wraggster
June 13th, 2012, 22:34
E3 2012 is behind us, but many PlayStation gamers have since been left with more questions than answers. Sure, we got to see the quirky brawler PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, the thrilling post-apocalyptic exploits of Joel and Ellie in The Last of Us and David Cage’s next masterpiece-in-the-making with Beyond: Two Souls. We even got a taste of Assassin’s Creed on PlayStation Vita and, unfortunately, a demo for Wonderbook that lasted approximately 20 times longer than it should have.
But there were also plenty of notable absences at Sony’s E3 press conference and subsequent showing on the floor of the LA Convention Center. Most of the games chronicled below have been announced, others alluded to in passing and one in particular that’s probably wishful thinking getting the best of us. Still, where are these games, and when can we expect to learn more about them?
Let’s jump in...
Agent and Grand Theft Auto V (http://ps3.ign.com/objects/020/020594.html)
We put these games together (instantly making our list 11 games long instead of 10) because they’re both from Rockstar. The PlayStation 3 exclusive Agent (http://ps3.ign.com/objects/953/953582.html) has clearly been turning the corner towards vaporware after years in development hell (it was announced in a cursory way in 2007 and outright revealed in 2009). However, Rockstar’s publisher, Take-Two, did announce about a year ago that the game is still in development (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/117/1170499p1.html). But is it really? Mum’s the word, though screenshots (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/118/1187900p1.html) of the game surfaced late last summer. Consider this one in limbo, at the very least.Grand Theft Auto V, on the other hand, is very real and is likely coming within the next year to all applicable consoles (making it the only game on this list that’s not a PlayStation exclusive). As perhaps the most eagerly awaited game in the entire industry, its absence from Sony’s E3 conference perhaps isn’t all that notable, though it was nowhere to be seen anywhere at the show. Then again, that’s just how Rockstar typically rolls.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified
Before E3, one of the safest bets seemed to be a reveal of whatever Call of Duty game would be coming to PlayStation Vita. Announced at E3 last year (http://gear.ign.com/articles/117/1173955p1.html), Call of Duty could very well be the most important game dictating the long term success or failure of Sony’s handheld in the west. Indeed, Activision’s support could be pivotal. A true triple-A shooter could easily turn the tides in Vita’s favor. So Sony gave it a big showcase during its press conference, right?Wrong! Sony showed us a logo and gave us a title – it’s called Black Ops Declassified and it’s likely an entirely different game than what Activision will be releasing this fall on consoles and PC – but we saw nothing else. We saw no screenshots, no video, and we don’t even know who’s developing it. All we know is that the game is still slotted to come out later this year, and its utter absence from the show other than a passing mention means one thing and one thing only: it’s still not ready to be shown. And if you’re looking forward to this game, that should worry you.
Dragon’s Crown
The beautiful Vanillaware side-scroller Dragon’s Crown still exists and is still under development, but it was once in real danger. Initially slated to be published by UTV Ignition (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/117/1175790p1.html), Dragon’s Crown quickly entered a temporary state of limbo. An animator on the game later confirmed that it was still in development (http://vita.ign.com/articles/122/1221841p1.html), however, and UTV Ignition laterhanded off the game (http://vita.ign.com/articles/122/1223405p1.html) to prolific Japanese publisher Atlus, allowing the company to save the day.
But Dragon’s Crown is no small and inconsequential title, and its absence from not necessarily Sony’s press conference but rather from the show floor at either Sony’s or Atlus’ booth indicates that it’s not quite ready for primetime. Atlus itself said the game would be more expensive than initially projected and will come out in 2013, but as it’s a PlayStation 3/Vita crossplay game, you’d think Sony would encourage Atlus to show it off more. But Dragon’s Crown was nowhere to be seen, making Vanillaware fans the world over quite sad.
Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Final Fantasy Versus XIII being cancelled isn’t necessarily an unsafe assumption to draw. At the very least, it’s stuck in a severe state of development hell, having now been in flux for over six years. It was originally shown off in 2006 and is still slated to be a PlayStation 3 exclusive, unlike its core companion, Final Fantasy XIII. But there’s very little reason – if any at all – to be excited about Final Fantasy Versus XIII (http://ps3.ign.com/objects/826/826846.html), mostly because there’s scant evidence that it actually exists at all.Still, Square-Enix and Sony could have used Sony’s E3 press conference as a conduit to completely blow the game out. Prove to us it exists, show us gameplay and let us know when it’s coming. We’re getting precariously late in PlayStation 3’s lifecycle, and finally showing the game at TGS later this summer is probably the last chance Square-Enix is going to get (unless it wants to unveil and release the game rather unceremoniously). Either way, Final Fantasy Versus XIII is a clearly defined signal to other developers not to bite off more than they can chew.
