With E3 just a few short days away, speculation is building as to what we can expect from gaming over the next 12 months. However, while Nintendo generally makes good on its promises, the same can’t be said for Sony.
It has a massive list of broken promises from its 2011 E3 conference. It’s so poor, in fact, that the list of promises it didn’t keep is longer than those it made good on.
Promises BROKEN
Battlefield 3: Sony’s claims of a bigger and better version of Battlefield 3 on PlayStation 3 were completely false. Sony promised that it would be the only version to include a free copy of Battlefield 1943 on the disc.
That didn’t happen.
A bunch of angry gamers took EA to court, but in the end, nobody got their free game. Battlefield 3 was no better than the Xbox 360 version, and it was clearly superior on PC.
Dust 514: Apparently it would be releasing in early 2012 after a closed beta in 2011. HA! That didn’t even come close to happening. The PS3 exclusive will be on show at E3 again this year, which is the polar opposite of being released months ago.
Saints Row: The Third: It was touted as best on PS3 due to a bunch of extra content and a mode exclusive to the PlayStation 3 version. That didn’t happen. Gamers in the US got a free copy of Saints Row 2 instead, but Australians were left out in the cold. There was no benefit to buying it on PS3 at launch.
3D is the future: E3 2011 was all about moving into 3D for Sony. That didn’t really happen. While it continues to dabble in 3D gaming, it hasn’t done anything to convince anyone that the future of gaming is in 3D.
LittleBigPlanet Vita: There was never actually a release date, but we got the impression that LittleBigPlanet was going to happen relatively early in the Vita’s lifespan. There was even talk of a May release not so long ago. As it stands, we have no idea what's happening with LBP on Vita.
BioShock coming to Vita: Nope. Ken Levine was all about strong BioShock support for Sony, particularly for the PlayStation Vita. That isn’t happening. Development of the Vita game has since been put on indefinite delay.
BioShock Infinite: BioShock and its PlayStation exclusives just keep disappointing. BioShock Infinite was recently delayed until 2013, so all of these promises could come true, minus the 2012 release. Only time will tell if Move support is worthwhile or if it comes with the original BioShock, as promised.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss: Touchscreen and backpad support for Uncharted on Vita were meant to be fantastic and enhance the experience. In reality, they were terrible and ruined an otherwise decent game.
The PlayStation Suite: Remember how Sony made a big deal about the PlayStation Suite? A year later, it has culminated in a big fat lack of interest. It’s meant to deliver PlayStation content to Android and other devices, but nobody seems to care. It’s in open beta right now, but you are forgiven for not knowing that.
The 3D display: This one is dependent on where you live. If you’re in the US, slip it on down to the “Promises Kept” category, but for those of us in Australia, it was another letdown. The pricy display got a very limited release at Harvey Norman for the extravagant price of $700. No 24” screen is worth that, and you had to be extremely lucky to find one.
The 3D display designed for PlayStation was exciting for the fact that it allowed two players to see difference images using the same screen. It soon emerged that every 3D display could do that if you split the glasses, but still, cool idea.
Star Trek: It’s meant to be released on PS3 this year, but where is it? J.J. Abrams’ movie has since been delayed until 2013, so we can probably assume the same has happened to the tie-in game. However, we haven’t heard anything substantial since the conference last year.
PlayStation Vita’s Release: Sony never said it would get a worldwide release, but I recall hearing the term “holiday season this year”. That didn’t happen for anyone outside of Japan. Sony listed the US dollar, Euro and Yen after making its release claim, and got us on a technicality by throwing “starting” in there, but it certainly didn’t sound like we would be waiting until February, 2012, during the press conference.
Promises KEPT
The PlayStation Vita: It might be suffering from a serious software drought right now, but from what we heard at E3 last year, Sony kept its promises. The hardware specs matched up with those mentioned on stage and with the exception of the misleading release claim, Sony delivered.
Uncharted 3: It came out in November, as promised, and was the biggest PlayStation exclusive of the year. There was even a multiplayer beta that was only delayed by a week.
InFAMOUS 2: Well done, Sony. You got one. InFAMOUS 2 did indeed launch in the US one day after the Sony presser and made it to Australia two days later.
Resistance 3: It was released in September as promised and came bundled with the Sharpshooter if for some ungodly reason you wanted to play with Move.
Starhawk: Sony said it would come out in early 2012. It was actually released a few weeks ago, which is more like mid-year, really, but since it happened before E3, we’ll let this one slide.
Wipeout 2048: Not only did it launch with the Vita, it staked a serious claim as the best title available on release.
Need for Speed: The Run: No complaints here. The PS3 version launched with its promised retailer exclusive vehicles just as expected.
Still Waiting
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time: It’s meant to be out this year, so we can only assume it will happen closer to Christmas. There’s also a Vita version.
Ruin: An action-RPG that connects the Vita with the PS3, Ruin is the game that will be used by many to test how shared save functionality between the two platforms works when it launches in September. The jury’s still out on this one.
By Ben Salter - Bio