PlayStation Experience 2015 keynote live report
Ni No Kuni 2! Rez VR! FF7 Remake! We're all done.
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And that's it - we're done. It was a decent enough show, with a proper look at Final Fantasy 7's remake, a Ni No Kuni sequel and Rez in VR. Oh, and there was some MOBA from Epic that I've already forgotten the name of. Here's all the action as it happened.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Gooooood morning. Well, it's not morning where you are most likely, but it's 5.20am over here and I've just woken up because jetlag.
Things will be kicking off at 10am PST, which translates as 6pm GMT.
Before then, though, I need to get in the conference itself. There are something like 2000 seats in the hall. And 13,000 people attending PlayStation Experience. There's obviously quite a difference between those numbers.
People were queuing from last night to guarantee a space. I'm hoping 8am's going to be early enough...
Predictions? Last year's show was notable for Square's phenomenal trolling of its fans with the Final Fantasy 7 announcement. This year?
(In fairness to Square Enix they did come good on the Final Fantasy 7 remake - but everyone knows that Final Fantasy 12 is where it's really at.)
Demon's Souls remaster on PS4 would obviously be the dream. I'm personally not convinced, but when have I ever been right about anything?
I expect a few indie surprises, plus loads of VR stuff. It would be lovely to get a Last Guardian release date too, wouldn't it?
There's one big announcement I've got wind of, but I can't disclose anything just yet unfortunately. I will say, though, that I'm so bloody excited about it you'll probably hear my scream in the livestream once it's finally announced.
I think it's why I'm up so bloody early. Today = best day, if you're me at least.
Panchos: does anyone know how long the show is? 1 hour? 2? all day?
Sony goes between 90 minutes to two hours, typically.
Right, I'm going to try and get some more sleep before this all kicks off. Or seeing if the sports bar around the corner is showing the Man City v Stoke game.
Sammoore: How corporate versus consumer focused is this event, usually?
This one's entirely consumer focussed - it's for the fans.
Just after 7.30am and the queue's already stretching around the block.
makeamazing: Anyone know where this is being shown, need to access it from the living room TV?
I tend to use my Wii U to stream stuff like Twitch streams in the living room. I don't think they're doing a YouTube stream.
Scuttlebutt o'clock! Saw Mark Cerny at the hotel bar last night, chatting to Geoff Keighley. What chance a Knack 2 announcement?
God save us all.
About to go and join the back of the queue. I'm taking my Vita with me (I'm so on-brand for this one). What shall I play on it?
kamps09: @makeamazing From Playstation blog: You can watch the feed live on Twitch or on YouTube from 6.00pm GMT/7.00pm CET on Saturday.
Ah, didn't realise there's a YouTube stream! I'll add a link once I've found it!
Right, stuffing my pockets full of miniatures from the mini-bar. I don't care if it's not even 8am, I need something to get me through this. Heading in, see you shortly!
Well, that was easier than anticipated. We're in, and we're ready to go. Now, what to do for the next 90 minutes?
makeamazing: [quote]Well, that was easier than anticipated. We're in, and we're ready to go. Now, what to do for the next 90 minutes?[/quote] @MartinRobinson - start drinking the miniatures you got from the hotel :D
Already downed 'em mate.
People are whooping and hollering. I don't think they've even for the excuse of being tanked. 100 per cent proof enthusiasm.
So used to the more cynical air you get during pressers, it's quite refreshing to be surrounded by genuine fans.
The air certainly has an aroma of enthusiasm to it, anyway.
Less than 90 minutes to go! Oh well, at least someone next to me's got a stream of the West Ham v Man U game.
I'm not going to spoil the match for anyone who'll be watching Match of the Day later, but there's been plenty of foot and a fair bit of ball in this one.
lacerz: You've piqued my curiosity...is the announcement you're excited for one that's been rumored, or is it a true surprise?
It'll be a proper surprise. I'll admit the appeal is limited to people of a certain age, but it's seriously exciting.
Cold_Waste: I'd be happy with some more footage from The Last Guardian and at least something of Final Fantasy VII.
I would absolutely love a release date for The Last Guardian.Though I'm beginning to wonder if it'll even make next year.
Back, armed with coffee, primed for EXCITEMENT.
Crepe_Suzette: I don't remember what was revealed at this event last year.
Final Fantasy 7 on PS4! But back then it was the Steam version... Oh, and SF5.
29 minutes to go, tempted by a tactical toilet break.
Somewhat unsurprisingly, there's a huge queue for the mens. And a clear pathway to the womens.
