One of the biggest video game publicity events is happening this week at the E3 Media & Business Summit in Los Angeles. That means lots of gaming news, updates and a sick amount of eye candy.
Microsoft made some big announcements yesterday, Jayson Peters wrote about Nintendo’s press conference earlier today and now I’m going to cover Sony’s plans for the future. The company is hoping to gain a larger part of the gaming market by expanding their library of exclusive games and offering a completely unique online experience.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM SONY’S PRESS CONFERENCE:
PLAYSTATION NETWORK NEWS
>>Starting today, the PlayStation Store will offer movies and TV shows to rent or buy. Major studios like Sony Pictures, MGM, Lionsgate, Fox Home Entertainment, Warner Bros, Disney, and Paramount Pictures have all signed on for the online video download service. Standard and high-definition content can be stored on the PlayStation 3 and copied onto the PlayStation Portable for no extra charge.
PLAYSTATION HOME: WHERE ALL THE COOL KIDS HANG OUT. IMAGE FROM IGN.COM.
>>PlayStation HOME, the community-based service for the PlayStation Network, is still being worked, but a video showed off its customizable avatars and living spaces, and some cool Resistance-and-Warhawk-themed places for online folks to hang out.
>>Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest For Booty will be an exclusive PlayStation Network downloadable game that continues the story from Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction released last year. The game is expected to be available before the end of the year and will cost $14.99.
>>Owners of Gran Turismo 5 Prolog will be able to see live coverage of real races, exclusive behind-the-scene videos and more on Gran Turismo TV, a new online video show starting August 1 that is only available on the PlayStation Network.
PLAYSTATION 3 NEWS
LITTLE BIG PLANET IS ONE OF MANY EXCLUSIVE GAMES FOR THE PLAYSTATION 3. IMAGE FROM MEDIA MOLECULE.
>>One of the most exciting games of the year for the Playstation 3 is Little Big Planet. The PS3-exclusive title offers players the ability to build their own environments and make their own video games. You can also post your creations on the PlayStation Network for you, your friends and the world to play. The game’s incredible physics engine, easy to use content-creation tools and seemingly endless number of ways to color, decorate and build environments makes it a sure-fire hit. The game will be available in October.
>>A new Resistance 2 trailer and demo were shown at the press conference and Insomniac Games promised the game would feature expansive environments and lots of huge bosses. The PS3-exclusive sci-fi shooter will hit the stores sometime in November.
IT’S OFFICIAL, GOD OF WAR 3 IS COMING TO THE PLAYSTATION 3. IMAGE FROM SONY.
>>Sony’s most exciting, yet somewhat predicable, announcement was God of War III, another exclusive game for the PlayStation 3. A trailer for the game was shown and ended with the main character, Kratos, saying “In the end, there will only be Chaos.” No release date has be set yet, but expect this title sometime in 2009.
>>A bunch of early PlayStation 3 games like Resistance, Motorstorm and Warhawk will be added to the Greatest Hits Series and offered for $29.99.
>>A new trailer for inFAMOUS was shown. The PS3-exclusive open-world action/adventure game is due in Spring 2009.
>>A new 80GB version of the PlayStation 3 will be available in September for $399. It will have the same functionality as the current 40GB version of the console which means no backwards compatibility.
PLAYSTATION 2 NEWS
>>A limited edition PlayStation 2 bundle including LEGO Batman and the Justice League: The New Frontier DVD will be available this fall for $149. Sony says developers are continuing to make games for the eight-year-old console and that 130 new titles will be out by the end of 2008.
For more news and LOTS of videos, check out the official E3 Website.
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