With Black Friday just one week away, we are preparing to kick off the start of the traditional holiday shopping season. Retail stores will fill to capacity with tech-hungry shoppers looking for the year’s best bargains. While some can navigate the mass of home entertainment options with ease, others may find it overwhelming. We know that many of you who read the PlayStation.Blog already understand the incredible value and unmatched features of PS3. But some consumers are still educating themselves on different gift options and not everyone fully understands what an all-in-one home entertainment powerhouse the PS3 is, much to Kevin’s dismay.

In addition to including one of the best Blu-ray players on the market, and boasting a deep and varied line-up of exclusive must-have titles, PS3 also provides free access to PSN. This means you and your entire family can dig into thousands of your favorite movies and TV shows, enjoy some of your favorite sports, and benefit from an extensive selection of downloadable games. As Kevin points out, combining a world class game system with one of the “sweetest” Blu-ray players around is nothing more than a match made in entertainment heaven.

While these ads showcase the incredible value of both PS3 and PSN, that’s only one piece of what makes the PS3 the perfect gift. In addition to a list of blockbuster titles for PS3 that includes Gran Turismo 5, UNCHARTED 2: Game of the Year Edition and The Sly Collection you will also be able to add PlayStation Move to your cart. PlayStation Move has already shipped more than 1 million units in North and Latin America alone and is primed to bring the family together in the living room this holiday season. With a large selection of PlayStation Move games, from gritty favorites like The Fight: Lights Out to family friendly titles such as EyePet, SingStar Dance and Start the Party!, PlayStation Move is the only motion control solution on the market that provides a precise and engaging experience with games that everyone on your holiday list will enjoy playing together.

Whether you’re a last minute shopper or a Black Friday deal fanatic, we hope PS3 and PlayStation Move are on your list of must-haves this holiday season!

Best,

Peter

In just six short days, the franchise that revolutionized the racing category as we know it will be making its exclusive debut on PlayStation 3. Gran Turismo 5 will be racing onto store shelves this coming Wednesday, November 24. This highly anticipated installment will no doubt raise the bar on the franchise’s unparalleled graphics, presentation and gameplay – bringing you an experience so life-like you’ll find it hard to distinguish from a live race.

While we think features such as the all-new Course Maker, an expansive online racing community built right in, stereoscopic 3D compatibility and more than 1,000 cars from the world’s top manufacturers, including karts and select NASCAR cars, speak for themselves, we still couldn’t resist giving one of our most anticipated and loved franchises the “Kevin Butler” treatment. In this latest ad, we find Kevin Butler taking a call from a devoted Gran Turismo fan anxiously waiting for the game’s release. In between showing off his own real-life GT garage and some serious stuntman skills, Kevin fills us in on just how many amazing features were added to GT5 in order to bring you the greatest racing game of all time.

As always you’re the first to see the new ad here but you can also check it out when the Indianapolis Colts take on the New England Patriots on CBS this Sunday as well as on some other great NFL match-ups and many of your favorite shows in the weeks to come.

With the holidays just around the corner, we couldn’t be more excited to welcome GT5 into a robust product lineup that includes PlayStation Move and an exciting roster of Move titles, UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves Game of the Year Edition, The Sly Collection, and much more. There’s something for everyone so spread the word and get PS3 on as many holiday shopping lists as you can.

See you in stores on Wednesday and more importantly online in GT5!

It has been more than two weeks since the launch of PlayStation Move here in North America and we’re blown away by the fantastic reception we’ve received from avid gamers, new gamers, the press and retailers. Positive reviews continue to pour in for PlayStation Move, with one critic labeling it “the pinnacle of motion-sensing technology” and and another crediting it with going “further than any other system to date in bridging the physical and virtual worlds.”

By now you’ve hopefully gotten your hands on PlayStation Move and have seen Kevin Butler’s big “move-in” with the Maguire family. With a few weeks under their belts, the family raises the stakes with a little friendly competition on Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11. EA Sports has done a fantastic job highlighting the incredible precision of PlayStation Move with a game that the Wall Street Journal recently pointed to as being one of the best justifications for getting your hands on a PlayStation Move.

Part of the inspiration for this next commercial came directly from Tiger as a young boy. Tiger’s father Earl would rattle the change in his pocket to teach him not to be distracted. Well, the Maguires have kicked this up a notch or two.

