June is typically a very exciting month for video game enthusiasts, since E3, the biggest gaming event of the year, often takes place during this time period. The Electronic Entertainment Expo is a time to be excited at the exciting future of games; but also a time to reflect on gaming’s history. So, with E3 2015 quickly approaching, there is no better time to take a look back at what Sony had to offer up last year at E3. History does tend to repeat itself, after all.
There you have it, PlayStation LifeStyle’s look back at Sony’s press conference at E3 2014. Plenty of great games were shown off, so hopefully this year will bear even more fruit. We’ll even get to see some games at a second consecutive E3 due to delays. At the very least, we don’t expect to see Brian Michael Bendis back on stage.
Let us know what you think about PlayStation’s E3 2014 press conference in hindsight. What’s your favorite part of Sony’s presser last year? We look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments.
Related Reading:
- What We Expect From Sony’s First-Party Studios at E3 2015
- Top 5 Best Sony E3 Moments
- 10 PS4 Features We Want Announced at E3 2015
E3 2014 Lookback
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PlayStation E3 2014 Highlights
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Destiny
Sony's E3 press conference started not with a standard sizzle reel, but with new footage from the Bungie developed first person shooter, Destiny. This established the feel of the show, that it was all about games (well, until a certain part killed all the momentum).
It wasn't the most exciting open to a press conference, but soon afterwards Andrew House took the stage to announce that Destiny would not only be playable on PlayStation 4 first (thanks to an "alpha" that occurred on June 12), but also release as part of a new hardware bundle that featured a gorgeous glacier white PS4.
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The Order: 1886
After showing off their upcoming bundle, Sony showed off their first internally developed game of the show, The Order: 1886. An impressive looking trailer that showcased the seamless transitions from cut-scenes to gameplay was aired. Overall, it was an impressive look at Ready at Dawn's graphical showcase.
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Entwined
Speaking of transitions, as soon as The Order: 1886's trailer ended, a trailer unveiling a brand new game. The new game was first party studio Pixel Opus' debut called Entwined. The biggest kicker was that gamers would not have to wait to play Entwined, as it was available right after the press conference ended.
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inFAMOUS First Light
Following up the brightly colored Entwined, was the neon-infused inFAMOUS First Light. A downloadable prequel starring inFAMOUS Second Son's Fetch. The standalone downloadable content was announced for August, and did not disappoint gamers who were ready for more inFAMOUS action.
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LittleBigPlanet 3
Immediately afterwards, several Sumo Digital employees took the stage to show a live demonstration of LittleBigPlanet 3. The newest installment in Sony's highly successful series added three additional new characters, Oddsock, Toggle, and Swoop.
This presentation ended up being charming, despite a series of mistakes in demonstrating how the new characters played. Perhaps a pre-recorded trailer would have worked a tad bit better.
A November release date was announced for the game, and Shuhei Yoshida came onto the stage to announce that over 8.7 million levels have been shared in previous LittleBigPlanet games. This was a cool statistic, but the big reveal came when Shuhei said that all 8.7 million levels could be played in LittleBigPlanet 3.
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Bloodborne
Next up was the appearance of the heavily rumored Project Beast. From Software's new project, now called Bloodborne, had an impressive, atmosphere heavy trailer that was one of the highlights of the entire event. No gameplay was shown, but it was evident that PlayStation owners were in for something special nonetheless.
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Far Cry 4
Ubisoft's Alexander Hutchinson then took the stage to show off more footage of Far Cry 4, a game that was also shown off at Ubisoft's press conference that took place earlier that day. It wasn't all treading ground, however, as co-op gameplay was shown off.
This became more relevant once Sony's Adam Boyes announced that Far Cry 4 on both PS3 and PS4 would allow owners of the game to play cooperatively with friends who did not own the game.
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Exclusive Content
Adam Boyes wasn't done with huge announcements as he then introduced a series of trailers. First up was Yager Development's Dead Island 2 which will feature an exclusive class and beta only on PS4. Following that was the announcement of one of the strangest collaborations in gaming history as The Last of Us themed content was confirmed to appear in Diablo III. Boyes ended the segment by showing off Battlefield Hardline, which had a console-exclusive beta on PS4.
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Indie Games!
A hilarious live-action trailer for Magicka 2 was shown next, alongside the announcement that every team at Paradox Interactive was working on a PlayStation game. Up next was a letter written by "Sally" asking Sony to bring back Tim Schafer's classic adventure games. Sony then announced that Grim Fandango Remastered was coming to PS4 and Vita.
Following the fantastic bit with Mr. Schafer, a sizzle reel of Devolver Digital published games were shown, all of which are making their console debuts on PlayStation. Games included were Broforce, Titan Souls, Not A Hero, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number, and The Talos Principle.
Rounding out the indie-focused segment were trailers for Suda51's Let It Die and Giant Squid's Abzu.
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No Man's Sky
Next up was the huge announcement that Hello Games' No Man's Sky would be releasing first on PlayStation 4. Featuring a procedurally generated universe, No Man's Sky is one of the most anticipated indie games of all time and is a huge get for Sony. Hopefully, more information on the game will be announced at this year's press conference!
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New Hardware Features
Andrew House then took the stage to talk about the PlayStation Camera and the positive response that Project Morpheus has received.
SCEA's CEO Shawn Layden then came out to talk about new hardware features. First up was YouTube integration that would allow gameplay footage to be uploaded straight from a gamer's PS4. Next was the announcement that PlayStation Now, Sony's game streaming service, would have an open beta starting July 31 on PS4. Finally, Shawn announced that the PlayStation TV would be coming stateside at a pricepoint of $99.
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Powers!
Sony apparently decided that the PlayStation press conference was too heavily focused on video games, so Andrew House invited Brian Michael Bendis out to talk about Sony's new TV show Powers. All PSN users would get access to the first episode of Powers for free, and PS+ users would get the entire first season for free.
After a segment that seemingly took forever (but we only clocked in at six excruciating minutes), the Ratchet& Clank movie was discussed as long with a reboot of the series.
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Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
Thankfully, the conference then went back to video games in the best way possible by showing off a new trailer for Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The impact of the trailer was a bit subdued due to it leaking onto the internet before the conference, but it was still amazing to watch. It was one of the best trailers at E3 and it was great to see at Sony's conference.
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Grand Theft Auto V
The next big announcement was that Grand Theft Auto V would be coming to PlayStation 4 (and Xbox One) this fall. There was an additional upside to playing on the PS4 as PS3 and Xbox 360 gamers could transfer their GTA multiplayer data to the updated version. Rockstar would have more surprises (such as a first person mode) in store, but they were not announced at Sony's press conference.
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Batman: Arkham Knight
The last third party game shown was a big one, Batman: Arkham Knight. This trailer showed off an amazing looking open world, with Batman gliding around the city landscape effortlessly. The Dark Knight then hopped into the Batmobile to show off the game's impressive vehicular combat. It was an amazing trailer, and its upcoming release is beyond exciting.
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Uncharted 4: A Thief's End
Sony pulled out the biggest announcement they had to end their press conference the right way. A teaser trailer for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End showed off Naughty Dog's impressive graphical prowess. Sadly, we'll have to wait until 2016 to get our hands on this one.
