4:53pm: Starts with PR talk: PS3 is most ambitious project ever for Sony. "The next generation doesn't start until we say its time."
* 4:56pm: PS2 sales talk, sold total of 103.69 million units so far, they want to sell 10 million more. 3 million regged PS2 online users in North-America. PS2 still outsells all other platforms. Sony will support the PS2 for many more years on both games and hardware front like they did with the PSone. 216 more titles coming for PS2 by year end.
* 4:58pm: PSP Talk. Fastest selling device for sony. Over 17 million units sold. They want to sell over 12million this quarter. They sold over 47.3 million games. Additional 155 titles will be added.
* 5:00pm: They are showing us videos of upcoming PSP games now.
* 5:03pm: "Greatest hits" (budget titles) coming for PSP. 18 million non-game UMD discs sold.
* 5:05pm: RSS video channel, expanded UMD video profile, camera, gps, voip support coming to PSP soon.
* 5:06pm: Promo Playstation video running ... What people think about the PlayStation brand around the world.
* 5:08pm: Now PS3 stuff ...
- powered by cell
- cd, dvd, blu-ray disc. PS2 is 95% DVD, 5% CD-ROM now in terms of new releases, blu-ray will give developers even more space on PS3.
- bluetooth, WiFi, giga-bit ethernet
- dolby digital surround sound
- removable harddrive
- true 1080p HD resolution
- wireless controller, up to 7 players
- ...
* 5:11pm: compatible with psone, ps2, dvd, cd, blu-ray
Interoperability with PSP.
* 5:13pm: Removable HD build right into the box. All PS3 will have HD. You can download content from the network on it, but with caching it also improves game speed.
* 5:14pm: November 2006 worldwide launch confirmed.
They also show us a black PS3 ... case is just like those shown before, except in black (see picture above).
* 5:15pm: Final dev tools are out (6months prior retail release). More than 10k dev systems to 208 devs in 11 countries. Sony will be showing playable game titles on the E3 floor.
* 5:16pm: Phil Harrison (Executive Vice President, Sony Computer Entertainment) coming on stage.
* 5:16pm: Gran Turismo guy (Kazunori Yamauchi) coming on stage with translator
* 5:17pm: He will show Gran Turismo prototype made specially for E3: "Gran Turismo HD" ... 1920x1080p at 60fps. 4 tracks are available and not only normal retail cars, but also motorcycles and race cars.
* 5:20pm: Demo running now ... oh boy! He notes that what users will see at home on their TV is only fraction of real resolution as noone broadcasts in 1080p (the average HDTV broadcast is only 1/3th as good as this GTHD)
* 5:24pm: 12x better 'resolution' then GT4 on PS2. In GT4 on PS2 loading time was 10-15secs to load a track, but Gran Turismo HD that has been optimized with internal HD will only needs 2 or 3 secs! Showing demo of 2nd track now ...
* 5:25pm: Look back at Gran Turismo series ... showing the original Gran Turismo on PSone ("back then this was real"), then showing GT4 in PS2 and then showing GTHD on PS3 ... to show the "difference".
* 5:57pm: showing 3rd track now: Gran Canyon (that's more rally-style) ... with a huge top view on the Gran Canyon ... impressive. So is the public (and how they react when a car passes near them) around the track.
* 5:30pm: GT4 (PS2) online beta testing coming in Japan and US after E3. They hope to release the new GT on PS3 not too long after PS3 launch (it should be faster then the 1.5year wait for GT3 on PS2).
* 5:32pm: Harrison back on stage ... says GT crew did this demo very fast as they were still working on a PS2 game until recently.
* 5:33pm: Showing a camera eyetoy card game now ... where the PS3 tracks the actual (real) cards you place with your (real) hands on a (real) table with a camera. Demo is playable at E3.
* 5:34pm: Kaz Hirai back on stage. Online very important for Sony. Basic services: Account management, friends list, profiles, voice and text messaging, video chat, rankings, and latest info. Confirmed again this online part of PS3 will be free of charge!
* 5:37pm: Confirms E-Distribution of PSone games for the PSP. PSone emulated in software on the PSP.
* 5:38pm: Showing demo of PSone game (the original Ridge Racer) on memory stick ... booting on PSP in 4:3 (you can strech in to 16:9).
* 5:40pm: Phil Harrison ... showing how PS3 interface will look like. PS3 marketplace ...
* 5:42pm: You can buy stuff (like game addons, ...) with a credit card etc (microtransactions) or pre-pay PlayStation Card.
