The Sony E3 press conference begins with an actual apology from Sony's US President and CEO Jack Tretton about the PlayStation Network outage, saying that it was something they "don't take lightly" and that they hoped to "win back" disillusioned users of the PSN with some of their offerings tonight. Perhaps wisely then, they opted to begin with Uncharted 3, in 3D. The audience are advised to put their 3D glasses on - I hope you like 3D, friends, because there's going to be a lot of 3D in this conference.
We cut to Uncharted 3, as Drake fights his way through a flooding ship that is sinking, taking on water and capsizing. The water looks exceptionally nice, as it bursts through cargo hold doors and washes across upside-down rooms that flip as the ship sinks. We are told that June 28 is the date that the multiplayer beta begins, unless you're in the USA of course because Sony are doing a special promo with Subway that will give access to the full multiplayer game, rather than just the beta. We're then treated to a new trailer for the game, one which I would swear up and down contains Helen Mirren. Launch date is put at 1 November this year.
"We are going to sell a few copies of that bad boy", giggles Jack Tretton as he struts back on stage....
Sony's 3D Focus
...to introduce Marcus Smith from Insomniac Games. Marcus shows us Resistance 3, and we are reminded several times to put on our glasses, because it's 3D, remember? We see a gunfight in a ruined city, with shield drones flying in like TF2 medics and bathing Chimera soldiers in bulletproof shields. Take down the medic first, remember. We skip ahead a bit, and we're running through a demolished series of buildings to find a power core while a gigantic beast stomps around the city destroying everything. Applause is muted. Jokes seem strained. There's quite an odd feel to the whole thing.
Let's talk pricing. There's a Resistance 3 "Sharpshooter Bundle" coming on September 6 that will include the game, a sharpshooter, a pair of Playstation Move controllers and an Eye Camera for $150 USD. Even more excitingly, Jack announces two special 3D collections coming to PS3: God of War: Origins Collection, which is a remastered collection of Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta, the two PSP games. The second collection brings both ICO and Shadow of the Colossus together in 3D and HD, proving once again that Sony know what it takes to get you away from your money.
Jack moves on to talk about hardware. Two new 3D hardware products are going to become available this year: a Playstation-branded 3D display, a 24" screen specifically designed for 3D gaming and entertainment. It has some sort of unique technology that allows two people playing on the same screen to see two different images without split screening. This got a lot of applause, perhaps the first actual applause of the evening.
The second piece of hardware is a, in Jack's own words, "less expensive pair of 3D glasses". These pairs of glasses will retail for $69.99 USD separately and will apparently be broadly compatible with existing 3D TV technologies. Sony is trying to lower the price barrier and drive 3D adoption forward to the market. We also learn of a bundle: the Playstation 3D monitor mentioned above will come with a pair of 3D glasses, 6-foot HDMI cable, and Resistance 3 for $499 USD.
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