EDIT: PSX 2015 Adventure and NeoGAF Meetup video is online!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADs-PVJDwm0


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ORIGINAL POST:

This thread is dedicated to both the impressions of GAF members who went to the PlayStation Experience in San Francisco, including impressions from notable blogs, news sites, and so on. Also, for anyone with questions, comments, etc. I wanted to make this so that people who didn't attend could see our shared experiences, which some already posted in the "Attendees" thread.

THE KEYNOTE



As my first proper keynote / press conference (seen many over the last decade and a half) this one started off in a very refreshing manner. There were only a small amount of cringe-inducing or superbly low points. It quite frankly never lost much steam in the audience and the energy was kind of amazing. It did end quite abruptly, but I've heard from several sources on-site that a few major titles were pulled last minute due to one issue or another. Still, it was plenty packed and had some great announcements that sent many of us roaring, from Yakuza to Ni No Kuni 2.



Some of the reactions were definitely pricess, such as the collective "Ohhhhh" when the 3 options appeared for Nathan Drake to describe his favorite story from the past adventures (and strangely, someone behind me whined about how it should just be a story and not a choice). There was also a huge indifference to Call of Duty news, a wondrous excitement to Destiny's Sparrow Racing mode, and everyone going completely nuts for the FF7 Remake footage. All in all, a wonderful first press conference for me, with PS E3 Experience being the next-best thing I got to see earlier this year in theaters.

PLAYSTATION VR

Driveclub VR - This was my first go at PSVR (and my initial RIGS and general demo appointment the first day disappeared) and I.... I LOVED IT. I've only tried some Oculus demos a while back and Google cardboard, and this was well beyond that! As a fan of DC, I was very familiar with the track and car, and managed to take several turns without looking at the road and instead looking up and around at the details whizzing by. It was pretty nuts, even if at times I saw some of the screen-door effect and the visuals definitely have taken a hit. No wheel didn't bother me, but I'll invest in one for VR!



Wayward Sky - Now I didn't actually play this, but instead was with my friend Sam (recording him) while he tried it. It was simple, but man was he having fun. He kept whipping his head around as stuff flew past him and when the headset came off, his eyes were huge. It was his first-ever VR experience and he couldn't believe how real the displacement - the feeling of being in another world - worked with him. I will post video of this later this week.



RIGS Mechanized Combat League - My standout game on the show-floor. Seriously, even with the early build lacking some polish in certain areas and not getting my score counted while flying down through the tunnel at the zero marker, I was in love. The fluidity was wonderful, even though I wanted to increase sensitivity of the gamepad. At the end of the matches, we lost by a hair, but I had been in "score mode" (overdrive?) the most out of everyone and I just wanted to play more! Shooting felt remarkably easy and I didn't get dizzy or anything even while spinning through the air or jumping about and blowing up enemies.



THE GAMES


Abzu - Felt like Journey under water. Sublime as a whole, beautiful art style, and really enjoyed finding creatures to ride to the next mini-sub-drone things. Swam with schools of fish, rode a stingray, turtle, and killer whale! Sound was quite appealing.

Alienation - I didn't realize this was from Housemarque until I was standing in front of the demo booths going "Hmmmm, this looks like Dead Nation aesthetically..." and one of the devs came up and introduced it. Played really well, and like how much more you can be involved with your teammates in combat beyond "back off it's gonna blow!"

BRUT@L - Oh my, this was quite a treat! Started off like a loot-smash run and quickly evolved into the craziest looking combat oriented 3D rogue-like-ish game I've ever played. Love the way blood splatters and appears in the black&white environment.

Drifter - I didn't play this one, but instead asked the dev to explain it to me. It's a single player game, relatively large, and is angled so you can see what's on the horizon, but plays along a plane like a 2D space title. Seemed much easier to get into than the usual space-based title.

Drive!Drive!Drive! - Definitely early, but still fun to try. The whole switching between three cars to help them get to and remain in first-place is neat, but the drifting was not really there yet and it was very glitchy. Interesting premise, though.

Monsters & Monacles - Ryan is a fellow GAF member and let me and three others go through one of the levels. It was nice and simple, but also a hectic and ridiculously fun twin-stick co-op experience. We managed to survive all the way until the boss, arriving with no extra lives and still besting it!

Ratchet & Clank - What can I say? It played like R&C and it was more beautiful than ever. I'll likely pick this up when it releases and might even go see the film with some younger family members.

Rocket League - Yes, I played a round even though yes, I own and love this game. However, I also got to finally meet project lead Thomas Silloway in person and give him some info about our upcoming RL videos that I think many of you will appreciate

Screencheat - My friends and I had a great few minutes with this. The whole concept of being invisible until your weapon goes off and leaves a trail of heat or whatnot is fantastic. It felt incredibly smooth to move around the multi-colored level as well and I do believe I won

Skytorn - The dev mentioned "metroidvania" with a shovel, and I immediately grabbed the controller and sat down to play for a bit until my friend Sam took over to check it out. Was really enjoying this one, and the tired but likeable devs were kind enough to not spoil me on stuff.

Tumblestone - As an old fan of Tetris, this was quite fun and involved a lot of quick thinking before you approach each three blocks of the same color. My friend Johnny who met up with us at PSX, wrecked everyone. Looking forward to it!

Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (multiplayer) - Skipped this on the first day since I'm in the beta and line was long, but it was much shorter on Sunday so we jumped in to try and win a shirt, grab the card, and get the check-in (none of which happened without playing the beta). Unfortunately they were out of shirts and cards, but my team wrecked the other one



To be fair, I played several other demos for games I can't quite remember right now, but these were the ones that stood out in my head. I wished I had more time to check out certain titles like DS3, and was too late to get into Eve Valkyrie VR booth or to get a few moments with Hob.

