PlayStation Experience: The Sports Gamers' Take on the Massive Gaming Exhibition

On Dec. 6-7, the Sands Convention Center in the Palazzo Hotel in Las Vegas hosted the PlayStation Experience. The event was a celebration of 20 years of the PlayStation brand. I was fortunate enough to be on hand. I must say, it was quite the show.

Sports games don't generally get a lot of love in these types of shows, and this was largely the case at PSX, but there were a few spots set up beautifully for the virtual jocks.

MLB: The Show Bar...Yes, That's a Thing

On Friday, Los Angeles Dodgers star Yasiel Puig was revealed as the cover athlete for MLB 15: The Show. During the keynote address, San Diego Studios' Ramone Russell introduced the game's first trailer starring Puig.

Not much could be picked up from this trailer, but the graphics looked great, and the licensed apparel also stood out. This will be the first year fans of the series really get an opportunity to benefit fully from the carry-over saves feature.

Any Road to the Show or franchise mode saves from MLB 14: The Show can be brought over to MLB 15: The Show. That is a great feature that should become standard for all sports games.

We'll have our eyes peeled for more information on the game in the coming months. MLB 15: The Show releases on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on March 31, 2015.

At PSX, MLB 15: The Show wasn't playable, but there were about seven monitors set up to play MLB 14: The Show.

This wasn't just any traditional gaming setup. It was a full sports bar with beverages and all. It was one of the coolest such things I'd seen at a gaming event. Russell told me Sony and San Diego Studios have plans to transport the setup with the team whenever the game is shown.

Check it out in this tweet from Will Danger Powers:

If you get a chance to attend one of these events, you have to check out the MLB: The Show booth. 

EA Sports Kills it

EA Sports didn't have a new game coming out recently or even soon, but the company was still a presence at PSX.

There were playable versions of Madden 15, NBA Live 15, FIFA 15 and the ever-evolving EA Sports UFC. The latter was the most compelling because the event fell just two days before the latest free roster additions were set to be released.

Four legends (Matt Hughes, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Mark Coleman and Brock Lesnar) were added to the expanding roster. All of them were playable at PSX.

Hughes, Chuck Liddell and Miesha Tate were also there to sign autographs and take pictures with fans.

I had the opportunity to interview Liddell and discuss the game, his career and play a game of one-word association you have to check out.

I also spoke with the game's creative director Brian Hayes, who also held the same post for the Fight Night series. We talked about EA Sports UFC's improvements via patches since it released on June 17. Perhaps the only game I can think of that changed as much post-release was the Natural Motion created football game, Backbreaker.

We also talked about the possibility of seeing another Fight Night game made. Hayes said he couldn't say for sure if the series would be continued, but he felt that: "it would be a shame if the series never got a chance to see the light of day on the current-generation of gaming consoles (PS4 and Xbox One)."

I, and every other virtual boxing fan, certainly agree.

That entire conversation was had over a rather competitive bought between myself and Hayes. He took the relatively newly added Andrei Arlovski, and I picked Travis "Hapa" Browne. I thought I had him, but in the second round, the Pitbull knocked me out.

At least I got the best of Madden producer Ben Haumiller. He formerly worked on the NCAA Football series. Obviously, I had to ask when he thought that series would return. Haumiller said: "once the legal stuff is resolved, it's possible."

I got the feeling he, like many others with EA Sports that I've spoken with since the series was cancelled, can't wait to get back to the game. Without any promises from Haumiller or anyone else at EA Sports, I'd still say the chances the series returns at some point is pretty high.

After discussing NCAA Football, I guided my Chicago Bears to a 42-21 win over Haumiller and the New York Giants. Two pick-sixes by Sherrick McManis helped to fuel the effort.

NBA 2K15's Two Monitors

The 2K Sports presence was almost non-existent. I didn't see a WWE 2K15 setup, and the NBA 2K15 section consisted of just two monitors with no representatives from the company.

Nonetheless, I waited to play the game like I didn't have it in heavy rotation at home.

Rugby 2015 Looked a Little Disappointing

Granted, Rugby 2015 by Maximum Games was in an early stage, it didn't really impress me. While the top-down view was more playable than the old views the EA Sports Rugby games used, the animation and graphics in Rugby 2015 are a step behind what sports gamers have become accustomed to.

Hopefully, the game is tightened up for its February release on PlayStation 4.

Halftime Show?

As a guy who primarily plays sports games, that genre was my main focus, but I'd be remiss if I didn't mention some of the other titles and genres that really stood out.

Until Dawn

This is a survival horror, role-playing game with a B-movie horror flick feel. You're trying to guide the main character to safety as a sociopathic killer attempts to make mincemeat of her with a sadistic weapon.

You're given choices like hide-or-run in classic climactic horror-film scenes and forced to watch as the consequences for your decisions play out on the screen.

Deaths are permanent, and your story continues on like a television series even though the characters have been sliced to bits. That's awesome.

The Order 1886

Oh my God, this game looks phenomenal.

Graphically, EA Sports UFC is the standard-bearer in my book, but The Order 1886 may be coming for the title.

The character models are fabulous and the animated action scenes are mind-blowing. Even if you only play sports games, this one might be a game worth you making an exception for.

Uncharted 4

Drake is back and looking as realistic as ever. The trailer for this Sony exclusive was the first shown in the keynote, and it drew raves from the crowd.

The full gameplay trailer was about 10-12 minutes long. It showed off the stunning detail in character and environment, and the action sequences were just as amazing as in previous versions.

The coming year is going to be a big one for PlayStation 4, and games like Uncharted 4, The Order 1886 and Until Dawn will give virtual jocks a nice diversion in between sports game releases.

Follow Brian Mazique aka FranchisePlay, the Sports Video Game Journalist