This campaign is one of my favorites because not only does it gives a nod to the awesome ‘POV’ TV spot that we aired when the PSP first launched back in March 2005, but it places the PSP within a colorful and diverse blur of urban activity. As someone who spends a lot of time in San Francisco and travels the country often, I see the way that people in different cities use their PSPs and I think we’ve captured that in a fun and interesting way. The TV spots are fast-moving, 15-second snapshots of the PSP within several large cities, with local or regional musicians contributing their tracks to the spots. With the PSP, everywhere really does get better. Here are three of the spots, including a sneak peak into the TV spot for Chicago, which will start airing next week.

Taking the urban theme even further, we were able to work with local artists in 11 different cities and have them design unique PSP skins. It’s an awesome way of working with local talent to discover the ways that they love their cities and communities and how they use their PSP. Starting next week, be sure to visit the PSP module on PlayStation.com to check the PSP skins out. Of course I’m inclined to love the San Francisco skin, but think that they all offer unique flavors. Would love to hear which one you like best in the comments section.

Be sure to keep an eye out for the TV spots which are airing now, as well as the print, online and transit ads. For those of you lucky enough to live in or visit one of the five cities that we’ve focused on, you’ll see PSP ads all over buses, subways and trains.

Let us know what you think, and have a great weekend!

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…

We’ve brought back the same pulsating music track (Saliva’s “Ladies and Gentlemen”) from our PS3 brand spots and feature games from our 3rd party friends like Burnout Paradise, WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008, Madden NFL 08, Time Crisis 4, Assassin’s Creed, Haze, and, what you’ve all been asking for … Metal Gear Solid 4 from Konami.

Finally, one little housekeeping note. You all must be wondering why the TV spots aren’t on the PLAYSTATION Store. We’re not just blowing smoke, they will be soon. We need to secure download rights from Saliva. It’s really great to see how much you guys love these spots and want to download them. And as Peter Dille said in his recent post, we’re truly flattered. So, while the legal eagles work out the details, we hope you can still enjoy the spots here on the blog.

Enjoy!

You guys have all been really great about letting us know how much you like our ads and we really appreciate it, so we just wanted to send a couple more your way that have already started airing.

Last week, Peter Dille revealed spots showcasing the PS3 as an entertainment powerhouse and exciting 1st Party titles. But that’s only part of the story. We have excellent 3rd party titles hitting the PS3 this month that really complement our game lineup.

This first spot highlights Activision’s Call of Duty 4, which arrived in stores this past Tuesday and has been getting amazing reviews from the gaming press.

The second spot features Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed, which will start showing up on store shelves on November 13th. Assassin’s Creed has been one of the most anticipated games of the season, and in this spot you’ll see why.

You’ve all been asking for more PS3 games and we hear you. Call of Duty 4 and Assassin’s Creed are just two of the great third party games coming to the PLAYSTATION 3 in the coming months. Exclusive titles such as Haze from Ubisoft and Metal Gear Solid 4 from Konami, plus Burnout Paradise, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008, and Time Crisis 4 showcase a varied lineup that you can only find on PLAYSTATION 3.

Keep coming back because more spots will be unveiled in the next coming weeks. And, before you ask, yes, we are trying to get all of these spots (including the PS3 brand ones) onto the PLAYSTATION Store.

Thanks again for all the great feedback and being so passionate about our brand!

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!