Beyond the amazing line up of Blu-ray games hitting this holiday, we’re also expecting some blockbuster Blu-ray movie releases, including Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Star Trek. We’ve also announced some really groundbreaking initiatives that make Blu-ray synonymous with movie watching. In December, consumers will have access to the first-ever hybrid disc that will feature Sony Picture’s District 9 movie and a demo of God of War 3. This is a true testament to the endless opportunities ahead for Blu-ray and entertainment. And if you’re already an existing Netflix consumer, now you can access both your Blu-ray disc movies and stream 17,000 movies and TV shows from one machine – the PS3.

Readers of this blog are of course, already aware that the PS3 comes built in with one of the industry’s best Blu-ray players. But we wanted a spot that would hammer home the Blu-ray movie advantage and speak to this broader audience that may not be as familiar with the PS3’s feature set. So we asked Kevin Butler to bestow some wisdom in this exchange with an unhappy teenager who is complaining his grandmother is hogging the PS3 to watch Blu-ray movies. You can catch this commercial on air starting next week. For you, our loyal fans, here’s the exclusive sneak peek:

We’d love to hear what your favorite spots are so far. We certainly are having a hard time just picking one. We still have a couple more special updates on the way, so make sure to check in next weekend. More to come.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone,

Peter

Since its introduction in 2002, the Ratchet & Clank franchise has become wildly popular, selling more than 16 million units worldwide and finding a permanent home on the “top ten favorites” lists of gamers everywhere. The latest and much anticipated installment, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time, promises to deliver more of the signature humor and mind blowing weapons fans have come to expect while exploring the story behind Ratchet and Clank’s past and the key to their future.

While the game won’t be in stores until next Tuesday, critics are already starting to pour on the praise, touting that the latest Ratchet & Clank adventure looks like the “the best yet.” And just in time for its release, Kevin Butler is back to spotlight this incredible new addition to the Ratchet & Clank series.

In this commercial, Kevin serves as “Chief Weaponologist,” fielding a “Dear PlayStation” request from a mystery man working with an unidentified organization hoping to acquire the Ratchet & Clank weapons arsenal. The exchange leaves even the typically sharp-witted Kevin at a loss for words:

No question, we’ve got an unparalleled gaming line-up this year that includes “Only on PlayStation” experiences from our first party studios and blockbuster releases from our publishing partners. Never has there been a more rewarding time to be a PS3 owner!

And just to prove our point, here’s another “Dear PlayStation” commercial that will debut later this month that showcases a ton of great PS3 content with a crescendo that only Kevin Butler would dream up.

And for those of you who missed the commercial where Kevin commiserates with a consumer about getting her boyfriend to tap into all the great benefits of connecting to the PlayStation Network, make sure to catch it on TV again starting next week.

Enjoy!

Peter

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves is blowing everyone away. It is the best adventure yet from the Naughty Dog team and is well on track to be one of the best games of all time with a 97% rating on Metacritic and 14 perfect review scores. Some are saying that, “if this were a movie, it’d gross a couple hundred million dollars” (thanks GamePro), and many are calling it one of the year’s best action-adventure games. It’s probably an understatement when we say we’re excited for the release. And based on the pre-order numbers, we know many of you will be very busy on October 13.

In my earlier posts about our “It Only Does Everything” campaign, I mentioned that Kevin Butler won’t just be focusing on the PS3’s hardware superiority but would also be rolling out software specific advertisements. We’re excited to give you a sneak peak at the first of these spots, showcasing UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves. In this next installment in our campaign, Kevin fields a “Dear PlayStation” question from a conflicted boyfriend facing the dilemma of telling his girlfriend that UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves is not actually a movie, but in fact, a game. We hope you enjoy what a lot of people here voted as one of their favorite spots in the campaign.

We’re only just getting warmed up for the holiday and still have a bunch more spots to unveil. Tell me what you think and get out and pick up this game! I’ll leave you with the quote from PlayStation: The Official Magazine, “Forget ‘game of the year.’ This is one of the best games of all time.”

Enjoy!
Peter

Thanks for all your amazing feedback on our new “It Only Does Everything” ad campaign. Kevin Butler has been busy pushing the new $299 PS3, not just on our blog but on some of your favorite TV programs, and the reaction has been fantastic.

