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Microsoft's press briefing comes at a difficult time for the company. Its Xbox 360 has been taken over in sales by the Nintendo Wii, and following increasingly widespread reports of hardware failure, the company recently announced an unprecedented extension on the warranty for the Xbox 360.

After a week of both taking flak and receiving praise for its move, what would Microsoft have in store tonight? Will it announce a passel of new games like last year? Will it reveal more about the ambitious Live Anywhere service? And what about the whole gaming-on-Zune thing, anyway? GameSpot News is on the scene, blogging the event live with all the latest.

[8:30] Loud techno plays, gaggles of industry types exchange pleasantries.

[8:31] There's a band set up to the right of the stage--can we expect some Rock Band or Guitar Hero action tonight?


[8:32] A voice comes over the PA--the show is about to begin. It politely tells every one to shut up and sit down.

[8:32] This place is filling up fast! Lights are coming down! Howls of delight issue from the crowd.

[8:33] Five Halo fans from Illinois are being brought on stage. Halo music plays as stars are shown on a huge screen. Camera cranes go nuts over the audience.

[8:34] Oh snap! The "fans" are a band--a lady fiddler backed up by a keyboardist, bassist, drummer, and guitarist. I didn't know the Master Chief liked prog-folk...

[8:35] Fiddler lady is going nuts on stage. It's a Halo hoe-down! Yeeeehaaaaw!

[8:35] Lights going ballistic now. Obvious Microsoft has planted a few in the audience for "cheering."

[8:36] Numerous scenes from Halo 3 flash on the large screen as the music and lights come down. Well, that was...artistic.

[8:36] Oh, they're not done! Big finale! Some genuine cheers follow.


[8:37] Peter Moore takes the stage.

[8:37] Moore: "When they heard the music of Halo, they heard rock!"

[8:38] Moore: "Welcome to the New E3. It's a bit different than last year."

[8:38] "Every demo and game you see here tonight will be out this year."

[8:39] Harmonix takes the stage.

[8:40] Moore is playing Rock Band with Alex Rigopolous. "Let's turn it up to 11!"

[8:41] He's tanking...BADLY. Laughter from the audience. Blond singer trying to be dead serious as crowd cracks up.

[8:42] They cut Moore's amp he was so terrible. But they bring it back on. He's not doing half bad now, and it's cool he's a good sport.

[8:42] "Big close!" Great success!

[8:43] Rock Band will have The Who, The Strokes, Nirvana, and more.


[8:44] New trailer debuts for...Viva Pinata: Party Animals! New party game that's heavy on the Horstachios.

[8:44] Game is being developed by Krome Studios, according to the trailer.

[8:45] Mass Effect is next--here comes the trailer.

[8:46] Trailer starts--Keith David in the voice-over house! Game looks vastly improved--unbelievably sharp graphics.

[8:46] "Your species has to learn its place!" You think he's the villain?

[8:46] MASS EFFECT COMING IN NOVEMBER
8:48] Now comes the business speak. Moore touts the fact that people will spend more on games than on music.

[8:49] 5.6 million 360s sold to date. It has the highest installed base of any console. Since Wii/PS3 launch, $2.4 billion has been spent on 360 accessories, games, and hardware.


[8:51] Says 2004 was the perfect storm of gaming with Halo, Madden, and Grand Theft Auto IV. Says three franchises will drive 1/3 of all sales this holiday season.

[8:55] Go to video montage! Call of Duty 4, Stranglehold, Guitar Hero III, Beautiful Katamari, Lost Odyssey, NBA: Live 08, Mass Effect, Fatal Inertia, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Tiger Woods 08, Ace Combat 6, NHL 08, Assassin's Creed, Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, Simpsons, Splinter Cell: Conviction, NASCAR 08. Eternal Sonata, BioShock, Madden NFL 08, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, Crash of the Titans, Harry Potter, Half-Life 2: Orange Box, Bee Movie Game, Rock Band, and Naruto will all be available this year, apparently.

[8:55] Jeff Bell, Microsoft corporate VP takes the stage.

[8:56] New game--Scene It?, based on the popular board game, will come with video clips in high definition and a new controller.

[8:57] Controller and game "designed for whole family." Game will come with controller and "cost the same as a regular Xbox 360." He also touts Naruto.

[8:58] Trailer for Naruto rolls. Great, if you're a Naruto fan. Otherwise, not so much...

[8:58] (What kind of ninja is blond, anyway?)

9:00] Bell: "We're bringing the best of entertainment to the Xbox 360...announcing all-new EA Sports titles will "run twice as fast" as last year's games. Brings in New Orleans Saints' Reggie Bush to vouch for that fact.

[9:01] Surprise! Bush is a fan of the 360 and Madden. He plays Bell in Madden.

[9:01] Bush: "I got to watch you Microsoft guys--you guys cheat, man."

[9:02] Bush quickly beats Bell in some "spontaneous" Madden action. Apparently, onstage pwnage of executives is the new black at this year's event.

[9:03] Bell: Now over 7 million Xbox Live users. He jokes, "Only half are here tonight!" (Heyo!) Microsoft now aiming for 10 million users by next year's E3 (assuming there is one...)

[9:04] 45 million game downloads from Xbox Live Arcade to date.

9:06] XLBA montage: Hexic 2, classic Sonic, War World, Sensible World of Soccer, Every Extend Extra Extreme, Wing Commander Area, Track & Field, Spyglass Board Games, Golden Axe, Space Giraffe, Super Puzzle Fighter II, Marathon 2: Durandal, Switchball, Tetris, Puzzle Quest, Buko Sudoku, among others.

