Sony's GamesCom 2011 press conference is set to kick off at 18:00 BST tonight and naturally, we'll have it fully covered right here in as we live blog every announcement along with our expert analysis.
We could even see some PS3 hardware announcements considering Sony revealed a new SKU at GamesCom last year. Will Sony slash prices following Nintendo's Wii U reveal after all?
Check back at 6pm BST for CVG's live commentary as events unfold.
Live blog (Hit F5 for updates):
Okay we're in. It's a bad start we're afraid. Some ladies in striped dresses shouted at us because we didn't sit in the right seats. Sad face.
Looks like most people are getting shouted at upon entry. Feel better.
So, what are you lot hoping to see from Sony this time?
Fingers crossed for a few more Vita announcements.
We always look forward to the latest Uncharted 3 footage as well.
Don't forget to chat in the comments section below.
Everything looks on target for the 7pm kick-off. 6pm back home.
It's filling up.
Legendeer in the house! And by house we mean comments section.
Okay 7pm target missed. We're leaving.
Only kidding.
Where are you Sony? Where. Are. You?
Andrew House due to kick things off. He's the European boss, but will next month become president of THE WORLD. As in, Sony Computer Entertainment International.
Sony is apologising for the delays. They might also want to apologise for the PS3 price cut that has leaked. More on that in a sec in the news section.
Media briefing starts very shortly. Hoo. Woo. Not necessarily in that order.
Please can you make sure your mobiles are switched to silent. That includes you.
Vita's the "ultimate portable gaming experience" apparently. A bit like PSP?
House is in the House.
I like his little beard.
Sony "take the musings of imagination and make them real". I imagine a global security hack. OH MY GOD HE'S RIGHT.
Talking up PSN. Mubi, Vidzone etc. Straight outta the blocks. Over seven million songs on the service.
'3D delivering a quality to immersive gameplay that's unprecedented".
House talking about his big move to Sony International. Introducing Jim Ryan, the new SCEE boss. We hope he has a competitive beard.
There is no beard. But we have a triple whammy: (a) The shiny shirt (b) The strident stance, legs far apart, back straight (c) Not one, but TWO, open shirt buttons. That's one in the eye to the corporate shills.
Vita, social connectivity, 3G - we're onto models.
Near is a bit like Streetpass, Party allows voice chat, Live Area allows "constant interaction". None of these things are setting our world alight - but Twitter, Facebook and Skype is a nice touch.
Groovy blue video all about connectivity. Or 'the phone stuff that's not phoning'.
Michael Denny now. He's good. Sadly, just one button undone. Talking about the importance of dual sticks in portable gaming. Lesson learnt.
Nihilistic coming on stage. Resistance: Burning Skies created with Insomniac. FPS.
Set before Resistance 2. New hero: Tom Riley, a fireman. He has an axe. A fire axe.
Alt fire rockets, iron-sighting - it's a console FPS!
Cover exists - can be controlled automatically or by tilting the Vita.
Front and rear cameras. We're into Invizimals territory. The conference is fizzling so far.
Wow - this man likes to shout.
"Oh, oh, oh, ohhhhhhh! Five hit combo from Jim."
Textbook stuff.
Escape Plan announced for Vita. 'Limbo with hot air' tag secured.
FIFA also coming to Vita in 2012.
A... new... PSP? 99 Euros. But. A... New... PSP?
FULL MOVE FUNCTIONALITY ON FIFA 13. OMG.
Move fitness announced. Sony after a slice of the pie. And then the calorie-burning workout that follows.
Diversity dancing about now. Funky stuff. Dance Star Party.
New Resistance 3 trailer coming in. Nice. Pretty pretty.
Infamous 2: Festival Of Blood. Gottta have a zombie extension.
Naughty Dog on stage. Uncharted 3 now. The good times are a'rolling.
Indy-esque fight with a big man on a plane.
Biggest cheer of the night so far.
499 Euros for PlayStation 3D TV - has 'Simulview' as shown at E3. Steely silence to price point announcement.
House back to drop PS3's price. 249 Euros - same price as Vita. Good stuff.
And goodnight.
Comments
94 comments so far...