I mentioned on my initial post that we have a huge campaign designed to show “Everything” the PS3 can do. And since you’re all PlayStation’s biggest fans, we’ll be debuting each one here first. Our next spot features Kevin Butler helping a desperate father connect with his kids by finding the best family-friendly entertainment. The ad is also timed to support the new “Game of the Year” edition of LittleBigPlanet, which shipped this week. The new edition of LBP includes everything from the first game plus more than $30 of bonus content, new levels and free downloadable content packs.

We hope you like this next installment of the campaign as much as you enjoyed the first two spots. Lots more coming, including ads that feature some of our biggest games like UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves and Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time. You’ll be hearing plenty more from me and Kevin Butler very soon…

Enjoy,

Peter Dille

You may remember our MLB ad from earlier this year where we introduced Dustin Pedroia’s “Dear PlayStation” spot and our resident PlayStation expert Kevin Butler. These new ads, created by our partners at Deutsch LA, birthed a new campaign in which we will have direct conversations with consumers about everything the PS3 can do. And as you’ll see below, “It Only Does Everything.”

We know many of you would agree that the PS3 is an unrivaled gaming console. It’s also the best Blu-ray player on the market. And most of you are probably aware that you can now download more than 2,000 movies without even leaving your couch. However, we recognize there are still many consumers who may not be aware of how powerful the PS3 truly is. So we’ve tailored this campaign a bit differently to extend our reach and PS3 family.

From now through the holiday season, you’ll see and hear about all the broad features and benefits this amazing device has to offer across multiple media including TV, radio, online, retail and social networking outlets. A total of 9 TV spots will roll out throughout the holiday, each highlighting a different benefit and feature of the PS3. So whether you’re a hardcore gamer or a Blu-ray enthusiast, you will have something to takeaway from these ads.

We’re kick starting the campaign with a TV spot highlighting the new $299 price point on September 1. But for you, our loyal fans, here’s an official sneak peek.

It’s a fully integrated campaign that seamlessly intertwines hardware, gaming and PlayStation Network benefits under one umbrella, each with a dose of our own irreverent humor. We knew you’d want more than just one peek, so here’s a spot in which Kevin commiserates with a consumer about getting her boyfriend to get his PS3 connected to the PlayStation Network. Enjoy!

We look forward to your feedback and continued excitement, for what will be a truly great holiday and year for PlayStation. There’s more to come, so stay tuned.

Thanks,
Peter Dille

We’ve been saying that 2009 will be a breakout year for the PSP because of the killer software lineup that no other handheld can match. Well, the PSP story is even stronger now with the unveiling of the PSP go, the newest addition to the PlayStation Portable family that is sure to be the “must-have” device for consumers seeking the deepest gaming and entertainment experience on-the-go. PSP go is sleek, pocket-sized, and 100 percent digital. This is the PSP designed for those of you who are completely comfortable downloading and storing digital media, and it’s ideal for anyone who considers themselves an early adopter of the latest and greatest technology. After talking extensively with consumers and our publishing partners, we know that now is the time to introduce PSP go. It will live alongside the current PSP-3000, and I should note that for those who prefer disc-based content, we remain committed to the UMD format, which will continue to be available at retail.

Here’s a quick look at the key specs:

• The most portable PSP ever, PSP go is more than 50 percent smaller and more than 40 percent lighter than the original PSP we launched in 2005
• A stylish sliding screen maintains the high resolution and vibrant visuals of the PSP-3000
• Replacing the UMD drive is 16GB of internal flash memory to store plenty of games, videos, music, and photos
• Memory Stick Micro slot offers expandable storage up to 16GB
• Bluetooth support

Check out this brief video walk-through of the PSP go, courtesy of John Koller.