* 5:43pm: Now showing SingStar PS3 ... will have online catalogue of songs (with HD video) ... with music you can buy and download (no prices given atm ... its all at 0usd for the demo). With singstar you can sign the song in a karaoke-way and PS3 checks how well you do in real-time.
With 'My SignStar' you can interact and share stuff with other users. Profile, scores, customisation, details on who's playing. You can add your video performance, snapshots and best moments for friends to see.
* 5:45pm: Eeal-time game demo from Game Republic now: Genji 2. Controller he uses looks like (is?) a PS2 controller.
* 5:50pm: Real-time F1 game demo for PS3. PSP can be used to see wing mirror in real-time. Demo of how PS3 and PSP can interact.
* 5:52pm: Other real-time demo: Heavenly Sword, again they use what looks like a PS2 controller. Demo will be playable at E3.
* 5:55pm: Video demo of PS3 SCE games in development, but futher away: LAIR, Getaway, Afrika, Hot Shots Golf, Monster Kingdom.
* 6:00pm: 2 exclusive brand new titles for PS3:
-1 one is from sony studio in london: Eight Days. Looks like some kinda action third-person shooter with driving.
-2nd one from one of SCE's own studios: Naughty Dogs. Another action game.
* 6:05pm: Final demo of this part of presentation: "Resistance: Fall of man" ... a WWII (Shooting, Call of Duty style FPS) game. Will include 32-users online gaming ... playable demo at E3.
* 6:10pm: Harrison leaves the stage, Kaz' back!
* 6:11pm: "What about 3rd parties?" Indeed ... video launches of 3rd party games for PS3: Assassin's Creed, Mobile Suit Gundam, Coded Arms Assault, Ridge Racer 7, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, Tekken6, Sonic the Hedgehog PS3, Virtua Tennis 3, Vitua Fighter 5, Stranglehold, Fatal Inertia, Bladestorm: Hundred Years War and Armored Core 4.
* 6:17pm: Electronic Arts CEO (Larry Probst) coming on stage. 2 demos coming from EA Sports on the PS3.
-NBA: showing comparision of NBA on PS2 and PS3. Showing difference with procedural awareness and footplanting. On PS3 you will get full 360 movements, not just in 45 degrees movements like on PS2. Now showing real-time demo of NBA LIVE '07 on PS3.
-tiger woods demo (he's reacting to what speaker on stage says - great demo of facial modelling and animation system). It's running in real-time on the PS3, no CGI.
Many more games ("more than 10 titles") will be coming from EA for PS3. Video demo shows some of these.
* 6:26pm: Kaz calls for Square-Enix. Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII video demos on screen now.
* 6:28pm: A Konami game now ... guess what ... MGS4! Video demo running, but Kaz says it's running like that on PS3 now. Damn Solid Snake's getting old Video ends with old snake putting a gun in mouth ... screen goes black while he's pulling the trigger ... "Coming 2007."
* 6:32pm: Group CEO, Playstation Founder, Ken Kutaragi on stage now ... in english even.
* 6:33pm: w00t, one big secret left.
* 6:34pm: The contoller ... OMG ... the final one ... they are showing it! .. and it looks just like a PS2 dual-shock controller (heh)! But with a little Xbox-guide-style button in the centre (see image on top of this article).
Also something on the inside changed.
Harisson back on stage ... showing what it can do.
6 degrees of freedom without external sensor, just move the controller in the air ... and it tracks movements (motion sensor). This wireless (bluetooth) controller will come by default with every PS3. Controller is also lighther than current PS2 controller.
* 6:38pm: Ken Kuturagi thanks users for support in PSone, PS2, PSP and PS3 ... he's off the stage again.
* 6:39pm: We get demo of what the new controller can do. Warhawk (by Incognito), a Panzer Dragoon-like fly game, is shown in real-time. The plane is moved by movement of the controller without pressing any button.
* 6:41pm: "Don't you just love surprizes?" We sure do ... is there more? Kaz back on stage now.
*

6:42pm: Launch Details! 2 configs (20gb and 60gb HD), final Prices and Dates!

Japan (November 11th):
20gb: 59800yen
60gb: "open price"
N-America (November 17th):
20gb: 499usd (549cdn)
60gb: 599usd (659cdn)
Europe (November 17th):
20gb: 499eur (incl VAT)
60gb: 599eur (incl VAT)
Launch quatities:
- 2 million at launch
- another 2 million by end of 2006
- another 2 million by march 31 2007 (end fiscal year)
6:46pm: it's over!