Legendeer on 16 Aug '11 said:
Remember to chat in the comments section!?! Are we but mindless sheep for your herding CVG? How dare..... Oh, wait.....
10699 on 16 Aug '11 said:
no live video stream?
KMakawa on 16 Aug '11 said:
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/08/ ... ence-live/
El Mag on 16 Aug '11 said:
Were the angry shouty ladies at least good looking?
Nothing worse than getting shouted at by a Pat Butcher looker.
markyR on 16 Aug '11 said:
LIVE video stream is on Android and iOS Sony apps, Facebook and Playstation Home which is what I'm on and the music is friggin fantastic!!
Think I would rather they started the bloody conference though lol!!
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Watching in PS Home, still not started yet
kakah on 16 Aug '11 said:
live stream @ EU psn blog
Fr33Kye on 16 Aug '11 said:
are they playing just dance? God sony...
KMakawa on 16 Aug '11 said:
Haha, delayed by ten whole minutes.
Sony doing things right as usual!
doomsday619 on 16 Aug '11 said:
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/08/ ... /#comments watch it live here dude.
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Now starting at 18:20 UK Time
Windowlicker79 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Video stream available here: http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/08/ ... ence-live/
And here: http://www.facebook.com/PlayStation?sk= ... 4084214355
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
At least they bothered to show up *looks at MS*
markyR on 16 Aug '11 said:
Yeah but I'm loving this music
10699 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Cheers guys
Watching it now.. well watching nothing now
budge on 16 Aug '11 said:
Okay i'll admit it, i actually went on Home to watch this but some twonk started dancing in front of me and began talking about dolls! Naturally he must've just seen me disappear.
voodoo341 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Touche!
KMakawa on 16 Aug '11 said:
Haha, MS would rather attend to the gamers, no need for big press conferences at every convention methinks.
markyR on 16 Aug '11 said:
But Sony IS trying to promote the VITA so it HAS to show up to all the shows really to push those sales IMO. And we all know MS has a lot of support from the DEVS at the show anyway. yippee got video on PS Home!
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
They would need new core games for that thought!
But then again, I'm not sure if Sony are going to show anything new - probably just Vita price details and the like. So yeah, like you said - just shareholder information really.
But if they surprise me then MS really need to get their finger out.
El Mag on 16 Aug '11 said:
Plus all the bad acting American kids would want double pay to fly to Germany and fist bump. Pesky school holidays.
mw13 on 16 Aug '11 said:
its annoying when you press f5, you then have to scroll down the page. make it like the bbc streams cvg.
markyR on 16 Aug '11 said:
sssshhhhhhhh it's started!!
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
FEEL THE POWER OF PLAYSTATION...throughout gamescom
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Where is my Animax on PS3? I saw it on the sign!
KMakawa on 16 Aug '11 said:
Atleast hoping for more uncharted footage, needs to be more.. its been slow lately in terms of that.
Windowlicker79 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Keep your bloody hands still. And stop staring at me!
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Home stream was crap, watching it here now:
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2011/08/ ... ence-live/
KMakawa on 16 Aug '11 said:
The flashes were making him dizzy!!
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
New game number 1, new PS Vita Resistance game!
voodoo341 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Have to say that game looks really good for a hand held!
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Loving the touch screen shooting ideas
Fr33Kye on 16 Aug '11 said:
Wow the little big planet stuff is pretty impressive. Resistance was standard. Hopefully it's good.
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Oh my god! Capture real life objects on the go in LBP!
Day 1 for me now!
Fr33Kye on 16 Aug '11 said:
I would have been impressed if kaz and richard marks had there own characters.
pinkie 2 on 16 Aug '11 said:
omg how annoying was that scouser
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Ass Cread on Vita! Get in!
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Another New PSP? Why bother Sony? And without Wifi too!
99 Euros...hmmm..no thanks
KMakawa on 16 Aug '11 said:
I think he was a p**stake to be quite honest, went a bit too overboard. Hes speaking to the press not speaking to people down the pub. -.-
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Move support on FIFA 13, that'll be intresting.
djreplay on 16 Aug '11 said:
Move Fitness, Oh No
Fr33Kye on 16 Aug '11 said:
Escape plan. limbo + machinarium + hot air. Awesome. Yay for new ip's. On to move.
