Any E3 conference can open strong, it’s how you close that truly matters. It’s that lasting impression that will send gamers home excited. And this year, Sony arguably ended the strongest with over seven minutes of gameplay from Naughty Dog’s highly anticipated PS3 exclusive The Last of Us. Revealed at last year’s Video Game Awards, the tension has been mounting for Playstation 3 fans to get their hands on the title. No release date has yet been revealed, and The Last of Usalways seemed prime to possibly bow this Holiday season. However, gamers may be disappointed to learn they may have to wait a bit longer.
When talking with VG24/7, Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida was pressed to talk about Sony’s line up with specific games included. His response? “We are not ready to talk about 2013. But some of the games we showed like God of War and The Last of Us are not coming out this year.We will talk more about what our line-up of games will be like in 2013.”
That’s right ladies and gentlemen: Yoshida has said The Last of Us won’t be coming out until 2013.
This means that this Holiday we can certainly expect Playstation All-Stars: Battle Royale and LittleBigPlanet Kart Racing, along with other cross-console titles such as Assassin’s Creed III, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, and more, but the true lack of a gritty PS3 exclusive such as The Last of Us or Unchanted. The game now moves into possible Early 2013 territory, where the impressive looking Beyond from Heavy Rain developer Quantum Dream and the high-profile prequel God of War: Ascension both currently reside in terms of PS3-only titles.
With this possibly being the last year of the PS3, does this mean Sony will have a lackluster holiday season before moving on to the next generation? Keep in mind: neither Sony nor Microsoft have said anything about the next gen consoles just yet, but rumor is quickly mounting for a 2013 reveal.
We’ll keep you updated on any news that comes out of The Last of Us, but until then see the gameplay you may have missed from the Sony E3 Conference Monday night:
