Sony managed a spectacular showing at E3 this year. Here’s everything that happened.
Watch the PlayStation E3 livestream replay:
Sony E3 Press conference – as it happened
Note: some of the trailers embedded here were removed from YouTube after they were uploaded. We’ll replace the videos as Sony re-uploads them.
This is in reverse order, so scroll to the bottom to follow everything in order.
1911: We’re done here.
Trusted Games Brett Phipps has the last word:
“I didn’t think Microsoft could be topped with the announcement of two consoles, but Sony managed to do just that with its incredible showing of exclusive games.
“While the question will linger for a while about whether or not what we were watching was PS4 or PS4 Neo footage, the fact remains Sony remains the home of the console exclusive. Microsoft has to try and double down on new, more powerful hardware because it simply cannot compete with the roster Sony boasts”
1909: Days Gone gameplay
We saw Days Gone very briefly earlier, and now we’re getting some gameplay footage. That’s good, because it was one of the biggest mysteries of the show. The main character is shown scavenging around an abandoned construction site, with feral dogs roaming the area. He’s briefly attacked by the dogs and gets away, and immediately encounters a huge swarm of zombies from above.
Related: Everything that happened at Microsoft’s press conference
It looks like he’s fighting a losing battle; there are far too many zombies for him to tackle by himself. The zombies’ strength is in their numbers, but they’re also pretty fast and strong. You don’t want to get on the wrong side of these guys. From the footage, the zombies appear to be downed by a single bullet. All well and good, but there’s so many of them that’s hardly great news.
The trailer ends with our hero overrun. It looks great.
1906: Spider-Man
Blow-by-blow, Sony is demolishing everybody else at E3. We now have a brand-new Spider-Man game, complete with an epic trailer. It’ll be a PS4 exclusive, too.
1901: Hideo Kojima presents Death Stranding
“I’m back.”
The man himself is back. After being unable to attend last year (for reasons we all understand), he’s back, and he’s here right now.
The game in question is running in real-time on stage, rendered live. It’s a man on a beach, with a newborn baby in his arms. There’s dead fish all over the beach and mysterious floating menin the sky. It’s called Death Stranding. Mark Cerny is the technical producer; he worked on the PS4.
1858: LEGO Star Wars
A new trailer for LEGO Star Wars, with loads of scenes from the 2015 movie recreated in glorious LEGO. It looks like a lot of fun, as you’d expect from a LEGO game. The demo is available now, and the full games comes out in two weeks.
1856: Crash Bandicoot
Fully remastered versions of Crash Bandicoot, Crash 2 and Warped on PS4. Also a tie-in with Skylanders coming later this year.
1855: Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare Remastered
That remastered CoD4 footage looks superb. So many memories from all those years ago.
1849: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
Say what you like about the series, the new Infinite Warfare gameplay segment looks fantastic. There’s some proper spaceship dogfighting, some low-gravity shooting and that good old-fashioned CoD gunplay. CoD has never done vehicles very well, so it’ll be interesting to see if the dogfighting missions are on-rails or fully controllable.
Brett Phipps: “It’s been a long while since I’ve been genuinely excited for a Call of Duty campaign, Infinite Warfare made a really strong showing here. I’ve been sceptical since it was announce but this was excellent, well played Infinity Ward.”
1846: Final Fantasy XV
More FF footage, this time a fantastic-looking trailer that’s about 100,000 times better than the awkward gameplay presentation shown off at Microsoft’s press conference earlier today. It includes characters riding on what appear to be giant chickens. There’ll also be a VR experience.
Brett Phipps: “Sony has shown that, although it may lack the firepower of other VR devices, it far exceeds its rivals in terms of experiences available on PSVR. Both system sellers in their own right, Battlefront VR and Arkham Knight VR are enough for many to slap down a pre-order, but with FFXV VR people will lose their minds. Still hard to shake that giant PS4K elephant in the room though.”
1840: PS VR news
Sony is now showing off its VR chops, and the PS VR will start shipping on October 13th, with more than 50 games available on launch.
These include futuristic shooter Farpoint, a new Star Wars Battlefront experience called X-Wing VR Mission and a new Batman experience called Arkham VR.
1835: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
New trailer for Resident Evil 7 that, in this trailer, is a VR experience. Prepare to be spooked.The whole game will be playable in VR: this is a full game.
Coming January 2017. Another brilliant showing.
Brett Phipps: “Resident Evil 7 is breaking new ground by offering us true survival horror in VR as a full game. As excited as I am that the series is going back to its roots, I’m absolutely terrified. What’s worse: I’m playing it tomorrow.”
1831: Detroit Become Human
We first saw Detroit Become Human at E3 2015, and it’s back with a new trailer. What happens when androids designed to help humanity go wrong? It’s another decision-based adventure from Quantic Dream, known for the Heavy Rain series. You’ll play as an Android, Connor, with some extra abilities that allow him to investigate crimes super-duper effectively.
Brett Phipps: “After David Cage’s misstep that was Beyond: Two Souls, Detroit simply looks excellent. Sony is getting this conference spot on with a series of impeccable showings, all exclusive to PS4”
1824: Horizon Zero Dawn
We’re straight into yet another game. Sony’s not messing around. We have new gameplay from the exciting new franchise, with more new enemy types and weapons in the futuristic RPG.We can now see that our heroine is able to ride and game some of the robotic future creatues that inhabit the beautiful prehistoric world of the future.
Brett Phipps: “Horizon Zero Dawn looks gorgeous, and finally getting a chance to see what we can get up to in this beautiful work only makes me want to play it more. Guerilla is truly spreading its wings here, let’s hope the team can deliver on what is huge promise.”
1821: The Last Guardian
We move quickly onto The Last Guardian, which has a new trailer and a lot more scenes than we’ve seen before. We have a release date: October 25th. Great news for a game that’s been a long time coming.
1818: Days Gone
New franchise. It’s a post-apocalyptic game centered around a former biker gang member, who’s now little more than a bounty hunter in a world that’s completely in ruins.
Brett Phipps: “We finally know what Sony Bend has been working on and it looks to be a very interesting title. Alluding to who or what the enemy is one would assume it’s a zombie apocalypse or a virus that’s wiped out most of the planet, and we follow a biker gang. Either way, count me in.”
1806: God of War
Kratos… and son! Straight in with God of War gameplay. We play as Kratos teaching his son to hunt in a beautiful forest. Kratos is offering some useful hunting advice, but his son keeps rushing forward. “Do not be sorry, be better,” he says.
Things hit the fan immediately as a demon emerges from the shadows to attack the pair, and Kratos has to fend them off. All of this with a live orchestra backing track. A giant troll comes out to attack the pair and en epic battle ensues, with some ridiculous combat and some tense moments. Absolutely fantastic. Well played, Sony.
Worth watching are the incredible facial animations, physics and lighting. This is a technical tour de force.
Trusted gaming editor Brett Phipps is at the event:
“The live orchestral score of the God of War track opened Sony’s conference in a big way.
“God of War 4 itself managed to go one better with an incredible turn of pace from previous series entries. Sporting a strong Last of Us vibe, we see a much older Kratos journeying through snowy forests training a young padawan to hunt. It’s an excellent showing and once again becomes a graphical showcase. The only question is: is this running on PS4K?”
Below is the gameplay trailer without the live orchestral backing.
1801 local time: Live orchestra intro
We have a live orchestra and choir for the start of the Sony conference. Ubisoft had a song and dance, so this is a little more high brow.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