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
If Sony market it right, they could have a casual winner on their hands.
To be honest, even I'm intrested!
robbo1337 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Hey buddy, I hit F5 and it didn't refresh. All it did was dimmed the backlit keys on my Macbook
Fr33Kye on 16 Aug '11 said:
Sony you disappoint. Hopefully move fitness at least becomes a casual seller.
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
i think this section is just for the casual players. I thought the PS Vita section was great through. IMO, Vita has already blown 3DS out the water. Nintendo really need to get decent games out if they want to compete
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Diverstity! Sony don't mess around!
mogel94 on 16 Aug '11 said:
And the reason for Diversity is........?
Fr33Kye on 16 Aug '11 said:
The vita was actually pretty great. It needs more third party though. The move is painfull now.
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
It's to put on a show I guess. You know, fitness games 'in all....
Windowlicker79 on 16 Aug '11 said:
What's with the disco dancing?
KMakawa on 16 Aug '11 said:
Apparently you can use move fitness in a field!!
Apparently you can play this dancing game in the middle of a shopping center...
Yeah, this is making absolute sense. Now we have diversity selling Move. AHA.
djreplay on 16 Aug '11 said:
Would girl's like me if I could dance like Diversity?
I may get Dance Party after all.
markyR on 16 Aug '11 said:
Ps home stream was really poor, been watching on the blog stream. Get rid of diversity and show some more frigin games!!! Anyway so COD and Bioshock and Dust 514 CONFIRMED for Vita, In case you missed it. I wonder if they know they are turning the mics back on too soon?
And that resistance on vita looked extremely good!
Fr33Kye on 16 Aug '11 said:
Move was sad. Now i'm sad. Resistance 3 is pretty great. NOOOO NO INFAMOUS
Imaduck on 16 Aug '11 said:
I reckon these big corporations have like an annual cheese quota to meet. There's like a required minimum bar of camp bs that must be added, it's about 40% or more per show.
mogel94 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Infamous Vampires HOLY SH*T STICKS
AND UNCHARTED 3 GAMEPLAY!!! MORE SH*T STICKS!!!!
Fr33Kye on 16 Aug '11 said:
Oh thank god just a vampire spinoff. Cool.
Imaduck on 16 Aug '11 said:
Vampires? Euch!
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Yay, more Uncharted 3!
Fr33Kye on 16 Aug '11 said:
I like the look of vampire infamous! Dont let sparkly vampires ruin all vampires! Sure there the flavor of the month but cole just f**ked up some woman!
voodoo341 on 16 Aug '11 said:
I thought it looked great as well. Not watching any more Uncharted though. I want to play it!
Fr33Kye on 16 Aug '11 said:
Dude in a turban was making nathan drake his bitch, sadly he died. Let us mourn his passing.
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
*Mourns*
Fr33Kye on 16 Aug '11 said:
I wonder what they are going to do at tgs. Hopefully move will suck less.
KMakawa on 16 Aug '11 said:
That was actually a kind of weak show, i wouldnt of even done a conference with what they had to offer.. A few mini-games(come on.. they're not actual full games.. more Arcade then anything) .. a bit of PS3, and the rest is trying to sell Vita to the fools.
..Welldone.
markyR on 16 Aug '11 said:
Holy crap Unchartered 3 looks stunning. But no UK Vita release date.
voodoo341 on 16 Aug '11 said:
I wouldnt of even done.... not as weak as your grammar!
markyR on 16 Aug '11 said:
Begone back to the 360 forums you Xbot!!
I thought that was an awesome show for the Vita, first Resistance gameplay and new Unchartered gameplay. Well done Sony.
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
A bit harsh really I think.
No one expected E3, but at least they showcased new stuff, and released new information about games. Plus they did show for the first time a new PSP model (only coming out in Europe too btw).
