Without E3 this year, it would be up to the big dogs in the video game industry to hype up their products on their own terms, and that’s probably the way they like it. This past week Sony took center stage and hosted the PlayStation Showcase. The event was streamed semi-live on YouTube and was a mix of announcing games, showing off new gameplay, revealing trailers, and even showing off some new hardware. There was a lot going on, so here is a TL; DW (Too Long Didn’t Watch) for the whole event.
The event mostly promoted PlayStation-exclusive titles but did give us a look at some multiplatform games, such as a first gameplay look at the upcoming Assassin’s Creed: Mirage (which was pretty disappointing, does anyone else think it looked kinda bland?). We got a look at Alan Wake 2, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Final Fantasy XVI, Street Fighter 6, and a VR mode for the Resident Evil 4 remake, to name a few of the bigger names at the show.
The event also showed off a surprising number of new IPs with fresh and inspired concepts. Phantom Blade 0 was a particular title that looked pretty special. Not necessarily reinventing the slasher genre, it showed off some wild gameplay mechanics and looks to be a hot debut for the PS5, likely sometime early next year.
Sony has been doing some amazing work lately with its support for indie game developers, and it is really starting to show. There were many new indie titles that all looked like wonderful artistic creations, sure to be a ton of fun. A Showcase of this scale showing off games made by smaller studios is such a big win for Sony and really shows an honorable dedication to the industry and its emerging creators.
It wouldn’t be a PlayStation event without showing off some of the PSVR tech, and that they did. A new Beat Saber music pack featuring music by the rock legend Queen was announced. A new and terrifying Five Nights At Freddy’s showed why it still haunts our dreams. Additionally, Crossfire Sierra Squad, Arizona Sunshine 2, and Synapse were also announced to be joining the PlayStations Virtual Reality library. It’s an excellent time to go Virtual, indeed.
The show finished by giving us a new teaser for the upcoming Gran Turismo movie before announcing the new PlayStation accessories. Project Q (working title for now) was unveiled as a new portable device to remotely play your PS5 games. The device comes kitted with an 8-inch HD screen and every button and feature from the PS5s Dualsense controller. Next up was the PlayStation earbuds. Wireless earbuds that connect to your console and even your smartphone. It is unknown if this will support 3D audio, but it seems like they could be pretty nifty pieces of audio hardware. More information on these devices will be shared soon, and we will stay right on top of that.
So, with that, we came to the end of the showcase as Sony president and CEO Jim Ryan thanked everyone for all the support for PlayStation, and the show cut to black. And then it happened… Spider-Man 2! We got a cinematic trailer showing off the new villain, Kraven the Hunter, and then 12 glorious minutes of gameplay. This needs its own article, so be sure to check out my article discussing everything from the trailer.
Overall, the showcase was fantastic, and Sony has really delivered lately with some amazing games, brilliant community support, and sheer love for the industry as a whole. What do you guys think? Did you enjoy the showcase? Excited for what’s to come for PlayStation? Sound off below and on our socials.
And if you’re looking for anything in particular, here’s a quick rundown of everything featured in the showcase (with timestamps to the video on YouTube):
Cat Quest: Pirates of the Purribean
Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater
Five Nights at Freddy's Help Wanted 2