We have many more PlayStation Move games coming for the holiday including The Fight: Light Out and SingStar Dance which will hit stores later this fall. These two games couldn’t be more different: one is a gritty bare-knuckle brawler that lets you throw punches with 1:1 precision and the other offers an engaging and entertaining experience for the whole family. We’re confident that both will deliver hours of fun for the entire family.

In the meantime, grab a copy of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 and see if the PlayStation Move’s precision helps your game!

Last week we kicked off the new advertising campaign for PlayStation Move with Kevin Butler moving in with the Maguire family to demonstrate how PlayStation Move has something for every gamer in the household. I hope you’ve been able to catch the commercials on some of the season opening NFL games and college football games, as well as on tons of other premium programming.

Our next installment is aimed at the younger members of the family (the Maguire’s as well as yours). EyePet is being hailed by IGN as the “most exciting Move game” thanks to its introduction of augmented reality. Seeing yourself in the game interacting with your EyePet is a cool experience no matter what your age. And as Kevin Butler shows in this commercial, all of this obviously spells trouble for man’s best friend.

Because it’s aimed at kids and parents, this spot will be running across different channels than some of our previous ads. For those that missed its debut on Nickelodeon, you can also look out for it on networks like Nick Toons, Discovery, and Animal Planet.

You only have a few more days to wait until you can pick up your own PlayStation Move. We’ve been thrilled with the reaction and the early reviews. A recent review on WIRED stated that with PlayStation Move “your whole living room might become a videogame” and it’s games like EyePet that bring that vision to life.

We hope you enjoy it!

Peter

This is a particularly special week for the PlayStation brand. Today, we’re celebrating the 15th anniversary of PlayStation in North America. As someone who was here at SCEA on 9/9/95, I can honestly say that the same enthusiasm and commitment to delivering great entertainment still drives the brand forward. Which brings me to why this next week will also be special – the launch of one of the most exciting new products of the year: PlayStation Move. We’ve been gearing up for the big launch of PlayStation Move in stores across North America next week and over the course of the next few months you’ll be hearing quite a bit about PlayStation Move on your TVs, online, at your favorite PlayStation retailer, at your local mall and on some of your favorite products.

Beginning next week “PlayStation Move Headquarters” stores will come to San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Chicago and a larger scale mall tour will debut in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Houston, DC and Chicago. We’ll have our team of Move experts at these locations throughout the fall, happy to provide in-depth demonstrations for those looking to gain a better grasp on Move’s full functionality or try out the latest games. If you’re not in one of these markets, we’ve been updating our PlayStation 3 interactive kiosks at retailers across the US and Canada to deliver PlayStation Move functionality. And maybe before you get a chance to try PlayStation Move firsthand, you’ll want to check out our new PS Move website. It’s got a lot of great info and some fun surprises too. And if we don’t get through to you with any of the above, from now through December you’ll be able to win some great PlayStation Move prizes through promotions with two of our key brand partners, SUBWAY Restaurants and Coca Cola.

As if that wasn’t enough, the hardest working man in the Marketing Department has returned to help get the word out about why PlayStation Move is perfect for every family. As some of you may have seen last week, Kevin Butler sent us a tweet to give us a glimpse into the future. Well, the future is just about here. Tonight, when the NFL kicks off its new season on NBC with a marquee matchup between the Vikings and the Saints, we’ll kick-off our new marketing campaign for the PlayStation Move. The new campaign features Kevin moving in with the Maguire family to prove that the PlayStation Move is the right entertainment solution for every family. The ad running tonight is a 60-second kick-off to the campaign. You’ll continue to see several other spots on some premiere programming this fall as KB observes how the Maguires adapt to having a PS3 and PS Move in their home. For those who may have missed it, be sure to check out the “Epic Move-tage” featuring our VP of Epic Gaming for All.

Your enthusiasm, excitement and loyalty have helped build PlayStation into a worldwide iconic brand. Here’s to the next 15 years!

