Hold onto your hats, ducks, and giant enemy crabs! Tonight is the night that Sony takes a bow at the Culver City Studios in Los Angeles to reveal its future plans to the packed auditorium of slavering videogaming hounds.
This time it's Ellie Gibson who will be on hand to take down every last noteworthy utterance of Phil Harrison and co. as they try and make up for last year's rather regrettable performance.
This year is very much a new era for Sony, being as it is the first post-Kutaragi E3 for the company. At the very least it'll be interesting to see what it has in store after taking an awful lot of flak from certain quarters in recent years.
Having spent the last two pre-E3 conferences talking up what the PlayStation 3 has to offer, now is definitely the time for Sony to deliver on some of its promises.
Of all the three major conferences, this is definitely the one with the biggest weight of expectation upon it. Will Sony buckle under the weight, or come out all guns blazing to answer the doubters?
We'll be there from 19.30 BST to see what the company has in store. Release the hounds...
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
And so it begins! Or nearly does. Looks like the last few people are taking their seats for Sony's E3 conference.
– Robert Purchese
We're in a giant warehouse, with four huge screens up the front. So far all they're displaying is the swirly wavey thing that you see on the PS3's main interface.
– Robert Purchese
There's music playing, obviously - a bit more dark and dramatic than Nintendo's chirpy selection and not quite as thumping ROCK as Microsoft's. It's all jolly contemporary.
– Robert Purchese
There's just been an announcement - it's all starting in 10 minutes. There's a weird glass table on the stage that looks too short for a podium. Is it going to act as a display stand for something exciting?
– Robert Purchese
If so we predict it probably won't be a Halo-themed PS3.
– Robert Purchese
Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot is here, as he was at the other two conferences. We had a short chat before - he was very impressed by Nintendo's event, particularly Wii Fit.
– Robert Purchese
The conference is starting in five minutes, according to the latest announcement.
– Robert Purchese
Wonder if Phil Harrison will be first on stage? He's probably polishing his nice blue trainers as we type.
– Robert Purchese
The lights are down...
– Robert Purchese
First up, it's PSP - a big montage of swirly images is on the big screen.
– Robert Purchese
Now there's PS2 - but no sign of PS3 yet.
– Robert Purchese
Ah, there we go. Lots of flashing symbols, the shape buttons, pumping music. Sony goes House!
– Robert Purchese
It's Jack Tretton, the president and CEO of Sony America. He's not on stage though - his Home avatar is on the screens.
– Robert Purchese
Home Tretton is wandering out of his apartment and into "Home square".
– Robert Purchese
"Good morning ladies, looking good," he says to some passers by. They look unimpressed.
– Robert Purchese
And here's the real Jack Tretton, looking very smart casual.
– Robert Purchese
"Incredible crowd." He's really pleased to see us!
– Robert Purchese
"I'm more of a Power Point guy, and this is more Kaz's style, to have the wide open style."
– Robert Purchese
"I'm hoping if we get to some exciting news I'll be able to moonwalk across the stage." We hope so too, Jack.
– Robert Purchese
Everyone at Sony is extremely proud of Home - "Over the past 13 years, SCE has strived to deliver not only great innovation but great entertainment."
– Robert Purchese
So today, they're going to show us "games, games and more games".
– Robert Purchese
Along with "a few other surprises..."
– Robert Purchese
He's talking about the 80GB PS3 now - USD 599 with MotorStorm packed in the box.
– Robert Purchese
We'll be seeing almost 50 titles for Sony consoles.
– Robert Purchese
"Once you've seen the scope... You'll understand why we feel we're in a very strong position."
– Robert Purchese
"We're confident we'll continue our industry-leading role in this generation and beyond."
– Robert Purchese
PS2 first. Has it really been seven years?
– Robert Purchese
118 million installed base - that makes it "the most popular console of all time, worldwide".
– Robert Purchese
10 million units in 2007.
– Robert Purchese
God of War II is on the screen - it's on the way to becoming a USD $200 million franchise.
– Robert Purchese
Buzz! and SingStar now. Wonder what he thinks of Scene It?
– Robert Purchese
160 new games are coming to PS2 this fiscal year - in North America, it says.