I think Sony had a better show than MS or Nintendo. Oh wait, Sony were the only ones who gave enough f**k to come to Europe and do a show.
andy3050 on 16 Aug '11 said:
£440 for a 3D monitor (still no mention of TV). the cheapest 32" 3DTV is around £599 (with 2 pair of glasses and a blu ray). You can get a 42" 3DTV for £499. we sell a 24" 3D monitor (with passive glasses) for £230
2 pair of glasses and a game still dont make this an attractive buy.
KMakawa on 16 Aug '11 said:
Oh no, voodoo becoming a grammar queen? Really?!
I came with expectations of some nice information on the games I follow, wouldn't really say i'm an "xbot" when i'm on both consoles. Quit bringing out the age-old disses and get some new content. Uncharted 3 was the only good bit out of that whole conference FOR ME. Infamous 2: Vampire whateveritscalled is just another attempt at getting more sales, and hoping to start a trend just like Zombies had, and its also loosing its roots in the entire Infamous storyline, but oh well. People will buy anything.
The new PSP is basically a downscaled model of the PSP, less gloss, and a few more tweaks can get the price low enough to sell as they say "an entry level". Really, it was a waste of an event if all they wanted to do was talk about dance, fitness and Vita!
Fr33Kye on 16 Aug '11 said:
Completely disagree about the infamous 2 title. It's a downloadable title, actually done by sucker punch and not just farmed out to another developer. It's a re-imagining. That's not bad. Nor is it wrong to buy it. It is wrong to label it as an attempt to get more sales unless you work at sucker punch.
And of course they focused on the vita, they trying to sell this thing soon. There isn't enough third party stuff for the vita though.
Overall the conference was alright. If it was e3, it would have been pretty stale.
Imaduck on 16 Aug '11 said:
You should've known better than to have an opinion of your own in this day and age K
TheLastDodo on 16 Aug '11 said:
Personally I thought that was very poor, awful even, but thats probably cos I don't care for portable gaming and dancey dancey fitness tosh.
I knew it was going to be heavily focussed on Vita but Sony pretty much said after Uncharted 3 we've got nothing to offer to the PS3 exclusive wise in 2012.
Why bother buying the Vita when you can have a new PSP instead?
I enjoy inFamous 2 but a RDR type spin off does nothing for me. It's a very nice way of showing that the UGC was a failure too.
No mention of Agent or God of War 4 and are they still working on The Last Guardian?
gmcb007 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Don't say anything bad about Sony or Voodoo will brand you as a Xbot!
voodoo341 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Sorry but what has that got to do with the article?
markyR on 16 Aug '11 said:
Well, just cause it didn't have the games you like in it doesn't mean it was a failure, and I didn't know Nintendo hasn't bothered with the show! And it's trying to sell a new home console. Well they better impress next month to get it noticed, I mean people didn't see the new machine at E3 until they were told about it!!
The new WiiU, a fancy new, erm, handheld or games controller? not sure?.....
As for the new PSP, no idea, I wouldn't bother but it does look small and compact, then again look at all the games it has! And physical controls, trying to compete with the Android phones maybe?
As expected rip off price for the 3D telly, the Vita has more then demonstrated yet again this evening why it will sell very well.
TheLastDodo on 16 Aug '11 said:
If he can find an Xbox in my house then he can call me an Xbot all he wants.
Really disappointed with Sony's conference.
voodoo341 on 16 Aug '11 said:
gmcb007 on 16 Aug '11 said:
You're having a go at KMakawa's grammar probably because he said the show was poor.
Very_Silver_Ownz on 16 Aug '11 said:
'' If he can find an Xbox in my house then he can call me an Xbot all he wants.Really disappointed with Sony's conference. ''
His right he doesn't have a Xbox but I do. You can call me a Xbot all you like. Halo and Gears of war are awesome.
markyR on 16 Aug '11 said:
It was designed to promote the Vita mate and as your not interested in handheld gaming then of course you'll find it disappointing. I hope you enjoyed the Unchartered 3 demo though?
We'll keep quiet about the move.... kinect FTW on that one...
But next month will be huge, TGS is the last one of the year I believe? So you'd hope they will all show up to it?
voodoo341 on 16 Aug '11 said:
No, his grammar was terrible then ironically he talked about fools. Go and read if for yourself. I didn't once called him Xbot.
