It’s that time of year again, when the climate gets a little more temperate, game releases dry up like a shrivelled prune, and people wear shorts without even a hint of shame. There’s also E3, possibly the only thing that assuages the horrible release drought that the gaming industry suffers every single summer. It’s the biggest gaming event of the year, one that is set to change with Nintendo’s recent decision to duck out of the main conference itself.

Nintendo’s absence will turn the event into a one on one battle between Sony and Microsoft. Sony’s mistakes with the PS3 mean they have the most to prove this year and, with their unveiling of the PS4 in Februray, they’re off to a good start. We’ve rounded up the list of expected announcements Sony will be making at E3 to re-stablish their position as the leaders of the console and handheld market.

PS4 Price and Release Date

Considering the PS3 price announcement went down so poorly at Sony’s 2006 E3 conference, it’s likely fans will be looking for a more tactful approach this year. Sony’s PS4 reveal showed that they had learnt from their mistakes regarding the treatment of developers, so we can only expect they will be looking to assuage concerns over the price of the new console. If they throw us a bone and set down a firm release date, that would be pretty good as well.

PS4 Used Games Clarification

With Microsoft refusing to clarify exactly how used games will work with the Xbox One as of yet, Sony need to capitalise on the confusion and outright tell us what their plan is for the used games market on PS4. Microsoft will probably be doing the same but, if the rumours are to be believed, this might be bad news rather than good. Sony would be foolish to not use this to their advantage.

Final Fantasy Announcements

With rumours of Final Fantasy Versus XIII being remade as a PS4 title, Sony could well have Final Fantasy announcements all over their E3 conference. With the PS4 in need of strong exclusives in these early days, a great new Final Fantasy could be exactly what the console needs. Even if the game winds up being multiplatform, rumours indicate that Sony’s system will at least receive some kind of exclusive content for the game. There might also be some more news on FFXIV: A Realm Reborn console port that, considering the game’s recent movement into a new beta stage, has been largely ignored in the media.