Back in February, Sony revealed their new Playstation 4 with a new controller and some games.  While the reveal was ultimately successful, the Playstation faithful were left with quite a few questions, like what does the console actually look like?  

A few weeks later and Microsoft announced the Xbox One, leaving Playstation fans wondering, “How will Sony react?”  

Well at E3 2013, hopefully their fears and questions will be alleviated.

The conference itself wasn’t solely about the Playstation 4 but also included a portion regarding Sony’s struggling handheld, the Playstation Vita, and their 7-year-old console the Playstation 3.  With the Vita they revealed a Walking Dead bundle, a Walking Dead video game and the first season of the Walking Dead included.  Remote Play was also touted as an integral part of the Playstation Experience, with Jack Tretton referring to the Vita as “The ultimate companion device with the PS4.”

Tretton also showed Sony’s continued support for the Playstation 3.  The Last of Us, a game by Naughty Dog Entertainment, has received loads of praise and is considered a possible Game of the Year candidate.  Gran Turismo 6, Puppeteer, and a Grand Theft Auto V Playstation 3 bundle were also shown.  Beyond Two souls was also mentioned and with the inclusion of Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe, these games could add to the integration of film and video games, like Heavy Rain, although there has been no mention of a possible Green Goblin cameo.

Andrew House President and Group CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. then went on stage to discuss the Playstation 4, and he quickly answered one of the questions that was left open after the Playstation reveal in February: the console was finally shown. 

Michael Lynton, the CEO of Sony Entertainment, quickly took the stage and revealed continued support for many of the media apps from the PS3, such as Netflix, Video/Music Unlimited and Pay-Per-View events and Red Box instant were also said to be future additions to the PSN.  Lynton also made it clear that Sony will also create exclusive entertainment just for the Playstation Network.

Shu Yoshida, President of Sony’s World Wide studios, quickly took to the stage and showed previously announced games like Drive Club, Knack and Infamous Second Son, but he also mentioned that Drive Club, Knack and Killzone Shadowfall will be launch titles while Infamous Second Son should be expected by early 2014.  A new game by Readyatdawn studios was shown, The Order 1886, where you fight monsters in a Victorian Setting.  

Sony also wanted to demonstrate their commitment to indie developers, when Adam Boyes, the vice president of Third Party games took the stage.  Adam Boyes announced indie games like, Transistor, Mercenary Kings, OctoDad: Deadliest Catch and Secret Ponchos, which will be either Playstation exclusives or make their console appearance first on the Playstation 4.

House then returned to the stage and made it clear that the Playstation 4 will also be housing many of the biggest games on the system.  Diablo 3 will have exclusive Playstation 3/4 items, such as Nathan Drakes amulet (although I’m hoping for a sackboy item).

He then cut to a video with Tetsuya Nomura of Square Enix revealing his latest game: Final Fantasy XIII VS. Tetsuya though wound up making another unexpectedly large announcement, a quick trailer was then shown for Kingdom Hearts 3.

Many more games were shown, either with cinematic or some game play, such as Watch Dogs, Assassins Creed 4, NBA 2K14 and Elder Scrolls Online, with a special beta version just for the Playstation 4.

Tretton then took the stage again and answered many of the questions that the Xbox One reveal left.  It was made clear that you can “Sell the game, lend it or keep it forever” and that the Playstation 4 will not block used games.  He also let it be known that the PS4 will not stop working if it hasn’t been authenticated after 24 hours.  

Gaikai  was also mentioned again and that you will be able to play PS3 games on your PS4, Vita and Playstation certified tablet.  Finally one more big question was answered, the price.  The Playstation 4 will cost $399 or $100 less than the Xbox One.

All in all, it was a fairly solid conference and should make the PS faithful happy while alleviating any potential fears they may have had.  The bigger question now, is will it be enough to convince Nintendo and Microsoft fans to switch over to a new system.

 

Be sure to follow Neontommy's E3 coverage here. 

Reach Staff Writer Roger Aguirre here.