Given that what might have been Sony's biggest announcement - the PSP Go - was thoroughly outed over the weekend, there was actually a pretty strong line-up and sense that the PlayStation manufacturer had a lot to say in its conference, covering PlayStation 3, PSP, software and hardware, the only thing missing was a price cut...
Hardware - PSP Go
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PSP Go - E3's Worst Kept Secret (TM)
Let's start with "The Worst-Kept Secret of E3," as SCEA boss Jack Tretton put it - the PSP Go. To be released on October 1, it will feature - as expected - a sliding screen, 16GB of internal memory, Bluetooth, WiFi, no UMD port and a general focus on internet-based functionality.
The key piece of information that the world didn't have before the press conference was price, and the smaller, lighter PSP Go won't come cheap - USD 249 or EUR 249 (GBP 219 approximately) is the same price as the original handheld when it launched.
Hardware - PlayStation Eye and Motion Control
With Microsoft having well and truly upped the ante by presenting Project Natal on Monday, and Nintendo "unconcerned" about rival motion tech having already made a killing with the Wiimote, the pressure was on Sony to show off some kind of answer as well.
The PlayStation Eye will, from Spring 2010, combine with a new motion controller, which looks a bit like a wand with a blob on the top (which can change colour). The motion of that wand can be tracked accurately in 3D, not unlike the Wii Motion Plus.
Dr Richard Marx and Dr Antony Mikhaeloff came on-stage to demonstrate just what the new technology was capable of, and proceeded to show a number of different uses - from archery and shooting to throwing spells and dragging on-screen items a la real-time strategy games.
It's a piece of kit that "far surpasses any technology on the market now," said Marx - although while it does look useful, you'd have to admit that technically the Motion Plus isn't yet on the market... but then neither is this new Sony controller either.
Games - PlayStation 3
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Formerly Project Trico, now Last Guardian
Platform exclusives clearly rank high up on Sony's priority list for the PlayStation 3 at a time when the last of the behemoth franchises - Metal Gear Solid - was unveiled as heading to Xbox 360 next year.
But Sony countered that well by revealing Final Fantasy XIV - an MMO - will only feature on the PS3, while GTA IV developer Rockstar North is also working on a PS3-only project, called Agent, which Sam Houser subsequently described as "the ultimate action game".
And although the video of Ico and Colossus man Famita Ueda's new project was also leaked online recently, The Last Guardian video was well received on the big screen - as was Gran Turismo 5, God of War II and Assassin's Creed.
Games - PlayStation Portable
Talking of Assassin's Creed, the PlayStation Portable version, Bloodlines, will have an October 10 release - but that wasn't the biggest PSP software news of the conference.
Gran Turismo PSP, the game whose mock-up screenshot was bandied about prior to the launch of the original PSP, will finally, definitely see the light of day. The game, which will feature 800 cars in total, and offer the ability to share and trade them with friends online, will ship alongside the PSP Go on October 1.
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Longest dev time for any PSP game, ever?
A little further away are two more key franchise titles for the PSP - Kojima Productions, making up for the fact that the next big MGS game will feature on Microsoft's platform, announced that Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker would be available in 2010 (and feature Solid Snake), while Resident Evil Portable will also be released next year.
The PlayStation Business
According to Jack Tretton, PlayStation was responsible for 30 per cent of all games activity at retail worldwide last year, while the PS3 increased its installed base by 40 per cent, taking it to 22 million units worldwide.
Additionally, the PlayStation Network has now passed the 475 million content downloads mark, from a total of 24 million users - 11 million of which reside in the US.
'Sony Press Conference: Highlights' Screenshot store
The Store is set to welcome FFVII
Over 6.5 million people now reside in Home, 85 per cent of which are return users, while the PS Store - which houses over 250 titles, 90 of them exlcusive - is set to welcome Final Fantasy VII among a batch of 50 classic PSOne titles.
He also announced that the PlayStation business was set to push further into South America, expanding the PS3's presence to Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay later this year in a bid to net USD 750 million in regional sales for fiscal 2009.
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