Notes from Sony's E3 press conference

1:08 pm PDT • June 2, 2009

While the call of the open E3 show floor left us with nobody in an actual seat at Sony’s two-hour-long press conference, we have eyes and ears everywhere. Everywhere.

Here are some highlights from Sony’s presentation.

Jack Tretton — President and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America

364 games coming out on PlayStation platforms this year
“In 2009, if you want to have the ultimate gaming experience, you need a PlayStation.”
Committed to PlayStation 2 as long as consumers see value in it
100 new titles for the PS2 this year
What consumers really care about: great games
35 exclusive PlayStation titles in 2009

Evan Wells — Co-president, Naughty Dog

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves “sets the new gold standard in limit-pushing”
Multiplayer beta launches at midnight tonight
Gameplay demo shown: graphics look great; think Gears of War meets Far Cry.

Andy Bowdoin — Zipper Interactive

Live 256-player MAG multiplayer first person shooter battle shown — wow, that’s a lot of people. Controlled mayhem.
Game debuts on PS3 this fall

PlayStation Portable

Looking to expand into tween market
Hannah Montana bundle with lilac-colored PSP this July
Content from Disney and Nickelodeon

Kaz Hirai — President, Networked Products & Services Group; President & CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment

Officially announces PSP Go
Two names for the device: The PSP Go, and “The worst-kept secret of E3”
PSP Go will NOT replace the PSP-3000
More than 50% smaller and 40% lighter than the original PSP-1000
Downloads from PlayStation Network via Wi-Fi
New PC application for PlayStation Store called “Media Go”
New PSP application called “Sense Me” for building smart music playlists
PSP developer toolkit price will be reduced by 80%
All services, features, and functions will work on PSP Go and PSP-3000
PSP Go for $249 on October 1st in North America and Europe
Video delivery service now available natively on the PSP — direct downloads, etc.
New content from Showtime, E!, G4, HDNet, UFC, Magnolia, and more.

Kazunouri Yamauchi — Polyphony Digital

Announces Gran Tourismo PSP
Full-scale, runs at 60fps on PSP Go
800 cars, 35 tracks, 60 track layout variations
Not a shrunken-down version of the series
Ad-hoc multiplayer (up to four nearby players)
Trade and share cars with other players, cooperative car unlocking
Video shown: graphics look amazing

Hideo Kojima — Kojima Productions

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker announced for PSP
Setting is ten years after MGS 3, in the 1970’s, so it’s a true sequel
Kojima will be “deeply involved” as will the team of MGS 4, so it’s not a spin-off
Set in Costa Rica

Jack Tretton

Resident Evil coming to PSP next year
Coming to PSP this year: Little Big Planet, Socom, Monster Hunter, Hannah Montana, Harry Potter
Adding 50 PS1 titles to PlayStation store, Final Fantasy 7 added today
PlayStation Home has 6.5 million people worldwide, with 85% return users — looking to add more content from partners (EA, Ubisoft, etc.)
New PS3 exclusive from Rockstar: Agent set in the late 1970’s. Cross the globe, espionage, assassins, etc.

Ubisoft

Demo for Assassin’s Creed II shown
Gameplay looks good, similar to the first game
Set in the Renaissance period, uses Leonardo Da Vinci’s inventions; a flying machine in some parts — kind of like a hang glider, etc.
Over 30 different weapons in the final game, six additional weapons if you play the game on PSP and connect it to your PS3
On store shelves by the holidays

Square Enix

Video of Final Fantasy XIII shown, looks amazing
Coming in 2010
Video of Final Fantasy XIV Online shown. PlayStation exclusive in 2010. “A new online epic begins.”

Motion Contoller

Working to create a much more realistic experience
Pulls out what looks like a black Wii-mote with a glowing ball on the end of it
Glowing ball is tracked by PlayStation Eye, true 1:1 tracking
If you pick up a virtual tennis racket, you’ll see yourself onscreen, EyeToy-style, holding a tennis racket.
In a first person shooter, you can actually move around the room and your on-screen character will move where you move in 3D
Drawing, painting, etc. tracked with sub-millimeter accuracy
Looks like a souped-up version of the Wii
Still an engineer’s prototype, launches spring 2010

Little Big Planet

Costumes coming from Disney — Jack Sparrow, etc.

ModNation Racers

Kart racing: create and modify cars, characters, and tracks
“Unlimited number of combinations”
Gameplay looks like Mario Kart with PS3-level graphics
Track editor looks pretty simple: drive out the track in front of you using driving controls and then lift terrain, spray dirt, add trees, etc. Sort of like SimCity 3000.

The Last Guardian

Looks like The Neverending Story set in ancient Greece: a kid rides a giant flying chicken-cat around
Graphics and animation look stunning — superb lighting and shadows
Exclusive to PS3

Gran Tourismo 5

I can’t tell if I’m watching HDTV or a video game, so that’s probably a good sign
Exclusive to PS3

God of War 3

Graphics look good, pretty gory. Dude ripped out a minotaur’s intestines. Lots of blood. Stabbed some horned beast in the eye with its own horn after ripping it off its head.

Jack Tretton