Other first party franchises have been thrown around with the Vita, mainly Killzone and God of War. Killzone Vita has been confirmed in development and this E3 is where the world will see it. LittleBigPlanet Vita will get a release date, sometime in the next few months. However, Sony has a plethora of IP to utilise. It will be no surprise that God of War (maybe Ascension?) and possibly Infamous making the jump to the portable console. But, in saying that, Sony should utilise other IP, maybe involving characters surely to appear in Playstation All Stars Battle Royale. Who knows, maybe there is a first party game that has not been leaked by the gaming media.
What about the third party offering? There are big names coming to the Vita, including Bioshock, Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty. Ken Levine, the creative mind behind the Bioshock series, has confirmed that Bioshock Vita’s development is currently taking a back seat, so don’t expect the title to be appearing at the show. Do expect, however, Assassin’s Creed. The game has been recently leaked via Twitter and will star the game’s first female protagonist. Whether this will be shown at Sony’s conference or Ubisoft’s conference is unknown. As for Call of Duty, there is a chance that it will turn up, seeing that it does have a 2012 release date. Another title that may make an appearance is Soul Sacrifice. Keiji Inafune’s Vita game has just been announced for a release in both North America and Europe. Buzz is surrounding this dark fantasy title and the Western audience is crying out for more information. Hopefully it does make an appearance.
Outside of games, expect Sony to mention their deliverance with third party applications such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype and mention that Youtube is heading to the Playstation Vita, among other apps, such as the rumoured eBook app Storyteller. They will also mention their first party applications, such as Paint Park. Playstation 3-Vita connectivity will be explored, as well as the possibility of bringing Playstation Plus to the Vita. Wow, if all of this does occur, that would be one packed Vita segment.
Before the article moves on, there is one more point to make: the possibility of a price drop. Back at E3 2011, when the price was first announced, the gaming media were in awe when it was announced that the price will match the price of the 3DS. The mindset right now by the same gaming media is that the price is too high; due to the price drop of the Nintendo 3DS and other factors. Of course, when one has to actually buy the Vita (which consists of the Vita itself, the memory card and a game or two), the price could become a little steep for the average consumer. With that said, if there is to be a price drop, it should not be on the console. Before the mob decides to grab their pitchforks, the price drops should go elsewhere: the memory cards and retail games. The Vita is a piece of impressive tech justified by the price. Considering that the memory card is compulsory, Sony should show some good faith and include a 4GB memory card in all new Playstation Vita packages from Monday onwards. Memory card prices should go down as well as games.
Conclusion
Whatever pops up at Sony’s E3 media conference should be quite interesting. The Playstation 3 will have quite a handful of exclusive titles, both first party and third party. The Playstation Move will make an appearance, but it won’t be a strong as previous years. The main focus will be the Playstation Vita, as it will be the new kid on the block hungry for games to be slotted into its card reader (or downloaded). There will be games and services announced for a simultaneous release on both Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita. No matter what, this could be one of Sony’s strongest E3 conferences since their first appearance.
The floor is now open to you. What do you believe we will see at Sony’s E3 media conference? Do you agree with the predictions in this article? How about disagree? You can give your thoughts in the comment section below. You can also follow our E3 coverage, which will include a live blog of Sony’s E3 media conference and a commentary afterwards with Senior Editors Luke Halliday and Dustin Spencer, Editor Benjamin Webb and myself.