Bladder emptied, Wi-Fi connected to, let's do this.
it's creeping up to 6pm over in the UK, so I guess a fair few of you are getting your drinking on. What's by your side for the next 90 minutes or so?
I've got a coffee from outside in the lobby of the Moscone Center that tastes a bit like wolf piss.
Not even a pretty wolf, mind - a really mangy one.
Bratterz: I just polished off a 20 pack of Cornflake Cluster Bites
You're a monster, Chris.
Other pointless scuttlebutt. Which famous Sony executive was spotted eating breakfast on his lonesome this morning?
DakeyrasUK: Sod it, going for milk and getting some crunchy bites to enjoy with the show!
Get us a tinny as well while you're at it.
(It was Yoshida. I would have joined him but a) that would have been weird and b) I'd already had some spicy turkey sausage.)
I think Sony will be playing big man Shawn Layden up front today.
He's certainly one of the in-form men at Sony after some strong performances recently, so it'd be a surprise if they keep him on the bench.
I reckon they'll play Yoshida in the hole - maybe bring him out halfway through the 90 minutes when they need some fresh legs.
Interesting to see what tactics Sony will employ too - they went aggressive at E3 by playing the big catweagle straight off the bat.
Paris Games Week was more conservative, and they went more tiki-taka with a succession of smaller announcements.
In terms of actual announcements: at some point they'll say that Yakuza 5 is on PSN RIGHT NOW. Everyone will get excited, no-one will actually download it and the Yakuza cycle will carry on as we wait for news of 6's localisation forever.
Less than five minutes. I live for this crap. Let's do this!
Someone made a safety announcement and everyone's so excited they just cheered it. I couldn't even hear it for all the cheers.
What if it was important? I think these people would give a fire alarm a standing ovation right now.
Mistress: Mondatge 1 done. Now some annoying presenters.
I thought I'd missed out and my stream was behind yours, and it then dawned on me that I'm actually here live. Jetlag's doing funny things with my mind.
Rami from Vlambeer just got up to go to toilet and was cheered on his way there.
What's going to happen if they actually properly announce something?
Lights down, crowd screaming, we're up and running.
Pasco_: Martin, is anyone around you using their Sony branded hand sanitiser?
I've smothered myself head to toe in it. You can never be too safe.
Oh god I've got a proper screamer in my ear.
It genuinely sounds like someone's unleashed a lion in here that's stalking the crowds, so full-throated are the screams.
What if there is a lion in here? How would we know?
Anyway, here's a new look at Uncharted 4, which I gather a few people here are fans of.
It's Nate and his brother, a new character in Uncharted 4 that's being played by Troy Baker.
Lovely portakabin action from Naughty Dog.
G-Lord: The hollering and screaming seems insane, what are those people in the audience?
Fans! It's kind of endearing really.
Oh there's branching dialogue in Uncharted 4. That's an odd one.
And after that brief look at an Uncharted 4 cutscene, here's Shawn Layden.
Aagggghh I can't see what he's wearing from back here can someone fill me in?
Ah, a Crash Bandicoot t-shirt. What could that mean?
God I only flew all this way to salivate over Shawn Layden and I can't even cast my eyes on his handsomeness from here.
"Lots and lots and lots of game announcements" promises Shawn. Come on then, let's get going!
Final Fantasy 7 remake up first, Sony's really going big with this.
Is this going to be in-game, or another CG trailer? I can't imagine they've made to much more of the game just yet.
Ah, it's in-game. Yeah, people are losing their shit here.
Combat looks FF15-esque - action-based - rather than turn-based.
It all looks very Final Fantasy 15, actually.
I have an urge to throw some belts at Nomura. I'm going to stop myself though.
And the PC re-release of Final Fantasy 7 is available today - is that the one for PS4? Anyway, Square's done its bit - pretty impressive it was too - and we're onto a slightly overenthusiastic Shelby Cox, director of third party relations.
From Final Fantasy 7 to Black Ops 3 - there's a bit of a dip in excitement levels in the room.
The DLC is coming to PS4 first. Which I think we knew already.
Now something about eSpats.
Is anyone here playing Black Ops 3? I'm going to pick it up for the Christmas break. Anyway, Call of Duty Championships is something being collaborated on by Sony and Activision, if that's your kind of thing.
Now the Star Wars. Will we see the first DLC pack for Battlefront?
Or is this just a reminder that Sony's paid a lot of money for a marketing partnership.
You can play Battle of Jakku here.
You can also play it at my house. Or yours, if you pre-ordered.
Don't actually go around my house now. My girlfriend will be well confused.
