Day 50, game 50 - Playstation All-stars Battle ROyale

Well, PlayStation fans, we are on the eve of big Sony press conference in New York, and there couldn't possibly be more buzz about it. Obviously, as Sony teased that they will show off "The Future," they are going to pull the curtains back on the newest PlayStation gaming console to lead the charge into the next generation of console gaming.

The fact that they are finally announcing it after speculation for years now is a big deal, but what they specific details they will announce are open for speculation. I've heard rumors of prices and launch dates being leaked already, ideas for possibly features it may have, and questions on whether any games will be announced or shown off.

I can't lie, I am very, very excited for all of this. And while I am anxious to know price and launch day, as those will be huge factors on whether or not I get it at launch, there a couple of things I want to know for sure, and they might not even address tomorrow. First, backwards compatibility. Since I jumped on the PS3 bandwagon so late (last March, to be exact), I still have a decent backlog of games to play on it, and if the PS4 doesn't support them, then that could change my decision on how quickly I get one. Also, I want to know about the Vita functionality with it, and just the Vita's future as a whole, as I don't want to have to upgrade that at the same time as well.

So in honor of all this Sony hoopla, I figured the only appropriate game to play tonight was PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Plus, they release some free (for two weeks) DLC characters that I have wanted to try out but haven't had the time thanks to Halo Week consuming all of my play time for the most part.

All last year, I was so excited for this game. It was, in essence, a Smash Bros. game, but with Sony mascots. Sure, it was a different scoring system and had some different and unique Smash Bros. franchise, but they heavily drew influence from them ... which isn't a bad thing at all. When the game finally came out, all my excitement was rewarded with an awesome game - actually, two games, thanks to the cross-buy promotion.

Unfortunately, the studio put in charge of making this game was forced to close its doors recently, and that's a bummer, because that might be the end of future DLC for this game. In this first batch, however, we got Kat from Gravity Rush (PS Vita game) and Emmit from Starhawk. The two characters couldn't be more different if they tried, which is nice to get two completely different play styles. Kat is quick and agile, Emmit is slower and methodical. Both are fun, however, and nice additions to the game. They also released a new level as well, but you have to purchase it in order to select it, even though you could play on it for free online if it is selected. This is a bummer because there is a trophy attached to it, but hey ... c'est la vie.

This game just got more fired up for the press conference, but also, interestingly enough, for some games coming out soon, like the new God of War and BioShock: Infinite. Also, some characters that didn't mean as much as they did to me a few months ago were brought into the spotlight tonight, like Sly Cooper, Dante from DmC and Raiden from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.

So yeah, there you have it. Sony + New York + Press Conference + The Future = PS4? We will see. I will try to do a write up or something tomorrow about it and my impressions, but no promises. I do have games to play, after all, and "Wild Internet Speculation" isn't one I am good at.

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