THE PANELS

Uncharted 4: Stories from the Performance Capture Set - Greg Miller has always been a local weirdo, and I love him for it. On Friday, I ran into him at the Moscone and he barely recognized me (it had been years and I had a massive beard) but he said "I know you, don't I?" while waving his finger around. I nodded, wished him luck on the panels and he delivered. It was a lot of humor, with Neil Druckman trying to make Laura Bailey cry, Troy Baker saying "boobies" to try and rile up the crowd, and aside from not opening up to questions I enjoyed hearing how things went and Nolan North describing the jug of bourbon they bought him for wrapping mocap.



The Future of Storytelling - the turnout for this was a bit smaller, but still plenty of folk coming. It was nice to see Jenova Chen again (his English has improved!) since the days of Flower @E3, and when he and Kareem were discussing Dreams with him it was kind of magical. My only negative on this panel was Ryan Clements, who after introducing everyone went on to essentially interrupt the best conversations that were unfolding. You lost your notes, dude, so at least try to respect the guests!



PSX SHOW FLOOR



The top floor was for panels and keynote, the second floor had several companies and VR (along with a community theater and Twitch streaming room), while the first floor featured tons more games and the PSN / Now / Vue area. The layout of everything worked out well enough to handle lines, with a nice opening in the middle areas for people to walk through. I loved running into PS mascots and other characters walking about, such as the little bots from the Playroom, Kat from Gravity Daze/Rush, or Ratchet and Clank. Was also thankful to see Aaron Kaufman after a good while and catch up a little with him (Sony Santa Monica community manager).



My surprise highlights of the show floor was running into PlayStation UK's (PS Access) Hollie Bennett. She was ever-so-lovely, talkative, well-informed, and definitely feeling the culture shock of the San Francisco Bay Area. We actually filmed a little bit of her and I talking about the show, the world, and how PSUK content should be more prominent in the US. After that, the craziest/best thing was being invited over by the Twitch streaming room to meet with Media Molecule (many thanks to Jenny Lawrence) which involved meeting a zombie version of Alex Evans, the wonderful Siobhan Reddy, and Kareem Ettouney shortly after the storytelling panel. I was shaking!




BADGES AND REWARDS



The badges you check-in with at booths and panels for rewards were a cool idea, on paper, but in the end I'm still having trouble redeeming the codes on the Sony account site, and many of my friends and fellow GAF members are still having trouble even getting their check-ins to show up. I will say that the rewards themselves aren't half bad, and getting sent photos by scanning your badge was pretty cool. Now if only they hadn't jammed Xperia phones in metal casing resulting in a lot of resetting needing to be done (I must have reset the NFC and switched to Xperia / Access home setting on like 50+ phones).



The NeoGAF badges, however, seemed to be liked by everyone. The sheer joy of us deciding to meetup and having one made me feel humbled and happy to be a part of this community. I also want to thank krae_man again for orchestrating the attendee's thread and LINE chat, as well as Nicko for the GAF GRUB bags!

NEOGAF MEETUP



Some of us were straight up zombies after such a long day (starting incredibly early in the AM for many of us) but I was still really happy to meet up with several of the folks I had seen throughout the day and handed badges to. It got a little weird when everyone was coming to me and my friend kept saying I was the "Don of NeoGAF" but I was just in a little bit of pain and super tired, so I did my best to ignore and chat with everyone. Thank you so much to whomever helped buy snacks and drinks. Everyone seemed really appreciative and we still are chatting on LINE on and off. It was fantastic meeting you all and I hope to meet with Bay-Area GAF in the near future, as well as with everyone else at future events.



GAMES I CHOSE TO SKIP

Brawlhalla - Early access F2P on Steam
Dark Souls 3 - Line was too long
Drawn To Death - Already played it, Jaffe wasn't around
Far Cry Primal - Line was too long, though I was interested
Gang Beasts - Been playing it early access for a while
LEGO Dimensions - Fixed their Xperia phone and moved on
MLB The Show 15 - Played for a second, but mostly for couch time
There Came an Echo - Own this thanks to the GAF dev
World of Tanks - Played before, waiting for beta

FINAL THOUGHTS



At the end of the second day, I was quite the happy camper. It sucked that we didn't have more time in general, but I think many of the devs and other staff were all entering zombie mode from that first crazy day (12 hour demo day!) and while I wish I had the chance to meet Shu, Boyes, Cerny, and others... I think meeting Media Molecule's finest and running into Hollie Bennett from PS Access made up for it and then some!



Oh and the swag was quite nice! Aside from the bag posted above, I also got some posters for Abzu, and a RIGS shirt. I'm sure several others got a lot more illustrious swag, so I invite them to post it here along with their impressions! Also, I can't thank Mm enough for being an amazing company and for being so kind to their fans. They not only signed my copy of Tearaway, but invited me to an event on Monday night (involving Dreams) and gave me a Tearaway pen.



Please share your own experiences if you attended, or ask any questions you may have. Even share impressions from your favorite YouTube gamer or journalist / blogger!

Additional Images:

Sounds like a fantastic time had by all! Hope I can go one day!

Enjoyed reading through your write up. Unfortunately I was not in attendance so I can't really offer any impressions myself. No idea why this isn't getting any posts. Personally, I'd love to read more impressions from attendees.

I really thought it was a top notch production from start to finish. Only issue I had was the scanning and trying to get that issue resolved.

Some impressions:

REZ VR:

I had my appointment late the first day and showed up a little early. Not knowing that one side of the line went to the 2nd floor vs the 1st. I got into the line for the 1st floor demos, but after quickly realizing the issue I asked nicely and was taken to the other side and upstairs for this demo. To whoever it was that helped thank you!