Infamous 3
OK, fine. We don’t even know if Infamous 3 exists, but we really, really want it to. Whether on PlayStation 3 or (better yet) PlayStation Vita, you have to assume that Infamous 3 will eventually come to light. SPOILERS: Sure, the story of Infamous 2 sorta-kinda seals the fate of the series’ lightning-wielding protagonist, but there must be more stories to tell in that universe. And I don’t think any Infamous fan would mind seeing Cole return, even if the story has to bend a bit for it to happen.But perhaps the PlayStation community’s desire to see more Infamous really revolves around something else entirely. We want to know what Sucker Punch is working on, and we’re eager to get any hints that lead us down the right path. Sucker Punch is one of Sony’s finest fully owned studios, and its pedigree from Sly Cooper through Infamous and Infamous 2 is well-established. But Sly Cooper is now in the hands of Sanzaru, meaning two things: either Sucker Punch is working on Infamous 3 or a new IP. Either would be fine, but the former would be more exciting.
Killzone 4
As our very own site (http://www.ign.com/games/killzone-project-untitled/ps3-122948) notes, the project rumored to be Killzone 4 exists, but it hasn’t a title nor has it been confirmed for any particular platform. What we do know (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/122/1220264p1.html) is that the Sony-owned developer Guerilla Games is growing and working on multiple projects at the same time. Three of them, in fact.
With the help of another Sony-owned developer -- Sony Cambridge -- Guerilla Games is toiling away on Killzone Vita (http://vita.ign.com/objects/098/098899.html) (more on that below). And they also revealed that they’re working on continuing the Killzone series on PS3 in addition to working on – wait for it – a game that isn’t Killzone. So what does it all mean? It means that Killzone 4 is, in essence, set for PlayStation 3... or there's more Killzone 3 DLC in the pipeline. But if it was Killzone 4, wouldn’t the company have shown it at E3? Or will this be Sony’s big GamesCom reveal, considering Guerilla Games is a European studio? Or... could Killzone 4’s title just so happen to jive with the PlayStation 4? Hmmm...
Killzone Vita
As promised in the Killzone 4 write-up, here we are, talking about Killzone Vita. A joint collaboration between Guerilla Games and Sony Cambridge, Killzone Vita exists. We’veseen some screenshots (http://media.psp.ign.com/media/098/098899/imgs_1.html) and heard some chatter (http://vita.ign.com/objects/098/098899_articles.html), but that’s about it. Again, with the studios working on it being European, could it be that Sony is simply biding its time until GamesCom in Germany, where it can reveal Killzone Vita in all its (assumed) glory?
Regardless of what the situation is with Killzone Vita (and let’s hope it gets a different name at some point), the fact that it’s very much in development should be a great sign for those of us anxious to play just about anything on Sony’s new handheld. Still, E3 would have been a great platform for Sony to get everyone excited about its upcoming FPS, especially considering how disappointing Resistance: Burning Skies was (http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/28/resistance-burning-skies-review) and the fact, as mentioned above, that Black Ops Declassified is still a figment of our imaginations.
Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault
If there are two things Insomniac Games likes to do, it’s make great games and concoct inappropriate innuendos for its Ratchet & Clank titles. The devs certainly have the latter down pat with Full Frontal Assault, but we just don’t know about the former yet. That’s because the recently announced game (http://www.ign.com/games/ratchet-clank-full-frontal-assault/ps3-135296) was nowhere to be seen at E3, a bit of a surprise considering Sony’s rather barren roster of exclusives for PlayStation 3 this fall.
But let’s look at this a little more… philosophically… shall we? Insomniac Games is working on its very first non-Sony game in Overstrike (which will come to both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360). And Insomniac seemed to be walking away from Sony at the speed of light by announcing that it was finished (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1217319p1.html) with its post-apocalyptic PlayStation 3 exclusive trilogy Resistance. That’s what made a new Ratchet & Clank announcement so surprising (even if it’s the 10th anniversary of the series and even if it’s going to be joined by an HD collection). The E3 press conference could have been a great time for Ted Price to come on stage and show everyone that Sony and Insomniac Games do indeed have an ongoing and meaningful relationship. Right?
