E3 2010: Sony Press Conference Live Blog

Sony is the only one of the the “Big 3″ who have yet to hold their E3 2010 press conference.  Have they saved the best for last?  We can expect a full reveal of the PlayStation Move, plus details on Gran Turismo 5, SOCOM 4, LittleBigPlanet 2, and Killzone 3.  But what else?  Will the rumors of a new PSP be proven true?  Do Insomniac or Naughty Dog have new games to show?  Stay right there, Ranters, and we’ll bring you the news as it happens.

The Show Begins

• A long video montage plays – Kevin Butler comes out and makes fun of it.
• Jack Trenton takes the stage.
• Here comes Kaz Hirai to talk about 3D.
• “Sony is the undisputed leader in 3D”
• “What PlayStation did for Blu Ray, we’re now ready to do it for 3D as well.”
• 20 native 3D titles coming by March of next year.
• Killzone 3
• Demo screening now – footage looks impressive.
• Coming February 2011.

3D Games

• “Only games developed for 3D can provide the true 3D experience.”
• Motorstorm Apocalypse, Killzone 3, Sly Cooper Collection (confirmed!) and Gran Turismo 5 all in 3D
• Also, Crisis 2, Mortal Kombat, Shaun White Skateboarding, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, Tron: Evolution, and NBA 2K11.
• 3D Move titles: The Fight, Eye Pet, Tumble, MLB 10.
• Showing a demo video now, contains footage of every game listed so far.

PlayStation 2

• Yep – they’re talking up the PS2, which just is now 10 years old.

PlayStation Move

• Peter Dille takes the stage.
• “Great casual and family games”
• “Will appeal to core gamers as well”
• “Unrivaled 1 to 1 tracking.”
• Making a point of control precision offered by buttons.
• Traditional version of game, and Move version, on a single Blu Ray.
• New games: Sorcery, a third person action adventure game.
• The game looks like Harry Potter meets Legend of Zelda.  One to one control of the character’s wand looks pretty good.
• Ball at the end of the Move controller changes color.
• Fairly impressive demo. Sorcery looks like an actual game, rather than any kind of mini-game.
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour.  Looks, mechanically, just like Wii Motion Plus Tiger Woods.
• Heroes on the Move: Ratchet, Jak, and Sly Cooper in a Move exclusive game.
• Also includes Bently, Clank, and Daxter.  Looks to feature gameplay elements from each character’s respective series.  Again, looks like a proper game rather than a collection of mini-games.  Could be cool.
• Big advertising partnership announced with Coca Cola.
• And… there’s Kevin Butler.
• Taking a couple of swipes at Microsoft’s Kinect event.
• PlayStation move available in Europe September 15th, in North America on September 19th, and in Japan October 21st.
• PlayStation Move Motion Controller will cost $49.99.
• The Navigation controller will cost $29.99.
• A bundle of the Move Motion Controller, The PlayStation Eye, and the game Sports Champions will retail for $99.99.
• The same bundle come with a PlayStation 3 for $399.99.
• Move games will cost $39.99.
• More Move compatible games: SOCOM 4, Time Crisis, NBA 2K11, Ruse, Singstar Dance, Echochrome 2, Heavy Rain, Toy Story 3, Resident Evil 5.

PSP

• Kicking off a new campaign to support the hardware.
• Showing a new Kevin Butler PSP commercial.
• MARCUSPSP.COM
• Now, showing a Marcus commercial.
• New game “InviZimals” uses the PSP camera.
• Now showing a God of War: Ghost of Sparta trailer. All CG, no gameplay.
• New PSP games coming this year: Tron: Evolution, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Toy Story 3, Ace Combat, The 3rd Birthday, UFC Unleashed 2010.
• More than 70 new titles by December.

PlayStation Network

• More than 50 million registered accounts.
• PS3 is the most connected console on the market.
• Casting call for The Tester season 2 starts today.
• Video delivery service coming to Canada starting July 1st.
• “PlayStation Home is a great example of how we use this network to connect the content and experiences to the community.”
• PlayStation E3 booth has been completely replicated in Home.
• Discussing LittleBigPlanet’s importance to PSN.  ModNation Racers, too.

LittleBigPlanet 2

• Alex Evans from Media Molecule takes the stage.
• New features: “Sackbot” non-player characters, grapple-hook, film-making tools.
• “It’s a true platform for games.”
• Can make an RTS, RPG, puzzle game, racing game, shooter.
• Showing footage of games created in a single night – variety of gameplay styles is extremely impressive.

PlayStation Plus

• Subscription based add-on to PSN.
• Features “exclusive digital content.”
• Preferred early demos, priority invitations to betas, free content “ranging from full PSN games to themes and Minis.”
• Subscribers get discounts on products from the PlayStation Store.
• Also, automatic downloads of select demos, game-related videos, patches and firmware updates.
• Becomes available later this month.  One full year for $49.99, 3 months for $17.99.
• For a limited time, Sony will be offering 3 months free.
• In its first month, the service will feature the full PSN game WipeOut HD, a “title trial” for inFamous, Fieldrunners and Age of Zombies (both PlayStaion Minis), and the PSone title Rally Cross.
• “This is content you will own for the duration of your subscription.”
• Core is also included.

EA on PlayStation 3

• John Schappert takes the stage.
• Two EA games with PlayStation 3 exclusive content: Medal of Honor is the first.
• New character reveal: Deuce.
• Limited Edition version of the new Medal of Honor will be a PS3 exclusive, and feature a new, hi-def version of Medal of Honor: Frontline.
• Second game with exclusive content: Dead Space 2.
• Dead Space 2 Limited Edition, another PS3 exclusive, includes a version of Wii’s Dead Space: Extraction with Move support.

Portal 2!!!

• Gabe Newell takes the stage.
• Yep – Portal 2 is coming to PS3, and “Steam will be part of that experience.”
• The PlayStation 3 version of Portal 2 will be “the best version on any console,” says Newell.
• First ever Portal 2 trailer – “I think we can put our differences behind us.  For science.  You monster.”

More Games

• New trailer for Final Fantasy 14.
• Exclusive content for Mafia 2 on PS3.
• Exclusive missions in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.  The beta will be a PSN exclusive.

Gran Turismo 5

• New trailer is predictably gorgeous.
• November 2, 2010.  We have a date, people!

inFamous 2

• Trailer is all in game footage.  Looks nicer than the original.
• Due 2011.

Twisted Metal

• David Jaffe demoing the game onstage.
• There are helicopters!
• Sixteen player online, 2 or 4 player split-screen.

Well, that was… long.  But full of some pretty great stuff!  Portal 2 is probably the big news here, along with PlayStation Plus.  But Heroes on the Move and Sorcery showed that Sony is taking a much different approach to motion gaming than Microsoft.  Add in a date for Gran Turismo 5 and the Twisted Metal announcement, and Sony ends up with a solid show.

What did you think of Sony’s E3 2010 press conference?  What games looked the best to you?