PlayStation Press Conference Liveblog @ E3 2008

1.04 – “If this is year 2 of the PS3 life cycle, imagine what year 10 will bring.” Jack signs off. What did you think?

1.02 – MAG trailer shown. It bears repeating – 256 players! Land and air battles going on (with paratroopers), really, it’s pretty huge. Big applause.

12.59 – A brand new game revealed for the first time – MAG. Andy Beaudoin from Zipper Interactive details this Massive Action Game (get it?). MAG will support up to 256 players (!) MAG is squad-based, with teams broken down into 8 players, with fine-tuned soldier types, ongoing campaigns and character growth.

12.58 – InFamous – it’s up to you to save or destroy an entire city. Trailer shown with in-game footage. Looks awesome, though I invite you to judge for yourself when you see the video. Out Spring 09.

12.57 – Now a look of what’s to come: God of War III trailer shown! “In the end, there will be only chaos.”

12.55 – Now to show the games, in montage: LittleBigPlanet, MotorStorm Pacific Rift, 007 Quantum of Solace, SOCOM Confrontation, Ghostbusters, Soul Calibur IV (Vader!!), Resistance 2, The Agency, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm, Mirror’s Edge, Resident Evil 5, Singstar, Guitar Hero World Tour, NBA 09 The Inside, Buzz! Quiz TV, Killzone 2, Fallout 3, Valkyria Chronicles, and more.

12.51 – Developers from Treyarch, EA Tiburon, Ubisoft, Bethesda, 2K Marin, and Lucas Arts are shown on video talking about how much more they’ve learned about programming for the PS3, and how that’s going to pay off in games like Far Cry 2, The Force Unleashed, Prince of Persia, Call of Duty World at War, Madden NFL 09, and Fallout 3. “We’re just beginning to scratch the surface of what PS3 is capable of.”

12.48 – New Hardware package: the 80 GB Core Pack coming this fall $399 – 40 more GB at that price, plus DualShock 3.

12.46 – Lee: “You can stop imagining now.” Video shown featuring lots of DC Legends like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Joker, and more.

12.43 – Mr. Lee is a HUGE MMO fan, been playing since Everquest began… so this is a dream project for him. “Imagine being able to create your own superhero… and help Batman take on the Joker… that’s a cool image.”

12.41 – SOE – Sony Online Entertainment – bringing titles to PlayStation 3. Jim Lee (of comic book fame) on stage now to preview DC Universe online. He’s doing 1-armed push-ups. Don’t hurt your inking hand!

12.39 – “Let’s return to PLAYSTATION 3” – Life with PlayStation will provide live news, weather, and more and it’ll be available by the end of the month.

12.35 With an install base of over 35 million worldwide, many more PSP games are on the way. Montage shown, featuring Patapon 2, The Force Unleashed, Super Stardust Portable, Madden 09, LocoRoco 2, NBA 09 The Inside, Lego Batman, and Buzz Master Quiz.

12.33 – For the first time ever revealed – Resistance for PSP… Resistance Retribution! Out Spring 2009.

12.31 – On to the PSP – announcing a new PSP Entertainment Pack – in October we’ll launch the Ratchet & Clank Size Matters pack, which includes the PSP-2000, National Treasure 2, a 1GB memory card, and echochrome.

12.30 – Eric demonstrates how to copy movies to the PSP. You can do this either through a PS3, or through the PC Store. BTW, this video download service will be available TONIGHT (applause). We’ll be adding new titles each week.

12.29 – “How long will it take to download an SD movie?” The answer is about an hour for a 2 hour movie. However, with progressive downloading, you can begin watching your video almost instantaneously.

12.25 – Eric Lempel takes the stage (you remember him, right), to show a live demo of the video download service – it’s part of the existing PLAYSTATION Store – there’s a new video tab. Each studio has a page. Eric shows how to buy, rent, or preview a movie.

12.23 – Jack talks about the new video download service. On Day 1 – Sony Pictures, Fox, MGM, Lions Gate, Warner Brothers, Disney, and more will have content available. A huge differentiator – you can take movies and tv on the go via PSP.

12.19 – Jack Tretton PlayStation Home: “Your patience will be more than rewarded.” We’ve got great publisher support on game-specific spaces. A new video is debuted showing more of what Home’s experience will be all about.

12.17 – Gran Turismo TV introduced – racing video content coming to Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, shows like Top Gear and other original content in Hi Def. Gearheads will definitely be all over this. Lots of international content. Launches August 1st.

12.14 – Jack Tretton: “We’re not interested in filling up our store with games that nobody wants to play, just so we can say ‘we have the most games.'” He follows this up with a trailer showing a number of upcoming PSN games like PixelJunk Eden, Fat Princess, Crash Commando, PAIN Amusement Park, Flower, Ragdoll Kung-Fu and Siren: Blood Curse.

12.11 – 180 million pieces of downloaded content since launch. New stuff coming to the PLAYSTATION Store – Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty. “Like a summer blockbuster – high quality, less expensive.” Q4B will answer the questions to Clank’s disappearance at the end of RCF: Tools of Destruction. Price will be $14.99.

12.09 – PLAYSTATION Network – we’re instituting a single sign on this fall – online on a PC, a PSP, PS3. Check your friends list on a PC (I think a few of you have asked for that).

12.07 – New PS2 bundle coming this fall – a new Lego Batman Bundle, along with a Justice League movie, for $149.

12.03 – Let’s talk about PS2: More than 130 new titles coming to PS2. Not bad for a 9 year old system.

12.01 – Among the announcements – we’re turning our attentions to Latin America… and a announcement of PS3 Greatest Hits. Huge applause for sackboy, Alex, and LBP!

11.58 – Alex Evans of Media Molecule is out on the stage to help Jack work through the business side of things… more on this later…

11.56 – Ted has left the stage, Jack Tretton is back out to talk about user generated content. “We’ve seen a glimpse of that future – it’s called LittleBigPlanet.”

11.54 – More, even huger enemies/ships shown in an R2 video. An Idaho location has been mentioned as well. Add that to Chicago, San Francisco, and the California redwood forests.

11.53 – PS video from the Press Conference will be available on PSN, you’ll wanna make sure to see this.

11.51 – Did I mention this thing is huge? Cheers from the audience as the live demo ends.

11.50 – Ted is taking on a 300 foot leviathan (you may have read about this in GamePro) with a rocket launcher. On paper it’s one thing – in full motion, it’s something else entirely…

11.48 – Here’s a look at Resistance 2, Ted Price from Insomniac Games takes the stage.

11.46 – Jack Tretton: “If PlayStation in 2007 was all about hardware, PlayStation in 2008 is all about software.”

11.45 – Jack Tretton: “The PLAYSTATION 3 is the most complete and future-proof Blu-ray player available.”

11.41 – OK back in my seat, as CEO Jack Tretton reacquaints us with the history of PlayStation and Sony Computer Entertainment. “We take a longer look ahead.”

The press conference is just about to get started and I’m up on stage playing Metal Gear Solid 4. You might be able to see me as soon as G4 starts their live video stream (look to the left side of the stage).

I’ll keep updating this post with news from the event, so check back often or keep your eyes on our twitter feed for the latest.