move
Price drop – We’ve seen retailers offering discounts on the PlayStation Move bundle. To increase consumer uptake, the hardware could see a small price reduction.
Games – After making such a big deal about the PlayStation Move at last year’s E3, we expect there to be much less focus on the PlayStation Move this year. We’re thinking that it wasn’t quite the success Sony thought it would be. Hopefully we’ll see:
- Sorcery (what the hell happened to this game?)
- Sports Champions sequel
- Sony Japan flashlight-horror title (again, what the hell happened here?)
- Uncharted 3 support
- …and that’s about it aside from added support to other titles.
NGP
Real name – Next Generation Portable is just a codename. E3 is the perfect time to announce the real name of the device. They may even end up still going with NGP, but then they’d be screwed if there was another new generation. Think you know what it’s going to be called? Play our guessing game and you could win a prize.
Price – We’re going to call it at $299.99. It could be even more pricey, considering the tech that’s packed into it. Up to $399. But we think that it would hinder sales.
Release date – Could be as early as this holiday season, that is if Sony wants to take advantage of the holiday sales rush. Otherwise we’re expecting a Spring 2012 launch. This all depends on the software and the impact of the Japanese earthquake.
Remote Play – We’ll find out exactly how the NGP plays nice with the PS3, which will likely end up being a key selling point.
Games – This is what separates the men from the boys, the NGP from the 3DS, next generation from current generation. The NGP will play “PlayStation 3-quality” games, just made bite-sized for the NGP’s screen. We expect all major publishers to bring their key franchises to Sony’s new portable.
- Killzone NGP
- Resistance NGP
- Uncharted NGP
- Syphon Filter (Sony Bend is working on an NGP title)
- Call of Duty (likely a full-blown Modern Warfare 3)
- Mortal Kombat NGP
- Motorstorm
- Rockstar NGP title (could this be where Agent went?)
- WipEout NGP
- Assassin’s Creed
- Hideo Kojima’s new game
PlayStation Network
Services – We think that we may see some further developments in a partnership between Sony and Google. Maybe some apps. Deeper Youtube integration.
Games – There’s definitely going to be some new PSN titles revealed at E3, though many of them might not get a spot at Sony’s conference. We’ll probably see an update on Journey, a new Pixeljunk and more.
PlayStation Suite
Devices – We’re betting that Sony will at least discuss the Xperia PLAY if not give it a proper spot during the conference. If the Xperia PLAY will be there, then you can bet that Sony’s two upcoming Android tablets, the S1 and the S2, will be there in some effect.
Demonstration – The Xperia PLAY is out in most of the world, any day in the US. But we haven’t seen too much about PlayStation Suite. We’re sure Sony will be ready and willing to give us a tour of the future of the service.
Minis – Here’s where the future of PlayStation minis will lie. Sure they’ll still be on the PSP, PS3 and NGP, but they’ll fit best on a more smartphone based platform.
Conclusion
That’s our predictions for E3 2011. We don’t expect all of our predictions to actually happen, so we were extra optimistic and shot for the stars. Is there anything we missed? Anything you personally think will happen at the big event? Share your predictions in the comments below.