– Robert Purchese
And now it's PSP. "Our goal is to continue to build on the strong momentum following the recent price move."
– Robert Purchese
Apparently everyone loves the price cut - weekly sales have been up 90 per cent since they did it.
– Robert Purchese
UMD sales are up 35 per cent since 2006. Gosh.
– Robert Purchese
9 million PSPs have now been sold worldwide, and 140 games are coming to the US this fiscal year.
– Robert Purchese
Oops - that 9 million figure is a goal, sorry.
– Robert Purchese
SOCOM PSP - lots of dramatic music and fightiness.
– Robert Purchese
WipEout Pulse now. Zooom.
– Robert Purchese
Syphon Filter Logan's Shadow - there's our Gabe, stealthing it up again.
– Robert Purchese
NBA 08, and now God of War Chains of Olympus. These are all getting very short footage clips and pumping soundtracks.
– Robert Purchese
Silent Hill Origins - good grief that's disgusting.
– Robert Purchese
Patapon - little figures mashing and bashing down structures, it's all a bit LocoRoco.
– Robert Purchese
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08. Will it feature his new baby?
– Robert Purchese
Sonic Rivals 2 - Tails is going mental! Frame rate interesting.
– Robert Purchese
Sims 2 Castaway, and now SWAT Target Liberty. More top down gunning fun.
– Robert Purchese
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. Aslan vs. Simba?
– Robert Purchese
Castlevania - Dracula X Chronicles - and that's it. Applause. No whooping.
– Robert Purchese
Home Tretton is back to show us his "tricked out apartment" .
– Robert Purchese
There's a lovely view from his balcony. "Hey Kaz what are you doing here?" Kaz is on the balcony! "Are you playing Riiiiiidge Racer?"
– Robert Purchese
Kaz is ignoring the Ridge Racer jibe and waffling about burgers on the grill.
– Robert Purchese
He wants to talk about PSP. Their avatars are talking without moving their lips, miraculously.
– Robert Purchese
Oh, the real Kaz is here! Bold.
– Robert Purchese
He's here to share some very exciting news about PSP.
– Robert Purchese
Something in his pocket...
– Robert Purchese
"The latest version of PSP will come available worldwide in September."
– Robert Purchese
Doesn't look much different - still has same size screen and UMD.
– Robert Purchese
"But when you have it in your hand the difference is clear."
– Robert Purchese
It's 33 per cent ligher and 19 per cent slimmer.
– Robert Purchese
The battery is more efficient too, and games load faster.
– Robert Purchese
"But the coolest feature is the ability to output high quality video."
– Robert Purchese
So you can use your PSP on the road and also hook it up to your Bravia so everyone can "enjoy the content on your PSP".
– Robert Purchese
He's hooking it up to show us. Really does look very similar to the current PSP - same colours and all.
– Robert Purchese
He's playing a trailer for Spider-Man 2 on his PSP. Now he's going to press the display button - and now it's playing on the big screen.
– Robert Purchese
You can obviously control what you're seeing using the PSP's buttons. Clapping.
– Robert Purchese
"The good thing is, you can do the same thing with all the stuff you have on your PSP" - games, photos.
– Robert Purchese
PS3 and PSP connectivity and remote play now. Isn't it good, says Kaz.
– Robert Purchese
It's all about the ability to do things on Sony platforms you can't do on others, says Kaz.
– Robert Purchese
"The updated PSP comes in piano black, and SCEJ and SCEE will soon be announcing models for their markets."
– Robert Purchese
But for now, Jack's going to show us some of the colours coming to the US.
– Robert Purchese
Go on Kaz, do the Riiiiidge... Oh he's gone.
– Robert Purchese
Tretton again. "It also comes in ice silver". He's holding it up; shiny indeed.
– Robert Purchese
It will come in a PSP entertainment pack in US, including Daxter and a 1GB Memory Stick, and The Family Guy Frickin' Sweet UMD.
It's going to be a Star Wars BattleFront entertainment pack.
– Robert Purchese
It's a white PSP with Darth Vader on the back.
– Robert Purchese
USD 199.99, again. Chewies doing some groans. Now we're seeing Battlefront in action.
– Robert Purchese
Star Wars Battlefront Renegade Squadron will let you customise your character, weapons and abilities.
