Early Shots Fired

Wire

By Edward Mass

This is partly in anticipation of tomorrow’s Sony pre-Tokyo Game Show press conference. In many ways, it is appropriate as we’ve come a long way since E3 2014 where major announcements have been made by all quarters. Just so it can keep its momentum going, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan Asia (SCEJA), three weeks prior to Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2014, held its annual press conference for the PlayStation (PS) console range. While many of the points shared are expected, it is still an impressive show.

Morita all geared up to talk about Sony PlayStation

Atsushi Morita, the new president of SCEJA, stepped up his game by coming up on stage to announce his first day of work and to give exciting news and updates for the PlayStation 4 (PS4) and PlayStation Vita (PS Vita). Many of the world press tuned in but he shared that there will be another global press conference one day before TGS 2014 (tomorrow!) where more will be revealed.

On the hardware front, Morita introduces a new PS Vita color: Light Pink/White. The new color scheme is targeted for women (or ‘real men’!) and is to be released on 13 November 2014. Besides a colour swap, SCEJA also fired up the anticipation of its upcoming VR headset prototype – ‘Project Morpheus’. Not only will it be playable at TGS, it will also feature a new TGS exclusive tech demo that Bandai Namco’s Tekken Team developed. Titled Summer Lesson, the tech demo is fully optimised for play and will allow players to communicate with a virtual school girl who is alone in her room. More on this soon as we will get a hands-on at the showfloor.

As for firmware updates, the PS Vita’s latest update will allow players to set ‘Themes’ onto their main menu. This feature will also be available on the PS4’s Firmware 2.0 update – the same update that will have Share Play: a long awaited feature for the console itself. Several themes will be available on the PS Store once the updates are released.

The main highlight of the conference, of course, had been the new PS games. To start it off Morita announces several PS Vita titles such as Zettai Zetsubou Shoujo, Phantasy Star Nova, Deemo, Samurai Warriors Chronicle 3, and Luminous Arc Infinity. Furthermore, Spike Chunsoft’s Way of the Samurai and Koei Tecmo’s Uta no Prince Sama are getting a PS Vita release as developers work to get the games out.

Shuhei Yoshida from SCE Japan Studio took over the stage by announcing a new Hot Shots Golf project, currently titled as ‘New Mingol Project’. The upcoming golf game will emphasize more on the social aspect of the game, allowing PS4 players to build golf resorts and play with anyone in the world. Yoshida also revealed d a closed beta launch for The Tomorrow Children, a sandbox game by Q-Games and SCE Japan Studio. The beta is to be out on October and is only exclusive to PlayStation Plus members.

An event like this won’t be right without third-party developers. Those came out right after in droves, such as Capcom, Bandai Namco Games, Nippon Ichi Software, Square-Enix and Atlus – all of them showcased new titles for PS4 and PS Vita:

– Resident Evil Revelations 2

– God Eater 2: Rage Burst