With the announcement of the Playstation 4, the pressure is on Sony to deliver a powerful press conference at this year’s E3. It’ll be important for the console maker to leave a lasting impression that stays in the minds of consumers all the the way up until the PS4’s launch. Sony needs 5 key offerings in order to build that kind of momentum, which are as follows:

Exclusives

This one’s a no-brainer. When you think of the Playstation 3, the first thing that comes to your mind is the robust library of exclusive content available for the platform. Sony’s initial struggle with the sales of its console has driven it to become one of the biggest first-party publishers of this generation. It’s only natural, then, that fans would be eager to see their favorite franchises realized in ‘next-gen’ glory. Sony needs to go guns blazing with the Uncharteds and Killzones, at the same time making sure that it also showcases new IPs that expand the horizon for its development studios. It’s already known that some of its major studios are working in a two-team capacity.

Meanwhile, Microsoft claims to to have 15 exclusives, 8 of which are brand new IPs, ready for release around the Xbox One‘s launch. Come E3, it should be interesting to see what both console makers have to show other than the franchises they are well-known for.

Remasters

Yes, we’ve had plenty of those this generation, and there’s no reason why PS3 games shouldn’t receive a similar treatment on the PS4. With a considerable number of PS3 games seeing release close to the PS4’s launch window, it would be a wasted opportunity if they didn’t make their way to the PS4 as well. Seeing them in Full HD glory would be a treat for the eyes that could urge fans to make an early switch to next-gen. In addition, it would also help strengthen the console’s launch line-up.

After all who doesn’t want to play The Last of Us and Gran Turismo 6 with extra visual bells and whistles on the PS4?

Game-Changing Experiences

Sony had a key role to play in the revival of stereoscopic 3D during the course of this generation. With a lineup of 3D-ready televisions and a library of games that showcased the technology, the console maker went to great lengths to try and turn stereo 3D into a household success story. Coupled with motion controls, Sony’s goal was to ultimately offer a more immersive experience to the gaming audiences. However, these technologies weren’t without their fair share of flaws, due to which they were labeled by many as gimmicky and weren’t embraced as wholeheartedly as one would come to expect. In fact, the adoption rate for 3D TVs has been rather slow, resulting in Sony shying away from pushing the tech altogether.

With Microsoft eventually looking to align its Illumiroom technology with the Xbox One sooner or later, one hopes Sony would have an answer in the form of some technology of its own that brings a competitive edge to the PS4. How or in what way it is going to accomplish this is anyone’s guess, but it’s most certainly something Sony needs to consider heading into the ‘next-gen’ battleground.

What does the touch pad do for games?

The most notable addition to the PS4 controller is its touch pad; one that supports a resolution of 1920×900 and two points of touch for highly accurate control. Traditionally, a controller is as anti-RTS as an input device gets. We’ve had some less than stellar attempts to port popular PC games belonging to the genre to consoles in the past, such as Starcraft on the N64. How unintuitive was that?

With the PS4 controller, we now have a more plausible means of controlling a pointer-driven game. It may not be the perfect alternative to the keyboard and mouse, but it’s better than what we’ve had in the past. More than anything, it’s an experiment that may pay-off for developers of Strategy games, such as Blizzard. The high-profile publisher is already porting Diablo III over to the PS3 and PS4. If Sony can get them on board for a potential Starcraft II port for its next-gen platform, it would serve to broaden the audiences that the console would cater to.

The Vita’s Resurrection

It’s no secret that Sony’s handheld is in dire need of games. However, it needs more than just games in order to pull itself out of life support. Playstation Plus has already given the Vita a bit of a boost with free offerings and day-one discounts. Sony needs to reinforce this strategy, even more aggressively than before. In addition, developers need to think out-of-the-box and deliver creative games that don’t try to play second fiddle to existing console experiences.

The Vita is stuck in an identity crisis, and it desperately needs to break free. Lastly, Sony needs to make a big deal out of the fact that every PS4 game can be streamed onto the handheld. It needs to lend a few of the Wii U’s tricks and showcase games that make capable and innovative use of the Vita as an alternative to the Dualshock 4 controller.

What do you want from Sony at E3? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.