Can you remember a time where gaming wasn’t a part of your life? For me, many others like me, it has become such a huge part of our lives, and we’ve seen it grow and change over the years.
At a recent event in Sydney, PlayStation took the time to not only reflect on their past two decades in Australia, but to also look towards to their future.
To kick things off, Michael Ephraim (SCE Managing Director) opened with an address in which he reflected on how far PlayStation had come, and also outlined their plans for the future. Though gaming would remain the primary purpose of the PlayStation 4, he spoke of how non-gaming content would be a key aspect in their strategy moving forward, and the desire to turn the console into a total entertainment device. With that, deals had already been reached with streaming services such as Netflix, Spotify, and most recently, Presto.
After the opening address, we were free to move about and see what else was on offer. One of the major attractions was PlayStation VR, which we were able to try out. In my playthrough of Atari’s Battlezone, I did find it to be an immersive experience, being placed right at the controls of a tank in a fictional environment. The experience was not without failings, as a glitch on what I suspect to be the game’s end meant that my crosshairs disappeared and the tank’s cannon would no longer fire. However, the VR aspect persisted, and I was still able to look around and move about. Overall, it was an enjoyable experience, and I can look forward to seeing how VR changes the way we play.
The other key attraction was Media Molecule’s Dreams demo. Put simply, players construct a ‘dream space’ of their own design, through which others can venture through to find the exit. Rather fittingly, each dream was described as an episode of Quantum Leap, where Sam Beckett (the player) must solve a problem before being allowed to advance to the next dream.
While not exactly a game in the literal sense, Dreams serves as a creative platform, and a sort of virtual performance space if you will. It is driven by collaboration, whereby players can draw upon assets created by one another, such as characters and objects. Dreams is certainly a unique game, and I look forward to seeing Media Molecule reveal more of it throughout the coming year.