I was watching the person before me not even move their head around and realize what you could do in PSVR. So I don't think that person got the full experience intended. So now it was my turn and the nice Sony lady was getting me all setup dialing in my sweet spot for effect and away I went.

I immediately tried to look behind me to see enemy's and was surprised that I could see them. I also tried turning my head upside down during the demo and messed the game up. Seemingly an issue with PSVR is that you can't do that since it doesn't recognized individual top bottom sections of the unit, or maybe it was a product of the early stage demo. I didn't use the controller sticks to aim at all during the whole demo and just loved it. I almost wish there was a floor pad that you could play with instead of a controller. It'd kind of be like tapping to the beat.

It was somewhere halfway in the demo that I started to get a bit angry at the optics of the PSVR and notice that my peripheral vision was highly limited in comparison to other VR headsets and that's the real rub. It isn't the breakout box or the limitations of using the PS camera for movement (which is really good by the way) It's the field of vision and the lack thereof. It's disappointing for lots of reasons, most of which is that real games are coming out for this device. Something I honestly can't say for Oculus and Steam VR right now.

Amplitude:

*In full disclosure I backed this project*

Great looking and playing game! The visuals have to be seen they are just so trippy and cool. And the effects going on in the game as tracks fall out and fade up are amazing! Then you get to the actual music and it call comes grinding to a halt. The track listing sucks. But they seem to be viewing this as a platform to release more content down the road like Rockband. And that's a super positive, they just need to really reach an audience and get more popular artist tracks.

Hob:

Loved this at PAX Prime this year and really really love this game's everything. It's got a feel to it that I haven't gotten from a mainline Zelda title since Wind Waker. I hope it's a hit if nothing more to prove that the dev's passion to this style of game is rewarded in some positive way.

RIGS:

Another PSVR game and one I can see easily becoming a big favorite. It is just immediately fun to play the game and super easy to pick up and play matches. I can see a lot of time is gonna get spent sucked into this one. Surprisingly the frame rate was stable I know a few folks were complaining but I didn't noticed any issue.

FarCry: Primal

Some might ask why is this a FarCry game and the answer is simple. It is an evolution of the gameplay mechanics from FarCry 3/4. Yes it is a drastically different game with very different end goals in mind. But the mechanics and gameplay are copy/paste from the previous games. And you know what that's not a bad thing.

The thing that got to me from the moment I got my hands on was how I was playing Wild before Wild even comes out. You might argue that they are totally different games, and yes you are right. But they have a lot more in common than I suspected going in. The newly announced beastmaster mode was the shinning moment of gameplay showing off how you control and interact with the creatures of this world. Being able to control my friendly animals and non friendly animals to create scenarios of combat theatrics was sublime.

Oh and did I mention you get to fly a freaking huge ass owl the size of a grown ass neanderthal? Yeah that was cool.

MLB The Show:

Free beer!

This had to be the best booth of the show due to how awesome it looked. The booth was done up as a sports bar with real booze flowing behind the counter. So I took to the beer and started up a match with another attendee. I know they have no competition in the marketplace for MLB games due to the license like Madden. But unlike Madden they actually care about their games and it shows. I don't like sports games and I caught myself liking this game more than I should have. The dive mechanics are fun and add a new layer to the game that I wasn't expecting. I don't know if that was a new feature or not, but the booth guy was making sure to tell me all about it.

I might give this game a fair shake when it comes out next year.

Resident Evil Umbrella Corps:

I was surprised to see this at the show, but the wait was horrible. My matched didn't last long enough to really get a good handle on this. I would sum it up as Japan being Japan, What's new? It looked ok, but nothing great. I don't know what the market is for this, if you told me it was a free game for the China market I'd believe you.

Gravity Days Remaster:

YES YES YES!!!

This was a game that the missus wouldn't shut up about on PSVita. And I can totaly see why she was flipping her lid at the announcement of this game and it's sequel. It looks great, plays better and is really unique. I'm miffed we won't be getting the CE with the figure, but at least we'll be getting the game!

Hot Shots MMO:

Sad that this game is having to take to the online world in this way. I love hot shots but Powerstar golf is already a better game and that's sadly the truth. You know it in your hearts Hot Shots fans. Just stop the denial that this series is good and move on to better golf games.

Those were just some of the highlights game wise.

I hope next year they come back to SF. It seemed like a good place for the show and I'm sure it helps their third parties and indies that it's an easy place to get to. I noticed while on the show floor a lot of chinese investment companies being shown around by Sony staff. So it might also be good for business too.

A great time even if I only went one day. I saw everything and didn't have to wait too long for any one game. And any excuse to get Super Duper burgers is a plus in my book.

How visible is "the pixel grid" in PSVR?

Thanks for sharing, excellent post and stories. I've been waiting for such a thread because there was a distinct lack of showfloor impressions in the media coverage I watched. Last year I got a much better feel for how it must have been to be there, so this is most welcome.

It was not noticeable to me at all. It is something I've noticed in Steam VR, Gear VR, and Oculus. But here I couldn't detect the softening filter used to cover up the mesh. It was a really nice clean image, but only in that super dead center sweet spot.

Thanks for sharing, Beardy. Sorry you didn't make it to the meetup, but I'll be sure to get you your badge later this week. Wish I had the chance to try Rez, as that style of game is totally my jam. Also can't wait for Gravity Rush/Daze and the sequel!

KooopaKid said:

How visible is "the pixel grid" in PSVR?

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Honestly I only noticed it when they were holding the PSVR over my head and I pushed into it to the point of squishing my nose. Once I adjusted it so it was clear and resting on my forehead and above the bridge of my nose, I didn't notice it at all.

El-Suave said:

Thanks for sharing, excellent post and stories. I've been waiting for such a thread because there was a distinct lack of showfloor impressions in the media coverage I watched. Last year I got a much better feel for how it must have been to be there, so this is most welcome.

