<span style='font-size:8pt;line-height:100%'>SONY CONFERENCE
source: http://www.gamedaily.com/e3/article.asp?ar...45§ionid=17

• Kaz Hirai has just started the show with an opening about the history of PlayStation. He is discussing the 10-year life cycle.
  
  
• Kaz is continuing to talk about how successful the PlayStation brand is and how much more they've sold than their competitors. They want to extend lifespan to 10 years. Sony also believes that pricing is very important. Sony was able to keep the PS2 at $299 and then at $199 for very long periods of time because the console was selling so well. "The health of the business rests on our shoulders."
  
  PS2 is being reduced to US$149 and it includes network adaptor and ATV Offroad Fury 2!
  
  
• Kaz is boasting about how many million seller titles there are for PS2. In fact, the PS2 has more million sellers than Xbox and GCN combined. Upcoming hit titles: God of War, Gran Turismo 4, Metal Gear Solid 3 (ONLINE!!!), Getaway Black Monday, Killzone, Jak 3, Ratchet & Clank 3, Sly 2 (they call it "year of the platformer"), GTA San Andreas, and more.
  
  
• They are talking about EyeToy and how it's challenged developers to think about the existing market. Many more EyeToy games are in development by both first and third party developers (Harry Potter, Sega Superstars, DDR, etc.).
  
  
• They have sold 3 million network adapters which is 10% of the installed user base, and they get 100,000 new users per month. They believe online gaming for PS2 in 2004 will be huge. More than 100 online titles on PS2 by the end of this year.
  
  They are now showing a video of some of the upcoming online games for PS2... Mortal Kombat: Deception, Gran Turismo 4, Ghost Recon 2, MLB SlugFest: Loaded, Hot Shots Golf, and more.
  
  
• President of Insomniac Ted Price is now there talking about Ratchet & Clank 3. The two previous R&C games sold nearly 4 million worldwide. This will be the first online R&C game. Insomniac believes that R&C online will bring online gaming to more mainstream gamers.
  
  
• 8 simultaneous players online and 6 online battlefields will be in R&C: Up Your Arsenal. There will be full community support...clans, tourneys, etc. Online modes will include capture-the-flag, deathmatch, etc. There will be co-op vehicles and destructible environs. Now they are demoing the multiplayer with employees from Insomniac. Using gadgets is very important for multiplayer, and they are showing off the vehicles in multi like the hovercraft. It's similar to onslaught in Unreal Tournament. One team is trying to defend the base from another that is trying to take it. You can turn players into sheep with one of the gadgets. Everything being shown now is real-time gameplay. They are showing off the different weapons now as well.
  
  
• Kaz Hirai is saying commerce, customization and community building are the three keys to realizing potential for online gaming. The most important thing is to give publishers control over their online systems. The only thing holding online gaming back is how to make money. They are comparing mini-transactions like downloadable content, episodes to downloadble music over the Internet; this could be a way to make money.
  
  
• An example of the above system would be a gamer willing to spend a little money to buy a super-tweaked out car for Gran Turismo. Online gaming will be a critical bridge from this generation of consoles to the next.
  
  They are now introducing the PSP! [ see it here ] Kaz is holding one in his hand right now and it seems pretty similar to the concept that was shown many months ago. It also seems a little bigger than the GBA.
  
  
• PSP is as revolutionary as the original PSOne says Kaz. It includes wireless connectivity, and it will offer high-quality movies, music and video in addition to 3D gaming similar to PS2 quality graphics. The initial target audience for the PSP is the 18-34 year-old market, people who have more disposable income.
  
  The display is a 16x9, 4.3 inch widescreen LCD. This enhances in-game perihperal vision. The PSP has stereo speakers and 32MB ram and 4MB VRam. They will have regional lockouts on the UMDs. The PSP is also going to include a USB 2.0 slot and and infrared dataport. The PSP will contain a lithium-ion battery. They claim roughly 10 hours of playback with this battery.
  
  
• They are now talking about UMDs and how they can hold three times as much as traditional CD-ROMs. Development for the PSP should not be a problem because it uses OpenGL. They keep on stressing the "advent of wireless gaming"... PSP to PSP, PSP to PS2, and PSP to PC. All major game companies are on board for PSP development. 34 from Japan, 24 from North America, etc.
  
  They are now showing a video of some PSP games (not running off PSP architecture however)...Death Jr., Ape Escape, Spiderman, FIFA, Twisted Metal, Tony Hawk, and more.
  
  
• They just introduced John Mattrick, president of EA Worldwide Studios. EA will provide same degree of support for PSP that they have shown the PS2. EA will have a min. of 4 titles for PSP's launch... Need for Speed Underground, Tiger Woods, NFL Street and NBA Street. These games are now being shown running off PSP hardware, and they look pretty similar to PS2 games.
  
  
• Movie studios and music publishers have also shown interest in PSP. They are showing a movie (Spiderman 2 trailer) actually running on the PSP sitting there on stage. It definitely looks like high quality video.
  
  It doesn't look like the PSP has a digital pad, only an analog control.
  
  The next demo being shown is FF: Advent Children. The movie will be over 70 minutes and will be available on UMD, so it can be played on the PSP. The events that take place are 2 years after the event of FFVII.
  
  
• UMD will allow for all kinds of content. They are now showing an Incubus video on the PSP. Sony's digital music service can be extended to include PSP.
  
  
• They are now discussing how all Cell-based (the processor) hardware will connect. A Cell-based workstation is coming in Q4 2004 as a prototype.
  
  
• The conference has just come to a close. Unfortunately, pricing for the PSP was not disclosed yet.

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Metal Gear Solid ONLINE?!?!?!?!?!?

*melts into puddle of goo*

Getaway Black Monday? Getaway as in the "the game plays like shit but who cares, I can see my house!" Getaway? :blink: Ok, 2 questions.

-How are the developers still in business?!? Are you trying to tell me people actually kept that turd of a game??

-Why are they stll in business?!? :P Didn't someone remove all their fingers to ensure they never produce another game ever again??

Don't spose there was any sign of GTA: SA there?

Hmm, aside from the PSP there doesn't really seem to be much that's been announced that's new/exciting (aside from MGS2 online) other than the PSP. I look forward to seeing more on Jak III and Ratchet and Clank 3 though (as I loved their predecessors, most of my gaming lately has come from Ratchet and Clank 2).

Have to agree with Comrade Natrak, at the moment the only thing interesting is the PSP. The rest is just talk on the other games. Hopefully they'll show more previews and videos in the next two days.

I'm with you guys too. I want to see more of MGS3, Killzone, Resident Evil Outbreak File 2, maybe a video of The Warriors, definately some GTA San Andreas pics/videos. Also, i'm hoping for a formal announcement of Devil May Cry 3 and maybe a video. I've heard rumours that it's in the alpha stage.

That was my exact reaction whe... blaaaargh! *also melts* :P

Other than that point of interest, all I see is too many bloody sequels again. :angry:

Hot damn! Great news all round. While MGS3 online sound great, I doubt it'll be multiplayer based online. Rather, it might be downloadable content - or so says IGN. ;)

And did you say Jak 3? :D Awesome!