E3 2011: The Sony Press Conference

Hello, and welcome back to GameCola’s E3 2011 coverage. I had a minor mishap with the Microsoft Press Conference—but this time, I’m pretty sure I have the right video. Please enjoy the Sony Press Conference!

• 5:00: The conference starts.
• 5:02: OK, scratch that. All that’s happening right now is that they’re playing music, with their logo onscreen.
• 5:05: Still nothing but music. I hope no one hacked their presentation. That would be embarrassing.
• 5:06: I’m starting to think that their “the show starts at 4:45 PM” promise was a slight exaggeration.
• 5:07: It starts! But it’s not the real show. It’s the preview show, with hosts I do not recognize. I get the sense that the interviewer woman has never played a videogame in her life, based on the questions she is asking.
• 5:16: After a few more minutes of music, the conference finally starts. The intro video shows off all the various Sony systems, with gameplay footage.
• 5:19. The intro video is still playing. Everyone in the audience is wearing sunglasses for some reason.

• 5:21: The President of Sony comes onstage. He talks about the PlayStation Network Outage. He starts out with a joke, then thanks everyone for their support, during this crisis and over the fifteen years that PlayStation has been in business.
• 5:23: Sales of PS3s were up by 27% this year.
• 5:25: He mentions how connected the PlayStation is. It connects people to each other, the best games, and the best media services. PlayStation 3 generates over 30% of Netflix’s business. They are adding Cinema Now later this year.
• 5:26: He starts talking about Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. The game’s creators come onstage to show off the demo. Their goal is to push the PS3’s amazingly powerful hardware to its limits. Let’s hope this doesn’t result in really long loading times, because the game looks rather interesting. The character in the game gets out of about fifty life-threatening situations in a row.
• 5:33: They are promising multiplayer for Uncharted 3. To help promote the game, they have teamed up with Subway. Why have they teamed up with a sandwich chain to help promote an action videogame? I must have misheard what they said. Anyway, he says to look for demos of the game in Subways, this October. They then show another preview, this one in 3D. Apparently, the entire game is in 3D.
• 5:37: Insomniac Games comes onstage to show off Resistance 3. Their presenter recaps the last game, then shows two demos. It’s a post-apocalyptic first-person shooter, and this one is also in 3D. So that’s why everyone in the audience has sunglasses! I thought they were just trying to look cool.

• 5:41: Now, we’re talking about the Move, combined with 3D TVs. PlayStation is going to release a few 3D game collections, including Shadow of the Colossus and Ico. PlayStation has over 100 3D games.
• 5:44: Sony is releasing special 3D HD TVs, which are designed specially to work with PS3s. The one they’re talking about has a special dual display. The person with 3D Glasses Pair #1 can see one thing, while the person with 3D Glasses Pair #2 can see something else entirely. This is expected to revolutionize multiplayer.
• 5:47: 2K Sports comes out to show off NBA 2K12, which is going to use the Move. They bring out local NBA superstar Kobe Bryant to prove this. I’m guessing Kobe has a lot of free time right now, after his team lost the playoffs this year. Kobe ends up losing the demo, but he seems happy about it.
• 5:52: We have a live demo of Medieval Moves: Fantasy Quest. This is the next game from the PlayStation Sports game people. This one is also in 3D. It features fighting skeletons with a bow and arrow, and ninja throwing stars. The game has no inventory; it figures out which weapon you are using based on how you move the controller. It comes out this fall.
• 5:58: There is a trailer for inFAMOUS 2, which is being released on Tuesday.
• 6:00: In September, LittleBigPlanet 2 will have enhanced Move functionality.

• 6:01: There is a preview for Starhawk, followed by a preview for the newest Sly Cooper game, followed by a preview of Dust 514.
• 6:09: There’s another preview, and I skipped this one to get some dinner. Mashed potatoes are delicious.
• 6:15: BioShock Infinite is going to use the Move. It will be bundled with the first BioShock game on the PS3. Another BioShock game is coming to the NGP.
• 6:20: Speaking of the NGP, Sony wants to talk about the NGP. It’s going to connect with Sony’s cell phones and tablet computers, and their portable network system will be called the PlayStation Suite. They then talk about all the various features of the NGP, like the touchscreen and the cameras.
• 6:24: NGP has a new name: the PlayStation Vita. The crowd groans as soon as they hear the name. Vita is Latin for “life,” and it doesn’t seem like they’re sure how to pronounce it. It is going to connect with AT&T, which causes the crowd to groan again. The social networking system that it comes with is called the Near. They show a demo of Uncharted 3, played on the PSVita.
• 6:35: The other PSV game they show off is an action RPG called Ruin. It can instantly connect to the PS3. They show this off by pausing the game on the PSV, then resuming it on PS3.
• 6:40: They show off another PSV game, ModNation Racers. This one shows off the touch panel on the back of the device. The presenter emphasizes that this is very intuitive.

Here’s a picture of the PSVita, just to prove that I did not make up the name of this system.

• 6:45: Of course, LittleBigPlanet is coming to the PlayStation Vita.
• 6:47: Capcom shows up, to preview Street Fighter X Tekken. They are working on a PSV version of this game, in addition to the PS3 version. It comes with a bonus character: Cole from inFAMOUS. The person playing the game isn’t very good, and he cuts the demo short because he’s losing. Kobe should take a page from this guy’s book.
• 6:52: Over 80 titles have been announced for PlayStation Vita. They air a video, showing off many different games.
• 6:56: The Vita will be released this year. It will have two models: a wi-fi model, retailed at $249. There is also a 3G wi-fi model, which will be $299 dollars.
• 6:58: They recap the entire conference and thank everyone for watching.

All right, that’s it for the Sony Press Conference. Next, we’ll see what Nintendo has in store for everyone!