50% of Last Year’s Sony E3 Conference Is Still Unreleased - Is That Good Enough?
The countdown is on to the E3 2015 Sony keynote press conference, but in retrospect, how did the 2014 press conference really paint a picture of the year ahead?
Sony is in a much better position at this point in the console generation than it was last time out, but the battle remains heated. With no Blu-ray or Cell Processor driving a wedge between the PS4 and Xbox One, exclusives remain the key point of difference. Whether you’re a rusted on fan or yet to decide on the best machine for you, all eyes will rest on the 2015 Sony press conference and what titles we can expect from the year ahead. But how did last year’s conference stack up as an indicator of the titles we should start to anticipate?
Also Read: 60% of Last Year's Microsoft Press Conference was a Joke
Last year, Sony announced for the first time just the six big name exclusives, and they were Entwined, Bloodborne, LittleBigPlanet 3, Abzu, Let It Die and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. Of these, one year later three have been released, or 50%. Of the remaining three, none yet have a release date.
Elsewhere, we saw new footage for previously announced exclusives The Order: 1886 and No Man’s Sky. Again, only one of these has yet been released, and the other – No Man’s Sky – is yet to be given a release date. (The Last of Us remaster was also mentioned, but hardly can be categorised as “new.”)
On the multiformat front, Sony highlighted Dead Island 2, Magicka 2, Grim Fandango, Grand Theft Auto V, Far Cry 4, Mortal Kombat X and Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. These titles fair better when considered in terms of what has actually been released, with five of the seven games – or 70% - out now. Although it’s worth noting that Magicka 2 only surfaced on May 26.
Like Microsoft, Sony’s form goes back further. The E3 2013 press conference highlighted such games as Kingdom Hearts III, Final Fantasy XV, Mad Max, Batman: Arkham Knight and The Witness, all of which are yet to release. It also detailed The Elder Scrolls Online for PS4, which just scraped out this past week.
Also Read: Episode 8 of Grab It, with 68 exclusive indie developer interviews and features.
While fairing slightly better than Microsoft in converting announcements to actual releases in the year since the E3 2014 press conference with 50%, Sony has been far from convincing. Only 50% of the titles showcased but announced prior to E3 2014 have yet to be released, for starters. If Microsoft continues to offer lip service instead of concrete plans at its conference, maybe Sony doesn’t have to change too much. But consumers are on notice, and expectations this time around will be higher to deliver on what is shown in a timely fashion.
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