[9:06] Original Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe are going on XBLA tonight.

[9:07] On to Video Marketplace. 2,000 hours of content, $125 million spent on the service since launch.

[9:09] Deal with Disney to bring movies to XBLM: Tarzan, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Emperor's New Groove. From Touchstone, the movies include Waterboy, Unbreakable, Armageddon, Brothers Grimm, Bringing Down the House, Coyote Ugly, Primeval, The Queen, and Venus. All available tonight, all in HD.

[9:10] Bell: "All big hits from Disney will from now be available on Xbox Live." Xbox Live Video marketplace coming to Europe and Canada.

[9:11] Xbox 360 Elite coming to Europe on August 24.

[9:11] Microsoft Games Studios head and corporate VP Shane Kim takes the stage, saying, "Everything starts with the games."

[9:12] Touts Lost Odyssey, Mass Effect, Blue Dragon, and Halo 3.

[9:13] Forza 2 is biggest game in Europe, says Kim, before introducing a Project Gotham Racing 4 demo. The game itself is confirmed for a September release.

[9:14] Demonstrators confirm motorcycles will be introduced in the game, with real-life bikes from Honda, Ducati, and others.

[9:15] Demo looks slick. Great lighting effects as bike races through rainy Shanghai streets, popping wheelies.

9:16] Cue PGR4 trailer. Staggering crisp graphics as a motorcycle races a car through a snowstorm in the woods and a rainstorm in various cities.

[9:17] Kim back on stage now, touting Alan Wake, Fable 2, Too Human, and Halo Wars.

[9:18] Also reminds world that, yes, director Peter Jackson is still working on a Halo movie.

[9:18] Cue Lost Odyssey demo.

[9:19] Onscreen, an immortal warrior complains about "lifetimes of pain." I think I feel a case of the Quickening coming on...

[9:21] Kim back on stage to announce new Games for Windows with some "familiar faces." Viva Pinata and Gears of War (surprise!) with "all-new content" and a level editor.

[9:21] Enter Cliffy B.

[9:23] Cliffy B. says Gears of War on PC will have five new single-player levels, and new multiplayer modes and maps.
[9:23] Cliffy B. demos a new level where Marcus Fenix takes on the brumak, the giant creature from the Gears of War trailer.

[9:25] It's an impressive fight. Smooth graphics as Marcus pumps the behemoth full of lead. Dom dies (naturally) and just as the brumak is about to fall--he pauses the game. "I don't want to spoil the surprise," he jokes.

[9:26] Moore back in to tout Windows Live for PC. New partners whose games will have Live Achievements are THQ, Sega, and Eidos.

[9:26] Moore also says that the Unreal Engine 3 toolset will soon have built-in support for Windows Live.

[9:29] Windows Live game montage: Bee Movie Game, Flight Simulator, Hellgate: London. Age of Empires III: Asian Dynasties, BioShock, Crysis, Universe at War, BlackSite: Area 51, World in Conflict, Age of Conan, Lost Planet, Kane & Lynch, Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts, Zoo Tycoon 2: Extinct Animals, Juiced 2, Viva Pinata, and Spider-Man: Friend or Foe, among others.

[9:30] Moore back on stage, gives props to BioShock for being PC/360 exclusive, then introduces Call of Duty 4 trailer.

[9:32] Game shows US Marines fighting it out in Middle Eastern country before showing commando raid on rogue Russian forces. Looks like they just shot off some ICBMs. "Moscow in flames, missiles headed our way. Film at 11."

[9:33] Infinity Ward developers get on stage. They've been working on COD4 since COD2 wrapped. One dev promises the studio is "going deep and going hard," eliciting chuckles.

[9:34] Demo starts. Two British commandos in Ghillie suits take out some sentries. Lighting effects are fantastic, graphics crisp--this is a top-notch production all around.

[9:37] The two commandos infiltrate a building after sniping some "tangos." They run through a field and some woods, then hit the dirt as they approach some foes. A battalion of passel of troops backed up by three tanks is coming right at them--demo is cut off.

[9:38] Infinity Ward guys say the Call of Duty 4 multiplayer demo will be Xbox 360 exclusive. Go to charlieoscardelta.com for more details.

[9:39] From out of nowhere the Grand Theft Auto IV trailer. Moore gleefully announces both trailers shown so far are running in real time on the Xbox 360. Second trailer, released last month, rolls. What, they couldn't get a demo together?

[9:41] Moore says two exclusive new GTA IV episodes will be released in spring 2008. "The Xbox 360 is the only console where you can get the complete Grand Theft Auto IV experience," he boasts.

[9:41] Moore talking about Japanese support, talks about series debuting on the console for the first time...cue Resident Evil 5 trailer.

[9:42] Very creepy trailer shows zombies running amok in a North African village. Full trailer on Xbox Live on July 26, but this is the one game shown tonight that won't be out until 2008.

[9:43] Moore cedes the stage to Ubisoft's Jade Raymond. Howls of approval from many male members in the audience.

[9:44] Raymond demos Assassin's Creed in real time. Titular killer, Altair, is on top of a Jerusalem rooftop, then jumps down into a pile of hay.

[9:45] The assassin walks through the crowd. To show off the detailed character, he punches out a beggar who slows him down.

[9:46] Altair then kills someone and flees the scene with some fancy acrobatics. He escapes into a building only to find it's a trap--four swordsmen confront him.

