Sony Gamescom Conference
It's all over! Read through our live report.
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It's all over! There was no new PS3 hardware, and certainly nothing on PS4, but Sony announced a bunch of new games including several for PS3 (Until Dawn, Rain and Puppeteer) and others for Vita (Media Molecule's lovely new game Tearaway), while there were also various service announcements for PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Mobile, and more news on things like Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified. Read through the live report below to get a sense of how it unfolded...
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Quick bit of housekeeping: we are *told* that the thing we have embedded on this page will show the conference. We're not sure about it though as it's a bit non-standard. If not, try gamescom.eu.playstation.com.
Oh hello! We're inside Cologne's spartan Staatenhaus. This is really, really, real!
I love the buzz that's humming around on a day like today. Plenty of rumours doing the rounds of what will be shown here.
So, that Half-Life thing turned out to be a bit of hot air. I was hoping that EA would announce it as an Origin exclusive at its conference earlier on.
Favourite rumour so far: Agent's going to re-emerge as a Vita game tonight.
Nonsense, but loveable nonsense.
Our friends at Sony tell us there are plenty of surprises in store tonight - we already know there are a couple of new game announcements inbound.
What's super-amazing is that none of it has leaked.
Couple of theories from me: Killzone on Vita will turn up again, and we'll also get to learn what Guerrilla's been up to.
Er, that's Guerrilla, of course. Typing without a safety net here. THE THRILL OF THE LIVEBLOG.
Tom P's predictions: 'They've cloned Mario Kart already, and they've cloned Super Smash Bros. What else can they steal from Nintendo?'
Wes points out that now's a good a time as any to learn what Media Molecule's been up to.
Also, just spotted Media Molecule's Alex Evans mooching around, so that's a pretty good shout.
Any takers for a Gran Turismo appearance? I'd hit the roof if that happened, but Kaz is over in Asia for the GT Academy right now so it's unlikely.
Alex Evans is one of the guys on the post-conference Q&A panel, along with Shu Yoshida, Kellee Santiago (Journey) and Ian Dallas (Unfinished Swan). That starts at 7.45pm BST / 8.45pm CET, suggesting the conference itself will be around 90 minutes max.
Just under four minutes to go. If this is the only games industry conference in history to start on time, anyway.
Tom B's asked me to write something about meat. I can't believe I've actually gone 20 minutes into a Gamescom liveblog and haven't mentioned meat.
So, here's a thing: I ate a half metre sausage last night. For breakfast, our hotel serves ALL THE MEATS.
I reckon we'll see Sony Cambridge, but I'm becoming increasingly convinced it's going to be Killzone Vita. Would love to be wrong, though, and there's definitely some new IP that's going to break cover tonight.
Meat.
Couple of minutes to go. Excitement level rising. About to tear off own top and start hollering.
LIGHTS DOWN. DUBSTEP UP. THIS IS GO.
Showreel time, with Last of Us, GOW4, PlayStation Super Smash Brawl Melee Champions and plenty, plenty others.
Move! Don't forget about Move, 'cos that's going to play a big part tonight. Even if you really don't want it to.
Reel ends up with a shot of the Cologne skyline, and Jim 'The Hunk' Ryan steps up to the plate.
We've gone straight for the lifestyle photography - used here to highlight the scope of PlayStation's player base.
We're starting with the Vita, which is smart.
LittleBigPlanet on Vita's the first to get a runthrough. Let's hope we see some of that Wii U baiting crossplay in there.
This already has a release date, of course - it's coming out September 19th.
Which we're reminded with as the trailer ends. There's also a Vita bundle coming out - the wi-fi model's being packaged in for 249.99 EUR.
Oh hi. It's the character runthrough for Super Sony Smash Brawl All Stars.
And now a runthrough of the crossplay features for PS3 and Vita.
PlayStation All Stars will be the first game to make the most of Cross Buy
Buy the Vita or PS3 version and you'll get the other format for free.
We've seen this before with MotorStorm, but that doesn't stop it being really impressive when it comes to full-priced games.
Ratchet & Clank and Sly will also utilise this feature.
And now a look at AC3 Liberation. Some in-game stuff shows that it looks like a full-blooded Assassin's experience on the handheld.