The Last Guardian
Seriously, what else can be said about The Last Guardian (http://ps3.ign.com/objects/142/14230646.html) before it’s considered a dead horse adequately beaten? Team ICO has been working on the game for over six years, and it’s still not out. Since the internal Sony developer released its tour de force Shadow of the Colossus in 2005, Team ICO has released exactly nothing on PlayStation 3, begging the question “just what’s going on over there?” Quite a bit, as it turned out. Team ICO’s Fumito Ueda left Sony (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1213627p1.html) as did The Last Guardian’s executive producer (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1214153p1.html). All we know now is that the game is purportedly making progress (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1218456p1.html).
Still, Sony’s silence seemed to indicate that perhaps it was ready to really show the game off at E3 this year and prove to the world that it exists, it’s going to be great and you can expect it sometime soon. But there’s still no word on the project. As The Last Guardian struggles through development hell (or at the very least development limbo), it also rapidly evolves into a project that can’t possibly live up to the hype or justify its development cycle. Fact is, the story behind the development of The Last Guardian will likely be more interesting than the actual game itself, but at this point, any news is good news.
Warrior’s Lair
Speaking of development hell, we conclude our list with Warrior’s Lair. Originally known as Ruin, the game was renamed (http://vita.ign.com/articles/121/1216315p1.html) to Warrior’s Lair and then fell completely off the radar. When word leaked that the game’s developer Idol Minds was removed from the project (http://vita.ign.com/articles/122/1222172p1.html), we learned that Sony San Diego was charged with finishing the game. And suddenly, a promising Diablo-like experience for both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita went from one of the shining stars on the horizon to a game that appears to be significantly behind schedule.
Remember: Warrior’s Lair was first showed at Sony’s E3 press conference in 2011, where it proved the power of cloud save transfers between Vita and PS3. People were impressed and excited. Sony clearly believed in this project, which makes its falling off the radar even more distressing. E3 would have been a great time to show some good faith in the project and bring it back to the fore, a logical step considering the lack of Vita games at the conference overall. But Warrior’s Lair was a no show, and who knows what its status is now?
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/06/13/the-10-conspicuously-absent-playstation-games-of-e3
But there were also plenty of notable absences at Sony’s E3 press conference and subsequent showing on the floor of the LA Convention Center. Most of the games chronicled below have been announced, others alluded to in passing and one in particular that’s probably wishful thinking getting the best of us. Still, where are these games, and when can we expect to learn more about them?
Let’s jump in...
Agent and Grand Theft Auto V (http://ps3.ign.com/objects/020/020594.html)
We put these games together (instantly making our list 11 games long instead of 10) because they’re both from Rockstar. The PlayStation 3 exclusive Agent (http://ps3.ign.com/objects/953/953582.html) has clearly been turning the corner towards vaporware after years in development hell (it was announced in a cursory way in 2007 and outright revealed in 2009). However, Rockstar’s publisher, Take-Two, did announce about a year ago that the game is still in development (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/117/1170499p1.html). But is it really? Mum’s the word, though screenshots (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/118/1187900p1.html) of the game surfaced late last summer. Consider this one in limbo, at the very least.Grand Theft Auto V, on the other hand, is very real and is likely coming within the next year to all applicable consoles (making it the only game on this list that’s not a PlayStation exclusive). As perhaps the most eagerly awaited game in the entire industry, its absence from Sony’s E3 conference perhaps isn’t all that notable, though it was nowhere to be seen anywhere at the show. Then again, that’s just how Rockstar typically rolls.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified
Before E3, one of the safest bets seemed to be a reveal of whatever Call of Duty game would be coming to PlayStation Vita. Announced at E3 last year (http://gear.ign.com/articles/117/1173955p1.html), Call of Duty could very well be the most important game dictating the long term success or failure of Sony’s handheld in the west. Indeed, Activision’s support could be pivotal. A true triple-A shooter could easily turn the tides in Vita’s favor. So Sony gave it a big showcase during its press conference, right?Wrong! Sony showed us a logo and gave us a title – it’s called Black Ops Declassified and it’s likely an entirely different game than what Activision will be releasing this fall on consoles and PC – but we saw nothing else. We saw no screenshots, no video, and we don’t even know who’s developing it. All we know is that the game is still slotted to come out later this year, and its utter absence from the show other than a passing mention means one thing and one thing only: it’s still not ready to be shown. And if you’re looking forward to this game, that should worry you.
