Sony E3 2006 Press Conference

• Sony’s press conference was much more formal and used the same old “Power-Point” format they usually do.
• It began with the President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America: Kaz Hirai.
• He started right off by talking up the power of the PS3.
• “The PS3 is not an incremental upgrade.”
• “The PS3 is powerful but content creators have the real power to create the content.”
• “The PS3 is flexible to sustain many years of technology improvements.”
• “It seamlessly interacts with the Playstation family of products.” (i.e. the PSP, and backward capability).
• “It’s the most ambitious project we at Sony Entertainment have ever undertaken.”
• He then takes a few jabs at his competition by saying:
• “We’re not about cutting corners to rush a product to market.” (A jab at Microsoft?).
• “And we’re certainly not interested in gimmicks, clever rhetoric or conventional thinking.” (A jab at Nintendo?).
• He re-iterates that the “The next generation doesn’t start until we say it does.”

The PS2

• Kaz then takes a moment to brag about the success of the PS2 because without the PS2 there PS3 would not be able to achieve greatness.
• Over 100 million units sold in almost half the time it took to achieve with the PS1.
• They estimate they will sell 10 million more PS2’s by the end of the year.
• Sony has shipped 1.047 billion units of software for the PS2 worldwide.
• He also mentions how they have 3 million registered online users.
• Month after month the PS2 outsells all competitive formats he says.
• He says the PS2 will continue to be supported for many years to come and gives some examples of upcoming games for the PS2.
• Dirge of Cerberus
• Guitar Hero 2
• God of War 2
• Okami
• S.O.C.O.M. US Navy Seals Combined Assault
• Final Fantasy XII
• Over 200 new PS2 Titles will be available by years end for the PS2

The PSP

• The PSP is the fastest selling platform in Sony’s history with 17 million units shipped.
• They estimate another 12 million will ship by years end.
• He then focuses on how the PSP can be used for music movies and web-browsing as well.
• He says they are closing in on 50 million units shipped world wide with over 545 PSP titles available today.
• Another estimated 155 titles will be added this year a montage video is shown.
• B-Boy
• Loco Roco
• Gangs of London
• Ape Academy 2
• Talkman
• World Tour Soccer 2
• Killzone Liberation
• Planent PSP
• Due to the success of the PSP, Kaz announced that the Greatest Hits program will be coming to the PSP in America with the first 5 inductees:
• ATV Offroad Fury Blazing Trails
• Wipeout Pure
• Ape Escape: On the Loose
• Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee
• Twisted Metal: Head On
• The qualifications for the program the title must have sold 250,000+ units and have been on the market for nine months.
• He then goes on to talk about the success of non game PSP Titles.(Movies)
• Over 170 Non Game titles are available.
• 23 of those titles have sold over 100,000 units.
• Firmware upgrades have made the PSP even better with:
• Better Network Security
• A Web Browser
• RSS channel
• Macromedia Flash Support
• Coming soon will be
• RSS Video Feeds
• Voice over IP functionality
• Camera and GPS peripherals

PS3 Information

• After a brief video from fans around the world waiting for the PS3, Kaz comes back out to talk more about the features of the PS3.
• It has the power of super computers thanks to the power of the Cell technology.
• The PS3 will have the following:
• HD Support for 1080P
• Wireless controllers for up to 7
• Media can be CD’s, DVD’s or Blue-Ray
• Backwards compatibility with PS1 and PS2
• Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
• Gigabit Ethernet
• Dolby Digital Surround Sound
• Pre-installed and removable Hard Drive
• USB, Memory Stick, Compact Flash
• He then goes on to describe some of the features a little more.
• You will be able to hook up your PSP wirelessly or through a USB cord.
• It will play Blue-Ray Video which is supported by 80% of major movie studios.
• According to Sony’s internal research:
• 34% of current Playstation owners already own an HDTV.
• 25% of all households will have an HDTV by the end of 2006.
• At launch the PS3 will be available in all territories in clear black.
• Kaz then introduces the president of SCE’s worldwide studios: Phil Harrison.
• Phil gives a little speech about how all their development teams around the world have been working hard at creating new PS3 content.
• He first brings out Gran Turismo’s creator Kazunori Yamauchi to show off a new Gran Turismo prototype Gran Turismo HD.
• A very long demo of Gran Turismo HD ensues.
• The game looks good, but not really any better than Microsofts PGR3.
• It’s basically Gran Turismo 4 with enhance graphics for 1080P.
• The most noticeable improvement is at least 12 cars appearing on the track at one time.
• On the rally track, the crowd is rendered nicely in 3D.
• Unfortunately the demo lacked any other effects like:
• Dust – No dust at all gets kicked up on the dirt track.
• Trees look eerily still.
• Still it’s a good improvement in such a short time, so Gran Turismo 5 should be phenomenal.
• Next, Harrison comes back on stage to demo a new eye toy game on the PS3 called Eye of Judgement.
• In this demo, actual cards (like Magic) are placed on a board that the camera is pointing at.
• Placing a card causes the monster to appear on the screen.
• The cards can be moved or touched to launch an attack at another placed card.
• Harrison pulls out his ace though and plays the “Boss Card”.
• It is a card of a Rubber Duck with massive powers.
• Leave it to Sony to use the Duck in a technical demo.
• After the card demo Kaz Hirai comes back onstage to talk about the network strategy.