– Robert Purchese
"This fall - only on the PSP."
– Robert Purchese
Chewbacca's off. Tretton pleased to have been hugged by a wookie.
– Robert Purchese
Time for a PlayStation Network update. He's waffling about remote play, Home, free play etc.
– Robert Purchese
2 million registered users now. 950k in North America.
– Robert Purchese
20 million downloads.
– Robert Purchese
It's Phil Harrison. No trainers!
– Robert Purchese
Phil's going to show off downloadable games. He's talking about how tip top it is having a big hard drive in the PS3.
– Robert Purchese
"Two of the games I am about to show you will be available both on Blu-ray and as a download."
– Robert Purchese
80 first party games in development worldwide.
– Robert Purchese
"Every generation has a defining puzzle game," says Phil. Sony's designed one that has "the least graphics and most gameplay of any title you'll see this week".
– Robert Purchese
It's called "echochrome". Japan Studio have made it.
– Robert Purchese
An artist's wooden figure model is walking up some stairs and round some blocks. It's very simple black on white line drawing.
– Robert Purchese
The figure walks into a hole and falls down, now he's projected into the air.
– Robert Purchese
The blocks he's walking on are getting more complex; it's all a bit Escher.
– Robert Purchese
So black circles make the figure fall down, and white circles project him up. This way he can move between blocks.
– Robert Purchese
"How cool is that?" says Phil. Clapping. "And that's the easy level."
– Robert Purchese
Four more games to come - the first is a PSOne franchise originally. Now coming in "eye-blistering" 1080p with full online multiplayer - WipEout HD.
– Robert Purchese
The second is called Pain. It's about how misfortunes can be amusing.
– Robert Purchese
Next there's the two on Blu-ray and PSN - WarHawk and SOCOM US Navy Seals Confrontation.
– Robert Purchese
WipeEout HD footage - looks very sharp indeed, but the tracks and ships seem to be still in the traditional style.
– Robert Purchese
As you'd expect it's very fast. Has anyone got any plasters for our eyes?
– Robert Purchese
Pain footage. Looks a bit Jackass - a man is being catapulted off a rooftop and into a plate glass window, onto a bus, crashing into a bicycle.
– Robert Purchese
RoSPA is going to have fun with that.
– Robert Purchese
A bloke's talking about WarHawk now. Shots of the flying bit and the driving around bit.
– Robert Purchese
Footage of David Seymour talking about SOCOM. "The game runs completely of PS3's hard drive."
– Robert Purchese
Says fans spotted Crossroads when the game was first unveiled - this was to show the comparison with the PS2 graphics.
– Robert Purchese
It's not being developed by Zipper, but by Slant 6 Games.
– Robert Purchese
Hello again, Phil. Plenty more amazing things to come, he says. But for now he's going to talk about Home. The beta is "progressing exactly as planned for our fall rollout".
– Robert Purchese
They've made some important new additions he's going to share. "We now have the Home client running on a mobile phone."
– Robert Purchese
He's showing us his Sony Ericsson. "The ultimate 3D experience is only on PS3... but the touch features are extending sideways". Or something.
– Robert Purchese
He's taking a photo of the audience, just like he did at GDC.
– Robert Purchese
Now we're going to Home Square - which will replace the current lounge lobby. It's an open air space that looks like a town square.
– Robert Purchese
"We'll be launching new spaces all the time."
– Robert Purchese
In the Home Square there are lots of casual gaming elements. Also some nice trees and a fountain.
– Robert Purchese
Montage now of Home stuff - a city balcony at night, a Japanese style water garden, people dancing outside an apartment.
– Robert Purchese
Here's Phil's avatar, at a ski lodge in Norway, wearing a red MotorStorm racing suit.
– Robert Purchese
He's got SingStar set up in there. More than 10 million units and 300 million songs have now been delivered.
– Robert Purchese
SingStar on PS3 will push PSN "to new heights". It will ship on Blu-ray, but of course you'll be able to download songs.
– Robert Purchese
BOZEK! Not in the flesh, though.
– Robert Purchese
"It really is like iTunes meets MySpace."
– Robert Purchese
You forgot to mention YouTube, Bozek.
