Tomorrow's the big day. It's the day that all Sony fans and video game enthusiasts marked in their calendars. While Sony has been very cryptic about the whole thing, they didn't silence the rumors of a new console being announced on February 20th.
I've sat through numerous press conferences, and while they're always fun to watch, they usually come with some disappointment because it lacked an announcement that I was hoping for. Let's take a look at five things we really hope Sony announces tomorrow, though deep down in our hearts, we know that they probably won't.
Full Vita integration
The Vita isn't doing that well. Even in Japan, where Sony flourishes the most, Nintendo's 3DS is beating it out by a landslide. The sad thing about this is that the Vita is a pretty amazing handheld, all things considered. Not only is it able to pump out some impressive visuals, but it can also cross-save with multiple games, allowing you to pick up where you left off on your PS3.
What better way to celebrate the Vita — and potentially boost its importance — than by allowing it to fully integrate with the PS4. I'm talking about a Vita dock, directly on the console, that will allow you to display games from the Vita directly on your HDTV. The new PS4 controller would immediately recognize the docking and would allow full control of the Vita. Oh, front and rear touchpad functionality? Don't worry, the new PS4 controller would have that feature built-in right from the start. Even better, the PS4 would allow you to use the Vita as the controller!
Sure, there are a few pitfalls, such as games not looking as good, blown up to a 720p or 1080p resolution. However, I think that would be a small price to pay to be able to play some of those fantastic games on the big screen. Just think of how great it would be to actually experience Uncharted: Golden Abyss or Gravity Rush the way they were meant to played. Not all games would translate as well (I'm looking at you DJ Max Technika), but even the prospect of being able to play PSP games like Dissidia Duodecim on a TV gets me excited.
Legacy system
What better way to celebrate a new era in gaming than by celebrating its past. The problem with PlayStation games is that they're becoming increasingly hard to find, let alone affordable. However, Sony is rectifying some of this by periodically releasing PS One classics through PSN. It made owning my favorite Final Fantasy titles (VI – IX) super convenient. That being said, it's not without some glaring omissions. In fact, the PS One classics section is pretty bare considering the massive library the console had back in the day.
Sony would win over a lot of gamers if they offered their entire PS1 and PS2 catalogue through PSN. I'm talking games like Monkey Magic, Valkyrie Profile, Thousand Arms, and Ehrgeiz on the PS1, and Rogue Galaxy, Dark Cloud 2, and Dragon Quest VIII on PS2. Essentially, every single game previously released in North America would be available. That's just the tip of the iceberg, though. Each game would be directly streamed, meaning no downloads; it would be instant satisfaction, whenever you want it. Top that off with a standardized $5 price point for PS1 titles and $10 for PS2 titles. You would have yourself a gold mine of PlayStation classics.
Home 2.0
Whether PlayStation Home is a flop or not is debatable. I was once excited for the prospect of hanging out with other like-minded PlayStation 3 owners, but quickly grew to dislike the service. That's not to say Home was a terrible idea — it just wasn't fleshed out the way it should have been.
The PS4 could usher in a completely new, revamped version of Home. This time, though, it should be a little more useful. Going into Home 2.0 shouldn't restrict me from being able to boot up a game or look at my library. All these things should be built into Home's framework, essentially making it a second menu that I can walk through. Make it so users prefer to have Home 2.0 as their default boot-up screen, instead of just a virtual place with microtransactions.
Games we truly care about
February 20th will be all about the PS4 (most likely). There would be no better way to showcase the PS4's graphical and processing capabilities than by showing upcoming titles specifically designed for the system. The Last of Us looks awesome, and the probability of it going next-gen on the PS4 is high. So if it will be next-gen, gamers want to see more.
To get us gamers excited, we'll need a mix of existing and completely new IPs. Uncharted 4 would certainly be a welcome surprise, especially to any Sony fan, as well as LittleBigPlanet 3. Fans of old school PlayStation games would get a kick out of a completely new Jak & Daxter adventure, or dare I say… Crash Bandicoot? Of course, racing fans shouldn't get left behind. Gran Turismo 6 would be an amazing tease for those that like their driving more on the realistic side.
But I digress, Sony has to save something for E3, right?
Scrapping the PS Move
The PS Move is, for the lack of a better word, a disaster. Outside of some pretty impressive motion tracking (which is probably the most accurate next to the Wii and Kinect), the lackluster games and crappy integration acted as the nails on its inevitable coffin.
There are a few reasons why the PS Move is completely unnecessary. The big argument for the PS Move was that it would cater to the "casual" crowd — the one that might buy a Wii, but would still prefer better graphics. That can no longer be the argument with the PS4. While the price point is shrouded in mystery, we can all deduce that it won't be cheap, and it will most likely be around the $400 range, if not more. That is not a price casual gamers would drop to play motion-based games.
