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Vita may have been about the big brands at Gamescom this week, but PS3 was almost the exact opposite – with Sony announcing even more new IP during its press conference.
Joining the already announced new IP of Beyond, Last of Us and Wonderbook were there new games from Sony’s Japanese studios – Puppeteer, Rain and Until Dawn.
"PlayStation has a history of delivering the unexpected both in our software and in our hardware," said Sony Europe president Jim Ryan. "We will continue to do that."
PS3 is seven years old in the US and Japan this year, and Sony will be hoping that by continuing to develop new concepts and original ideas, it can help extend the console lifecycle and keep sales of PS3 steady ahead of the inevitable PS4.
However, there was no announcement of the expected new PS3 model. The new model was expected to miss Gamescom, but should still be announced shortly, with rumours suggesting a launch this year.
NEW IPs
Three new PS3 IP was unveiled at E3, all offering something quite different to the sort of games currently on offer on the market. These included a platform game called Puppeteer, a PSN unusual title named Rain and a Move horror game entitled Until Dawn. The first two are being developed in Japan, while the latter is created by UK-based Supermassive Games.
New IP is always a risk, but Sony appears to have gone for broke when it comes to developing new brands for PS3. It follows the reveals of Beyond and Wonderbook at E3, plus the unveiling of Last of Us last December.
The company’s that ‘won’ E3 in June were the ones that showcased new concepts. Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs won numerous games of the show, which suggests that consumers and the media are eager to see some new ideas. If that’s the case, then what was on show at Gamescom was a good sign for PS3 even at this late stage in the console cycle.
WONDERBOOK GETS MORE SUPPORT
BBC Worldwide has officially confirmed it is working on a Walking with Dinosaurs Wonderbook title, which MCV reported on at E3. Disney Interactive Studios is also creating projects for Wonderbook based.
Wonderbook could well be one of the surprise hits of Christmas this year (as predicted by retailers in our 20 Games to Save Christmas feature), and with Disney and BBC on-board PlayStation has secured major family brands. Digg’s Nightcrawler – the Wonderbook title that everyone forgot about following the announcement of Book of Spells at E3 – was also given an extended demo on stage.
MORE FROM MOVE
Alongside new IP Until Dawn and Wonderbook, another game that is getting Move support is… FIFA 13. It may not sound like the usual match-up, and it certainly didn’t look as intuitive as the voice control with Kinect, or even the touch options on Wii U and Vita. But it shows that PlayStation isn’t ready to give up on its motion device. Sony is also publishing a sequel to the best-selling Move game this Christmas, Sports Champions.
PLAYSTATION PLUS GETS UPGRADED
Sony is placing a significant emphasis on PlayStation Plus, which you can read more about in this week’s MCV. The service now features big game brands such as Red Dead Redemption as part of its ‘Instant Game Collection.’ There has also been an increase in the amount of Cloud Storage offered to PS Plus subscribers. The firm is backing PS Plus with a big marketing push, which again you can read more about in next week’s MCV.
PS3 BUDGET RANGE
Uncharted, Infamous, LittleBigPlanet will be available in a new PS3 budget range called Essentials. Sony Euro boss Jim Ryan said: "This makes PS3 more accessible than ever before this holiday season." But we are not so sure that a budget range works so well in today’s market, which is dominated by trade-ins and pre-owned.
