Sony at E3 2012: ‘Beyond Two Souls,’ Call of Duty on Vita, and PlayStation comes to HTC – The Verge

The Last of Us (E3 2012 gallery)

2012-06-07T22:22:55-04:00

Ellen Page in ‘Beyond: Two Souls’: casting for the next generation of motion capture

2012-06-07T19:00:08-04:00

Ellen Page in Beyond Two Souls

Back in March, we had our first glimpse at Heavy Rain developer Quantic Dream's new "performance capture" technology - one that, unlike many current methods, lets you capture facial, voice, and body animations simultaneously. "Kara," as the tech demo was called, was an impressive and emotionally-engaging leap forward from Heavy Rain. But it wasn't until this week at E3 that we saw the fruits of this technological labor in Beyond: Two Souls, the next full Quantic Dream game for PlayStation 3 starring a stunningly lifelike representation of Ellen Page. And the results are impressive.

Speaking at a presentation of Beyond: Two Souls in action …

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HTC One phones running PlayStation Mobile spotted at Sony’s E3 booth

2012-06-05T16:29:19-04:00

HTC One with PlayStation Mobile (angled)

Yesterday at E3 Sony announced a partnership to bring PlayStation Mobile - previously known as PlayStation Suite - to HTC's phones. While no specific devices were mentioned at the event, the HTC One X on stage gave us an decent idea of what to expect. Sony has since revealed that HTC's One series will be the first third-party products to don the PlayStation Certified moniker, specifically, the HTC One X, One S, and One V.

Sony wasted no time showing off its new relationship with HTC. We spotted the HTC One X, One S, and One V running what's purported to be PlayStation Mobile (née PlayStation Suite) behind glass at Sony's E3 booth. Unfortuna …

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Sony releases complete game lineup for PlayStation Plus

2012-06-05T14:19:04-04:00

Sony PlayStation Plus E3

A day after Sony announced a number of new titles for PlayStation Plus, the company released a complete list of games for its new "instant game collection." For $5 per month, you get free download access to a list of at least 10 games. The US list includes big names like inFamous 2 and LittleBigPlanet 2, as well as Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One, Just Cause 2, Saint's Row 2, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Hard Corp: Uprising, Choplifter HD, Zombie Apocalypse Never Die Alone, and Sideway NY.

As for the EU, Motorstorm Apocalypse is available alongside inFamous 2 and LittleBigPlanet 2, and the following g …

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Sony’s PlayStation Move Racing Wheel announced with paddle shifters, twist throttle

2012-06-04T23:37:48-04:00

sony playstation move racing wheel 1024

One more little tidbit from Sony at E3 is the PlayStation Move Racing Wheel; a new add-on driving peripheral that uses the Move controller's motion tracking, which should give you more precise control than Nintendo's Wii Wheel. The controller's folding arms (image below) give you the choice of a steering wheel or handlebar-type controls, and the device even builds in race car paddle shifters and a motorcycle twist throttle, making it one of the most versatile driving controllers we've seen. The Move Racing wheel is launching for $39.99 this fall, likely around the same time as Little Big Planet Karting.

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‘The Last of Us’ E3 gameplay trailer blows our minds

2012-06-04T22:42:54-04:00

last of us

At Sony's E3 press conference this evening, Naughty Dog unveiled a new gameplay trailer for The Last of Us.

The trailer follows protagonists Joel and Ellie through an abandoned hotel buried in overgrown weeds and a flooded first floor. Joel leads the way with Ellie on his heels, chattering idly to fill the silence. As they climb to the next floor and round a corner, Joel spies someone rifling through the doors of battered dresser. Within seconds Joel has choked the stranger and pockets the goods for himself.

Gunfire heralds the presence of other people, and as Joel returns their fire and advances through the hotel, Ellie creeps along behin …

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PlayStation Suite is now PlayStation Mobile, HTC first third-party hardware partner

2012-06-04T22:08:48-04:00

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Sony has just announced it will be partnering with HTC to create PlayStation Suite-certified phones - a program it is renaming PlayStation Mobile. While no specific phones were mentioned, the new HTC One X was held up as an example of the collaboration, as well as being featured in a slide promoting the partnership. PlayStation Suite was announced last year, and the developer program went into open beta this past April. The focus up until this point, however, had been on Sony Ericsson - now Sony Mobile - devices. The move to third-party partnerships, particularly with a manufacturer of HTC's stature, changes the program's potential drastical …

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‘Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation’ coming to PS Vita on October 30th, along with ‘crystal white’ Vita hardware

2012-06-04T21:46:39-04:00

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Sony and Ubisoft just took the wraps off Assassin's Creed III: Liberation, the first game from the franchise built from the ground-up for the PS Vita. The game will feature the first playable female assassin in the series' history, as well as some sharable goods across the PS3 and Vita. The game will launch on October 30th of this year, and will be made available as a special bundle featuring a brand-new "crystal white" PS Vita, plus a 4GB SD card and the new game. We already knew the white Vita was coming to Japan, but its nice to see it make its way to the US as well.

Developing… Check out all the news as it happens in our Sony E3 2012 li …

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PS Vita getting Hulu Plus and Crackle video-streaming apps ‘soon’

2012-06-04T21:37:51-04:00

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Sony has just announced that Hulu Plus and Crackle apps will be available on the PS Vita "soon." Both streaming video services are US-only, and have been available on the Playstation 3 for some time. Sony has been pushing apps on the Vita - Twitter, Facebook, and Foursquare all have a presence on the potent portable since launch or shortly thereafter. The two video streaming apps will join the recently-announced YouTube app for PS Vita, which will launch later this month. Hulu Plus and Crackle both appeared onscreen alongside mainstays like the MLB.TV, Amazon Instant Video, Vudu, Sony Music Unlimited, and a curious ESPN logo. We're not going …

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Sony adding new games to PlayStation Plus, including ‘Infamous 2’ and ‘Saints Row 2’

2012-06-04T21:36:46-04:00

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Sony has just announced that it will be adding a number of new titles to PlayStation Plus, free to download for customers. Sony's add-on subscription service will see the new games added to its arsenal starting tomorrow, with Infamous 2, Saints Row 2, and Little Big Planet 2 amongst those offered for PlayStation 3 owners. Over 60 games have been made available as part of PlayStation Plus thus far, and with the new additions, Sony Computer Entertainment of America CEO and President Jack Tretton touted the service as "an instant game collection" - for $5 a month, of course.

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