After several minutes of delays, some sound issues on any other online streaming service other than Sony's blog, and a pre-conference interview with some guy that seemed to coincidently cut out when he mentioned the Xbox 360, the Sony conference began. And my, what a touch-screening, 3D-ing experience it was...

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As the some six-thousand members of the audience sat wearing their 3D glasses (and whilst I sat in bed with a rather generous amount of tea), the conference started with Jack Pretton; president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, gracing the stage in what could only be described as one of the most unflattering and contrasting ties ever. But anyway, he greeted the global audience. Apologies followed regarding the recent PlayStation Network outage and for any anxiety caused amongst consumers. He also thanked the consumers along with the suppliers for their dedication and support throughout the recent events.

First up on stage to demonstrate some gameplay from the upcoming release of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, was Naughty Dog's Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra. They showed us a preview from the game, which featured many qualities the previous two games have executed so well, such as cinematic scenarios, quick-time events and stealth combat. The preview saw Drake in a ship of some sort (no real plotline was given away but from what we could tell, he certainly wasn't welcome on board). The action was fast-paced, and the camera angles used gave it that cinematic quality we all know and love from the Uncharted series. The game featured something new however; the ability to swim underwater, providing a new dimension to the game. A 3D trailer was shown after the preview, which featured all the main protagonists and more explosions, death-defying leaps, and total chaos one could expect from Uncharted. Drake's Deception is to be realeased on Playstation 3 on 1 November 2011.


Insomniac Games, Marcus Smith was next up on stage to demonstrate first-person shooter, Resistance 3. Set four years after the second game, the third installment looked great - also playable in 3D. I don't follow the Resistance games, so I couldn't be sure of the entire plotlines, but there was destruction aplenty, and visually, it was one of the stronger contenders throughout the course of the Sony conference.

Next up we were treated to some retail news, the God of War Origins Collection, along with remastered versions of Ico and Shadow of the Collosus, also playable in 3D will be released this September. Tretton made emphasis on how important the 3D world is to both Sony and the consumer. He stated that he wanted 3D gaming to be "more affordable", to attract a wider range of players and to define a new way of video gaming. He went on to talk about the PlayStation branded 3D display 24" system, at a price of $499 (£400), which would include the 3D glasses, a six-metre HDMI cable and a copy of Resistance 3. The display system was perhaps, one of my favourite things about this event; the splitscreen in particular. It allows the two players to see two different images on the same screen through the 3D glasses! If I wasn't such a student, I may be tempted to make a purchase, but alas, the government want me poor, so I'll have to make do!

Next up, Sony broke away from the 3D and concentrated more on the capabilities of the PS Move; a device I recently found a lot of fun with, just by changing the colours on the ball (the small things...). 2K Sports, Erick Bonisch and Chris Snyder came out to deliver an example of the Move's capabilities with NBA2K12. My notes for this just read 'meh'... why? Because it was. The use of the Move wasn't hugely defining and it's nothing I haven't already seen a Wiimote (shhh) do. But yes, the real fun happened when Snyder introduced to the stage basketball player Kobe Bryant. He received some controversial cheers and in all of his cockiness attempted to play NBA2K12. He failed. As I was sadistically hoping. But yes, NBA2K12 is there if you like that sort of thing, but it was nothing outstanding.

Medieval Moves was the next game to be shown, demonstrating more versatility to the Move. The cartoonish game looked quite fun, as the player moved the Move in order to swap between weapons and interact with the environment. There was no inventory and no weapon select; the movements you made with your hands decided which weapon you selected, which was a nice feature away from manual selection. The game itself was a mix of third and first-person perspectives, which would often zoom in to first-person when wanting to aim or attack something. The game also featured branching paths, so there would often be more than one route to your destination.

An Infamous 2 trailer was then played, which by time of publishing this is out, so go get it! I've only recently downloaded Infamous care of the PSN Welcome Back package, so maybe in time I will also be purchasing the sequel (if I like the first game enough). Sony then gave us a teaser by claiming this autumn, players would be able to create their own online missions which would be compatible with the Move. I wanted to hear more on the subject, but sadly, that's all they gave us.


Other games compatible with the Move were briefly mentioned. LittleBigPlanet 2 will soon be getting an update to enhance the capabilities of the Move and Sly Cooper will also be coming back to PlayStation in 2012 in a game that will also be Move compatible.

CCP's Himor Pètursson was next on stage to talk about, what looked a very exciting game - gotta love me some MMO goodness! Dust 514. The combination of a console shooter with a PC MMO was an idea that had never been done before. The game looked very good, but the preview the showed us reminded me very much of Resistance 3. I suppose the frantic rage of people shooting here, there and everywhere has its impact. Dust 514 is again, Move compatible, and will be eligible for its own place in PlayStation Home (if anybody is still using that...) The game is exclusive to the PlayStation and a beta will be released in December. A full release is due spring 2012.

Ken Levine; Irrational Game's creative director was next up to show us a full in-game footage trailer of their next release, Bioshock Infinite. I don't touch the Bioshock games. There's something very eerie about them that I'd rather not go into. Levine addressed the audience and stated how skeptical he was of the Move, until Sony called him and sent him a copy. He admitted it took a while to become familiar with the hardware, but after a time he realised that it creates a more immersive experience for the player. I suspect this was Sony's answer to the skeptics out there. Whether it worked or not, I'm not sure, as I'm not a sceptic. There's no doubt about it, hardware such as the Move does create a more interactive and immersive experience.

Tretton took to the stage again to talk about three offers EA would be releasing exclusively on the PSN. Firstly, an exclusive level to SSX set on Mount Fiji. The second was an exclusive Blu-Ray disc with seven super-cars for Need for Speed: The Run. And finally, on the Battlefield 3 disc, a copy of Battlefield 1943, exclusive to the PS3. The last I thought very impressive. EA also confirmed that they would be supporting SCEE with their next generation portable.

Which brings me onto... yes, you've guessed it, the PlayStation Vita. Sony's next-gen handheld. With a similar design to the PSP, the PS Vita incorporates Sixaxis control, multi touchscreens, dual touch pad, front and rear cameras and comes with wifi and wifi+3G capabilities. It's truly an outstanding piece of kit. The wifi model will be priced at $249 and the wifi+3G model for an additional $50 at $299. For what it's worth, the price is pretty good. The device not only allows gaming, but also social networking and the ability to connect directly with your PSN to message and speak with your friends online.

A number of games were previewed on the Vita. Amongst them was Uncharted: Golden Abyss - which looked utterly fantastic! The touchscreen capabilites introduced a new way of traversing around cliff edges and moving Nathan Drake altogether. It combined style with simplicity. Use of the Sixaxis also manipulated which direction Drake would jump or move. The touchscreen seemed to have perfect response times and not once did it lag or deter from the liveness of the game. Modnation Racers was also previewed. Sony wanted to emphasise the 'Play. Create. Share.' concept. They also wanted to emphasise that this was not in any way a port from the PS3 or PSP (though, it could have easily looked like it was). Again, visually it looked amazing, and the use of touchscreen was also very impressive. I would have to say the Vita was the highlight of the evening. Sony stated that over eighty titles are currently in development for the PS Vita, from developers such as Ubisoft, THQ, Activision, EA and more.

The evening came to a close, Jack Tretton thanked us and as what seemed more like a punishment than a courtesy, treated us to some live music. Basically a DJ and a bunch of tribal drums playing at a volume deemed louder than necessary for Xander's ears. So that's it. Sony's E3's conference went fairly smoothly, but a few hiccups here and there. All in all there weren't many surprises, but a few nice revelations.