Sony stood up on the big stage at Gamescom in Germany today, and good God did they have a ton of news for us! Seriously, it was almost, if not more, news than they brought to E3. No running diary-esque breakdown for this one; I’ll just be giving you the announcements point-by-point, with lots of YouTube videos sprinkled in. So without further ado…
First, PlayStation Plus is getting even better than it already is. In September, the capacity for the online cloud storage is increasing from a paltry 150 MB to a full gigabyte, which is a huge addition. I know I’m already running low on space with my backups (damn you, Skyrim!), and the resulting increase will allow plenty of room for my giant FIFA and NHL save files. Also in Plus land, PlayStation Plus is (finally) coming to Vita. Details weren’t given as to what content will be given and when we can expect it with the vague promise of it coming “this year.” I wrote an editorial about what the Vita needs to be a success a couple of months ago, and getting Plus on board was a huge bullet point. Nice to see Sony agrees, and I can’t wait to see what Vita goodies we’ll be able to get . Seriously, if you aren’t subscribing to Plus yet, what are you waiting for?
On the heels of announcing a slight pushback in the PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale release date, Sony showed off the next four confirmed characters for the mascot brawler: Ratchet & Clank, Spike (of the Ape Escape series), Dante from Devil May Cry, and Sackboy (Little Big Planet). I say confirmed characters because of course eight new fighters were leaked from the beta a few weeks back, and all four of these guys were on that list. This is the first time we’ve seen them in action, however. And if you think I’m not super-stoked that R&C can call on Mr. Zurkon to lend an assist, you would be so sadly mistaken. Make sure you check out my impressions of the PSASBR beta right here. Check out all four fighters, and a new trailer, below:
A trailer was shown off for a new title called Puppeteer. The game is a 2D sidescroller with some interesting twists. For one, the whole game takes place on a stage with ever-changing sets and an audience, much like last year’s Kinect title The Gunstringer. Also, your character carries a pair of scissors he can use to cut his way through the environment and enemies. Here’s the trailer:
A new trailer was shown off for God of War: Ascension’s multiplayer mode. Also announced is an upcoming multiplayer beta for the game, which will be available first to PlayStation Plus subscribers.
Sony spoke at E3 about the eventual ability to play PSone classics on the Vita. That update will be coming on August 28. In addition, the update will add a few new Vita features, like Cross Controller, allowing you to use your Vita, and all of its unique features, as a controller for supported PS3 games. Little Big Planet 2 will be the first game to support this.
Another big Vita announcement was the Cross Buy initiative. When you buy the PS3 copy of Sony’s first party offerings, you’ll get the Vita version (if there is one) for free. Yeah. FREE. The first titles involved with this promotion will be PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, and Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault, the latter of which was confirmed to be on Vita also with this announcement. EA also came out today and said they would consider making Need for Speed Most Wanted, which is getting a Vita release as well, for this promotion. I thought we would see some sort of discount program for PS3/Vita cross titles; the fact they are bundling them for free should hopefully be a huge shot in the arm for the fledgling handheld.
A new horror-action title was announced for the PlayStation Move titles Until Dawn. The game uses the Move controller as a flashlight to guide you through the game, making it sound very Alan Wake-ish. Here’s the announce trailer:
Shown off was a new game from Sony Japan with the working title of Rain. You control a young boy running around a city trying to catch up to an invisible girl. You yourself eventually become invisible, your character outline only able to be seen when you’re being rained on. It looks fairly interesting, as you can see below. Unfortunately, since Sony’s Japanese studio is developing it, we probably won’t see it until 2015 (cue rimshot for Last Guardian joke!).
Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified was finally unveiled, its first gameplay trailer shown off. It looks…terribly bland in my opinion. The single-player campaign will shed light on the details between the two console Black Ops titles. As for multiplayer, you’ll be able to play 4v4 matches against your friends over wi-fi. But again…just watch the trailer. The title is being developed by Nihilistic Software, who was most recently responsible for the terribly pedestrian Resistance: Burning Skies, so I can’t assert a lot of confidence this will be the system seller many hoped it would.
What was more interesting was the trailer shown for Killzone: Mercenaries, the long-rumored Killzone Vita title. At first glance, this looks like a breath of fresh air for a franchise that really needed it. Naturally, since the game is on the Vita, it shows off a few of the touch controls used to perform some of the in-game actions. The game is being developed by Killzone creator Guerilla Games, and is slated for release next year.
The most interesting thing I saw from Sony’s presentation was the new game from Little Big Planet developer Media Molecule, a Vita game titled Tearaway. The character you control in the game is…well, it’s you. You actually can manipulate the game world using your “God-like” powers to alter environments by using the rear touch pad and shout enemies away with the Vita’s mic, among other abilities. Everything in the world can be made using sheets of paper. It’s exactly the sort of uniqueness I would expect to see from a studio like Media Molecule, and I’m excited to find out more information about Tearaway as it becomes available.
Whew! That was quite a bit! Keep it on VG Confab for more news from Gamescom, as we will keep bringing you all the info worth hearing about!
Header Image Credit: PS Vita Hub