[9:48] With a flurry of vicious-looking combos, Altair makes short work of the swordsmen, then goes after their leader in a gravity-defying rooftop chase.

[9:49] The chase goes through the streets of Jerusalem, knocking pedestrians out of the way before Altair finishes his quarry with a wicked death blow.

[9:50] Moore's back on stage. Comparing Halo trilogy to the Star Wars trilogy.

[9:51] Hold the phone! Cue a live-action trailer directed by Neil Blomkamp, the would-be director of the indefinitely delayed Halo movie.

[9:51] Short shows the interior of a USNC weapons factory. Assembly lines make warthogs as space marines suit up in armor.

[9:52] Pelican drop ships load up on troops, getting ready for a big battle. If the Halo movie looks like this, I'm already in line.

[9:52] Trailer abruptly ends, leaving many disappointed.

[9:53] Moore then almost causally whips out the Halo 3 console--it's green and gold. [Later, Microsoft confirmed it would have a 20GB drive.]

9:54] Microsoft also releasing a whole range of Halo-branded accessories to match the console. It will go on sale September 25 alongside the game, but no pricing information is announced.

[9:55] Moore wrapping up, wishes everyone well. "But before we go, let's make sure we finish the fight."

[9:57] New Halo 3 trailer! Earth is in flames. Terence Stamp voice-over shows action aplenty. New enemies--brutes in armor and what looks like flying grunts. Master Chief is hip-shooting a Gatling gun. Cortana looks like she's in trouble.

[9:58] And that's it! Crowd starts filing out...then the fiddler returns!

[9:59] Band tries to convince crowd not to go, but they're piling out en masse, having sat on concrete for an hour and a half.

CaptHawkeye wrote:Ingame Killzone 2 trailer released.

Looks pretty good, actually. Unlike many of the Sony fanboys I never thought Killzone 1 looked like it was going to be good even when the first trailers came out that had everyone screaming "ZOMG HALO KILLER!". Though I did truly want it to be a good game. Lo and behold, I actually liked what I saw this time. Though I would appreciated less ride on the stupid open top dropship, and more shooty shooty.

Vympel wrote:So Gears of War on PC. Excellent.

SylasGaunt wrote:That's certainly impressive looking... they're sure it's in-game this time right?

JLTucker wrote:May I ask why Nintendo is excited about online Mii creation contests? Completely stupid, in my opinion.

Anarchist Bunny wrote:Nintendo has released two new controllers for games, the Wii Zapper, which is a mount for the Wiimote and Nunchuk that resembles a SMG for games like Metroid Prime 3,

With minutes to go until the conference's scheduled kick-off, it seems there's little time left before Nintendo delivers its payload of announcements for the show. New looks at confirmed 2007 releases like Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption are almost assured, but what will the publisher announce for the first time? Will Nintendo mine its powerful stable of characters and brands for longtime fans? Will it continue to court non-gamers with unusual and unexpected titles like Brain Age and Nintendogs? We're about to find out, as a voice comes on the loudspeaker and tells us the show starts in five minutes.

[9:02] The lights dim and a voice asks the attendees to take their seats.

[9:03] A stop-motion video comes up with an old NES complaining about how gamers forget old systems once new ones show up. It's a montage of pop culture references to the Wii and DS, including South Park, the Daily Show, and more.

[9:04] From news reports about games as exercise to YouTube videos featuring unusual uses of the Wii controller, it's a barrage of media that ends as Reggie casually walks on stage.

[9:04] "My name is Reggie. And I... am happy."

[9:05] The Nintendo of America president calls today a celebration, a "conclusive turning point for the video game market," welcoming more players to our form of entertainment and a coming out party for the entire industry.

[9:06] Reggie says the video game business is up 46 percent over the same period last year in the US, 42 percent in the UK, and up 114 percent in Japan.

[9:07] This kind of explosion is simply not possible by targeting the existing market, Reggie says. It has to be because of an expanding market.

[9:08] Because this is a Nintendo show, Reggie says it shouldn't surprise us that 69 percent of the industry growth this year comes from the sale of Nintendo products. He also points to strong portable growth, as handhelds now represent half of all game system sales, as opposed to 30 percent in 2002.

[9:09] Reggie shows stats that say the DS is responsible for most of that portable industry growth, and attributes the Game Boy Advance for the rest of it, which gets a chuckle from the audience.

[9:10] He shows some graphs showing that gamers 18-24 are accounting for an increasing amount of gaming revenue, and the 25 and older group now accounts for a third of the market.

[9:11] Next is the gender barrier. Reggie says the industry spending is 80 percent male, but for Nintendo, women represent a full third of its revenues.


[9:14] In Japan, Reggie says the growth of female and older audiences is even more pronounced. While the Wii hasn't been around long enough to track trends on it. Reggie shows stats that indicate if there's a Wii in the household, older women and men are more likely to try it than they would be with other systems.

[9:15] Games like Wii Sports, Big Brain Academy, Brain Age, and Nintendogs are attributed to growing the market with the help of core influencers. He acknowledges that people are calling the Wii and DS a fad--adding that he'd say the same thing in their shoes--but talks about the staying power of the systems. The Wii has been sold out worldwide for 33 straight weeks.

[9:15] "The reality is this: Nintendo is not a fad. Nintendo is the future."

[9:16] In the US, there are 60 Wii games and 300 DS games, with another 100 and 140 on the way, respectively. He also gives some stats to tout the effectiveness of third-party software on the systems.

