Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo continue to have their events at roughly the same time every year eventhough everything was planned around E3 prior to COVID-19. The summer showcase season is almost approaching, and since it is so far off, there will undoubtedly be a lot of unverified rumours and wild speculation that will never materialise.
This year’s Summer Game Fest, which takes place on Friday, June 5, is the closest thing we’ll ever get to E3, despite being very different from it. Although PlayStation has not yet made any announcements, the Xbox showcase is scheduled for Sunday, June 7 and is probably going to take place in the final week of May.
We wouldn’t anticipate Nintendo’s biggest Nintendo Direct of the year, which typically takes place in mid-June, but they’ve been very erratic lately. The most plausible rumours now seem like excellent news for retro enthusiasts, but it’s feasible that Sony may also alter their typical strategy.
Ape Escape is one of the few games specifically named in the long-running rumours that Sony is trying to bring back a handful of unidentified classic series.
Although Sony has never even alluded to it, Jordan Middler discussed reviving Ape Escape on the most recent VGC podcast and noted that “Chris” (presumably Chis Scullion) has been discussing WipEout.
After launching on the PS1, both games found it difficult to become widely popular. Sony made another attempt with WipeEout remasters, but the issue with that franchise is that, despite its immense popularity in Europe, it has always received little attention in the US and Japan.
However, it appears that Sony is thinking of bringing back more than simply PS1 games. Several stories in recent weeks have suggested a new remaster or other release for the superhero franchise inFamous, which began on the PlayStation 3.
Middler also mentioned this and implied that Sucker Punch, the original developer, is not engaged in the project because they have now achieved more success with the Ghost of Tsushima franchise.
It would still be safer to believe that everything is only conjecture because it’s unclear how much of what was mentioned was wishful thinking and how much was insider knowledge.
However, NateTheHate added, in a comment on X “There is truth to Sony exploring and considering reviving some of their older, unused IPs” around the same time as the internet began to take the suggestions more seriously.
He stated that he personally wanted to bring back Sly Cooper, Resistance, Legend of Dragoon, MotorStorm, Ape Escape, and inFamous, although he made no indication that he knew which specific games Sony was considering. He did, however, state that he thought Bloodborne and Uncharted were too recent to be included.
One of the most reliable leakers in the business right now is NatheTheHate, albeit he is cautious enough in his wording to state that Sony is merely considering the options and hasn’t made any commitments yet.
Nobody has yet to discuss if they would make any mention of anything at their summer presentation, but it doesn’t sound like anything is nearing release.
However, it would be reasonable to assume that Sony is interested in these older properties because they could be produced more quickly than usual, particularly if they are only remasters.
A new line of retro-inspired remasters and low-budget sequels would be the quickest way to solve Sony’s lack of new first-party games, which has been attacked for generations.