Click to expand...

Absolutely! We took a bunch more photos and a lot of video, including with Hollie Bennet and Thomas Silloway of Psyonix, that I'll be posting on the Infinite Medium youtube later. Plus, I'm going to write up my experience at this little sort-of birthday shindig Media Molecule had on Monday (they turn 10 in January!) where i got to check out Dreams

Sounds great. Closest we get to this in the UK is the Eurogamer Expo. I'm jealous. Job and Abzu both especially interest me

KooopaKid said:

How visible is "the pixel grid" in PSVR?

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This is my biggest concern. Native 1080p looks terrible on TVs above 50" due to screen door effect on the pixel grid. I can only imagine this is even worse with a display attached to your face.

I had an incredible time and am thoroughly impressed that they put on such a good show, this being only their second year. I actually enjoyed it a lot more than PAX, ComicCon or E3, mostly because this event was clearly for gamers and not just for the press. At CC and E3 you're constantly getting shoved around and excluded from things if you're not press, which can get a bit insulting especially when you actually worked on the game... and everyone knows how much of an overcrowded nightmare PAX can be.


THE CONFERENCE

PSXperience's format worked brilliantly well - 3rd floor was exclusively for keynotes, panels and the Capcom Cup, 1st and 2nd for games. Tons of titles on display, really easy to find what you're looking for and the lines generally moved pretty fast compared to any other con. The bar on the 2nd floor was a really nice touch too, sit back grab a beer and maybe play a little MLB: TheShow. Nice to see they're clearly treating adults like adults all around. Several food options within the building too, which was useful considering how tight security was with getting back in. And the Capcom Cup was as hype as you'd expect it to be - really good decision on Sony's part to host this, I loved the mixed crowd and the idea of getting PS gamers interested in fighters (and vice versa).

The gameification stuff (get your ID scanned for rewards, get collectible cards, etc.) was a really nice touch as well, despite some tech hurdles the first day. IMO the best part about it is that it encouraged folks to at least check out the less popular kiosks and the indie games.

My only complaint is that they continue to underestimate how many VR sets they'll need; Every timeslot was filled up before the conference even began, and they had no safeguards against people taking up multiple timeslots. To date I've been to three cons that featured PSVR and I've never had a chance to wear one.


THE GAMES

Unfortunately I had a lot of meetings and such, so I didn't have time to wait in too many lines. But I did have a chance to play Dark Souls 3 a bit - Right now I'm concurrently playing DS1 and BB-DLC, and in my opinion it's still very DS1. Enemies might appear to have BB-style cracked-out PCP movesets, but ultimately they still behave in a very DS way. You'll have to deal with narrow corridors' crowd control just like DS1, and your own moveset is much closer to DS1 speed (at least with the heavy Warrior preset). Crazy shortcuts and wrap-around level design are back in full force.

My biggest issue with DS3 is that there appears to still be no motion blur, which we've had in every From game since DeS so it's kind of jarring. You see these little jerky bits in the animations that are a little confusing... It's not a huge big deal but considering it's nearly a BB-paced game, it'll take some getting used to.

Thanks for the write-up, looks like a good time. Those cosplays are pretty impressive.

wow it's much bigger / more extensive than I pictured. thanks for posting.

jelly of the Rez VR players.

Awesome OP.

What was the trade-off like, graphics-wise, for Driveclub VR?

Interesting! Thanks, guys!

x-posting and adding a bit from the attendees thread:

The Event

+ I thought it was laid out really well. Having it in a venue that had 3 floors was fantastic because it divvied up the attendees in such a way that I never felt like I was pushing against a sea of humanity.

+ The Rewards were pretty generous-- at least to me. By just checking into a bunch of stuff on my phone I nabbed a bunch of PS4 themes (some are dope), avatars, $10 PSN credit, as well as Nuclear Throne and Bit.Trip for my PS4 and Vita.

- The check in stations were constantly in a state of disrepair throughout the entire event. Eventually Sony wised up and gave the phones (for checking in people) to staff to have them scan your badge, which seemed to fix the problem. Still, that first day had a really rough rollout.

- I think Sony still underestimates how many people want to get their hands on PSVR. The RSVP system was great-- if you got in within the first 5 minutes of it going live a day before the event started-- otherwise it was a big sore spot for people rolling up, excited to wait in line and try some of this VR thing they've been hearing a lot about, and being told that if they didn't have a RSVP it was probably not going to happen. Giving Media a chance to rsvp for time slots makes sense. Placing that same model on the thousands of PSX attendees was ill-conceived, imo.

PSVR

Highlight of the event for me. When it was all said and done I had tried Job Simulator, The Kitchen, Driveclub VR, Playroom VR, London Heist, and Wayward Sky. I want that kit now. I had highs and lows in terms of the individual titles, but my overall impression was VR is the real fucking deal and is such a paradigm shift from how I've grown up playing games. I loved it and will be buying it whenever Sony gets around to releasing the damn thing.

GAMES

Really enjoyed most of what I got my hands on (and I played a ton of games, too many to list here). I purposely stayed away from most of the larger AAA titles since part of that whole industry seems to revolve around

+ Standouts were probably Alone With You, Cosmic Star Heroine, Abzu, Ratchet & Clank, Earth Night, Bound, Night in the Woods, and Invisible Inc. A lot of other games I'll be buying too, especially local MP games like Gang Beasts, Push Me, Pull You, and Screencheat; the latter gave me serious GoldenEye 007 vibes in terms of chaotic fun... and peeking at your friend's scren. My wallet will bleed this year.