[9:17] It's another video montage of people enjoying the Wii and DS, as well as more media coverage and fan-made videos.

[9:19] Reggie comes back and welcomes the first offspring of the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk. It's the Wii Zapper, a new housing for the two controllers.

[9:20] Reggies says it could change the first-person shooter the way the Wii Remote changed sports games. Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles will be on display this week, and Reggie says it's evolutionary and revolutionary. Sega is also bringing Ghost Squad to the Wii to use the Zapper.

[9:21] EA's Medal of Honor for the Wii is being designed to take advantage of the Zapper, with 10 different Zapper moves. More third-party partners will have Wii Zapper news this week, and Nintendo is working on its own Wii Zapper game. Reggie is saying Wii Zapper every chance he gets.

[9:21] The Zapper will come packaged with a game and sell for $19.99, which gets some applause.

[9:22] Now Reggie is showing off quick glimpses of third-party games like Soulcalibur Legends and WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008.

9:23] Moving to the DS, he shows Tecmo's Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. He makes mention that maybe gamers want something deeper, and talks about Square Enix's new Dragon Quest game and the Mario and Sonic Olympics game.

[9:23] They show a footrace between Mario and Sonic that comes down to a dead heat. Poor Sonic. Running is all he does and he doesn't even get a clear win over Mario.

[9:24] Reggie talks a little about Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It's set to release in the US on December 3.

[9:25] Reggie calls it "the best Smash Bros. ever by far." The whole lineup is intended to demonstrate that there's more than enough action coming to DS and Wii. Now it's a video profile with a pair of game site writers.

[9:26] The writers (Mike and Jackie) are invited onto the stage to put some upcoming games through their paces.

[9:27] Mike is out first with Nintendo's Bill Trinnen to talk Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on the DS.

[9:28] They go over the touchscreen interface. Mike is playing the game with one hand as the DS sits on the table. He runs Link around, negotiates menus, uses a grappling hook and swings his sword using only the stylus.

[9:29] He uses the stylus to draw a tight rope for Link to cross a pit with. Trinnen promises a deep single-player adventure and calls it his favorite Zelda game ever, emphasizing that it isn't just E3 hyperbole.

[9:30] Jackie Goehner is up on stage now to play Metroid Prime 3 on Wii. She shows off the visor system, which allows players to switch views on the fly.

[9:32] Trinnen says the game features lock-on free aiming, where you can lock on to something that serves as an orbit point, but then use the Wii Remote to aim anywhere you want. Jackie is taking out a few enemies and showing off the hyper mode, which makes her more powerful but "corrupts" Samus.

[9:32] Trinnen says Metroid Prime 3 will be the best blockbuster first-person game this fall. Reggie retakes the stage.

[9:33] Reggie brings up the issue of Nintendo getting serious about online. He says the company might have already gotten serious about it; we just didn't notice. Cue another mainstream media video montage.

[9:34] Today, 5.5 million DS owners have used the system's Wi-Fi connection, representing 230 million gameplay sessions. Reggie emphasizes that it's free to play.

[9:36] It's Virtual Console time, as Reggie says they've had 5.6 million game downloads already. He brings up WiiWare and introduces a new channel devoted to Miis. It's "Check Mii Out," where gamers can have their Miis voted on by other users.

[9:37] He mentions that Wii users are already battling Pokemon online, and says players in the US will be going online with Mario Strikers Charged. "But I know you want more, so let's go."

[9:37] Madden 08 and FIFA 08 will both be online.

[9:38] Square Enix's Dragon Quest Monsters - Joker will go online using the Wi-Fi Connection, and Activision's Guitar Hero III will let you "rock into the 'Wii' hours with a wireless controller."

[9:39] Mario Kart Wii will burn rubber online in the first quarter of next year, and the crowd cheers and claps a bit.

[9:40] "This is not your father's Mario Kart." He says this is the first Mario Kart where first-timers can compete directly with veterans, including a custom Wii wheel controller that will debut with Mario Kart Wii.

[9:40] Reggie holds up the controller, which will come packaged with the game.

[9:41] He moves on from making games feel fresh again for veterans to expanding the audience, and it's another montage.

9:43] To emphasize the mass market, Reggie intros Nintendo worldwide president Satoru Iwata.

[9:44] Iwata thanks the audience for coming, then talks about playing his first game 30 years ago, when there weren't many gamers. He said it would be wonderful if everyone could experience the enjoyment he first felt, but to do that he'd need new proposals and tangible products. So far, he says Nintendo is seeing some positive results from games like Nintendogs and Brian Age.

[9:44] He mentions Wii Sports and says that when people sweat playing tennis in their own living rooms, it attracts many people who had never played before.

[9:45] Iwata hypes up new DS cookbook software available in Japan, and says he uses it to prepare dinner for his family, and finds that he forgets his work worries when he's chopping onions.

[9:46] He hears sometimes that Nintendo has lost its passion for traditional games or that the expansion products like Brian Age have nothing to do with them. He hopes what they've shown today convinces people otherwise.

[9:47] He asks gamers to remember their first time playing games, and the frustration they felt playing against better players and hearing people say they were wasting their lives. Today we're seeing it's not impossible to expand the gaming population, he says.

[9:48] Iwata wants to destroy the psychological barrier that separates veteran gamers from novice gamers. He doesn't want Nintendo products to be narrowly classified as "for beginners" or "for core players." He wants games to be for everyone.

[9:49] "You may think this sounds impossible, but think about the Wii Zapper. It erases the kind of complexity that has always created a high barrier for even casual players to overcome."