Imaduck on 16 Aug '11 said:
I didn't watch it myself, but I think some of you need to chill a bit. Some of you loved it, some of you didn't. Those who loved it, seem to have done so because they saw things they hoped to see to a substancial level, which is fine. Those who didn't, seem to have felt there were slim pickings on the PS3 front, which seems fair enough too from what I've read.
It's good that Sony made an effort, but I can also see why people would question it a tad. Perhaps it'd be better to keep people waiting and release swathes of information at once, an explosion of awesome at E3 and 1 or 2 other things. Rather than a constant dribble of sweet surrounded by fitness nuts in Leotards. Christmas wouldn't have been so cool as a kid if you'd got a present a month all year and then there was only a couple left for Christmas day, if you get me.
Edit: next spinoff I vote for Pirates or Vikings. Vampires are in a bad place rep-wise right now and Zombies are getting ..... stale? er ... est.
Very_Silver_Ownz on 16 Aug '11 said:
I didn't watch as well but sounds like it sucked. I'm calling it new consoles at E3 next year.
KMakawa on 16 Aug '11 said:
Oh and don't go reporting peoples posts because you feel they are flame/fanboy/troll-inducing when you commit the very same acts.
I should of been wiser to have an opinion in a PS3 related thread, shortly after a PS3 conference - The sony fanboys are still wet panted, glazy-eyed fans that cannot accept other people may have polarized opinions of something. << Hows that flame/fanboy'ed/troll-inducing for you?
gmcb007 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Well you seem to attack anyone who has anything bad to say about Sony. You kept branding me a fanboy that time I said Dust looked genric.
Oh did you report me? How rich coming from you!
Barry316 on 16 Aug '11 said:
Haven't read what's gone off but it's low letting it public that somebody's reported somebody else. All that does is alienate the person, you're supposed to keep that private.
TheLastDodo on 16 Aug '11 said:
You're right, and of course The Last Guardian could show up at TGS but would it have killed them to show a teaser or two for new PS3 exclusives?
I did enjoy Uncharted 3 trailer but I've got to the point where I don't want to see any more of the SP.
@KMakawa: I'm with you, unless you're interested in the Vita or crappy fitness/dance games there wasn't much to get excited for.
voodoo341 on 16 Aug '11 said:
TheLastDodo wasn't too kind about Sony, I said nothing to him or ironically anyone else. I'm still waiting to see where I called KMakawa an Xbot. You've made a serious accusation with no proof.
djreplay on 16 Aug '11 said:
Well conference or no conference at least they showed off some stuff to the European fan base, better than nothing at all I would say.
KMakawa on 16 Aug '11 said:
Agreed, if only they showed more hardcore console it'd all be smileyface wet-pants from me.
Two titles really isn't good enough.
only_777 on 16 Aug '11 said:
I think Sony's showing at Gamescom 2011 was ok. I didn't expect them to drop the bomb, but they gave me enough to think about - which to be honest as a guy sitting at home streaming just over an hour of footage is pretty good.
This show was all about the Vita, which for me is a good thing as I was thinking about getting one at launch.
Although I'm not a fan of the Resistance games, I saw some great ideas put into the interface of Resistance that I think may become a Vita standard design.
I got to see a few more of the on-the-move features of Vita LBP which in turn gave me some great ideas for new LBP levels I could make.
One thing I don't think many people would of noticed is that they streamed the footage from the Vita by filming the screen by pointing a camera at it rather than doing a video link through a cable. For this to even be a viable option of filming the screen must be something very special indeed.
Also the new Uncharted 3 play through was great!
Sony, at least made the effort to attend a European show and show a few new games for the first time. Now you can look at this in a few different ways.
1) They knew MS & Nintendo weren't going to show and they are saving their real big games for the trade shows when they know MS & Nintendo are going to show up and still have big titles to wow the crowd. In that case Sony must have some real big games still under wraps.
2) They actually respect European gamers and thought we deserved to see a few new games for the first time.
Either way, I liked what I saw, but I think if you look at the bigger picture, Sony are really doing well right now.