Whether you’re ready to purchase PSP go on launch day (October 1), or you’re already part of the PSP family with an existing model, we know that there’s plenty of demand for digital content on your PSP. PlayStation Network is your lifeline for this content, and we’re expanding our offering in a big way to deliver what you want. Over the last year, we’ve spent a lot of time evolving the network for PLAYSTATION 3, as the “always-online” system, and now we’re bringing that expertise over to enhance the PlayStation Network experience on the PSP with exciting new digital content and services. Starting today, you’ll be able to access the video delivery service of PlayStation Store directly on your PSP. No more downloading through a PC or PS3 first – just connect your PSP to a Wi-Fi Internet hotspot and you’ll have access to the thousands of movies and TV episodes available for rental or purchase. The volume of video content is growing weekly – in fact, we’ve announced 16 new content partners from Hollywood, anime, and sports, including Showtime, Starz, G4 & E!, Anime Network, UFC, and TNA, to name a few. Both PSP and PS3 owners will be able to enjoy this entertainment content, which will be rolled out this week. All of this is in addition to the broad range of games available on PlayStation Store.

And speaking of games, that’s what E3 is all about, so here’s a snapshot of what’s in store this year:

• Beginning this fall, PlayStation Store will offer digital versions of many UMD games from the PSP’s library, as well as all upcoming titles, including Gran Turismo PSP, which was unveiled to the world at E3. We know you’ve been waiting patiently for the world’s biggest racing franchise to come to PSP, and your patience will be rewarded with a title that made jaws drop when we showed the demo at our press conference today. Newly announced PSP exclusives like Konami’s Metal Gear: Peacewalker and Capcom’s Resident Evil will also be available in digital format, as will LittleBigPlanet when it launches this year.
• We’ve heard loud and clear that you want more classics from the PlayStation vault. Today we’re launching fan favorites, Final Fantasy VII and Medal of Honor. By the end of the year, the number of PSone games will double to nearly 60 titles. You’ll be able to enjoy these classics on the big screen with PS3 or on-the-go with PSP.
• And, the PlayStation Network is an incubator for small, creative developers, and we unveiled some innovative titles at E3, including Gravity Crash and Hustle Kings for PS3 and Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake for PSP.

Worldwide there are now 24 million of you accessing the PlayStation Network, and we’re working hard to bring you the best games and entertainment content. As you can tell, that push for more content kicks off today, but you should check back throughout the week to see what else is up our sleeve.

This is one of the fun parts of my job, when we get to unveil our TV commercials and give you, our loyal fans, a preview of our spots before they hit the airwaves. This year’s campaign is dubbed “Entertainment Unleashed” and for good reason.

The campaign actually began quietly a few weeks back with three fifteen second “tease” executions. Hopefully, you’ve seen these by now. These initial ads depicted various people catching glimpses and reflections of beautiful PS3 game footage magically appearing on building facades across a city.

This weekend, we’re excited to reveal what triggered the excitement. The spot begins with a guy creating a LittleBigPlanet level on a building wall and from there, the PS3 takes on a momentum all its own, spreading amazing entertainment content uncontrollably from building to building throughout the city. The ad prominently features not just LittleBigPlanet but also two other PLAYSTATION 3 exclusive titles — Resistance 2 and MotorStorm: Pacific Rift. And we’ve also highlighted PS3’s Blu-ray capability by featuring Blu-ray movies like The Dark Knight, showcasing PS3’s unrivaled leadership as both a gaming and multimedia entertainment experience.

PLAYSTATION 3 offers unrivaled game content, with not just one platform-defining game, but an array of groundbreaking games across virtually every genre throughout the year that are pushing the envelope of creativity and sheer gameplay.

And at the end of the spot, you’ll see that all this great exclusive content has literally been unleashed on the city and its residents. I know our fans will appreciate spotting some of your favorite games across the cityscape.

This week marks an important milestone for the PS3. And one of the things we’re most excited about as we head into year three is the tremendous adoption and excitement found on PlayStation Network. This year alone, we’ve added great new features you guys have been asking for like a service to deliver High Def movies and TV shows that you can rent or buy and store directly on the PS3’s hard drive; a robust trophy system that lets you compare your gaming prowess with others as well as help you discover everything about the great PS3 games you’re playing; and of course, the groundbreaking Home service, which is just around the corner for all. All of this and a lot more has resulted in more than 14 million active PlayStation Network accounts – a very rapid expansion of a service that we have equally aggressive plans for in the future.