[9:50] Iwata wants titles easily playable by everyone, but content needs to be scalable with enough to entertain and challenge even skilled players. In a few minutes, Shigeru Miyamoto will show off a new title that meets those criteria.

[9:51] It's another profile, this time of Robin and Rigo, parents from Austin, Texas who also happen to be Wii fans. They talk about how great Super Mario Galaxy is.

[9:52] It's a whirlwind of testimony about Mario Galaxy, followed quickly be family members talking about Brain Age 2, then the video ends. Reggie retakes the stage.

[9:53] Reggie says Brain Age 2 is already more popular in Japan than the original. It will be available in the US August 20. As for Super Mario Galaxy, Reggie says it's simply "over the top," and says it is--in one sense--the first worthy successor to Super Mario 64.

[9:54] Super Mario Galaxy comes out November 12.

[9:56] Now he's back to expanding the audience. He says Nintendo is just getting started on it, and says puzzle game like Picross DS have always expanded boundaries. EA's My Sims follow as Reggie talks about its instant appeal. Likewise, he says High School Musical will appeal to anyone who likes singing and dancing. And then there's Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, which Reggie says is "even nuttier."

[9:56] Now he's talking about the "improvement games" like Brian Age and Big Brain Academy, which have sold 15 million units worldwide. He intros a vision training game that will be called Flash Focus in the US.

[9:58] He brings up Ubisoft's My Word Coach, a vocabulary building software title and "one game where your mom may end up schooling you." There's also My Life Coach, which promises "to make not just your vocabulary, but everything better," according to Reggie.

[9:58] It's another media montage.

[10:01] Reggie comes back out and says the last game they're showing today is Wii Fit. A video comes up showing a new "controller," essentially a pad that sits on the floor. One "game" asks the player to stand on the pad and balance their weight between their feet within a specific zone. It goes through a number of exercises using the pad, including push-ups and using hula hoops.

[10:01] One game asks the player to head away incoming soccer balls. Apparently the pad can determine which way the player's head is tilted from how much weight they're putting on each foot.

[10:02] Yoga exercises are also included, and as the video ends, three people take the stage to demo it, followed by Miyamoto, who the crowd greets with the loudest applause yet.

[10:03] Speaking through a translator, Miyamoto says that the one game he wanted to introduce at E3 this year was Wii Fit. When they were first thinking up the concept for the Wii, they thought it would be placed in the living room, and so had to be relevant to everyone in the household, and provide opportunities for everyone in the household to interact with games.

[10:05] The three people on stage are fitness trainers who will demonstrate exercises. There's a ref pointer shaking around the screen as one demos a one-legged stretch.Apparently the calibration is off.

[10:06] The next exercise is step aerobics, which has the player match their steps on the pad to the timing of music. It's a little like Dance Dance Revolution.

10:07] The last demo is a sideways twist. Miyamoto hopes people will demo it at the Barker Hangar so they can get a feel for how it works. The game features four genres of activities, more than 40 in total.

[10:08] Miyamoto holds up the board and explains how it works.

[10:09] He says they're going to do a "body check" on someone, so they bring up Reggie.

[10:09] Reggie stands on the board, and it asks him how heavy his clothing is, then tells him to stand in a relaxed position.

[10:10] The board takes a few seconds to measure, and then tells Reggie how his center of gravity shifted while he was standing on the board. That's what the red pointer in the previous test was. It says Reggie leaned to the right as he stood and asked if he had good posture.

[10:11] As you play the game over time, you can build up data tied to your Mii and track it for months to see your own fitness progress for your body mass index over time.

[10:13] The game calculates Reggie's BMI as 27.51, and then calls him "overweight" and adapts his Mii to fit.

[10:14] Now Miyamoto and Reggie are going to compete in a soccer heading competition to see who can play that Wii Fit game better. The first one to 20 points wins.

[10:14] Reggie dominates Miyamoto, whose Mii is eventually struck in the head by a cleated shoe as the demo ends. Trinnen and Miyamoto leave the stage.

[10:15] Reggie says Nintendo still isn't close to being satisfied, with tons of creative talent in many companies fueling the industry's growth. But he also says leadership counts, and this is Nintendo's moment to lead.

[10:16] There are 24 hours in every day, Reggie notes. "And only a small amount of time is available for leisure entertainment. Minute by minute, we intend to steal more of that time for video games."

[10:17] He says Flicker, YouTube and other such sites show that people insist on getting inside their entertainment, and Nintendo is the ultimate interactive entertainment. He thanks the crowd and leave the stage as another montage plays and the crowd applauds.

[10:17] The montage ends with the Nintendo logo and the show is over.

At this year's Nintendo E3 press conference, Shigeru Miyamoto was on hand to demonstrate a brand-new game and peripheral for the Wii. As he took the stage toward the end of the conference, he spoke through a translator to explain that he wanted to demonstrate this game rather than his other titles such as Super Mario Galaxy, The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass, or the newly-announced Wii installment of the Mario Kart franchise. His newest title, Wii Fit, will take the form of a mat-based exercise game, which will take various measurements of your body and plot your fitness levels against your friends' over a number of months.