– Robert Purchese
She's gone, Phil's back in his Home, and the photo of the audience is displayed in a frame on his wall. So you can take pics on your phone and send them straight there.
– Robert Purchese
Phil's taking a digital photograph inside Home and pushing it out to a PC website. It's the social networking site for Home, shown for the first time.
– Robert Purchese
Key goal to "an integrated and cohesive space for gamers to meet, socialise, talk about games and play them".
– Robert Purchese
You will be able to launch any PS3 game from inside Home.
– Robert Purchese
So Phil and his Home mates are going to have a go at MotorStorm. Someone's bringing him a controller.
– Robert Purchese
11 people around the world - "one of whom is rubbish at the game" - are going to play.
– Robert Purchese
Straight into the multiplayer lobby. It's a brand new track, Eagle's Nest, which will be available for download next month.
– Robert Purchese
And we're off. Phil's in 6th place.
– Robert Purchese
Track looks like what you'd expect - rocks, ramps, all a familiar style.
– Robert Purchese
Any games can be launched from Home, not just multiplayer. When you're finished you quit and you'll go straight back to Home, "Delivering on our promise to deliver a fully integrated platform."
– Robert Purchese
You'll be able to visit specific lounges for your favourite games.
– Robert Purchese
Bye bye Phil, and hello again Jack.
– Robert Purchese
PS3 update - they want to broaden the installed base and "deliver a very wide selection of game services that offer something for everyone".
– Robert Purchese
The 80GB model is part of this plan. He's talking about the price and the date again...
– Robert Purchese
Yes, the price cut, we do remember that...
– Robert Purchese
"Since Monday, sales of the 60GB PS3 have doubled at our top five retailers."
– Robert Purchese
11 million units of PS3 to be shipped worldwide this year.
– Robert Purchese
"We never wavered in our belief that Blu-ray was absolutely the way to go."
– Robert Purchese
It's all about massive capacity. Not damage, then?
– Robert Purchese
"PS3 success has contributed greatly to Blu-ray success, to the tune of 2 to 1 sales margin over HD-DVD."
– Robert Purchese
Over 200 Blu-ray disc games due this year, as Kaz said.
– Robert Purchese
"Support from game publishers is nothing short of outstanding."
– Robert Purchese
So we're on to the third parties now.
– Robert Purchese
"NCsoft will be joining the PlayStation camp," announces Tretton.
– Robert Purchese
NCsoft will create "online games for our platforms accessible through the PS Network that will be found nowhere else".
– Robert Purchese
Based on current intellectual properties and new IPs.
– Robert Purchese
He's going to talk Ubisoft now. This autumn...
– Robert Purchese
Haze.
– Robert Purchese
"If you want to play it this holiday, you'll only be able to do so exclusively on PlayStation 3." Time for a trailer.
– Robert Purchese
"The name is Shane Carpenter. I was trained to handle anything."
– Robert Purchese
He's blasting away and strangling enemies.
– Robert Purchese
Shot of man walking through the rain. Looks like video footage?
– Robert Purchese
Now back to the game, exploding oil barrels, a jeep leaping over a ramp.
Unreal now. "Sony has signed a multi-stage deal with Midway and Epic." "The full optimisation of the Unreal engine for PS3 development."
– Robert Purchese
It's to help developers speed up game creation.
– Robert Purchese
Nearly 100 games in the works and more to come. "Epic's Unreal Tournament 3 is confirmed as a PS3 exclusive this year."
– Robert Purchese
You'll be able to bring mods from the PC version you've created to the PS Network.
– Robert Purchese
A trailer - "This November, the tournament for the next generation". Looks like the same one we saw at the Microsoft conference earlier.
– Robert Purchese
Time for other exclusive "hardware driving games" for PS3 - Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare.
– Robert Purchese
Night vision looks like fun.
– Robert Purchese
Assassin's Creed. No sign of Jade, though. More shots of the combat in slow motion, and there Altair goes jumping off the roof again.
– Robert Purchese
Kane & Lynch Dead Men - it's a bank heist, now a rooftop shooting on a helicopter pad.
– Robert Purchese
Resident Evil 5 - looks like the same trailer we saw at the Microsoft conference earlier today. These all look very similar.
– Robert Purchese
Burnout Paradise. Not so much with the crashing, just the zooming, it seems.
