Here we are anxiously awaiting the start of the Sony press event.  Not really sure what to expect from Sony.  I am sure we will see some Little Big Planet, and I would love to see the Resistance 2 8-player co-op mode in action.  Killzone 2 looking good would be a great thing to lift the clouds off of that title.  A demo of a fully functioning XMB interface, and not the sort of working XMB that was in firmware 2.40.  Maybe some good PSP games that are in development.  Final Fantasy VII for the PSN store?  Get ready to see if any of these are true or not as we live blog the Sony press event for the readers.

 The show is starting with a montage of games that are coming to the system most likely in the upcoming year.  Oohh, a quick snap of Buzz on the PSP.  And some Yakuza 2 or 3 on the PS2 or PS3.  The montage ends with a big ass Rancor screaming at the screen.

Jack Trenton comes out on stage.  He started off with some nice jokes, although his Jack Palance reference got a smattering of applause.  He feels the company is hitting their stride on the console.  He states 2008 is the year of the PS3.  Talking about how Blu-Ray is in every PS3, and that the Cell processor is powering IBM supercomputers.  Also mentions Folding at Home  and its 1.7 million uses on the PS3, which is rather amazing.

Mentions that that Sony will have 75 exclusive titles for its platforms.  The go right for the jugular with a showing of Resistance 2.  Graphics look awesome, but brown must be the new black.  A big ass Cloverfield looking monster is on the screen.  Okay, walking up a lot of stairs.  I like the way the weapons interact with the enemies.  But it looks a bit rough.  Still talking about the 8-player co-op, 60 player multiplayer, and the scale of the game.  Big battles, big foes, and solid gameplay.  Showing off a new level, twin peaks, Idaho.  The vertical scale of this game is awesome.  The second trailer looks a lot more polished and clean.  I wonder if the earlier footage is from an early build.

Jack comes back on stage and moves right into Little Big Planet.  He focuses on the user generated content that will be made in this game.  States that Little Big Planet merges social networking and gaming, for a whole new experience for the family.  He also states it is a uniquely Sony-esque title.  Now starting off gameplay of Little Big Planet.  Adds a Boston jersey to his character.  The presentation is showing off the numbers for the Playstation brand.  Sony has sold 5 million units across the total Playstation brand.  Sony is focusing on the distribution in Latin America.  Worldwide goal of 10 million PS3s this year.  Greatest hits games coming to PS3 at $29.99, including: Resistance, Motorstorm, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night 3, and Need for Speed Carbon, Rainbow Six Vegas, Elder Scrolls, Assassins Creed and Ninja Gaiden.   The level dynamics look really good while doing the presentation, but they did not use any of the depth mechanics which would of been nice to see more of, as I had issues with that.

They now move to covering the PS2, which is strange as I wanted to see more exclusives on the PS3.    They start off with some sports games, and then move to the Force Unleashed, Warriors Orrochi, Singstar, Yakuza 2, Madden 09, Mercenaries 2 are all shown in the montage for the PS2.  Jack mentions how great titles are still coming to the PS2, showing the strength of the console.  More Buzz is coming to the PS2, PS3 and PSP, and new theme packs will be on the PSN this year.  New PS2 bundle, called the Lego Batman bundle, and will come with a console, Lego Batman and the movie Justice League The New Frontier on DVD for $149.99 coming this fall.

They are now moving to the Playstation Network.  The Playstation Network will now have a unified signon no matter where they sign on.  Says they hear the user complaints that they want to make the PSN the best experience for online entertainment.  Now showing off Ratchet and Clank Future: Quest for Booty.  It is a smaller game, but with high quality production values.  It is a continuation of the earlier Ratchet and Clank Future title.  Man this title looks great, and continues to show off how great the Ratchet and Clank Future titles look on the PS3.  The game is coming to the Playstation Network for $14.99.  PSN Titles this year include Crash Commando, Fat Princess, Pixel Junk: Eden, Pain: Amusement Park, flower, Siren Blood Curse, Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic are the titles shown in the montage.  They want to show quality, not quantity like their competitors.

Gran Turismo TV shows off with custom racing events from around the world.  It will show lots of racing events within Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.  They will have Super GT, drifting, car reviews and others.  The racing is coming August 1st.

