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