E3 next week

So E3 is round the corner, and that means there's gonna be games and console goodness, though its going to be weird not seeing Nintendo having a press conference for the first time since pretty much the first, or early E3.
Although Sony and Microsoft are really going to be taking the main stages, and Nintendo doesn't really want to be in the shadows, however marketing would surely be better if they were there, because they are streaming their 'conference' over their Wii Network and probably Nintendo.com that they are basically feeding the information straight to the people who already own a Wii U or are hardcore enough to know about this unconventional decision, to actually see it.

The problem is that they don't just need the games, which is why they are directly targeting people who own a Wii or check the website, they also need better marketing, most families might not even know this thing exists, and it's been out 8 months, it's probably in worse state than the Vita, and the Vita is constantly improving each week with games. Especially if you have PlayStation Plus.

I really have no idea what Nintendo are going to do, I think next to Sony, they are what I'm most interested in seeing from, not because I like the games, I like some but not enough to buy another console, I just really want to see if they come up with some genius ideas to help them out. Look at the 3D, i mean the 3D is pointless and not everyone used it, and the fact that it still only has one analogue stick unless you buy this stupid attachment that turns your 3DS into a wide-load, then the console is really strong and doing well, far better than the Wii U and Vita combined.

Now to the Vita, I love it, I've had it 5 months and I can't get enough of it, I have more games than I can play, And i think one of the problems is most of the incentive, albeit the games that sell the console are things that are available on the PSN Store, so are easily overlooked for the average Joe who is going into a store to think about buying one of these things but can't see any of the games he want's because they are all hidden on the store, which is really only seen fully when you have the console to begin with, sure you can view it online at SOEN, but people who don't have the console, don't know. The new found purpose of the Vita is been this Indie game console where the best stuff is available on the store, and soon enough it's going to compare to Steam as it will start getting games around the same time as PC, If this console becomes known as the Indie console with triple A's regularly available, then it's really going to appeal to the gamer, oh and don't forget the PS4 launch title Killzone Shadow Fall, people are going to see this game, maybe play it when they've never played a Killzone before, and if they enjoy it maybe they will say, "Maybe i'll pick up a Vita and play that Killzone Mercenary that's available". Because they come out around the same time, the Vita version will be a month or two before, and if people know about this who have never done so before, it could really make the Vita take off Pre-PS4 launch, helping to boost interest in the PS4 remote play etc etc.

I've said before the Vita is what's going to keep the PS3 a second home console as the games are becoming more often than not some form of Cross-buy and Cross-play, so i think we're going to see that take a lot of the attention at E3 this year, maybe not during the conference but it's there, these consoles are similar in specifications and Sony want people to benefit from having both, it's why I was really happy when I checked the PSN this Wednesday and I got Limbo for free because i had bought it previously on PS3, I wasn't aware it was cross-buy because of the year between it's releases. There are definitely going to be lot's more Cross-buy games for the Vita and PS3, which will be more incentive to buy a Vita as lot's of your PS3 PSN games are going to be free for the Vita, meaning you now have this console that works with the PS4 really well, also having Cross-buy games and Remote play, so owning the Vita will make people think about getting a PS4 if they haven't already got one, it's really going to help the transition from one major console to the next that bit smoother, And that kinda scares me because it could mean Sony make a fuckload of money, which is good but the more money they have, the more their focus might change, then all of a sudden we have another PS3 style console down the line which costs them a ton of money and takes them years to gain consumer confidence and etc etc


Anyway onto the important stuff, some games...

One thing for me that might be quite telling of what Sony are about to announce, well if we look at the store, they have Call of Duty, Killzone and InFamous sales going on, which is known as the E3 Sale, but ignoring that, there is also a PSP sale that has come up a the same time which tells me that maybe we're going to see some new versions of the games in the sale for Vita, and we already know about one... Ok so here is the list...

Little Big Planet
God Of War; Chains of Olympus & Ghost of Sparta
Motorstorm Arctic Edge
Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters
Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier
ModNation Racers
Resistance: Retribution
Socom: Fireteam Bravo 3
Patapon 2
LocoRoco 2
Killzone: Liberation

So lets rundown this list of games and check something;

Little Big Planet - We have TearAway coming out soon, not only that, the Vita LBP did pretty well, though Media Molecule probably aren't going to be doing anymore LBP another Studio might make another LBP game, and maybe that's what we will see, maybe something that resembles the second LBP with customizing features that extend the game further than what 2 did, or at least the last Vita game?...

