The Sony Conference came with a feeling of expectation, as there was a lot that Sony could promise the audience. There had been a lot of news that had gotten out over the internet, but most press was certain that Sony still had a trick or two up its multi-billion-dollar sleeves. As the audience entered the theatre, they were handed polarized 3D glasses, which was an obvious hint of what to come.
Jack Tretton stepped out on stage, giving a short speech about the successes of the PlayStation brand over the years (saying, at one point, "There's no need for ponchos here", a reference to Microsoft's extravagant show the night before). Shortly after, Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai took the stage, talking about the importance of innovation and content, and quickly segued into how the PlayStation 3 is the perfect vehicle for 3D content (a theme that would permeate much of the conference). And that's when the crowd got a glimpse of Killzone 3.
Showcasing the new 3D technology, the live Killzone 3 demo showed the ISA player attacking the Helghan in the northern reaches of their planet. Jetpacks and gatling turrets were used, both of which showed up the 3D capabilities quite well. Also announced was the game's compatibility with Sony's other newest technology, the Playstation Move. Other upcoming games that were listed as 3D-compatible were Motorstorm Apocalypse, the Sly Collection, Gran Turismo 5, Crysis 2, Mortal Kombat, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, and NBA 2K11.
The conference then shifted into a more Move-oriented discussion, showing demos and gameplay of new, unrevealed titles that would incorporate the new motion-control wand. The first was Sorcery, an action title that had a wizard-in-training running through corridors trying to avoid enemies while casting spells. Each spell had a unique effect and a unique activation method, such as twirling the Move above the player's head to create a whirlwind, drawing a line to create a wall of fire, or simply flicking it to shoot an arcane bolt. What was interesting were the different ways that one could combine the spells, such as driving a whirlwind through a wall of fire to create a fiery tornado of destruction.
Next was shown a short demo of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2011, in which the person playing the game showed off his ability to get a par on a hole using the Move (though not without a single mulligan). Also shown, but not played, was a new game called Heroes on the Move, which featured heroes from the Sony-exclusive titles of Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, and Sly Cooper. This title is slated for spring of 2011.
Then, as Jack Tretton talked about a new partnership between Sony and Coca-Cola, the surprising figure of Kevin Butler, new character in Sony's successful ad-campaign, took the stage, delivering an impassioned speech on video gaming as inspiring music played in the background. It was certainly something to behold.
What followed next was a flurry of information on the Move, such as release dates (released in North America on the 19th of September). Also announced was the price, which would vary from $49.99 for just the wand, $29.99 for the Navigation Controller, and bundles ranging from $99.99 for just the Move and a game, or $399.99 if you want a Playstation 3 system with it as well.
The PSP was also an important talking point of Sony's, for obvious reasons. With new titles such as Invizimals, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, and The 3rd Birthday (a new shooter), there was another montage, one of many in the show, that revealed a number of titles to be released for the PSP in the future like Patapon 3 and Valkyria Chronicles 2.
It was now that Sony focused on some of their more popular games, like Little Big Planet 2, which features a completely overhauled system of level creation, allowing for incredibly robust-looking possibilities. Also discussed was Medal of Honor, a modern revamp of the classic FPS series, Dead Space 2 (in which there was announced a Dead Space limited edition which includes the previously-Wii-exclusive title Dead Space Extraction).
Surprising everyone at this point was Gabe Newell, who discussed bringing Portal 2 to the PS3, which now includes steam cloud compatibility and auto updates as well. Then Gran Turismo 5 and a release date was shown (November 2 of this year), Infamous 2 footage, and then a big ice truck from hell drove onto the stage, which meant only one thing: Twisted Metal. Sure enough, David Jaffe came on stage to give a short gameplay demo, showing multiplayer like deathmatch and Nuke, an team-based objective mode that involved sacrificing leaders to missile launchers to fire nukes at giant statues of enemies (yeah, something like that). And with that, the conference drew to a bit of a close, with only some final words.