- The only time I was left disappointed in a game was if the performance was super rough, standout being What Remains of Edith Finch. I think the premise of the game was really fascinating and I'm all on board with how they're presenting it, but man was the framerate tanking for me at nearly every turn. Another part I had trouble with is that I play the majority of games with my camera inverted and there was no option to do so, which I found really strange and hope it was just an oversight but am reminded of other games this past year that shipped like that as well and that left poor first impressions to boot. They seem to have more time to lock down some of the technical hiccups and am looking forward to hearing preview impressions closer to launch.

GAF

GAFers were unfuckingbelievable. From those that were trapped in their booth all day showing their games to those that busted their ass trying to organize meetups or make grub packs for people. I was pretty floored by how great all of your were that I had a chance to meet and chat with. One of the funniest moments for me was waiting the the line for the Keynote early in the morning and a bunch of us using the Line app to communicate; in trying to see where in line I was in relation to other GAFers, I texted that I was raising my hand only to find out that I was standing right next to one! We had just been zoomed into our phones the whole time. There also seems to be a number of locals that are GAFers as well so I definitely wouldn't mind having another meetup sometime in the future. Feel free to add me on PSN as well if you'd like. PSN ID same as GAF.

Special shoutouts to xenorevlis and krae_man for busting their asses in getting us organized and helping us feel like a community outside of the forums. It was much appreciated. As was the choice in venue for the meetup. I enjoyed my pitcher of beer.

xenorevlis said:

LEGO Dimensions - Fixed their Xperia phone and moved on

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A silent guardian, a watchful protector.

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Need more impressions!

Raist said:

Awesome OP.

What was the trade-off like, graphics-wise, for Driveclub VR?

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I had played it once during my PSVR appointments but it didn't seemed as "flashy", if that makes sense. Maybe that's because you're locked into a first-person perspective whereas I normally play DC from behind the car and am able to take in the surrounding sights and weather effects a bit more. It was also weird playing in VR since the range of your FOV seemed... underutilized? I only looked to my side once-- and only briefly; I was more concerned about keeping my eyes squarely on the road ahead of me! I will say that my hands were definitely sweaty after winning that race as there was a sense of speed that I was unaccustomed to, mostly because of how I play the game normally.

Overall, not a bad experience by any stretch, but not my favorite VR experience during the event either.

Great OP. A lot of work was put in it, kudos!

I envy you for meeting Hollie she's too cute

You guys are getting me amped for PSVR.

very much looking forward to abzu. thanks for the impressions, xeno.

Great read. Looking forward to more VR impressions, especially since PSVR is the kit I'm most likely going to get.

xenorevlis said:

It did end quite abruptly, but I've heard from several sources on-site that a few major titles were pulled last minute due to one issue or another.

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Oh wow. Interesting.

Awesome OP. As someone who watched as much of the weekend's content as I could online, I'll enjoy reading everything in this thread from you lucky people who attended.

I wish I had the money and I'd fly over from the UK for next year. I love the PS Access lot. Always watching their content so would of been amazing to meet them. More luck of seeing them over here though haaha!

Great write up and extremely jealous.

Thanks for sharing OP ! Looks like a really cool place to be with the tons of Playstation fans.

I wish i could go to San Fran to check it out. This year is kinda impossible for me but next year, if it happens again, i will try to make it.

Raist said:

Awesome OP.

What was the trade-off like, graphics-wise, for Driveclub VR?

Click to expand...

It felt like the lighting was locked, rather than dynamic, the environment was slightly less dense, and smaller details like the quality of the road weren't as "crisp" if you will. Still, it looked really good and I kept finding myself looking over at the water and sides of the track or up at the sun in the sky through the trees.

Cyborg said:

Great OP. A lot of work was put in it, kudos!

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Thanks! Took a little longer than expected but I was also working on something else at the same time while waiting for my photos to upload to imgur.

bud said:

very much looking forward to abzu. thanks for the impressions, xeno.

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I can't wait myself. The people at the booth were very lovely and they even held a PS4 giveaway (like Far Cry Primal booth). My friend Johnny was playing as well and had 3 robo drones, until a shark took one out. He made it to the "end" of the demo.

Sodding_Gamer said:

I wish I had the money and I'd fly over from the UK for next year. I love the PS Access lot. Always watching their content so would of been amazing to meet them. More luck of seeing them over here though haaha!

Great write up and extremely jealous.

Click to expand...

Trust me, if I could secure a fantastic job over in UK / surrounding area I'd be there! Hollie was fantastic, but I didn't get a chance to meet Nathan, and the lanky-but-lovable Rob had stayed back in the UK.

A bit of this carries over from the Attendees thread:

Auron_Kale said:

I got to play Until Dawn: Rush of Blood and had a blast playing it! As you've probably read, you're on a roller-coaster shooting at various objects.

The VR records your ducking and weaving while also allowing you to turn your head in any direction - so if you see something out of the corner of your eye, chances are, you can turn to look. The game uses 2 PS Move controllers, which allows you to dual-wield pistols. I liked that when I needed to adjust the VR helmet from sliding, the guns became hands.

Game was fun, bloody and managed to scratch that House of the Dead itch I've had. Not sure if I'll get VR, but I will probably get another Move controller (I have 1 as well as the analog stick).

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I played this as my first VR demo, ever. It was super fun. I'm not big fan of on rails shooters, but you really feel immersed in the environment of the game after the headset and headphones go on. Yeah it looks grainy (probably more for performance reasons than effect), but it's smooth and creepy as hell, and it's easy to forget you aren't actually on the roller coaster. I was surprised.

I also played Megaton Rainfall at the VR booth, and it was unspectacular. The main focus was the movement (flying around) which was fine, but the gameplay was lackluster (shoot glowing parts on weird alien ships). I did enjoy causing collateral damage, though.