God Of War - Plenty of people think we're going to see a new GOW for Vita, and it wouldn't surprise me, it would be nice to see what they come up with using the touchscreen and rear pad, I hope this game does better than Ascension, but also hope it has multiplayer too...

Motorstorm - We saw Motorostorm RC launch early on the Vita and PS3 so seeing a new, larger style Motorstorm could be a safe guess, though Evolution Studios have moved away from it with their new IP Drive Club, aiming to be more serious, though it could have been passed to a smaller studio, however my money is on a small group inside of Evolution Studios are going to continue to work on Vita Motorstorm and similar games that might extend to PS3 as PSN games.

Ratchet & Clank - It's hard to say what might be happening with this franchise, as the delayed Vita version has just been released, Known as Q-force here in Europe, and something All 4 One in the US, the game has received really mediocre reviews at best, and with Insomniacs current position of not been tied down to Sony, the bad reviews for Fuse and Ratchet & Clank only just been released for the Vita, I'm not sure we will see anything from them at E3 in regards to PlayStation Exclusives or Vita, and i think this and Resistance is placed in the sale really just to fill out the PlayStation brands and really make amends for the bad Ratchet and Clank and the Resistance game that didn't do too well.

Jak and Daxter - The first few games are been remade as a HD collection and will be available for PS3 and Vita, we will probably see more info and it'll be available to play at E3.

ModNation Racers - Another game that might eb there to make up for the previous ModNation on Vita that didn't do to well, but i also don't think that was the last we've heard of it, i'm thinking there is going to be a slight overhaul on what the game is, almost a fundamental re-design without changing the charm and customization of the original game, whilst bringing it some new features and making it available to PS4 and Vita, It might be in the press conference but maybe as a short segment, or just a quick teaser and a 'More on the show floor'

SOCOM - Unit 13 did well, i still don't have it but the demo was alright, i think i had troubles with the controls but it was forgivable. Maybe we will see another Unit13, i'm hoping for a MAG game perhaps, i doubt we would see it for the Vita, maybe scaled down slightly from 250 people, but this is the sort of game Sony want to go into their free-to-play portfolio, or maybe they won't put it in that as they're going to have a lot of F2P games so maybe MAG would be a more premium game, at least another purchasable game, maybe a PSN game at around £15-20 perhaps. but i really want another MAG. Seriously, iron it out, make it more customization like battlefield, more weapons and 3-team battles instead of 2 teams of 125 people. fuck, i really want MAG now... (also if the new Frostbite engine is REALLY that scale-able we might see a Vita Battlefield...? that wouldn't be too outrageous because COD came to it, though wasn't perfect... Maybe Dice have something loaded to throw at the Vita...)

Patapon - Touchscreen drums. 'nuff said. Though really, i would be very surprised if they didn't announce a new Patapon at E3, or this year at all. I'm new to it, and have put around 20 hours into Patapon 3, but i really want to see a Patapon for Vita, and you have to ask yourself, what are Sony Japan pushing to the Vita? They published Gravity Rush, They published Soul Sacrifice, and are publishing Freedom Wars which was revealed a month or two ago, and doesn't hit till 2014 screens and info - http://www.siliconera.com/2013/05/21/in-freedom-wars-you-play-as-criminals-trying-to-earn-their-freedom/

So in all fairness they could have some Vita based stuff that's ready for E3 and to be launched in 2013, i can put money on it. They will be there for The Last Guardian, Puppeteer, Rain and Knack, but we've known a lot about them already, and Studio Japan doesn't actually develop all those games, so maybe they are unknowns games coming out from that studio.

LocoRoco 2 - Also a Studio Japan published game, this is probably what Sound Shapes became, but wouldn't surprise me if they did something with this franchise, which i've only just bought into, it seems like it would suit the Vita well.


Anyway that's some conjecture out of the way. I could go on about what we could see, but a quick note to what i'm hoping to see, because Music Games seem to work well for Sony and their handhelds... so i propose we might see a Parappa the Rappa game and some Rib Ribbon. A man can dream can't he? a man can dream...

I'm going to leave it here because with the PS4, anything could happen and i'm all typed out.

[Update] I was wrong. About everything. EVERYTHING. #WishfulThinking