Anyway, December's a big month for Star Wars. Who knew?
The randiest pitchfork is about to take to the stage to talk us through Battleborn.
'Any fans of Borderlands in the house?" *rapturous applause*
Yeah, well this isn't Borderlands.
The momentum is slowly, slowly being whittled away.
The open beta for Battleborn is coming first to PS4.
Oh man, I only just spotted Randy's shirt.
Randy, calm your tits. They're tripping me out.
There are rhinestones and glitter and there's denim and oh my.
There's so, so much going on with that shirt. I think it'll take 'til next year to process it all.
Man, I don't want to see Battleborn in action. I want more of Randy's shirt.
Take the blazer off, Randy. Show us your shirt in all its majesty.
Please stop this annoying, obnoxious trailer too while you're at it.
That was Battleborn, and here's an all-new character for Street Fighter 5.
Called Fang, he's a whispy martial artist who looks super troll-y. I like.
Yoshi Ono gets a suitably bombastic introduction. I love this guy.
DakeyrasUK: Well I'm one white russian down after 28 minutes. Think I'll pour another whilst I wait for one of the lots and lots and lots of the announcements...
I wish I had something a little stronger than this coffee right now.
Fang's the last character to be revealed of Street Fighter 5's launch line-up.
A quick reminder that we have the Capcom Cup tomorrow here in San Francisco, which I'm quite excited about.
And here's the six new characters that will be coming.
This was all leaked, sadly.
But for what it's worth! It's Alex, Guile, Balrog, Ibuki, Juri and Urien.
And finally, from Ono....
A reminder that we have the Capcom Cup tomorrow. Is it okay to get belted during one of these and start chanting? I'm kind of hoping it's like a football match.
Oh his face! His lovely adorable face!
I think he's trying to announce Darkstalkers or something.
Or he's just saying thanks to Sony because he's a lovely man.
Gio Corsi keeps missing his cues, but here he is doing his business.
Here's your first look at a new mode in top-down twin-stick shooter Dead Star. Yeah, me neither.
I didn't even know Armature were making a new game, tbh.
And here's some Adult Swim stuff and I'm confused because I'm not American.
siro: If Yakuza 5 is out today, I'll be playing that tonight, leavng Fallout 4 behind, remaining unfinished forever.
Believe...
Anyway, a montage of indie games being helped along by Adult Swim, some looking derivative and some looking delightful.
Six games in total, including Double Fine's Head Lander.
And here's Double Fine's Tim Schafer on stage.
To show us Day of the Tentacle Remastered, which debuted here last year.
tanglewood1420: Psychonauts 2 to PS4?
There's something Psychonauts-shaped coming, I'm sure...
Day of the Tentacle Remastered is coming to PS4 and Vita next March.
And Full Throttle's also getting a remaster.
An announcement which, amazingly, was drowned out by some loud guitar music.
And Double Fine announce Psychonauts The Rhombus of Ruin, a PlayStation VR title.
It's exclusive to PlayStation VR too.
Klei's time to take centre stage. Invisble Inc - which currently is a front-runner in our game of the year voting - is PS4 bound, as is Don't Starve Together, a co-op sequel to the popular survival game.
Kobojo's Zodiac - which is primarily an iPad game - gets a chance to shine too.
I played this at TGS, and it's neat - but also fairly basic. It very much feels like a mobile game, albeit one with amazing assets thanks to the talent it's got onboard.
Another mobile game coming to Vita - Hitman Go.
Here's your Yakuza announcement - it's out on Tuesday.
Oh sweeeeet - Yakuza 0 is also coming westward.
I don't want to sound ungrateful - but can we get 6 too please?
Oh wow - Last Blade 2 is coming to PS4 and Vita.
I have this on my arcade cabinet - I'm a terrible nerd - and it really is amazing.
King of Fighters 14 I'm a bit less excited by - not really digging the look - but hey ho here it is.
lacerz: King of Fighters is one of the best
Agreed!
Koei Tecmo's Nioh - which is, funnily enough, based on a Akira Kurosawa script.
It's got a serious Dark Souls vibe, which is no bad thing - this was unveiled at TGS earlier this year, and is Koei Tecmo's first PS4-only game.
dogmanstaruk: KOF looks poor. Wish it was still 2D.
Yeah, my thoughts exactly.
Why do they get seats? What have they done to deserve sitting down?
Sony's Sid Shuman and Nick Suttner - lovely beard, Nick - are now on stage.
News! Bastion's now out on PS4 and Vita.
