Now that the shock and awe over their E3 conference has faded, PlayStation Experience 2015 represents the perfect time for Sony to end 2015 with a triumphant bang, gearing their fans up for a fantastic 2016. But what are those announcements likely to be? Now that the show is only a few hours away, I thought that it would be fun to speculate on what Sony might announce at their now-annual conference. Here are my predictions, so feel free to laugh when none of them come to fruition.
PlayStation 2 Emulation Will Be Shown
Starting with a safe prediction, Sony has already unofficially announced that they are working on PS2 emulation for the PS4. The PlayStation 4 Star Wars console bundle came with four older Star Wars games, three of which were confirmed to be running using a PS2 emulator. When this was discovered, Sony came clean about the emulator, but remained tight-lipped about their future plans for this. My guess is that Sony wanted to unveil this properly at the PlayStation Experience.
With this announcement, Sony will detail their plans to re-release their back catalogue of PS2 titles. This will either be through buying the games individually on the PlayStation Store, or via some sort of new digital service similar to PlayStation Now. Either way, my prediction is that gamers will need to re-buy their old PS2 favourites, rather than being able to insert the disc and play directly.
It’s my opinion that Sony will charge for this service in some capacity. They won’t try to compete with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 emulation on the Xbox One, as Sony are already leading the console race this generation and therefore won’t feel the need to give out freebies. I’d love to be proved wrong on that one though.
PlayStation VR Will Get A Release Date
Previously known as Project Morpheus, Sony will be keen to announce a release date for their long-awaited foray into the VR market. So far, all we’ve heard is that the headset is sure to release in 2016, but a firm release date will give their developers something to aim for.
In addition to this, Sony will make a push for their new hardware by focusing on it during the conference. There will be more demonstrations, new game announcements, and maybe even VR support for some of their key upcoming games such as No Man’s Sky.
The Last Of Us 2 Announced
We know they’re working on it. With last year’s remaster of the original game, we know they have the technology to make it. Considering that the PS4 version still made a splash just over a year after the original’s release, it has proven that the appetite is there for more The Last Of Us.
While nothing relating to Naughty Dog is officially on the radar after Uncharted 4 (which is mere months away at this point), it would seem like an opportune moment for one of Sony’s premier developers to announce their next project. If anything is going to build the PS4’s momentum going into next year, it’s a sequel to one of the greatest games of the last generation.
Demon’s Souls Remastered For PS4
After recently remastering Dark Souls II for the PS4, the precedent has now been set for From Software to remaster more of their back catalogue. What better place to start than the game that kicked off the Souls franchise: Demon’s Souls.
This would seem like a stab in dark in terms of predictions, if not for the fact that the official Bloodborne Twitter account recently tweeted an image of Demon’s Souls sat atop a stack of various editions of Bloodborne itself. Perhaps this is a hint as to the studios plans post-Dark Souls III.
http://twitter.com/Bloodborne_PS4/status/670209778375725056/photo/1
The Last Guardian Gets Cancelled
This is one prediction that always used to come up prior to every past press event, until E3 2015, when the game was shown off in style. However, not wanting to break with tradition, I’ll play my wildcard and say that the game is going to get canned.
Why? It’s certainly a shot in the dark, but the project has always seemed doomed from the start. The game has been in development hell for a whole console generation, and the public hasn’t seen much outside of a few controlled gameplay trailers. The Last Guardian has had more growing pains than the Elephant Man’s test tube baby, and the sketchy “2016” release window seems unlikely considering that the project has, yet again, gone radio-silent.
That’s it for my wild and rampant speculation. What do you expect to show up at this year’s Playstation Experience? What would you like to see? Let us know in the comments section below.