Dragon’s Crown
The beautiful Vanillaware side-scroller Dragon’s Crown still exists and is still under development, but it was once in real danger. Initially slated to be published by UTV Ignition (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/117/1175790p1.html), Dragon’s Crown quickly entered a temporary state of limbo. An animator on the game later confirmed that it was still in development (http://vita.ign.com/articles/122/1221841p1.html), however, and UTV Ignition laterhanded off the game (http://vita.ign.com/articles/122/1223405p1.html) to prolific Japanese publisher Atlus, allowing the company to save the day.
But Dragon’s Crown is no small and inconsequential title, and its absence from not necessarily Sony’s press conference but rather from the show floor at either Sony’s or Atlus’ booth indicates that it’s not quite ready for primetime. Atlus itself said the game would be more expensive than initially projected and will come out in 2013, but as it’s a PlayStation 3/Vita crossplay game, you’d think Sony would encourage Atlus to show it off more. But Dragon’s Crown was nowhere to be seen, making Vanillaware fans the world over quite sad.
Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Final Fantasy Versus XIII being cancelled isn’t necessarily an unsafe assumption to draw. At the very least, it’s stuck in a severe state of development hell, having now been in flux for over six years. It was originally shown off in 2006 and is still slated to be a PlayStation 3 exclusive, unlike its core companion, Final Fantasy XIII. But there’s very little reason – if any at all – to be excited about Final Fantasy Versus XIII (http://ps3.ign.com/objects/826/826846.html), mostly because there’s scant evidence that it actually exists at all.Still, Square-Enix and Sony could have used Sony’s E3 press conference as a conduit to completely blow the game out. Prove to us it exists, show us gameplay and let us know when it’s coming. We’re getting precariously late in PlayStation 3’s lifecycle, and finally showing the game at TGS later this summer is probably the last chance Square-Enix is going to get (unless it wants to unveil and release the game rather unceremoniously). Either way, Final Fantasy Versus XIII is a clearly defined signal to other developers not to bite off more than they can chew.
Infamous 3
OK, fine. We don’t even know if Infamous 3 exists, but we really, really want it to. Whether on PlayStation 3 or (better yet) PlayStation Vita, you have to assume that Infamous 3 will eventually come to light. SPOILERS: Sure, the story of Infamous 2 sorta-kinda seals the fate of the series’ lightning-wielding protagonist, but there must be more stories to tell in that universe. And I don’t think any Infamous fan would mind seeing Cole return, even if the story has to bend a bit for it to happen.But perhaps the PlayStation community’s desire to see more Infamous really revolves around something else entirely. We want to know what Sucker Punch is working on, and we’re eager to get any hints that lead us down the right path. Sucker Punch is one of Sony’s finest fully owned studios, and its pedigree from Sly Cooper through Infamous and Infamous 2 is well-established. But Sly Cooper is now in the hands of Sanzaru, meaning two things: either Sucker Punch is working on Infamous 3 or a new IP. Either would be fine, but the former would be more exciting.
Killzone 4
As our very own site (http://www.ign.com/games/killzone-project-untitled/ps3-122948) notes, the project rumored to be Killzone 4 exists, but it hasn’t a title nor has it been confirmed for any particular platform. What we do know (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/122/1220264p1.html) is that the Sony-owned developer Guerilla Games is growing and working on multiple projects at the same time. Three of them, in fact.
With the help of another Sony-owned developer -- Sony Cambridge -- Guerilla Games is toiling away on Killzone Vita (http://vita.ign.com/objects/098/098899.html) (more on that below). And they also revealed that they’re working on continuing the Killzone series on PS3 in addition to working on – wait for it – a game that isn’t Killzone. So what does it all mean? It means that Killzone 4 is, in essence, set for PlayStation 3... or there's more Killzone 3 DLC in the pipeline. But if it was Killzone 4, wouldn’t the company have shown it at E3? Or will this be Sony’s big GamesCom reveal, considering Guerilla Games is a European studio? Or... could Killzone 4’s title just so happen to jive with the PlayStation 4? Hmmm...