Hey, while I'm on a roll, how about impressions of other stuff? Besides Abzu and the VR stuff, I played:

Hob - Loved it. It looks gorgeous, animates beautifully and controls well. Many people have likened it to a Zelda game, which isn't inaccurate. The world responds to you as you move around in it; not sure if that is significant or not, but it looks cool. I understand that the main creative guys behind Torchlight have left Runic, but I'm still psyched for more from them. The combat is initially shallow but the focus is on the exploration and puzzles anyway.

Severed - Drinkbox's new Vita game. It's like a mythological Fruit Ninja where you use body parts for upgrades. It takes the one square at a time movement approach of something like Grimrock, and combat is performed through swiping the enemy's weak points on the touch screen. They will block or cover up, etc, and you can also swipe to parry their attacks. If you get a meter full, when you kill them, you can cut off limbs and other parts and use those for upgrading skills/damage/crit % and so forth. Art style is similar to Guacamelee (fine by me) and the story looks to be simple but meaningful (you appear to be saving your family members from some form of Purgatory). Excited!

Assault Android Cactus - you probably know what this is, but I can confirm it's hectic and fun.

Lost Sea - something was "off" in this game. It looks like a mobile port (can't confirm) and doesn't feel smooth. It's an ARPG of sorts where you explore islands and recruit crew members, but I died in like 5 minutes and didn't feel compelled to play more.

Viking Squad - this is basically Golden Axe, complete with rideable beasts and treasure goblins, for a post-Castle Crashers world. Totally fine for what it is, but not something I'd play a lot of.

Drifter - on Steam EA right now, it's a space trading game with light combat and upgrade mechanics. Covers an entire galaxy, which zoomed out is huge. Apparently just one guy? Takes place on a plane, so there is no Y axis. Mining, etc. Didn't get too far into it as flying around takes a while by itself.

Life Goes On - this is already on PC, and the OT had some pretty middling feedback, but I thought the concept and execution were awesome - use your own dead bodies as means to pass obstacles. It has hats! And the end of the demo is such an amazing troll that I told one of the guys at the booth "this needs to be in the game somewhere, like credits" to which he responded "I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of such a thing". I became a fevered supporter and randomly told people to go check it out.

Tearaway Unfolded - yes, this has been out on platforms for a long time but I had never tried it, and I was blown (pun intended) away. It's god damn magical, even though I only played about 15 minutes.

Shadow of the Beast - I actually watched another GAFer I was rolling with play this for about 20 minutes and my main takeaway was "that Wolverine game, but in 2.5D space". It's visceral and violent and moves very well. The main question is how much depth there is, I think.

Umbrella Corps - never heard of it before. Team vs Team vs Zombies MP shooter...it seems fairly one note, but I killed a lot of people and got a pin out of it.

Dead Star - played one 5v5 match (I think) and basically flew around in a little ship trying to buzzsaw stuff and capture points. It wasn't explained well and basically all of the game's mechanics were ignored, so it didn't leave a good impression. Not sure it's the type of game I'd be into that much, anyway.

Stories: The Path of Destinies - forgive the generic name, I think there is something here. Not sure how many people saw it. You play an anthropomorphic fox who is sort of a reluctant hero, but will help out for the right cause/price. It seems to be a light ARPG, with a 3/4ish view and real time combat, with upgrades. The hook is in the presentation, really. It has a narrator who will not only talk about what's happening, but comments on the actions of the player character, often in a negative or sarcastic way. And it has various points where you pick one path over another. I likened it to a Choose Your Own Adventure book starring a cross of Don Quixote and something else I'm forgetting now. I told the PR girl at the booth she could keep that quote (well, the actual one where I remembered the whole comparison).

Because my main comments on Abzu were elsewhere, I'll just reiterate that once I got into a groove with it/found some drones, I was really curious where it would go. I didn't finish the demo, though.

Games I wanted to see but didn't: Firewatch, Brutal.

xenorevlis said:

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This is not going to go well for me at trial...

But seriously, that Killzone cosplay is amazing.


PSX looks like tons of fun. I hope to go some day. Everyone's impressions really make me eager to get PSVR.

I have yet to see a really negative impression of PSVR. I am really eager to try it out at some point.

BeardyChan said:

Hot Shots MMO:

Sad that this game is having to take to the online world in this way. I love hot shots but Powerstar golf is already a better game and that's sadly the truth. You know it in your hearts Hot Shots fans. Just stop the denial that this series is good and move on to better golf games.

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Look I'll reserve judgement on the new Hot Shots game until they reveal everything. I thought it looked really good but I have some reservations about the online stuff also. But in no way is Powerstar Golf a better golf game and I have had it from Xbox One launch day. For that matter there is no indication that another version of the game is even coming. The golf itself in Hot Shots has been refined to perfection over the years, the only grip people have is when they do odd stuff to it like add move support.

Partially reiterating what I said on the other thread comparing it to other cons but I enjoyed myself there. Pretty decent crowds, convenient location, not spending money on travel/hotels, and decent swag/rewards.

As for actual impressions of things I experienced:

Battleborn: First thing we did. Got a nice free shirt. Played E3/beta so knew my character really well and crushed the enemy team. Line was constantly super long.

PS VR in general: Definitely the star for me and what I was also the most excited for. I've tried a few VR demos here and there and never had a good experience as a glasses-wearer. PS VR worked almost perfectly fine with glasses once I had it adjusted correctly.

Harmonix music VR: The person there was super helpful and let me take my time getting it set up just right. The actual demos themselves were a bit more underwhelming since it was pretty relaxed and you also couldn't really turn all the way back as it was just black space, at least for the beach demo.

Until Dawn: Rush of Blood: Pretty cool and made me excited for the future of horror VR. Aiming with fake guns is definitely a bit harder than aiming guns in an actual arcade though, since you can't really just hold it up to your face/eye.