Best,

Peter

The “Step Your Game Up” campaign is all about providing a deeper look into what makes a PlayStation Portable gaming experience more complete and enjoyable than anything else you’ll find on the market. This campaign introduces a new, younger voice to the PlayStation Nation, the fast-talking, quick-thinking, quasi self-appointed Marcus Rivers. By now you’ve probably seen the first ad in the series, “Step Your Game Up,” where Marcus officially steps up to the plate, giving Kevin Butler a run for his money as well as reason to offer him the job. Marcus makes it clear from the start he’s taking no prisoners — he’s a gamer looking for real games to play on the go.

We’ve always known the PSP is for gamers and gamers have high expectations when it comes to content. A skinny app just isn’t enough when you’re used to full-length franchises, exciting storylines, and great graphics. With PSP and PSPgo you can take your console experience with you anywhere with blockbuster titles like God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Patapon 3, SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3, Twisted Metal: Head On, ModNation Racers, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, MLB 10 The Show, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (more), Madden NFL 11, Fat Princess and more. Not only can you enjoy a true in-depth gaming experience wherever you are, but with PSP you can also access your favorite movies, TV shows and music wherever you go. Moving forward, PSP fans can look forward to a series of ads that carry on the tradition created by Kevin Butler, showcasing the value and innovation behind PSP and PSPgo while inciting a few laughs along the way.

We gave you just a sneak peek of the new ads at E3 and can’t wait to share more with you over the course of the next several months. Keep an eye on the PlayStation.Blog as well as www.marcuspsp.com for more details on what’s to come. In the meantime, here’s another look at what we have in store for you — for more of the latest ads, head over to www.marcuspsp.com.

Last year at E3, we unveiled our next installment of the “Play, Create, Share” movement which has been a runaway success since LittleBigPlanet branded a new standard for user-generated gaming. This time we’ve taken the genre-creating formula to the race tracks. We’re putting the power of creation back into your hands to redefine kart racing as we know it today.

Launching on May 25th for the PS3 and PSP, ModNation Racers will fill millions of living rooms with next gen kart racing with crazy obstacles, weapons, and a whole host of new characters to race along with you. You’ll be able to play single player or challenge your friends to compete on race tracks that come built in with the game. But imagine being able to customize your characters, your karts, and your very own tracks with your personal flare. We know our users are extremely creative as we already have more than 2 million user generated levels for LittleBigPlanet. Imagine what we’ll see when you all start making amazing race tracks.

We know something very special happens when you provide the right tools, a sophisticated technology platform and combine them with incredibly imaginative people like yourselves. And the industry seems to agree. Destructoid is calling ModNation Racers the “last kart racing game you’d ever need to own” while PlayStation The Official Magazine touts it’ll be “your next great PS3 obsession.” Even our own esteemed developers such as David Jaffe and Ted Price are singing its praises. We’re confident ModNation Racers will produce an entirely new community of gaming fans and will showcase just how creative PlayStation fans are.

With a game as special as ModNation Racers, you can be sure we’ll be behind it in a big way. Our “Dear PlayStation” spot will premiere during South Park’s Season Finale on April 28th and you can catch it on Kevin’s YouTube channel starting this afternoon. Kevin Butler realizes he’s going to have to go “old school” to get through to an anxious gamer who wonders if he and his self created track have the right stuff. It’s become one of my all time favorites.

We look forward to your thoughts on Kevin’s new look. But more importantly, we can’t wait to see (and race) what you all will create once you get your hands on this ground breaking new game. There’s no audience of gamers more passionate, creative and plugged in than PlayStation Nation. And “Only on PlayStation” will you find experiences like ModNation Racers.

It’s been fun to watch all the speculation on whether or not God of War III would get its own spot with Kevin Butler. The answer? Of course, how could it not? We’ve been looking forward to the launch of God of War III for some time now (as you all have) as it’s one of the best examples of “It Only Does Everything” that you’ll find. Where else can you get epic storylines, groundbreaking depth of scale, dynamic 3D realism, and our signature gameplay that is God of War. Yes, God of War III will be one of our biggest sales drivers this year, selling multiple millions of copies and becoming a system seller for PS3. It’s that good and everything you’ve heard is true. With more than 35GB of Blu-ray gaming goodness, it’s truly a shining example of “Only on PlayStation.”

