In E3 2021, the gaming community has been looking at the various players in the gaming industry for their reveals in the online-only Expo. This includes brands like Nintendo, Microsoft, Ubisoft, Take-Two, and Square Enix. Even after the E3 being an online expo and every leading publisher has opted for live streams. Although Sony has decided not to take part in this years’ E3. We will be looking at Sony Biggest Reveals E3. Yes, this is indeed disappointing that we won’t be seeing Sony in E3 and we will look at that why they took that decision.
E3 1995
In the very first year of Sony’s participation in E3, they made an unforgettable moment in the history of E3. The very first year E3 will be always remembered with Sony’s first PlayStation. It was in E3 when Sony revealed the price of their first PlayStation console. Sony unveiled its first PlayStation back on 3 December 1994 in Japan. The world had to wait till next year to see this home console. It competed against the then-popular console the Sega Saturn. At that time, SEGA announced £399 for Saturn. Fans were all expecting what will be Sony’s reaction to this. And at the time of Sony’s Showcase, the media was expecting an immediate answer from Sony, and fans were also keen to see how the company would respond.
While the whole of the press was super excited to hear the first PlayStation’s price, Steve Race calmly came to the stage quoted the price as “£299”, and left, That’s it! But it was enough to burst every gamer out there with joy since it was much more affordable to them when compared to the Sega Saturn. Sony’s this super calm PlayStation price announcement will be remembered forever.
E3 2000
After the world-breaking performance in 1995 with the first Playstation. Sony again writes its name to E3’s memorable moments in 2000. After announcing their next console the PlayStation 2 in 1999, it was in E3 2000 when Sony demonstrated their next groundbreaking console, the PlayStation 2. At that time, this console competes against Sega Dreamcast, Nintendo GameCube, and also against Microsoft’s original Xbox. With the PS2 offered, Sony offered backward compatibility for its predecessor’s DualShock controller. PlayStation 2 can be considered as Sony’s most successful game console, as it sold over 155 million units worldwide. Only for the PS2, there were over 3,800 game titles were released. Because of its popularity, Sony later even manufactured several smaller, lighter revisions of the PS2 known as Slimline models in 2004. During the software demos of PlayStation 2, they even revealed their exclusive title, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty developed by Konami, which later became one of the highlights of E3 2000. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is a stealth game written and directed by Hideo Kojima. This was the fourth Metal Gear Game and the seventh game in the series. It was a direct sequel to the original Metal Gear Solid. In the following year an expanded edition of the game, titled Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, was released for Xbox and Microsoft Windows along with PS2.
The story of the game revolves around the Big Shell, a massive offshore clean-up facility that was seized by a group of terrorists. This terrorist group calls itself the Sons of Liberty. They then demand an enormous ransom in exchange for the life of the President of the United States. They also threaten to destroy the facility. Not only that, they may also create a cataclysmic environmental disaster if their demands are not satisfied. The Protagonists need to solve all this. While working on this mission, he discovers a world-shaking conspiracy that was constructed by a powerful organization known as the Patriots. The game was a success and was able to sell more than seven million copies worldwide, and received acclaim for its gameplay, graphics, and attention to detail.
E3 2013
It was the year 2013, and Sony was all set to bring their next console, the PS4 with confidence at E3 2013. At launch, the PS4 was set to compete against Microsoft Xbox One, Nintendo Wii U, and the Nintendo Switch. The console featured an AMD APU built upon the x86-64 architecture. With the PlayStation 4, Sony increased its console’s emphasis on social interaction and integration with other devices and services.
They even introduced a feature, where the players can play games off-console via the PlayStation Vita and other supported devices. There was even a feature to stream gameplay online or to friends and even the ability to control the gameplay remotely. The controller also gets a redesign from its predecessor. The console was able to support HDR10 High-dynamic-range video and could even play 4K resolution multimedia.
E3 2015
The 2015 E3 was the year where fans consider it as Sony’s finest showcase, as even die heart fans lost count of the number of projects they announced then. It was in this year Sony announced popular titles such as Horizon Zero Dawn, Dreams, Shenmue III, and Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. But even after all these great announcements, one of the biggest announcements of E3 2015 was made by Sony for the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. With only the short teaser, Sony was able to create the hype around the game. After announcing this action role-playing game, Players were able to play this in 2020, when Square Enix completed its development and published the game. This game is the remake of the 1997 PlayStation game Final Fantasy VII.
The Story of the game is set in a dystopian cyberpunk metropolis of Midgar. Players play as the mercenary Cloud Strife and join AVALANCHE, an eco-terrorist group that is trying to stop the powerful megacorporation Shinra from using the planet’s life essence as an energy source. The gameplay contains real-time action, as well as strategic and role-playing elements.
E3 2016
In the very next year, Sony again gave us a memorable E3 in the 2016 E3 conference. This time we saw a knockout showcase, introducing exciting new IPs and many more. Sony revealed the God of War remaster, and then the PlayStation players were again gifted with the good news of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, thus pulling everyone’s nostalgia strings. Then we heard about the trio of new exclusives such as the Death Stranding, Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Detroit: Become Human.
All of them made the gaming community remember this year. And to finalize, we even saw The legend himself, Hideo Kojima who made a shocking return to the scene. And the announcement “I’m back” was enough to pass out nearly every audience there and even to those who heard the news later.
E3 2018
And then the next on our list is Sony’s last appearance in E3. It was in E3 2018 where we saw Sony for the last time. This year we saw an extended gameplay demo of The Last Of Us: Part II. Along with that Sony also announced the Ghost of Tsushima.
Why Sony is not in E3 2021?
This is not the first time, Sony keeping itself out of E3. The first ditched E3 in 2019 despite being part of the conference since its beginning in 1995. Sony explained they’re staying out of the conference as a way to think differently and to experiment with new ways to delight the gamers. Basically meaning that they were looking at the great public attention they will get if they stay out of the conference and will be still being able to be in the news of E3, despite not even taking part in it. As for the E3 2020, we all know what happened. But It seems like Sony doesn’t want to be involved with others in the news and wants to get all the attention all for itself. This could be the main reason why Sony is not taking part in E3 2021. And this has helped us to stay in limelight, we don’t need to wonder if we don’t see sony in the upcoming years too. Also Read: E3 2021 – This Year’s Most Anticipated Video Games