Eve: Valkyrie: This was really fun and I really liked how the different ships had the targeting systems based on where you're looking, separate from the direction the ship was going, and you can also look all around the cockpit.

Dead Star: That capital ship mode in the keynote made me super excited but turns out that's not ready yet. Played it a few times and playing the beta since they gave access and a shirt for trying the game out.

Kill Strain: Played this a bunch at E3 and used it to get some more goodie prizes by placing in the top 1/2 when I played.

Guns Up: Seemed designed to suck your money but also oddly fun.

Drawn to Death: Not really my type of humor/design I guess. 4chaners might love it.

For Honor: Basically the same demo as at E3 and I really like it but lines are kinda long so I only played it once. Wish I could play more.

Brawhalla: Basically indie Smash.

Fat Princess Adventures: Was somewhat excited when I heard about it. Seemed a bit mindless and I'd probably just rather play Magicka or Helldivers.

Darkest Dungeon: Fun enough as a demo but then I read the Steam reviews about how punishing it is when playing it for real.

Fallen Legion: Reminded me of some 3DS JRPGs with active battle systems. Press buttons to attack with different characters, and L1 to block at the appropriate time. A choice system as you go through the demo that affects abilities/stories/enemies.

Just Cause 3: Ugh, hate aiming with controller. Would probably enjoy it more on the PC.

Most of the games I played were well covered by others already, but seriously folks, put this game on your radar:





Didnt look too exciting at first glance, but i gave it 5-10 minutes, and man i am hooked. Very intriguing point and click-like, demo gave a very good impression and builds a very intersting mystery. Examining things and picking up clues was very intuitive and the objects/text pieces themselves are very well done.

Severed was also very exciting to play, folks worried about touch controls and swiping will be very very pleased with how well it is handled. Reminds me of classic RPGs were you take away one step at a time and fight monsters/solve puzzles. Artwork was beautiful as well.

I'm going to share my 10 favorite games that I checked out during the show along with VR.

- PSVR: This was actually my first time ever trying VR and... it was fine. I haven't been sold on VR but I went in with an open mind. We didn't really get to choose our demo unless we RSVP'ed for RIGS or stood in line for EVE and I got Wayward Sky which I found thoroughly unimpressive. You basically just pointed and clicked while looking around. It was cool I suppose, but I feel like this demo left a lot to be desired. I think I would be singing a different tune if I was stuck on a more impressive demo.

- Dark Souls III: Bloodborne was my first Souls game and I absolutely adored it. I was hesitant of Souls in the past because of how slow they were and after hearing that this one is inspired by the speed of Bloodborne, I had to check it out. I really, really dug it. The atmosphere and combat are as sublime as one would expect.

- Ratchet & Clank: What else can be sound about this game? It's a true Ratchet & Clank release which is basically gaming comfort food. This demo reminded me why I love this series so much and opened my eyes to how ready I am for a new one.

- Severed: This was one of my favorite demos of PSX and almost made me wish I had a Vita. The art direction is pure Drinkbox goodness and the touch-based gameplay/combat works better than I could ever have imagined. It's responsive, fun, and incredibly creative in its encounters.

- Alienation: Fucking. Awesome. This was my favorite game on the floor and all I can say is that Housemarque has delivered again (to the surprise of nobody). Combat is fast and frantic and I love the seemingly deep leveling system, classes, and loadouts. The maps are the most interesting and detailed in a Housemarque game yet. Keep an eye on this one, it's going to be a legit game of the year contender.

- Abzu: I thought this would be just another artsy-fartsy game that doesn't understand what makes something like Journey so special. Boy was I wrong. The controls are surprisingly stellar considering it's all underwater and made exploring the massive ocean way more fun than I ever expected. It's beautiful and relaxing.

- Thumper: Without a doubt my surprise of the show. This is a "rhythm violence game" from a little studio called Drool that's comprised of ex-Harmonix devs. They wanted to continue making rhythm games but wanted to get away from the Rock Band model. In Thumper, you control what looks like a beetle that's speeding along a psychedelic railing as music plays. Along the path you encounter obstacles that appear within the beat of the song and to clear them you need to do things such as press X, hold X, or hold X while pushing a directional button. It sucks you in and is incredibly fun to play. I implore everyone to look into this game.

- Shadow of the Beast: I think this is going to be worth the two+ year wait! The combat system manages to feel both frantic and weighty, it's very unique yet also a ton of fun. The world is actually quite a looker and also embraces over-the-top silly violence. In combat, you're sort of locked into an arena and you can enter "blood-rage" which is a serious of quick button prompts using the square button and a directional input that allows you to instantly kill your enemies in slow motion. Cutting dude's heads off, ripping them in half, and such all ensues and it's awesome.

- Gravity Rush Remastered: I never played this on the Vita and I've been looking forward to finally trying it. Very fun game with unique mechanics and a charming main character. I didn't play very long but I played enough to know that I'm going to buy it and am currently anticipating the sequel as well.

- Amplitude: Rhythm games must be growing on me because I had a blast with this. I never played the original so I didn't know what to expect. Came to realize that I just really dig rhythm games that aren't Rock Band or Guitar Hero. Really dug the local co-op.

- Enter the Gungeon: Not normally a fan of rogue-likes but I had a blast with this. Picture a bullet-hell game mixed with old-school Zelda and that's sort of what you have here. Awesome game that I can see myself getting addicted to. The developer there exhibiting it was hilarious and seemed absolutely thrilled by my enjoyment.

Fisty said:

Most of the games I played were well covered by others already, but seriously folks, put this game on your radar:

Didnt look too exciting at first glance, but i gave it 5-10 minutes, and man i am hooked. .

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Additionally, you can play essentially the same demo we did at PSX either on PC, Mac, Linux, or iOS right now via their website. [LINK]

I second the recommendation. The art is pretty gorgeous and I'm always down for a good adventure game.