So with its tremendous growth and adoption, we thought it was time to give the PlayStation Network its own moment in the sun with a TV spot that sings its praises. This PlayStation Network ad will also make its debut this weekend. The ad is a metaphor and itself depicts the relentless spread of the PlayStation message from user to user. We’ve featured various ways you can “Download/Play/Connect.” Great downloadable games like Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty, PAIN, Wipeout HD and Echochrome. Free online gaming and downloadable levels with games like LittleBigPlanet. Human connection and community via Home. And downloading great movies like Hancock directly to your PS3 and then sharing it with your PSP.

When we launched the PS3 two years ago, we said we would deliver on the most advanced next generation console that would offer ten years of entertainment value. We are committed to that promise and remain confident that we’re now just scratching the surface on PS3’s potential.

We hope you like these new ads and look forward to your feedback and continued support for PlayStation.

Enjoy!

Peter

PS: Killzone 2 is real and it’s spectacular…

First off, we’re excited about the new look and feel of the PLAYSTATION Store. Personally, I’ve been looking forward to this update for a long time as, in my view, the previous PLAYSTATION Store experience wasn’t one that lived up to our brand. But this new UI is much more dynamic and allows us to elegantly display and merchandise a lot more content, which is very important today, but will be critical going forward with so much great new content coming onto the Store. We look forward to hearing your input and reaction now that you’ve gotten your hands on it.

2008 is being called “the year of PlayStation 3” by a lot of press and analysts these days, and for good reason — there’s lots of momentum behind PS3 and we have a ton of great new exclusive games coming. This week’s launch of GT5 Prologue is one great example, and gamers are already in countdown mode for Metal Gear Solid 4, Little Big Planet, SOCOM, Resistance 2, and on and on. But another big reason 2008 will be a great year for PS3 fans is due to the big things we have in store this year for the PLAYSTATION Network. The PLAYSTATION Store redesign is the first step but it’s only one example. Our primary goal with PLAYSTATION Network is to form an evolving entertainment network where the PlayStation community can gather and discover new forms of entertainment. Some of the key pillars that will make this an experience a success are:

• The PlayStation community;
• Free online gaming;
• Digital media download services; and
• Original content

Of course, entertainment comes in the form of content, so I’ll dive in and discuss what we are bringing to PLAYSTATION Network that will help us achieve this goal.

One of the most critical elements to PLAYSTATION Network that we’ve focused on since day one is delivering quality games. We’ve always stressed quality over quantity (in other words, fewer arcade remakes and more original content) as well as games that show off PS3’s tech, and games like Everyday Shooter, Super Stardust HD and PixelJunk Monsters are proving that you can get a great experience for $10, or roughly the cost of a movie ticket. What’s equally exciting is what we have planned for you this year..of course one of those titles is available starting today- the world’s best-selling racing franchise, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. We also have coming this May the wildly imaginative puzzle-game echochrome, which frankly is a game I’ve been playing most lately. It’s as good as it looks in all the press you’ve been reading and is extremely addictive. We will also be bringing hugely popular franchises to PLAYSTATION Network for the first time, including SOCOM Confrontation and WipEout HD, as well as continue to deliver innovative indie games like flOwer, from the developers of flOw. So in short, content is what’s driving you, and we hear you loud and clear, and are delivering that quality that you want and deserve.

The strong lineup of games doesn’t stop there. Many of you have been hearing rumblings about a video service that will allow you to download full-length TV shows and movies via PLAYSTATION Network for North America. While I don’t have any new announcements here for the PlayStation Nation, it’s already been confirmed that we’ll be offering a video service for PS3 in a way that separates the service from others you’ve seen or used. Ultimately the goal of the PLAYSTATION Network service will be to break through the overwhelming clutter of digital media to give you the TV, movies and gaming content you want. More on this very soon …

Community-related services available via PlayStation Network have also been a big focus for enhancements here in 2008. We know you want in-game access to XMB features and we’re committed to bringing that, among other community-related services this year. They will be designed to allow more community development and collaborative gameplay, as well as recognize and reward you for your gameplay accomplishments across a broad portfolio of PS3 games. Of course, 2008 will also see the launch of PlayStation Home, and we’ll have more announcements on the expanding community functions within PLAYSTATION Network in the near future, so stay tuned.