– Robert Purchese
NFL 08 - some sort of rugby inspired title presumably.
– Robert Purchese
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Five out of ten says Eurogamer.
– Robert Purchese
The Simpsons Game. Marge is running around beating up the police it looks like.
– Robert Purchese
Guitar Hero III. It's all pretty familiar stuff.
– Robert Purchese
Medal of Honor Airborne.
– Robert Purchese
Rock Band. And that's it - back to Tretton.
– Robert Purchese
Time for a new third-party exclusive. It's MGS 4 and here comes Hideo Kojima.
– Robert Purchese
He's on stage with a translator. "I safely made it again on-stage to this E3."
– Robert Purchese
"Well the game, Metal Gear, known as a stealth game is celebrating it's 20th anniversary this July."
– Robert Purchese
"This Metal Gear Solid 4 is the finale."
– Robert Purchese
"It will be a stealth game but with new elements. Stealth in the battlefield."
– Robert Purchese
"I promise you all my skills are going into Metal Gear Solid 4." He's got some real-time footage to show us, the first we've seen.
– Robert Purchese
We're in the battlefield learning about the mission no one can know about. War is the pillar supporting global economy, apparently. But no one wants to do anything about it.
– Robert Purchese
It's a hired hit Snake is needed for.
– Robert Purchese
Looks very atmospheric. Same desert-like battlefield. Trailer wasn't far off before. No HUD so far looks like a cut scene.
– Robert Purchese
The soldiers are coughing and collapsing. Something's in the air.
– Robert Purchese
The soldiers are going mental now, beating each other up.
– Robert Purchese
Snake's coughing and falling to the ground.
– Robert Purchese
A solider grabs him - he pushes him off.
– Robert Purchese
He's pointing a gun at Liquid, who's trying to escape on a helicopter
– Robert Purchese
"Snake, if you won't be a prisoner to fate, then go, fulfill your destiny."
– Robert Purchese
"I just don't fear death."
– Robert Purchese
Cyborg chopping off limbs in ninja fashion.
– Robert Purchese
He's pulled a spike right through his chest and out the other side! Now there's lots of snipping in the air and flying about.
– Robert Purchese
This is an epic battle. Cyborg pushes his own sword through his stomach and then that of his rival, who has grabbed him from behind.
– Robert Purchese
"Could you be the one to finally finish me?"
– Robert Purchese
Simultaneous worldwide launch, spring 2008.
– Robert Purchese
"Exclusively on PS3", Tretton says again.
– Robert Purchese
Kojima asks how it was. Everyone claps and cheers.
– Robert Purchese
"This is real-time footage and you'll be able to play in this quality," says Kojima.
– Robert Purchese
"Sorry, because of time we only have the trailer, but next week in Tokyo I will play a demo."
– Robert Purchese
There he'll show more about how to operate on the battlefield. "It will look a little crazy and I think you'll like it, and I hope that everyone can come to Tokyo next week." 17th July at PlayStation premiere event.
– Robert Purchese
Kojima's off, and Tretton's handing over to Phil Harrison again, who's also back in Home wearing a Ratchet costume.
– Robert Purchese
Ratchet and Clank Future Tools of Destruction now. Where's Afrika?
– Robert Purchese
Footage of an Insomniac chap talking. Ratchet sees the destruction of a city and encounters a new villain who wants to destroy his entire race.
– Robert Purchese
"This is where some questions about Ratchet's history come up," he says. "Something we've never explored before in the series."
– Robert Purchese
Ratchet is grinding on rails, lobbing grenades, avoiding giant blades.
– Robert Purchese
It all looks very Bladerunner and frantic.
– Robert Purchese
Phil's going to give us a sneak peek at Folklore now, which he describes as "a stunning work of art" - from Game Republic and Japan Studios.
– Robert Purchese
More developer talk. "It's got a good mix of a lot of different genres, whether it's action, fantasy, or RPG."
– Robert Purchese
Nice laser whip, sexy lady with shiny bottom, bloke going all evil.
– Robert Purchese
Heavenly Sword now. They've built a special Home theatre for it - a bit stone pagoda type structure.
– Robert Purchese
Tameem Antoniades of Ninja Theory is on screen. "It aims to emulate the experience of the big summer blockbuster."
