The Playstation team from SCEA hosted their annual event this year to showcase some hot titles for the PS3, PS2, and PSP coming out over the next few months and we at VGM were delighted to attend. The venue was the swanky and upscale Le Parker Meridian hotel located in midtown Manhattan on 57th street and the Diplomatic Suite where the event took place was huge, with two doors leading to numerous interconnected rooms. I was informed beforehand about the games that would be displayed and I was especially looking forward to seeing and getting some hands-on time with Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Hot Shots Golf 5, Echochrome, God of War: Chains of Olympus, and Patapon. My hosts generously allowed me to videotape most of the content being presented, which I will share on the site.
Entering the marble-filled lobby of the Le Parker Meridian reminded me that when Sony hosts events, they do it in style.
Christmas time at Le Parker Meridian
I was entertained in the elevator by a silent Charlie Chaplin movie on a flat screen imbedded in the elevator door on the way up to the 36th floor.
A slick tv adorns the elevator door
I made my way to the designated room and was welcomed by the Sony staff and offered fresh fruit, pastries- including jelly doughnuts in honor of Hanukah, and chips. I was then showed a “menu” of all the titles that I could see and without hesitation I asked for the full tour to which they happily obliged.
Scott Goryl, PR Specialist, led me to a room in the back outfitted with a test PS3 unit hooked up to a black, shiny XBR4 LCD TV. Scott booted up Gran Turismo 5 Prologue first, and I was blown away by the photo-realistic cars in the intro scene. GT5 Prologue marks the first time the series is being taken online and the new in-car camera view looked great. You can read more about this title in our hands-on preview.
GT5 running on a test unit
Next up was Echochrome, an extremely unique puzzle title that consists of black and white graphics and simple stick figures and 3-D sketches. This is hardly something you’d expect to see on the high-powered PS3, but after a few minutes playing it, I was hooked. The goal is to guide your mannequin to touch the echoes scattered on different platforms by manipulating the environment to create a path for your little guy. The character walks in straight lines and will always take the easiest path. You can twist and turn the camera so that when your man falls through black holes scattered about, you can bring a platform underneath him so he can land on it. If you twist the board to obscure the view of a black hole, it will ‘disappear’ so he will not fall through it. One interesting tidbit I learned was that Echochrome was originally intended to be controlled via the Six Axis, but the precise control that is required led developers to shift the controls to both analog sticks instead. Echochrome will be available for download on the Playstation Network for an estimated price of around $10 early in 2008 and will launch with 50 maps initially, with the possibility of additional maps for purchase on PSN.
Rooms were filled with demo stations like this
The next game I got to try out was another PSN downloadable game- PixelJunk Monsters- the second of three games from Q-games. This strategy game featured attractive 2-D, hand drawn art with the simple goal of protecting your base by building attack turrets to blast the swarms of attacking creatures. At first, I thought that PJM might be too vanilla to keep my interest, but after building turret after turret and strategizing on placement and upgrades, I found myself playing for quite a bit. Read more about PixelJunk Monsters in our hands-on preview.
Hangin out playing PixelJunk Monsters
We then jumped into Hot Shots Golf 5, which is already out in Japan and known there as Everybody’s Golf. The quirky opening cinema featured the zany characters that the series is famous for, and playing it felt almost exactly like playing HSG Fore! on the PS2, but with shinier graphics. Read more about HSG5 in our hands-on preview.
Paul Murphy, PR Specialist and otherwise known as ‘Murph’, took me through the highly anticipated God of War: Chains of Olympus for the PSP and Twisted Metal: Head On for the PS2, but I wasn’t allowed to videotape either. GOW: COO is a huge title for the PSP, so they were careful how it is revealed to the media. Controlling Kratos and unleashing his signature combos felt natural on the PSP and the title is being marketed as the complete God of War experience crammed into the PSP. I’ll have more to say on this in my hands-on preview.
The eccentric, Japanese style trend that I’d seen thus far continued when Alex Armour unveiled Patapon. Patapon is a unique rhythm/action title made by the creators of LocoRoco and Parappa that features 2-D graphics in a radical art style by French artist Rolito. You can custom create your army of Patapons and guide them into battle by hitting the buttons on the PSP in specific patterns. Patapon showed lots of promise with its funky graphics and detailed stats, and has the potential to become a marquee title for the PSP. Read more about Patapon here.
After Patapon, I got some time with the sweet-looking Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice, which looks and plays substantially better than the original. Lastly, I got to check out MLB 08 for the PS3, and to emphasize the improvements over prior year’s version, MLB 07 was running on a TV right next to it. Immediately I noticed that the bright, colorful graphics of ’07 had been toned down for a more subtle, realistic look for ’08 and the player models and crowd looked much, much better in ’08. I learned all about the improvements for this year’s game, including customized replays, beefed up stats, in-game saves, and more.
MLB 08, meet your Dad
I had a great time and learned much about the new titles launching in early 2008, which looks to be a bright year for Sony and its rebounding Playstation 3 and hot-selling slim PSP. I’d like to thank all the guys for their hospitality and willingness to answer all our questions. Check back here often for links to hands-on previews from the event and exclusive videos of the 2008 Sony lineup that you won’t find anywhere else!
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