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The Final Fantasy VII HD Remake is real. As I passively mentioned last night, Final Fantasy VII is hands down my favorite video game ever, and despite developer Square Enix’s mishandling of the Final Fantasy franchise over the past decade (re: exploitative sequels, spin-offs, narrative retcons, numerous production delays, etc.), I haven’t felt this excited about video games in a very long time. Rumor has it that the Final Fantasy VII Remake will be released sometime in 2017 to commemorate the game’s 20th anniversary. The game will debut on the PS4 first before being released on other platforms (namely Xbox One and PC). Watch that teaser video over and over (and over and over) until the game’s released – I know I will.
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Unlike Microsoft’s E3 press conference, Sony didn’t have much to discuss in terms of hardware, focusing on software instead. One game that I was sure would never see the light of day is Team ICO’s The Last Guardian, which was originally announced as a PlayStation 3-exclusive back in 2009. The subsequent years since its announcement left the project shrouded in mystery, with game director Fumito Ueda leaving Sony back in 2011 (although still on staff to see the game through completion) and a lack of presence at major gaming conferences over the years. However, Sony not only confirmed that The Last Guardian was still in development and re-developed for the PS4, it also has a definitive 2016 release date.
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Fighting game fans already know Street Fighter V will be coming to the PS4 and PC exclusively. However, Sony revealed that there will be a PS4-exclusive public online beta for the fighter scheduled to begin on July 23rd (for those who pre-order the game).
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To cap off the night’s theme of revitalizing cherished video game franchises, Sony made a surprise announcement and revealed Shenmue 3 would be a PS4 console exclusive (and will also appear on the PC). Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki appeared to discuss the franchise’s legacy and to reveal the game would be partially funded via Kickstarter. At press time, the game has surpassed its initial $2m goal with more than $2.5m already pledged.
You can find a full list of Sony’s E3 announcements here.