There are touch controls, of course, but they don't look too obtrusive - used in combat in one instance, and then to steer a boat.
CoD!
This'll be our first real look at Declassified. Its appearance was strangely muted at E3.
Deathmatch and Kill Confirmed both in for the Vita version.
As, predictably, are touch controls for various gadgets.
I would like to see the game please!
There's a bundle coming out for CoD too - this really could be give the Vita the boost it needs.
FULL DISCLOSURE: I'm a big fan of the Vita. But you can't deny that its Christmas line-up is pretty healthy.
PSOne Classics coming to the Vita on August 28th!
Handheld FF7! MGS! Vagrant Story!
And now it's Media Molecule's new IP. Well called, Wes.
Alex Evans is taking to the stage.
Quick sidenote - we'll be seeing CoD tomorrow, and will give you impressions during the day.
It's a Vita game! Well, there's a Vita on stage.
"It's in paper that we've taken our inspiration" says Evans.
The game will make the most of the Vita's tactile elements.
And it's called Tearaway.
Iota's the star character. He's a little envelope.
"The world is just an important character as Iota himself"
Wow, this does look lovely. A DIY papercraft look.
Now that's how you use the rear touch panel - Rex is poking up through the world, his finger breaking through the paper land.
I don't think it's the kind of thing that's going to sell a load of Vitas, but it certainly makes me happy to have one.
Trailer runs through the various features. As you'd expect, it uses ALL of the Vita's capabilities.
Some of the fingers-through-the-back-of-the-paper-world stuff is ingenious. In the trailer now you can see Rex not just bumping Iota up on vibrating drum-heads, but tearing through three or four fingers and dragging them back and forth, creating ruptures in the scenery.
Guerilla are up now.
I SPELT THAT RIGHT FIRST TIME WITHOUT A SPELLCHECK.
No you didn't :-(
It's on the Vita. And it's called Killzone Mercenary.
A completely new game, and a first person shooter.
A brief showing, sadly, but it's good to know that it's still alive and kicking.
Well, after all that it's time for PlayStation Mobile. It's all about making your content mobile.
A seamless experience that's anchored to your PSN ID. I was excited by NFS's Crosscompete earlier on, and I'm excited for this.
And now let's have a look at the PlayStation Mobile games.
They're coming to the Vita, which is more good news for the handheld.
A maze game, a colourful 2D shooter - they look like mobile games, but that, of course, isn't a bad thing.
Oh, and LEMMINGS WAS IN THERE.
Again, it's got the Cross Buy philosophy.
Interesting to see how this fits in with Minis, or if it replaces them completely.
Asus and Wikipad will be two partners at launch.
30 minutes in, and we're on to PS3.
The line-up this Christmas includes Dust, LBP Karting and others. And plenty, plenty more from third parties.
One of those is AC3
PS3 Essentials - a new value brand that offers classics for 19.99 Euros. You'll get some ugly box art with those too.
Cross controller for LBP 2, that allows you to play across PS3 and Vita.
That's due for this year, and Pete Smith of Sony's out here to show it off.
mumblyjoe: Wanna see more of Dust 514!
If you want to see more of Dust, come back to EG on August 22nd when we'll be bringing you beta impressions.
With crossplay you can bring down the action to the Vita.
This is reminiscent of Nintendoland - using the second screen gives you a unique view of the action.
In this example, you use it to identify invisible obstacles in a maze.
Using the touch controls on the Vita to move on-screen objects.
Poor Pete Smith's jokes are sinking like a stone.
I'd say that this is Tom P's prophecy being fulfilled again, but as impressive as this is it doesn't have the scope of Nintendoland.
Using the Vita to scan the screen and make out objects.
Jumping down a pipe, and now Sackboy's on the Vita.
The gyro on the Vita's used to move a sponge and solve a puzzle. It's interesting, and I'd love to see what LBP2's community can make with this.
We're moving on to PlayStation Plus.
Red Dead Redemption is September's Game of the Month - and that gets a big cheer.
'From September, we'll be increasing the cloud storage from 100MB to 1GB'
Which should mean that you'll have enough room for all your saves.
There's a 25 per cent discount inbound, and it's coming to Vita.
FINALLY. Wonderbook's here.
And so is Michael Denny to do the honours.
"Our biggest new release of this holiday season," says Denny.