Lastly, we feel your overall experience on PLAYSTATION Network should be rewarding. We hope the redesigned PLAYSTATION Store is a step in the right direction and delivers on your feedback, which is vital to some of the short and long term changes you’ll be seeing with PLAYSTATION Network. We understood from your comments on this very blog that you wanted the PLAYSTATION Store to have a more dynamic look and improved navigation. We want the PlayStation community to enjoy their experiences on PLAYSTATION Network and the online storefront is a key part of that experience.

And to wrap up with one of the many topics I know you ask about regularly, we are rolling out the PlayStation Cards to retailers nationwide as we speak. They will have the PlayStation Cards in denominations of $20 and $50 starting this spring. This will provide you with another option to get on board with the PLAYSTATION Store and enjoy the content that I’ve outlined above.

As you can tell, we’re extremely excited for what’s planned for PLAYSTATION Network. We believe the library of original and quality games and entertainment, combined with community services and continued enhancements to the overall experience, will deliver on our promise of an integrated content and community experiences. We look forward to sharing more updates with you in the near future.

Thanks and have fun!

Like all of you, I’ve been a big fan of our new blog – but until now, I’ve been staying behind the scenes. I’m excited to share my first post here and thought that our new advertising campaign for the PS3 would be of interest to everyone. In fact, the campaign is scheduled to break this weekend in conjunction with the introduction of the new 40GB PS3 here in North America. But as a reward for being some of our most loyal fans, I wanted to get this out to all of you first.

Last year, we launched the PS3 with a campaign that become known as the “White Room” and we received a strong reaction to those ads for being provocative and demonstrating the PS3’s power. With those technology messages now firmly embedded, we wanted to move beyond the “power” message with a more high-energy, entertainment driven focus for the PS3. The games are here, the price point is now $399 and we wanted to make the news loud and clear. But we need to deliver that in a way that befits the PlayStation brand. And so, beyond the brilliant HD games that the PS3 delivers, you’ll also see a big focus behind the PS3’s Blu-ray movie capability and, for the first time, you’ll see a major focus behind the PLAYSTATION Network (did I mention online gaming is free on PS3??) and the exclusive gaming content available on the PLAYSTATION Store, as well as breakthrough services like Home. As Kim noted in her recent post, with so much brewing inside the PS3, the icons and characters of the PS3 world come to life in the vivid black onyx world of the PS3 and nearly burst out of its seams.

The spots feature some of our recent and highly anticipated first-party titles including Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, as well as upcoming third-party exclusives such as Haze from Ubisoft and Metal Gear Solid 4 from Konami. I recall seeing some comments on this blog recently lamenting why we weren’t making a bigger deal out of Metal Gear. Well, get ready for a steady diet, because Metal Gear Solid is the mother of all exclusives and we can’t wait for its release. But we’ll also feature other great PS3 games like Burnout Paradise, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, Assassin’s Creed, Madden NFL 08 and Time Crisis 4 rounding out the genre-defining titles and breadth of a lineup that you can only find on PLAYSTATION 3.

We’re kicking off the campaign in a big way with high-impact: 60 second spots (“Universe of Entertainment”) which feature PS3’s multi-functional capabilities and really kicks off the compelling and addictive nature of this campaign.

The second is our :30 “Only On” spot showcasing some of our gorgeous 1st party titles.

More television spots are still under development and we’ll reveal them as they’re finished.

As we head into November we couldn’t be more excited. We have the 40GB PS3 “officially” launching tomorrow at a price point that will appeal to a wider audience and the 80GB PS3 which is demonstrating phenomenal sales growth since we announced the $499 price point. Add to that the inflow of great games and a PS3 brand campaign — our largest ever behind a hardware platform — and we think it’s going to be a great holiday season for PS3.

And I’d be remiss not to mention the highly-anticipated titles coming in 2008 like Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Grand Theft Auto IV, Killzone 2, SingStar, Little Big Planet, Metal Gear Solid 4 and of course, Home. And rest assured, we have some secrets and many new games up our sleeves for 2008 as well. We can’t wait to kick it all off!

So, we hope you like the campaign. You guys are our biggest fans and I can tell you all with complete sincerity that we work hard to earn your trust and loyalty every day. Because we know if we can meet your high expectations, you’ll tell your friends and the rest will take care of itself.

Thanks and have fun!