Presented by Jack Trenton at the Shrine Auditorium, Jack goes into figures about having 3 successful platforms. He also states that this ’09 line up of games is going to be their strongest ever! The PS2 is still going strong, even after 9 years. The PS3 install base is growing with the help of retail sales. PSN accounts increased to 24 million. Sucker Punch’s Infamous which was just released is already a summer hit!
Uncharted 2:Among Thieves
Naughty Dog showed single player game play of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Drake has his hands full, shooting enemies while avoiding a helicopter and escaping from a collapsing building.
M.A.G.
Zipper Interactive presented MAG. A live 256 player demonstration took place. This game showed a huge world map, with player controlled actions as they take out bunkers and fulfill specific objectives.
Jack talked about the PSP’s upcoming releases. Releases such as Rock Band: Unplugged, Final Fantasy: Dissida, Assassins Creed:Bloodlines, Pets, Loco Roco 2, Patapon 2, Little Big Planet, Socom Fire Team Bravo 3, Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite,Motor Storm: Artic Edge, Harry Potter and a Hanah Montana bundle.
PSP Go
Kaz Hirai announces PSP Go! mainly for users of digital content. The PSP Go has 16GB of flash memory, built in WiFi, integrated Bluetooth.
A new application announced, Media Go. This app can be used to manage content on the PC, PS3 and to go to the PlaystationStore. Other application that was announced was Sense Me. It goes along with the PSP and PSP Go. It analyzes your music library to help create a new playlist. A new Gran Turismo was presented functioning on the PSP Go. It will release on October 1, 2009.
Metal Gear Solid:Peace Walker
Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was announced by Hideo Kojima, along with a PSP gamplay trailer. This is coming in 2010. The PSP Go will hit retailers on October 1, 2009 for $249.99.
Jack comes back out and states that Resident Evil will be coming out for the PSP for the first time. Then a series of trailers was shown of PSP games coming in 2009. The list contained, Little Big Planet, a new Jak & Daxter game, Motor Storm: Arctic Edge, Final Fantasy: Dissida, Socom Fire Team Bravo 3, Monster Hunter: Freedom Unite, Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny,Tiger Woods PGA Tour, NCAA Football, Fat Princess Rock Band: Unplugged and others.
Final Fantasy 7
Playstation Network will be adding 51 classics to the Playstation Store starting June 2 with the launch of Final Fantasy 7.
HOME
Jack discusses figures about HOME. They are working on expanding this social network by adding new areas like: inFamous, Buzz, Socom, EA, Ubisoft, Activision, Capcom, Namco, and Eidos.
A video for whats next up for PS3 is displayed. Its features, Uncharted 2, inFa mous, Madden ’10, Final Fantasy 13, MAG, Batman: ArkhamAsylum, Brutal Legend. White Knight Chronicles, Gran Turismo 5, Ghostbusters, Ninja Gaiden 2 Sigma, Mafia 2, King of Fighters XII, Tekken 6, Red Faction Guerrilla, Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’10, Heavy Rain, Fat Princess, DC Universe, Bio Shock 2, Ratchet and Clank: A Crack In Time, Fight Knight: Round 4, God of War 3 and others.
Lost Planet 2
Jack states that Lost Planet 2 will be shipping early 2010 on PS3. Also Rockstar North will release ‘Agent’ only on PS3. Set in the 1970’s, the player will go across the globe within the shadowy world of espionage and assassins in its darkest hours.
Assassins Creed 2
Ubisoft presents Assassins Creed 2. Along with a live game-play video of the story mode. The game has missions taking place in Italy. You can use inventions by Leonardo Da Vinci. There are new assassination kills. You will receive 6 unique weapons you can unlock if you connect Assassins Creed: Bloodlines to Assassins Creed 2. Both will release by this holiday.
Final Fantasy 13
Final Fantasy 14
From Square Enix, a new trailer for Final Fantasy 13 was shown. Then Jack announces something brand new only for the PS3, Final Fantasy 14 Online. A new trailer for this game is shown. According to Jack, its coming 2010!
A tech demo is shown of a proper PS3 motion controller that is detected by the PlaystationEye. It shows that it is precise and accurate even for a demo. The examples used are movements with tennis racquets, baseball bats, whips, swords, mace ball and even a stop sign. There was a first person view while shooting a gun. The block building, writing and painting demonstrations were efficient. Dominoes and a real time strategy tank games were nice. Next they showed some character controls, with a sword and shield. They showed accurate movements with the sword and shield. They then displayed shrikens thrown at different figures. The archery mechanics were shown as fun but difficult to master. The goal for this launch is spring 2010.
Disney Interactive Studios are releasing costumes for Little Big Planet. Captain Jack Sparrow, Cinderella, and even Mr. Incredible will be coming out starting this fall.
Modnation Racers
United Front Games presented Modnation Racers. It lets you create the racers, create the vehicles, and create the race tracks. It will be released in 2010. Can’t wait to race create and share!
The Last Guardian
From Fumito Ueda, his latest project titled The Last Guardian. It shows a young boy and a oddly shaped creature going on adventures. Next was a trailer for Gran Turismo 5 which featured many different cars and racing types such as NASCAR and Rally racing.
God of War 3
Sony Santa Monica Studio played a live demo of the brutal God of War 3. Kratos is back with new weapons, moves, and killing sequences. Gore was splattered everywhere. There are new enemies like minators and a snake tailed deer headed lion! This epic game will release in March of 2010.
Afterwards, good o’ Jack gave his closing statements.
This years conference had many surprises. For one, the new motion contoller seems to correct the mistake of the original sixaixs controller and looks very innovative. While the demonstration was great, hopefully this will pan out to be something major and separate itself from the other companies. M.A.G. is going to be big, real big. This game is going to set a mark for 1st person shooters. PSP Go is going to be useful for the people that want to go UMD-less. Speaking of UMDs, Rock Band:Unplugged, Final Fantasy:Dissida, and Assassins Creed:Bloodlines are looking good for this system. This should push some sales. Gran Turismo looks nice for the PSP and PS3. I hope the PS3 version does not take forever to release though.
The Final Fantasy 7 announcement was a added nice touch, but where is the remake? Guess I’ll take whatever I can get. Final Fantasy 13 is shaping up to be the must have 2010. The announcement of Final Fantasy 14 came out of nowhere and surprised the crowd. This was the only MMO game announced, but what happened to The Agency, Free Realms, and DC Universe. Also there was no talk of Final Fantasy 13 Verses. Hiedo Kojima should have stated that Metal Gear Solid:Rising is coming out multi-platform in my opinion, instead of the media having to find out for themselves. Also there was no presentation for Insomniac Games and the game Heavy Rain.
Assassins Creed 2 is looking slick with the new character, Ezio and his new assassination kills. I predict Modnation Racers to be a great game, with the ability to create racers, vehicles, and tracks, you can’t go wrong with that. The Last Guardian seems to raise more questions then answers, but the video was looking good. The game that rocked the house was God of War 3. Enough can not be said about the game. This is going to be a official system seller!
Overall this conference was a great show, Sony showed the present and the future of the PS3. New games for the PSP, PS2, and PS3 now and later. The weird thing was the crowd cheering so loudly for Hannah Montana but it was funny.
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