Book of Spells, Sony's hoping, will be a big pull, diving into the world of Harry Potter.
I see this time they've gone for a canned trailer approach rather than a live stage demo as they did at E3, which, er, wasn't the most captivating showmanship of the trade show season, shall we say?
Like most of you, I"m still not completely convinced by Wonderbook. Appreciate it's not for the likes of us, but I can't see many children going nuts for it.
Anyway - if anything's going to shift it, Book of Spells will.
A new IP for Wonderbook - Diggs Nightcrawler. It's got a pig in it.
And an egg.
And a caterpillar.
Actually, I'd rather not imagine that right now thank you very much.
WipEout for Wonderbook!
Well, there's an image of a WipEout ship.
Walking with Dinosaurs is now part of the Wonderbook experience. It's being developed by Supermassive - them of the slightly underwhelming recent Doctor Who game.
Feed a triceratops! Dig up a bone!
Disney's onboard too. Well, Sony's certainly putting a lot of effort into this.
FIFA 13's Move capabilities now.
You can shout at the ref on Kinect - can you prod him with Move?
Dave's changed his shirt since the EA conference, fashion watchers. Slipping into some darker evening wear with a crisp black shirt.
This looks very much like PES on the Wii - you can direct runs and passes with Move.
if you've played PES on Wii, you'll know that this could actually be a Very Good Thing.
Will be available at launch for FIFA 13 when it's out later this year.
Three new games about to be announced. BRACE. BRACE.
Until Dawn first up.
This sort of leaked earlier - it's a horror game, and you'll play as seven different characters.
Looks to have a TV mini-series vibe.
And it's Supermassive on development duties. Yup, them of that Doctor Who game again.
The Move looks like it's used to direct a torch. There's some sexiness too!
There's gunplay, some Move-based puzzles and lots and lots of night.
It smacks of schlocky horror, though that could be a good thing. Will this be a PSN game? I'm inclined to think so.
On to Japan Studio's new game now. EXCITE LEVEL RISING.
First up is Rain - again, the title leaked.
Snowflakes Are Dancing playing over a moody trailer.
You're an invisible boy - conceptually, this reminds me a little of A Shadow's Tale on Wii.
The world and your presence in it is revealed by the rain.
Another new title! We're being proper spoilt.
Gavin Moore from Japan Studio onstage to introduce Puppeteer.
"The world of Puppeteer moves around you" says Moore. It's a fairytale game, with a surreal storyline.
You're out to steal some magical scissors - and here's the game.
The screen's framed by curtain, and you're moving across a stage that's filled with props.
It's a platformer, essentially, but a really characterful one that has you brandishing those magica scissors to move around.
Puppeteer looks sweet! A sort of string theatre marionette pantomime adventure. Absolutely beautiful, too. Hurrah for new stuff!
So that's the new IP out the way. Now onto some known quantities with Beyond and The Last of Us.
We're going to finish with a look at the Last of Us. I think we've got a slightly more reserved crowd here than at E3, so let's hope for no boorish cheering of brutal kills.
Here's something you probably know already: The Last of Us looks incredible.
TazerFan: This is the same trailer from E3, correct?
I believe it's new - a montage of fresh gameplay.
Jim's here to take us home.
Carry me home in those trunk-like arms, Jim.
"We envisage a world where everyone can be transfixed with the power of imagination." What a dreamboat.
Here's CoD on Vita!
And that's why we haven't seen it before! Textures look flat, the frame-rate a little choppy.
Still, it's Call of Duty, and it's got 4v4 MP.
And with that, the lights are up and the show comes to an end.
That's a lot of new IP, and a fair amount of surprises.
Tekkirai: No super slim then.
There's always TGS...
Tearaway's the clear highlight, and the Vita's looking an awful lot healthier after all that.
X201: Martin we can still see the room.. wave at the camera
I'm the guy with his man boobs out who's dancing like a viking.
We'll be bringing you updates on those new games over the next few days once the show starts proper tomorrow.
And the lovely Johnny Minkley's going to take to the stage in a tick to present a live Q&A with some of Sony's top-brass and brightest creators. Catch it all on the livestream.
Me? I think I'm about to slink off and grab a kolsch. Thanks for being here, and happy happy Gamescom to all of you!