After a video demonstration showing people indulging in various yoga-style exercises and dance routines, Miyamoto enlisted the help of fitness trainers to show the game being played live onstage. Although the calibration was apparently skewed, the general principle behind the leg-stretch routine was simple to observe. The woman on stage stood on the wireless white mat and replicated the controlled balance movements made by the character onscreen. The second game that was demonstrated looked a lot like Konami's Dance Dance Revolution series, with a series of arrows appearing onscreen to dictate the direction of your movement. Apparently, it was supposed to be in time with the music, although again the calibration was slightly off--so it wasn't a perfect demonstration of the technology. After such strenuous activity, the third game was clearly meant to offer a cooldown, with a simple hip-twisting exercise showing off more of the mat's motion-sensing technology. The game promises more than 40 of these little games, each categorized into one of four categories.

While the exercises in Wii Fit seem to follow the same minigame formula of other titles such as Wario Ware, Rayman Raving Rabbids, and Wii Play, Wii Fit compiles data and uses it to plot your fitness progress over time. To demonstrate this feature of the game, Miyamoto enlisted the help of Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, who stood on the mat and had his readings calculated by the game's fitness measurement system. First, the game asked how heavy his clothing was, and even though he was wearing a heavy suit, the instructor selected the "light clothing" option for comedic effect. Wii Fit then instructed Reggie to relax his shoulders and stand still while it performed its measurement routine. After about 20 seconds, the game was able to draw onscreen how Reggie's weight was naturally shifted to one side--apparently no bad thing, as most overweight people apparently naturally lean backward. Despite this, the game calculated Reggie's BMI as 27.51, called him "overweight," and adapted his Mii character accordingly. Other players will be able to see your Mii and its progress, but the game will not display actual body weights (although the game can measure this), instead opting for the BMI level.

With all this calibrated, Miyamoto challenged Fils-Aime to a game of football heading. This game required the players to move their heads in the right direction to head the oncoming balls while avoiding any oncoming cleats, with the first player to 20 declared the winner. Fils-Aime, who towers over Miyamoto in stature, took the lead seemingly with ease and went on to win the game in a very short span of time.

While no price or release details for Wii Fit have been announced, it's clear that it will go down well with the sort of casual audience that enjoyed Wii Sports. Hardcore gamers may well lament the fact that Miyamoto didn't demonstrate a more traditional Mario or Zelda game at this year's E3, but with the Wii's extraordinary success over the past year it was perhaps unsurprising to see Nintendo ending the conference with a solid crowd pleaser. We'll be able to bring you more on the game in a very short space of time, as it is on demonstration in Santa Monica's Barker Hangar. Keep an eye out for more info as we get it.

JLTucker wrote:The only thing I have seen so far that I really like in the Sony Press Conference is the new trailer for MGS 4. The other games shown look good but would look better if the fucking camera man would zoom in so we can see more in detail.

Assassin Creed likely needs no introduction: Since its introduction at last year's E3 event, the game has been turning heads with its mysterious assassin-in-medieval-Jerusalem setting and its eye-popping graphics. A year later, Ubisoft is finally giving the press the opportunity to go hands-on with the title, and we recently had the chance to sit down for nearly an hour with Elspeth Tory, the project manager for the game's animation, as she showed us the most recent build of the game and let us play it for ourselves.



For those of you who haven't been following the title, it's worth pointing out that Assassin's Creed is what Ubisoft Montreal has been working on since the last entry in their extremely well-received Prince of Persia series. It follows the adventures of Altair, an assassin who works in the Holy Land in the 12th century, working on behalf of the mysterious Hashshashin and tasked with killing targets inside a large city. During the demo, we picked up hints that he and the Hashshashin are working against a mysterious Brotherhood, but what they represent isn't entirely clear.

Our demo began with Altair standing on a wooden beam on the roof of a building, where Altair is supposed to make what's known as a "leap of faith," which allows him to dive into a bale of hay on the street below him and thus quickly and stealthily make his way down to street level. Unfortunately, we clumsily executed a regular jump, sending Altair onto the pavement itself. While painful, the falling damage wasn't enough to kill us, so we took off toward our target, a slave driver named Talal who had set up shop near our location.

Given the game's origins, it's unsurprising that Altair moves in a manner that is, at least on the surface, reminiscent of the Prince in the Prince of Persia games. Given the free-form nature of the city in which Altair works, however, the movement system here is both more fantastic and more realistic. It's more realistic in the sense that you're unable to jump incredible distances, an acrobatic limitation that's particularly noteworthy during combat; but since the city is built with a number of extremely climbable buildings and short jumps, you'll also find yourself scampering up walls and leaping from rooftop to rooftop. This "free running" style of movement is easily accomplished in most instances, as you're capable of simply holding down the right trigger button and pressing A on an Xbox 360 controller to activate it. While holding down these buttons, Altair automatically tries to use the most fluid movement available to him in the direction he's facing, whether it's climbing up to the roof of a building or jumping from beam to beam. The primary source of interaction while Altair is free running lies in choosing his direction, as your choice of path will determine the kind of route that he will take.

You're not limited to simply running and jumping around, of course; by default, Altair will simply walk slowly through the multitude of people on the street. Your goal as an assassin is to remain stealthy and and blend in with the crowd, and there is in fact an option to hold down a button for "blend" mode, wherein Altair will move very slowly, but will clasp his hands and bow his head in a pretty good imitation of a monk. That will let you meld with the crowds and avoid the attention of guards who might otherwise become suspicious of you. If you're too impatient to deal with that, though, you can also use gentle pushes to make your way more swiftly through a crowd, or simply punch people out of your path--but that will, of course, draw unwanted attention.