Fantastic thread Xeno!! Really great job putting everything together. Will try to get some impressions and additional photos in soon!

Cheers!

Nicko

Here are my PS VR Impressions (in order that I got to play)

PlayRoom VR: The VR portion I played was the Cat & Mouse game. I had more fun looking around the room itself than trying to catch the mice. The depth and scale was great. The other two games were helping the VR wearing catch ghosts, and then run away from a monster. Both were fun as secondary players too. This one was played entirely sitting down.

Super Hyper Cube: This was the most relaxing game I played in VR. The visuals were crisp and the actual gameplay was fun. Looking down and seeing a wireframe model of the DS4 that moved in realtime was really cool. This one was played standing up.

Loading Human: Waited entirely too long for this, thanks to a girl holding the line for SIX people in front of me. This was one of the non-RSVP games to play. This was the first one I played that used the Move controllers. I needed more time to get used to the controls like ducking and what not, but reacting with the environment was cool. The fire fighting stuff was a little lackluster, but near the end when you had to lift up a log, I looked down and actually felt like I was going to fall forward. That feeling even though it wasn't going to happen, was really incredible to feel.

Rigs: Even though I'm not big into competitive MP, this was so polished and fun. I can only imagine things like Macross, Pacific Rim, Evangelion, etc style games with Mech based themes. The first time I swooped up in the air and jumped into the goal while looking down, just felt incredible!

London Heist: Aside from Rez, this was the demo I wanted to play the most. The intro was so awesome when you stood up and could listen to the phone in your ear. Then the actual Heist part with the actual reloading and aiming. I've done this in real life and doing the same exact motions felt 1:1. I hope they bundle this with the VR!

GNOG: This was some random puzzle game I saw on the floor when we were leaving on Sunday. It was simple and seemed interesting. Felt like Fez with the music and visuals.

All in all, I would buy VR today if it was for sale. As it was the thing I wanted to play the most at PSX, it was well worth it.

Interesting that screen door is not noticable

jabberwocker said:

Interesting that screen door is not noticable

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In the Heist and Job Simulator, it definitely wasnt noticable to me. There was a little bit of "tunnel vision" in the Heist, but it looked flat-out amazing, so its a bit understandable. Honestly i didnt even notice it after the intro. There was no "tunnel vision" at all in Job Simulator, but those graphics were a bit more rudimentary, akin to Octodad or something.

And that intro for Heist with the dude and the blowtorch... shit was literally IMPOSING. When he stood in front of you, i gulped a bit. The presence is real.

I wonder if sony has fabricated a way to reduce distance between pixels in their oled manufacturing process. Because having had a dk2 i can say it wasnt really the size of pixels that stood out but more the screendoor effect. If they reduced that they may have a superior product for now as that is the main issue and the others are approaching with the way to fix it is to add more pixels. The problem with that is two fold: higher cost for panels and the resources needed to push 1440p at 75-90 fps.

Also thanks for putting this together. Nice insight and descriptions of the show.

jabberwocker said:

I wonder if sony has fabricated a way to reduce distance between pixels in their oled manufacturing process. Because having had a dk2 i can say it wasnt really the size of pixels that stood out but more the screendoor effect. If they reduced that they may have a superior product for now as that is the main issue and the others are approaching with the way to fix it is to add more pixels. The problem with that is two fold: higher cost for panels and the resources needed to push 1440p at 75-90 fps.

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If I remember correctly, their panels definitely have more pieces crammed together (RGB OLED pixels) and the optics have a sweet spot in which you get both 1080p clarity but a very mild softness that eliminates any space between the diodes. In fact my biggest "gripe" with PSVR may be the field of view, but that was only at first and after a couple of minutes of Driveclub I had essentially forgotten about the edges. Similar to how your brain/visual cortex can easily ignore your nose on a daily, until you try to look down at it.

xenorevlis said:

If I remember correctly, their panels definitely have more pieces crammed together (RGB OLED pixels) and the optics have a sweet spot in which you get both 1080p clarity but a very mild softness that eliminates any space between the diodes. In fact my biggest "gripe" with PSVR may be the field of view, but that was only at first and after a couple of minutes of Driveclub I had essentially forgotten about the edges. Similar to how your brain/visual cortex can easily ignore your nose on a daily, until you try to look down at it.

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What is fov set at on it?

Awesome OP Xenorevlis! It was great to meet and chat with you and fellow Gafers, even though it was for a few minutes before the keynote. Thanks for the badges and for the warm welcome to SF!!

so the greg guy, he's pretty tall I'm guessing. I saw him in Huber Hype as awell and he looked like a giant compared to Huber but I'm pretty sure Huber is actually pretty short, I remember there was a video on gametrailers showing who was the tallest and shortest. I just assumed he looked so big cause huber is a pretty small guy but he's pretty tall in that pic too.

jabberwocker said:

What is fov set at on it?

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I don't think you can "set" it but all the materials and trailers for Project Morpheus / PSVR say 100 degree FOV.

Liked the thread until some crazy guy starting talking about another game being better than hot shots.

Was killstrain not demo'd?

Also how was the VR headset in terms of comfort? As someone with a large melon I'm always concerned about this.

Edit: n/m missed someone else Killstrain impressions above

I've really enjoyed reading the thread, so thanks OP and all the other contributers.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous, I wish there was something even remotely close out here in SE Asia.

Battle Zone VR


My first VR game and the only VR game that I had the chance to try out. The game was fun, I was jumping around and to me it felt natural, never dizzy and pretty fun.

It was fun but the problem is that resolution was super low, whatever gameplay trailer you have seen for this game, imagine that in 480 to 320 p. Kinda blurry for me, but fun..

Was told that the end product will most likely be what I played, but was confirmed for the oculus rift so...