– Robert Purchese
"It's very story driven and really tries to raise the bar in terms of dramatic performance."
– Robert Purchese
Everything looks sharp, fluid and super fast. Millions of enemies on a battlefield - "Without Blu-ray, we wouldn't have been able to create Heavenly Sword."
– Robert Purchese
NBA 08 now. "The first sports game ever to achieve 1080p visuals at 60fps," says Phil. A lot of very tall men jumping around.
– Robert Purchese
You'll get to go online and challenge people, including one on one matches. "You're only going to be able to do that on PlayStation 3," says man on screen.
– Robert Purchese
Ahh, LittleBigPlanet! A new version of Sackboy with a chintzy pattern.
– Robert Purchese
"The essence of LittleBigPlanet is play, create, share," says Phil.
– Robert Purchese
Alex Evans of Media Molecule is on. Characters building wooden structures - oh, it's a tree - now a cardboard tank, which is rolling down a ramp.
– Robert Purchese
Bowls of chillies used to create obstacles.
– Robert Purchese
Building steps now, and then cutting holes out like the shape buttons. "Play, create and share" mentioned again.
– Robert Purchese
Oh, is that all? Oh well, it's Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune now.
– Robert Purchese
"The Cell processor is allowing us to do things we were never able to do on PS2," says Evan Wells from Naughty Dog.
– Robert Purchese
That includes realistic facial animations. "Uncharted is going to be the best game Naughty Dog's ever made."
– Robert Purchese
The footage is of Drake running round temples, gunning and jumping. Back to Phil. Six of the 15 games Sony is bringing exclusively to PS3 this year.
– Robert Purchese
Now Harrison's announcing a game from Sly Cooper developer Sucker Punch. "An organic and open city" where you choose to be a villain or superhero.
– Robert Purchese
It's called Infamous. We're seeing a US city at night.
– Robert Purchese
Helicopters flying over a bridge, again at night. The camera swoops down into the street and on to one man.
– Robert Purchese
"Some would call him an anomaly," says a women in a voice over.
– Robert Purchese
Now the action. Our hero is leaping over cars, blowing stuff up, fighting some kind of robot.
– Robert Purchese
Due 2008. And that's it. Interesting - and clearly nothing like Sly Raccoon.
– Robert Purchese
On to Gran Turismo 5 Prologue now. Trailer up and it looks shiny. Look at the reflections on that.
– Robert Purchese
A shot of a silver car in London to end on. "Truly a beautiful game," says Phil.
– Robert Purchese
That's the last we'll see of Phil, it seems.
– Robert Purchese
Oh dear. He's talking to Tretton's Home avatar. "Hey Phil, didn't you forget one thing?"
– Robert Purchese
He did. "Everything you're about to see is real time." It's Killzone 2.
– Robert Purchese
A hellghast's eyes stare down from the big screen.
– Robert Purchese
A group of soldiers loading their weapons on a flying vehicle. Wonder if this is the same footage Tom saw last night?
– Robert Purchese
They're swooping over an industrial landscape now. There's an explosion and the ship seems to be going down.
– Robert Purchese
They've landed and are leaping into the action. There's a close up of the hands of the guy demoing the game.
– Robert Purchese
There are explosions and gunfire sounding everywhere. The player is taking out enemy after enemy. Nice blood splatters on the floor, smoke and fire all over the place.
– Robert Purchese
Snippets of gameplay. All very busy and cinematic. Very immersive. Moving into a building now, again very dingy and run down.
– Robert Purchese
The general consensus of those who were at the Killzone 2 event last night seems to be that it's looking better than they expected. This trailer is backing that up. Using sights on gun to zoom in and splatter enemies.
– Robert Purchese
The trailer's over, and Phil's back and thanking the Killzone 2 director for the demonstration. And now we're truly going back to Tretton to wrap it up.
– Robert Purchese
He's banging on about being dedicated to new entertainment experiences and consumers.
– Robert Purchese
Summing up - the new PS3 price, the new PSPs, 500 games for PS2, PSP, PS3 and PSN over the next few months.
– Robert Purchese
"We look forward to a bright future together. Thank you very much."
– Robert Purchese
And that's it. So, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have all done their conferences now... FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!