When you are spotted, or when you simply don't give a damn whether or not you have to fight off a guard, you can hold down the right trigger to activate your high alert mode, which allows you to move more quickly through crowds and also attack or tackle people who get in your way. All of these actions are mapped to your controller's face buttons, and they're context sensitive. All of your actions are visible in the upper-right corner of the screen, which should make it a bit easier to get the hang of the game when you're just starting out.


The ways in which the guards and other hostile enemies in the game will react to you is based on what is essentially a wanted meter, similar to what you’ve experienced in games like Metal Gear Solid or Grand Theft Auto. If you stick with the crowd and don’t draw attention to yourself, you’ll mostly be left alone. When you start acting oddly, such as by running through the streets and pushing people out of your way, enemies will begin taking more of an interest in you. If you actually start taking out your weapons and chopping people up, or if you attempt to run along the rooftops and are spotted by an elevated archer, every enemy in the area will typically come looking for you.

When this occurs, you have two very basic options: fight or flight. The fighting system allows you to use four weapons: the sword, the daggers, the hidden blade, and Altair’s fists. Each will have its own basic utility, such as how you can throw the daggers to hit enemies a short distance away, but when you’re in a fight against multiple foes, you’ll likely want to stick with the sword.

If you’re expecting the kind of acrobatic moves that you might have used in the Prince of Persia games, though, you’ll be surprised at the relatively realistic movements that Altair is capable of. He’s only human, after all, so he’s not capable of jumping straight over an opponent’s head or throwing them across the room; most of his attacks consist of basic swordplay or grappling maneuvers. A simple sword attack is the basis of his combat ability, although it’ll often be blocked by your foes. If you wait until an enemy attacks you and press a button at the correct time, you will be capable of blocking their attack and countering, which will usually earn you an immediate kill. You can also lock onto an enemy and grapple them, which will let you then push or pull them in any direction you like, based on your analog stick movement. This is helpful for pushing enemies off of tall buildings or into destructible parts of the environment, like scaffoldings, that will collapse onto them.

All of this comes together well at the end of the demo. If you saw the Microsoft press conference and saw the demo that was performed there, you’ll remember that Altair eventually tracks down and kills Talal, the slavedriver. What wasn’t shown during that demo is what happens after a successful assassination: the escape. After a particularly high-profile killing like that, Altair needs to wipe the body of his foe with a feather and return the bloodied trophy to the Hashshashin hideout that he’s based in. Unfortunately, the hideout will be closed to you until you can eliminate your wanted level.

Again, doing so can be done either by fighting all of the guards that come after you until none of them are close enough to spot you, or by outrunning them and attempting to find a hiding place. Running away from your pursuers is by no means easy, however, as they can follow you almost anywhere you go, and will even pursue you onto the rooftops if they see you climb up a building, thanks to the numerous ladders in the area. There are a number of hiding spots that you can use if you manage to get out of eyesight for a moment, such as covered bales of hay on the roofs of the buildings or even benches that are already populated by other civilians: simply plop yourself down and try to blend in, and the guards will likely pass you by.

What intrigues us the most about the demo is the remnants of the high-technology world that was only glimpsed behind closed doors at last year’s E3. If you recall our previous report, you’ll remember that there was a bizarre scene in which, after Altair’s untimely death, the screen flashed white and you found yourself waking up in a futuristic room, apparently emerging from some kind of virtual reality simulation. Hints of this high-tech background are apparent in the Jerusalem setting, as when you lock onto an enemy, they’ll flash with an aura that’s made up of digital glyphs. At various times during the demo, the entire screen will also flash with the same glyphs, indicating that you can flip to an alternate camera view during a cutscene. Additionally, after our successful assassination of Talal, we were treated to a cryptic exchange of dialogue, with a bloodied Talal lying in Altair's arms, both of them bathed in an overwhelming white light.

What this sequence might signify, and how the futuristic touches will tie into the final game, is something that Ubisoft is still understandably cagey about. Given that the game is coming out this November, though, we may just have to wait until then to find out more. Stay tuned to GameSpot for complete coverage if any more information comes down the pipe.

As we mentioned, the mission began with a military maneuver that gets off to a shaky start when airborne troop carriers take some hits and crash into a war-torn city. The level then focuses on you and the remainder of your squad as you make your way up to an arc tower, which is essentially a lightning-based weapon that is currently blasting all of your friendly aircraft out of the sky with an extremely satisfying zap. The very rough journey sends you in and out of buildings, as well as pits you against mobs of enemies on an impressively packed battlefield. Though the mission is rough on the soldiers, it's perfect for showing off Killzone 2's gameplay.

While we weren’t allowed to actually get our hands on the game and play it for ourselves, watching a level of it in action definitely revealed some details. Like most modern first-person shooters, Killzone 2 is very light on head-up display elements. When you’re just moving around and not firing, there won’t be any HUD at all. The game has you stand still to regenerate health, a technique Call of Duty helped make popular, and if you start taking too much damage, the game drops into black and white, giving you a clear sign that you need to find cover. You can carry two weapons and swap between them at any time. Most of the weapons we saw appeared to be a variety of fully automatic weapons, though a rocket launcher was also shown. You can also toss grenades, and from the looks of things, lean around corners.


Rather than give every weapon a scope, the game has an aim function, which causes you to look down the sights of your weapon. Some of the guns have standard rifle sights, but the rifle at the start of the level had a green lens on it that projected a dot to use for proper aiming. Because these were fully automatic weapons, the aiming wasn’t always 100 percent accurate. All in all, the game came across as nicely hectic, delivering the chaos that you’d expect from the battlefield.

