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4:17 AM: Good morning Australia. Are you ready for some caffeine-induced Sony insanity? We're just over 10 minutes away from the event starting, and the streams are playing some lovely sound effects from random games. Interesting indeed.
4:27 AM: Three minutes to go, and now listening to some funky techno beats that you would probably hear in a Wipeout game.
4:36 AM: And here we go. Suitably epic music kicks in, and the four trademark PlayStation buttons pop up, followed by a pumping soundtrack and a rather insane montage of games. Swish.
4:38 AM: Trailer ends, and here comes Jack Tretton. Speaks about how stressful E3 is, but is grateful to everyone who's come, giving a big thank you. He then goes on about the history of the centre they're in.
4:40 AM: "Solid Snake, Nathan Hale, Kratos and Sackboy," Tretton says. Let's hope we see them all today. Goes on to speak about the history of PlayStation and its inception.
4:43 AM: Tretton mentions their devotion for '10 year' life cycles with the PlayStation franchise, and talks about the blockbuster games released for each of their consoles. Also talking about how powerful Cell is, and PS3s multimedia ability.
4:45 AM: "We're here to talk about genre defining kick-ass games" Tretton says. Goes on to talk about releases earlier this year, such as Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Metal Gear Solid 4. "Reminder of a true meaning of exclusive content."
4:49 AM: Tretton goes into deeper discussion for PS3. First game shown is Resistance 2. It's loud. And wow does it look good too. Amazing scale, based in a city. A gigantic thing is trying to eat our player. Player runs into a building for his dear life, and the monster thing is waiting for him.
4:53 AM: Our player gets caught by the giant, but fires off a rocket to the face and gets thrown through a few buildings. The demo ends, and Ted Price comes on stage. The creature is called a Leviathan and the city is Chicago. It's 1953 and Chimera are now taking on the Americans, spreading their virus across the land.
4:55 AM: Ted Price talks about Resistance 2's large emphasis on scale. Will feature full 8 player online co-op, 60 player deathmatch and scale unlike we've ever seen. A new trailer is shown, featuring a new locale, and it's all in-game. Looks really pretty.
4:58 AM: Tretton comes back on stage, and speaks about user generated content and how 'it's the future'. Begins to talk about Little Big Planet, and its ability in creating, sharing and playing levels with players online. "Little Big Planet isn't just a new game, it's a whole new experience".
Little Big Planet creative business figures demonstration
5:02 AM: Media Molecule demo Little Big Planet, and start clothing up Sackboy. A graph is shown through Little Big Planet, with bars being actual platforms in the levels, and notes hanging all over the place. 5 million units sold this year with PS3, PS2 and PSP. Greatest Hits games announced for PS3, several games outlined, including Motorstorm, Call of Duty 3, and Assassin's Creed.
5:05 AM: Tretton goes into discussion for PS2. "Success of PS2 has allowed us to be more aggressive with PS3". Sony are introducing more than 130 new titles for PS2 this year. A montage is shown showcasing some of those games.
5:08 AM: Tretton announces Buzz coming to PSP for the first time. Tretton talks about how online is important, and goes into discussion of PlayStation Network.
5:11 AM: Tretton says they've listened to what gamers want, and will cater to the core market. 180 million downloads since November 2006 on PlayStation Network. Goes on to reveal Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, that will be available on PlayStation Network.
5:14 AM: Footage of Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty shown. The same level of detail and such as the original just at a smaller scale. Available this summer for $14.99 USD. Tretton goes on about the library of PSN games, and a montage is shown, showcasing games like Commando 3, Fat Princess and Eden.
Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty E3 Trailer
5:18 AM: Tretton talks about the value of PSN and the library of games again. Moves onto Gran Turismo TV, and shows a montage featuring some insanely good looking cars and races -- distributes episodes of shows like Top Gear, and also showcases real races.
5:22 AM: Back to Tretton, and speaks about the Trophy system, and how they'll be expanding the trophy system in the very near future. Moves onto Home, and calls it "The ultimate social experience for gamers". Great levels of commitment from publishers for Home, such as Ubisoft and EA. A trailer is shown for Home. Homes can fit into the style of the games, so your home can look like a battleground in Resistance. Interesting stuff.
5:25 AM: Tretton now speaks about digital distribution of films through PSN. Standard and High Definition downloads available, and episodes and films can be downloaded or rented. Films can be placed on PSP and such. Director of PSN, Eric Lempel, comes on stage, and guides us through the PlayStation store in showing how films work and such. Progressive downloading available, so you can watch a film as it downloads. Great for people lacking bandwidth.
5:30 AM: PlayStation Network features will be available after the conference. Wow that's quick.
5:32 AM: Tretton now goes into depth with PSP. New PSP entertainment pack announced, for the younger demographic. The bundle comes with a silver PSP, Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, National Treasure 2, and a 1GB memory card, for $199 USD.
5:35 AM: New PSP game announced, Resistance: Retribution. Third Person shooter and looks pretty nice visually. Spring 2009 release date. After the trailer, a PSP games montage is shown, showcasing several upcoming titles for 2008 and 2009, including Star Wars: Force Unleashed, Madden 09, Loco Roco 2, Patapon 2 and Stardust Portable.
5:38 AM: Tretton goes back into PS3 discussion. "Life with PlayStation" announced, coming in the next few months, allows to stream things online with ease. Jim Lee comes on stage, to show DC Universe Online, made by Sony Online Entertainment.
5:43 AM: Jim Lee goes on about how insane he is with MMO's particularly Everquest and how he was the first Paladin to get something insane or something like that. Talks about imagining yourself helping known super heroes out in scenarios. A trailer is then shown of DC Universe Online. Looks pretty, and it looks like a few comic book fans heads are going to explode. You can fight against or with super heroes/villains.
5:47 AM: Tretton comes back on. Announces the 80GB Model of PS3 is now replacing the 40GB model, and priced at $399.99 USD. A trailer is then shown, showcasing developers talking about how apparently awesome the PS3's power is and why they're so happy to work with it.
5:52 AM: Tretton speaks about how 2008 is the year of PlayStation 3, and how they have several exclusives like inFamous, Resistance 2 and Motorstorm Pacific Rift. A trailer is then shown showcasing several titles such as The Agency, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm, Mirror's Edge, Resistance 2, Ghostbusters and Resident Evil 5.
5:55 AM: Tretton speaks about upcoming titles for 2009. He speaks about God of War III. Then teases us with a trailer. A big tease of a trailer.
God of War III E3 Trailer
5:58 AM: Tretton then talks about inFamous, and showcases some new gameplay. It looks beautiful visually, and is free roam. Spring 2009 release date.
6:00 AM: A new game is being shown, some kind of a multiplayer action game of huge scale called M.A.G., which apparently pushes the PS3 hard. Features an enormous 256 players in a match, and is squad based to control the chaos. Character growth gives a bit of an RPG element. Trailer is then shown. Looks CG but it's fairly action packed and large in scale. Airstrikes, squads, tanks. It's a total warzone.
6:05 AM: And with that, Tretton concludes the conference. So did Sony satisfy your thirst or leave you wishing there was more? Comment in the forums and keep yourself updated on the E3 2008 Hub.
I am very curious to see what Sony is going to show however.
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