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In the lead up to the (expected) announcement of the PlayStation 4 later today, Sony has released yet another tribute video to the technological advancements and innovation that got them to this point. The previous videos detailed the 'Evolution' from PS to PS3, and the newest video shines the spotlight on the incredible games that helped make PlayStation a household name.
The likes of Gran Turismo, Ico, and Twisted Metal may pale in comparison to today's games and graphical horsepower, but there's no denying gaming wouldn't be what it is today without Sony's consoles. What better time to take a walk down memory lane?
The numerous claims of video games being 'not just for kids anymore' may be so redundant and obvious at this point that hearing it sounds more like marketing than an actual battle cry, but there was a time when adolescence meant 'gamer talk' in public occurred at the risk of ridicule.
It's hard to know exactly when that began to change, or who deserves credit, but the wave of simulation racers and incredibly challenging driving games in general that Gran Turismo helped usher in stands apart. Sure, the graphics might not be as jaw-dropping today (look at the size of those pixels!) but ask any PlayStation 2 owner about the first time they played GT, and it was clear that gaming had changed for the better.
While the driving series made simulation driving mainstream, PlayStation developers weren't only interested in making the mundane seem challenging and exciting. Instead, a precious few major studios shrugged off regular recipes for success at their own peril, and rather than trying to convince people that games can be art, just went ahead and made it so.
Savvy gamers will recognize that the video features more than a few nods to developer thatgamecompany (despite their going multi-platform), the Team Ico catalogue (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus) and the game-turned-programming-platform LittleBigPlanet. Given what we expect to see from the PlayStation 4 event, it looks like Sony is getting their audience ready for some announcements.
That's obviously speculation on our part, but it wouldn't be surprising to see LittleBigPlanet 3 finally confirmed, an actual release date for The Last Guardian, and a first glimpse of what's in store for Gran Turismo 6 - even if the racing series doesn't quite garner the same awe it once did.
It's a safe bet to see announcements from most first-party developers, meaning Naughty Dog may have something new to show of either The Last of Us (how fitting has that name become?) or the future of the Uncharted series. There's also a chance to see God of War 4, and if you're wondering how Sony plans to build excitement for next-gen sequels without weakening excitement for their upcoming PS3 releases, we're sure you're not alone.
That's the challenge facing the company over the coming months, and hopefully this event will give us some sense of what plans Sony has in place to make PS3 owners both eager to spend and...excited to spend even more.
Which announcements do you think are the most likely to happen at Sony's event today? Are you most excited to hear about the PlayStation 4 hardware, or the games being developed? Our questions should all be announced soon enough, so stay tuned to Game Rant as the news arrives.
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Follow Andrew on Twitter @andrew_dyce.