Nuclear Throne is also out on Vita today - that's super, super news.
(It's out on PS4 too, but that's my flight home sorted.)
SeesThroughAll: Martin, Bastion has been out on PS4 for a long time. It's coming out on Vita today and is cross-buy!
I'm an idiot - edited.
While I struggled to edit a post in our CMS, we got a look at Brutal - a rogue-like that's very self-referential.
And now it's Rounders 2016.
Guns Up is, according to Scott Rohde, addicting. Is it, Scott? Is it really?
You can figure that out for yourselves, as it's out on PSN today.
oldskooldeano: just logged in. looks like i've missed nothing at all. /backs away from stream
There was a look at Final Fantasy 7 remake in action! That was like an hour ago though.
Fat Princess Adventure is also out today.
Man, that's a lot of games out today. Without wanting to sound ungrateful, aren't they kind of harming their chances by shunting them all out together?
Someone just died behind me when they announced this Ratchet & Clank demo.
Screw Ratchet & Clank. It's for Americans and idiots.
I'm only typing that in the vain hope that the person who just screamed in my ear will read it. She hurt my eardrum!
Ratchet's eyebrows are weird. They make him look like he's in his mid-thirties.
Actually is that Ratchet or is that Clank? IDK.
(jks)
Who said I'm coping?
reggy72: Been watching now for the last 20 minutes, did I miss all the good stuff?
Final Fantasy 7 remake in action! Like, 70 minutes ago. (Oh and Nuclear Throne is now out on PS4 and Vita.)
techniman: This is completely different to how I remember the original game
I think they just said it's more than just a remaster now.
Anyway, I haven't even said anything about Ted Price's shirt.
He always looks like he's wearing his older, bigger brother's clothes.
Richard Marks now, for our look at PlayStation VR.
There's a new tech demo that's been created just for PlayStation Experience.
It's a Tron-esque Gladiator game.
Is it actually Tron? It looks a lot like the old arcade game.
Here we go.
Rez on VR.
(This is what I was getting excited about earlier, by the way.)
Oh god is that Miz in a glowing suit?
This is better than the time he wore the white gloves to debut Child of Eden.
Rez is the greatest game ever. If you disagree you're just plain wrong.
Rez Infinite - and it'll include an all-new area.
Oh my god it was Miz.
I'm going to be catching up with him this afternoon. I'l try to ask some questions but really I just want to hug him.
I'm still pumped for Rez Infinite that I've kind of tuned out. I"m just daydreaming about playing it.
Anyway here's an eagle or something idk.
Eagle Flight, a VR experience that lets you bird.
Sony Santa Monica is making a new Stubbs the Zombie.
I think?
This is the worst double act ever. Come back Cannon & Ball, all is forgiven.
I had to take an *ahem* comfort break, so missed the Highwire announcement. I'm the worst.
But it's okay because I'm back for 100FT ROBOT GOLF.
Ace Combat is also coming to PlayStation VR.
I mean I'm just guessing here but I'm fairly sure.
There's one man holding on to his head in disbelief, shaking with excitement.
No-one else is really digging it quite so much.
Destiny news now. You all love Destiny, right?
Everyone seems made up whenever we write about it.
It's a new event. And it looks like... Sparrow racing.
Coming December 8th, and lasting three weeks. Nice one Bungie.
(steath Destiny live report.)
Sparrow Racing League, it's called.
It's free for those who have The Taken King.
You're not getting a new WipEout, but hey this will do. Right?
Runic's next game, which I shamefully know very little about.
Shameful, because Torchlight 2 is pretty much as good as it gets.
It's playable here, and I'll try to get something up on it for you soon.
Ni No Kuni sequel?
Alright, I'm sorry.
I just screamed.
I've become one of those people. But seriously... A new Ni No Kuni!
Drippy better be coming back.
Ni No Kuni 2 Revenant Kingdom is its title.
We have Epic Games up next. Adam Boyes said it's the last game. Of the section, or of the show?
Anyway, Epic's making a MOBA.
Who isn't? I think my mum's working on one right now too.
I should have Paragon to the toilet during this reveal.
Oh god this is one of the most generic reveal trailers ever.
For a game that, if anyone's got any sense, will be scrapped before it even comes out.
On the plus side, none of us will remember Paragon in a week's time.
Was that really their big closer?
Looks that way. What an odd anti-climax.
Anyway. Rez VR! Ni No Kuni 2! And Final Fantasy 7 Remake in action!
And some other stuff.
Some highs, some lows, mostly video games.
Thank you all for joining us. I'm off to try and kiss Miz.