The early reviews are echoing what we already know, that the wait for God of War III will not have been in vain. PlayStation: The Official Magazine has given God of War III a score of 5 out of 5 while Game Informer has followed suit with a 10 out of 10, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg as we expect an onslaught of positive reviews to hit newsstands next week.

Some of you already know what to expect from the final installment of this Olympic-size trilogy. For those of you who don’t, comparing God of War III’s scale and scope to previous chapters is like comparing Kratos’ Blades of Chaos to a letter opener. We are confident that if you haven’t jumped on board yet, this game will certainly be the incentive you’ve been waiting for to get a PS3. Our hats are off once again to our studio organization for creating another amazing experience. I’ve been saying it for awhile, but the depth and breadth of content on PS3 is unrivaled and will continue to be a catalyst to our sales all year long.

While the game itself won’t be in stores until March 16, many of you dedicated God of War fans have already been feeling the Fury of Kratos at your local 7-Eleven. Already, thousands of vouchers from the cups have been redeemed for exclusive downloadable content. Kratos will also be invading the world of NASCAR. On Saturday, March 20, the No. 20 car will be sporting a brand new God of War III and GameStop themed paint scheme driven by Joey Logano during the Scotts Turf Builder 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway. For our die-hard fans, we’ve produced our first collector’s item with the “Ultimate God of War III Edition” which comes packed with exclusive collectibles and downloadable content (priced at $99.99). Several retail partners are seeing huge demand on pre-orders for this edition, so make sure to grab yours on launch day.

Which brings us back to our good friend Kevin Butler, who will also play his part to promote God of War III with a new TV commercial that begins airing the end of this week. Suffice it to say that Kevin can’t possibly ignore the game’s star power. We will also have a 15 second commercial highlighting all the glowing accolades this game is already garnering. We hope you all enjoy your exclusive access to both commercials here before they hit the airwaves:

I look forward to hearing your feedback on the commercials and this amazing game.

Hope springs eternal and I know this is the time of year when MLB fans focus on the prospects of their team. It’s also when you can get your hands on the latest iteration of the MLB franchise with MLB 10: The Show, launching today. Widely considered the most authentic baseball game, MLB is the #1 selling baseball franchise in video game history. We know MLB 10: The Show is going to deliver once again the best baseball experience out there and will come packed with those big, big moments and true-to-life gameplay you’ve come to expect from us.

And the reviews are following suit. Folks like Geoff Keighley are calling MLB 10: The Show, “One of the most amazing-looking sport games I’ve ever seen,” while Game Informer just unveiled its 9.5 score today, touting that, “Sony has created the most realistic simulation in video games,” and stating that, “the bar has officially been raised.”

This year, we’re extremely lucky to have the 2009 American League’s Most Valuable Player, Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins as our cover athlete. Not only has he been instrumental in the development of the latest installment of The Show, he’s been integral to some unique marketing efforts as well. Make sure to check out PlayStation Home to get Joe Mauer’s Twins jersey for free when you watch the game’s trailer in the Home Theater. Joe Mauer is also starring in a TV commercial with Kevin Butler to promote the game. Let’s just say the exchange leaves Kevin at Joe’s mercy.

Here’s the full commercial for your viewing pleasure. We hope you’re just as excited as we are about MLB 10: The Show.

Peter Dille

We’re incredibly excited for this new year and have lined up many big reasons for PS3 fans to keep coming back for more. Not only do we have truly groundbreaking technology that will be filling living rooms this year with 3D and motion controlled gaming, but we’re celebrating our most MAG-nificent line up in PS3’s history. And our good friend Kevin Butler will be at it again, taking over your TV screens and other mediums to showcase why it’s never been a better time to be a PS3 owner.

Next Tuesday, Zipper Interactive will be unleashing the industry’s first and only 256 online multiplayer shooter game, MAG. We know there’s tremendous appetite for this game as you’ve downloaded more than a million MAG beta clients worldwide during the last open Beta period. So, as a special treat to MAG fans, we’d like to give you an exclusive sneak peek of the TV commercial airing this weekend, here. The commercial depicts a job applicant asking Kevin Butler whether his MAG platoon leadership qualifies as management experience.

If you’d like to see more of Kevin Butler before the next commercial, check him out on Twitter to get a daily dose of his perspectives on PlayStation and pop cultural events.

Hooah and Happy New Year,
Peter Dille