The talk turns to trophies and Playstation Home.  It will be the definining quality of the Playstation Network.  It will bring trophies, games, movies and social networking to one platform.  Activision, Ubisoft, EA and others are committed to Home.  You can buy rooms from game levels and environments, and the details in the characters are nice.  It is still a Sims and Second Life experience.  It is hard to tell as they had a very small amount of footage.

Video delivery is officially being announced today, and they will allow for both rental and purchase.  The purchases are portable to a PSP and can be on multiple devices at the same time.  Pricing for shows is $1.49 to $2.99 and videos are $3.99 to 5.99 for rental and $9.99 to 14.99 for purchase.  The interface for the video store is very nice, and I like the idea that you can buy the movies.  I wonder if the purchase pricing for movies is for HD as well.  Looks like purchase is limited to SD on the movie they showed.  They also stated that the video store will be available tonight.  Rather shocking, as I did not think it was ready. 

The PSP is a unique advantage for Sony.  They are announcing a new entertaiment pack for the PSP.  Ratchet and Clank Size Matters PSP pack will include a silver PSP, the Ratchet and Clank Size Matters game, a certificate for Echochrome and the movie National Treasure 2.  They also announced Resistance: Retribution on the PSP.  It looks really good.  The graphics for this title really show off the power of the PSP.  This will be a must have title for the PSP.  LocoRoco 2, Patapon 2, and Midnight Club are all coming to the PSP this fall, along with Force Unleashed, Madden 09, NBA 09: The Inside, Super Stardust Portable, Lego Batman, Buzz Quiz Master, and Valkyria Chronicles.

Okay, coming full circle back to the PS3.  Developers like working on the PS3 because it is open source.  They mention the downloading a replay straight to YouTube.  Life Playstation is coming the end of the month, which will deliver weather and news to the console.  DC Universe is being shown off for the first time, presented by Jim Lee, a living legend.  Jim Lee starts geeking out on Everquest and how he had the first level 50 paladin.  You will create your own hero in DC Universe and join with or fight against the DC Universe characters.  Damn this game looks awesome.  Graphics are sharp and the environment is totally interactive.  Being able to be good or evil should be awesome.  No timeframe as of yet. 

80 GB PS3 package coming this fall for $399.99 but will be feature same as the 40GB model, which means no backwards compatibility.  This is a bit of a downer, as I hoped it would at least be the semi compatible version of the console.  The price is good, but you have to make sure to keep a PS2 around if you want to play your old titles.  A montage of development teams discuss how much easier the development is on the console now.  The developers like to mention the hard drive in every console.  Another montage with Little Big Planet, Metal Gear Solid 4, Quantim of Solace, SoCom Confrontation, Ghostbusters, Resistance 2, The Agency, Naruto Ninja Storm, Mirror’s Edge, Resident Evil 5, Singstar, Guitar Hero World Tour, NBA 09: The Inside, Buzz: Quiz TV and Killzone 2.  Not all exclusives, but still a great list of titles.  Now looking at 2009 including God of War III, which they have a trailer.  Lots of lightening effects, and thunder, and it looks great.Next up is Infamous.  This is a good looking game.  lots of dynamic environments, and the title is running very smooth. 

Surprise announcment, called MAG, from Zipper Interactive.  Jack Trenton states that this game cannot happen anywhere else (not even the PC?).  The game is an MMO, and that it will support up to 256 players at one time.  Teams are broken up into 8 player teams inside of that 256 player battles.  You can also have character customization.  The game looks good, and if they pull it off, it will be an amazing feat. 

Final thoughts.  The conference was lacking in energy, but presented a lot of titles.  It would have been nice to see more exclusives for the PS3, but it does look like it is hitting its stride at this point in its development cycle.  Where was Killzone 2.  We got a brief glimpse of it, but it would have been nice to see it get its own featured segment as it was suppose to be the big deal game from three conferences ago.  I like the idea of being able to purchase movies and transfer them to my mobile device, but I want to have HD movies, and it does not look like I can buy HD movies.  Probably due to Sony wanting to sell Blu-Ray discs.  Let us know what you think of the press conference in the forms or the comments.