Why PS Experience Is Being Hyped Through The Roof

Since its very announcement, the anticipation towards the PS Experience event scheduled by Sony Computer Entertainment for the upcoming weekend has grown considerably, perhaps even to the discomfort of Sony itself, which now has to deal with extremely high expectations of the most hardcore PlayStation 4 gamers.

Originally, the event was organized in celebration of the 20 years of PlayStation (the PS1 released in Japan on December 3, 1994), but since then rumors and teases have made PS Experience similar to an E3 conference, with people expecting multiple announcements of new games and even the comeback of some long lost PlayStation franchises.

Why is it so, you might ask yourself. Well, the reason is quite simple: PlayStation 4 may have been a resounding commercial success so far, with over 13.5 million units sold worldwide as of 31 October of this year; however, most PlayStation 4 exclusives have proved to be lackluster to say the least. From Knack to Driveclub’s issues, we often had to report failures and missteps more than universal praise; even Infamous: Second Son and Killzone: Shadow Fall fell quite short of achieving true glory, and with the exception of the remastered version of The Last of Us (which many had already played on PlayStation 3), there’s still no exclusive masterpiece.

On the other hand PS3, despite being ridiculed at the time, had already found its shining beacon with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, first released on November 19, 2007. We’re now past that date, one year has passed since the launch of PS4 and many are clamoring to know more about Sony’s plans for exclusive software.

Indeed, the company has been quite secretive in the last few events, especially when compared to its rival - Microsoft’s Xbox One. There are already many exclusives scheduled for Xbox One in 2015, from heavy hitters like Halo 5: Guardians, Quantum Break and Rise of the Tomb Raider (although this is a temporary exclusive) to Crackdown and Fable Legends, not to mention interesting indie titles like Ori and the Blind Forest or Below, games already appeared on PC like Neverwinter and State of Decay and even potential surprises like Scalebound by Platinum Games.

Of course, PS4 has a schedule of its own. There’s The Order: 1886 hitting in February, though what we played at Gamescom didn’t impress us at all (and from what we’ve read, it had the same effect on most attenders); there’s Bloodborne hitting in April. But gamers want more. For example, they want to see some gameplay of Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End to understand if they can really expect the teaser’s graphical fidelity for the entire game.

Naughty Dog is the most prized asset for Sony Computer Entertainment after Uncharted and The Last of Us, but there are many more studios who still have to show their projects; let’s explore them together. The most significant absence right now is surely that of Sony Santa Monica; indeed, they also help other studios bring their games on Sony platforms, such as Hohokum, The Order: 1886 and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture.

But their last game, God of War: Ascension, released in March 2013. We’re almost two years after that date, and it would be great to at least get a teaser of their upcoming PlayStation 4 project, which should have Cory Barlog as leader.

 

There’s a lot more, though - for example, PS Experience could be the right place to finally unveil Guerrilla Games’ new IP. Some concept art (check an example below) leaked a few months ago, showing a much different project than Killzone - this one should be a fantasy/sci-fi RPG of sorts, and before any of you point out that the studio isn’t exactly known for its storytelling skills, let me remind you that Guerrilla hired the lead writer of Fallout: New Vegas last year.

We still don’t know anything about Media Molecule’s new project either. Aside from Tearaway: Unfolded, they’re working on something entirely new for PlayStation 4, and if their previous games are any indication, this could be revolutionary.

Perhaps less known is the fact that Sony Bend is working on a PS4 game as well. Their last title, Uncharted: Fight for Fortune, released two years ago for PlayStation Vita and since then they’ve been completely silent. Interestingly, Sony Bend is the original developer of Syphon Filter, a franchise that’s still dear to the hearts of quite a few PS gamers despite being dormant for seven years now; a new Syphon Filter for PlayStation 4 would undoubtedly qualify as a major announcement.

 

Of course, the elephant in the room needs to be addressed as well. Whenever a conference of sorts is about to be held by SCE, whispers of The Last Guardian magically arise once again. The last time, Shuhei Yoshida confirmed during E3 2014 that development on the game continues; with Ico and Shadow of the Colossus regarded as some of the most significant PlayStation exclusives of all time, there would be no better way to celebrate the 20th anniversary than showing how The Last Guardian is alive and well. Moreover, just yesterday Sony San Diego came forward, teasing something unexpected of them being announced at PS Experience.

These are just the known quantities. There could very well be other stuff that Sony is preparing for PlayStation 4, but the time has come to reveal their cards. Microsoft has been on a roll lately, between price cuts, offers and firmware upgrades (another area where Sony is trailing behind, despite the recent 2.00 update), and more than a few publications have openly recommended Xbox One over PlayStation 4 as the console to get this holiday.

Granted, PS4 is bustling with indies and most multiplatform games are better due to the more powerful hardware, but ultimately any console is defined by its exclusives. These are the only kind of games who can really show a platform’s potential, and the hardcore crowd has been waiting to see what can really be done on PS4 since the hardware specs were released. Now’s the time, Sony - PS Experience is the right place to inequivocally prove that PlayStation 4 has a bright future in terms of exclusives.