Killzone Vita
As promised in the Killzone 4 write-up, here we are, talking about Killzone Vita. A joint collaboration between Guerilla Games and Sony Cambridge, Killzone Vita exists. We’veseen some screenshots (http://media.psp.ign.com/media/098/098899/imgs_1.html) and heard some chatter (http://vita.ign.com/objects/098/098899_articles.html), but that’s about it. Again, with the studios working on it being European, could it be that Sony is simply biding its time until GamesCom in Germany, where it can reveal Killzone Vita in all its (assumed) glory?
Regardless of what the situation is with Killzone Vita (and let’s hope it gets a different name at some point), the fact that it’s very much in development should be a great sign for those of us anxious to play just about anything on Sony’s new handheld. Still, E3 would have been a great platform for Sony to get everyone excited about its upcoming FPS, especially considering how disappointing Resistance: Burning Skies was (http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/28/resistance-burning-skies-review) and the fact, as mentioned above, that Black Ops Declassified is still a figment of our imaginations.
Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault
If there are two things Insomniac Games likes to do, it’s make great games and concoct inappropriate innuendos for its Ratchet & Clank titles. The devs certainly have the latter down pat with Full Frontal Assault, but we just don’t know about the former yet. That’s because the recently announced game (http://www.ign.com/games/ratchet-clank-full-frontal-assault/ps3-135296) was nowhere to be seen at E3, a bit of a surprise considering Sony’s rather barren roster of exclusives for PlayStation 3 this fall.
But let’s look at this a little more… philosophically… shall we? Insomniac Games is working on its very first non-Sony game in Overstrike (which will come to both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360). And Insomniac seemed to be walking away from Sony at the speed of light by announcing that it was finished (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1217319p1.html) with its post-apocalyptic PlayStation 3 exclusive trilogy Resistance. That’s what made a new Ratchet & Clank announcement so surprising (even if it’s the 10th anniversary of the series and even if it’s going to be joined by an HD collection). The E3 press conference could have been a great time for Ted Price to come on stage and show everyone that Sony and Insomniac Games do indeed have an ongoing and meaningful relationship. Right?
The Last Guardian
Seriously, what else can be said about The Last Guardian (http://ps3.ign.com/objects/142/14230646.html) before it’s considered a dead horse adequately beaten? Team ICO has been working on the game for over six years, and it’s still not out. Since the internal Sony developer released its tour de force Shadow of the Colossus in 2005, Team ICO has released exactly nothing on PlayStation 3, begging the question “just what’s going on over there?” Quite a bit, as it turned out. Team ICO’s Fumito Ueda left Sony (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1213627p1.html) as did The Last Guardian’s executive producer (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1214153p1.html). All we know now is that the game is purportedly making progress (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1218456p1.html).
Still, Sony’s silence seemed to indicate that perhaps it was ready to really show the game off at E3 this year and prove to the world that it exists, it’s going to be great and you can expect it sometime soon. But there’s still no word on the project. As The Last Guardian struggles through development hell (or at the very least development limbo), it also rapidly evolves into a project that can’t possibly live up to the hype or justify its development cycle. Fact is, the story behind the development of The Last Guardian will likely be more interesting than the actual game itself, but at this point, any news is good news.
Warrior’s Lair
Speaking of development hell, we conclude our list with Warrior’s Lair. Originally known as Ruin, the game was renamed (http://vita.ign.com/articles/121/1216315p1.html) to Warrior’s Lair and then fell completely off the radar. When word leaked that the game’s developer Idol Minds was removed from the project (http://vita.ign.com/articles/122/1222172p1.html), we learned that Sony San Diego was charged with finishing the game. And suddenly, a promising Diablo-like experience for both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita went from one of the shining stars on the horizon to a game that appears to be significantly behind schedule.
Remember: Warrior’s Lair was first showed at Sony’s E3 press conference in 2011, where it proved the power of cloud save transfers between Vita and PS3. People were impressed and excited. Sony clearly believed in this project, which makes its falling off the radar even more distressing. E3 would have been a great time to show some good faith in the project and bring it back to the fore, a logical step considering the lack of Vita games at the conference overall. But Warrior’s Lair was a no show, and who knows what its status is now?
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/06/13/the-10-conspicuously-absent-playstation-games-of-e3