Link: http://www.pushsquare.com/news/2015/05/soapbox_why_ps4s_e3_2015_press_conference_will_likely_disappoint

Why PS4's E3 2015 Press Conference Will Likely Disappoint

Posted Thu 14th May 2015 12:30 by Sammy Barker

Sammy Barker thinks that you should temper your expectations

"Everything was third-party." I expect Dolan, the magnificent meme duck, will be on fine form in just over a month's time, when Sony's big E3 2015 press conference inevitably fails to live up to expectations. We live in constant fear of the restless Los Angeles event here at Push Square Towers, so it's always a point of conversation: what will the Japanese giant reveal during its show? On this occasion, the feeling throughout the office is unanimous: you already know.

I've talked about third-party partnerships on this site before, but I think that it's important to discuss in a little more detail how they work. Essentially, publishers align with platform holders in order to better promote their products. The benefit for the game maker is that its title gets added exposure, while the manufacturer is able to market the release as one of its own. This often results in bonus content, console bundles, and PlayStation Blog coverage – as well as convention stage time.

Cast your minds back to PlayStation Experience, where the PlayStation maker almost upset the pace of its opening keynote by inviting Bungie on stage to talk Destiny. The developer had nothing new to show – The Dark Below had already been announced at that point – but it put in an appearance for contractual reasons; the Activision published first-person shooter has been at every Sony show since the PlayStation 4 was announced in February 2013. It's part of the marketing deal.

And it'll be at the organisation's E3 2015 media briefing in June, of that there's no doubt. Rumours have suggested that a much larger-scale expansion pack is due out later this year, and I'll personally be gob-smacked if the PlayStation maker doesn't announce it. But this is why I think that you should temper your expectations for a big first-party love-in next month: the organisation's made far too many deals with other publishers for it to have the time to spotlight its own stuff.

Let me just spell it out for you: Star Wars: Battlefront will be privy to a big blowout during the press conference; Batman: Arkham Knight will surely have its launch trailer showcased; No Man's Sky is too big of a deal to avoid the event; Assassin's Creed Syndicate looks like its returning to the PlayStation fold; Call of Duty: Black Ops III could yet have switched sides; and these are just names that we know of. That's easily an hour of press conference content right there – if not more.

If you consider that Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is also a lock for a hearty gameplay segment, while Sony's certain to spotlight several indie titles as well – well, that's more than enough for it to rattle through. Project Morpheus is a big deal for the firm, so that will get its fair share of attention, too – and it'll no doubt want to touch upon PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Now, PlayStation Vue, and other key subscription-based services. There's not going to be much time for anything else.

I want to be clear here: I don't think that Sony's shunning first-party development in the slightest, I just think that if you're expecting to see all of its exclusives distilled into a single 90-minute show, then you're going to come away very disappointed. There will be something – whether it's from Guerrilla Games, Media Molecule, or any one of the organisation's other studios – but the bulk will be spread between Paris Games Week, PlayStation Experience, and Tokyo Game Show.

And the point is that people are going to be disappointed – we've been talking about it between ourselves for weeks. The games are coming – we know that they're in development – but as the market leader, Sony now finds itself in a privileged position where it can handpick the cream of the third-party crop. And that means that the E3 press conferences of old that were packed with first-party content from start-to-finish may be long gone. I'd suggest getting used to that idea now.

Some valid thoughts in this article, they might be on to something...

I think so too. Im not sure another GOW or GT will really get people very excited. Hope Im wrong though...

Hope no... we will see.

Everybody, including me, expects to much from E3. It's hard to not get caught up in all the rumours going around on the run up..

Sony this year are quiet while MS are being very loud about it. Both are ways of showing confidence and both can be ways of showing insecurities.

I've never really enjoyed Sony's conferences (only watched E3 like two years, plus Gamescom, and TGS), so my expectations are pretty low.

I don't have much faith in first party, but I expect some good things from Atlus, Level 5, and Namco Tales studio.

James Mielke apparently disagrees!

In case people wonder who that is, he worked at Q-Games as a Producer, plus he's held a bunch of different roles within the inustry, he's basically said Sony are going big on new exclusives at E3. Shinobi602 has said the same (very reliable insider), same goes for Verrendus on Neogaf.

Looking at the facts Sony has a lot of 1st party studios, many of which have been incubating projects for many years, particularly the likes of Guerrilla Games, who's new IP has been in development since 2010, SCE Bend's project will be nearly 4 years in the making soon, Media Molecule as well, plus a bunch of others have new IP and then there are the existing franchises that will likely make their return soon.

With Sony selling 3rd party without much effort I very much doubt their attention will be put into this, simply because they don't need to do that.
Even having marketing deals that doesn't mean Sony has to push those games with a lot of stage time at their conference, that's what you pay 3rd parties for. All that's really needed on that front is some short trailers or a montage of those games, maybe with some confirmation from the publisher involved on what's coming to PS4 first.

Shinobi602 has even stated that this talk about Sony's E3 being 3rd party padded has come from nowhere, just fear.
Sony's developers have a lot of games in the works, it's time to show them off!

This fits with Fergal Gara's recent comment on Sony not being concerned about their Fall line-up of exclusives, because they have new titles to announce that are coming out this year, plus they can show footage of games already announced and confirm specific release dates for those games at E3.

What would make the most logical sense as far as 3rd party is concerned is Sony perhaps having some new IPs as exclusives from major publishers.
Kaz Hirai has said about investing in exclusives for PS4 and he wants to solidify PS4's position in the market, which such things would definitely help with.
I only see that happening with some unique stuff that Sony can't necessarily make internally, because their studios are tied up with their own projects.


Overall I think that this E3 should be good for new games from all parties.
The best E3's are the ones where Platform Holders focus on their own, new titles and 3rd party deals with their own stuff.
Some multiplats will always blend into Sony, Microsoft or even Nintendo's event, but with the time being pretty precious at each conference and a lot of new stuff to deal with I doubt any of those events would be 3rd party heavy.

Can you link the bolded?

1 reason for me, no TLG :(

But if it shows up, then I just might declare Sony's the winner (unless its only to say that its cancelled)

Yep sure, it's mentioned in this 8-4 Play podcast, on the 1st of May 2015:

http://8-4.jp/blog/?lang=en

1 hour, 36 minutes and 55 seconds in.

Thuway mentioned it on Neogaf.

It's not direct from Mielke, but from what I understand the podcast is legit.

I wouldn't be surprised. Sony has all those marketing deals.

What i think we will see is
destiny, uc4, no mans sky, battlefront,Guerrilla Games rpg that has been somewhat leaked, a vita game or two, project m release date/price, and indie games, and non gaming stuff, and taking a couple pop shots are there competitors 

Plus any other 3rd party marketing deal they have