The game's graphics, easily one of its most scrutinized elements, are coming together in spectacular fashion. The characters models were high-poly, offering sharp detail and promising animation, with a lot of really nice gun movement for reloading and aiming. The environment was equally sharp with an impressive sense of scale and interactivity. As we saw in the GDC teaser for the game, you can blow the hell out of a variety of objects in the game, and depending on what the objects made out of, the damage will vary. However, what sold us on the visuals in the game were such things as the stellar lighting, which was shown off in a variety of ways. We saw subtle touches, ranging from the heat glow given off of metal when it's shot at, to the way muzzle flashes from you and your enemies light up the areas around you. The lightning arcs that lit up the sky in the game managed to be both dramatic and subtle with light and shadow dancing around in dramatic fashion. Some of the explosions, especially the one that ended the demo, look really great. Other effects, such as the use of depth of field to give a slight blur to the weapon in your hands while the distance remains razor sharp or the various animations shown by the other troops, help set Killzone 2 apart from other shooters. Though the game was still a work in progress, we were impressed by how well the level ran, despite the frenetic battle taking place.

One of the highlights of the experience was the game's audio, which provided a strong accompaniment to the action. Music tracks mixed in and out of the cacophony of gunfire, explosions, enemy death cries, and crazy rhetoric spewing from a P.A. system in the city. The weapons fire was meaty and satisfying with a winning variety of tones that pulled you in to the experience. Better still were the various gradients of sound that were affected by various elements in the level, such as distance and debris.

11:33] Conference begins with an abstract video motange of Sony logos and the requisite techno music.

[11:34] Jack Tretton arrives via his PlayStation Home avatar.

[11:34] He chats up some ladies on a virtual boardwalk, then emerges in the flesh.

11:35] Jack jokes about how his avatar needs broader shoulders, then elicits laughs by joking about hi own wooden persona

[11:35] Tretton: "We're extremely proud of PlayStation Home, and that's why we started with it."

[11:36] "Today's presentation is about games, games, and more games."

[11:36] He mentioned MotorStorm sold 1 million units--DRINK!
11:37] Tretton brings out SCEA's biggest success story, the PS2.

[11:38] $26 billion of PS2 games, hardware, and accessories in the US alone. That's a lot of cheddar.

[11:38] Talks up God of War II, and how the kids Europe like the Buzz! series over in Europe.

[11:38] PSP time!

[11:39] Tretton talks about the price cut, and the "Dude, get your own marketing campaign," er, campaign. Note to Sony: get a new ad agency.

[11:39] Over 140 games coming to PSPs in North America this year.

[11:40] Here comes the PSP game montage

[11:42] SOCOM US Navy Seals, Tactical Strike, Wipeout Pulse, Spyhon Filter Logan's Shadow, NBA 08, God of War: Chains of Olympus, Silent Hill: Origins, Patapon...

[11:43] ...Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Sonic Rivals 2, Sims 2: Castaway--apparently being marooned is like a Jamaican BBQ....

[11:44] ..SWAT: Target Liberty (What, you hate freedom?), Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions....

[11:45] ..Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (Calling all goths!) and that's it. Smattering of applause.

[11:46] Tretton showing off his fat pad where he hopes "those hot chicks" can come over. "Are you playing 'Riiidge Racer: Kaz?" Massive laughter.

[11:46] Tretton is going to "chill here on the deck" of his virtual pad. Righteous, dude.

11:47] SCE president Kaz Hirai takes the stage to show off...an all new PSP that looks just like the old one.

[11:48] The new PSP is 30% lighter than the old PSP and 19% slimmer with...VIDEO OUTPUT

[11:48] Shows off new PSP, and is going to plug it into a Sony HDTV (naturally).

[11:49] Shows trailer for Spider-Man 2, then hits the display button. The image is then displayed onto a huge screen overhead, and looks remarkably crisp and clear.

[11:50] He hits the display button again, the image goes back to the screen.

[11:50] Video output will allow for showing video and _playing games_ on a TV.

[11:51] Real, sustained applause--people really wanted this. A very good first step.

[11:51] "We encourage people to think beyond the norm--that's what the PlayStation brand is all about," says Kaz. This guy is as smooth as glass.

[11:52] Tretton comes out and makes some more funny, self-deprecating remarks. They hire Bruce Vilanch for this show?

[11:53] And, out of nowhere, they introduce an all-new "ice silver" PSP which will come with the Family Guy "Freaking Sweet Collection" UMD.

[11:54] Suddenly, Chewbacca takes the stage to introduce the new Star Wars Battlefront PSP pack, which will include Star Wars: Battlefront Renegade Squadron and a White PSP with Darh Vader's face on it.

[11:55] It will be available in October for just $199.

[11:55] Tretton: "Thanks, Chewbacca!"

[11:55] Chewbacca: "MBARAAAGHGHGHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA!!!!!"

[11:56] Next up: A PlayStation Network update.

[11:57] 950,000 users in NA, 20 million downloads worldwide on the service.

[11:57] Enter Sony Worldwide Studios president Phil Harrison.

[11:58] He touts the fact every PS3 has a hard drive, a big benefit for developers.

[11:59] He intros an all-new puzzle game for both PSP and PS3 called "Echo Chrome"

[12:00] Super-low graphics game shows an art-class figurine negotiating a series of M.C. Escher-like stairs and mazes.

[12:00] Player rotates the mazes in real time, letting the figure jump from level to level, Lode Runner-style.

12:01] Very minimalist, very interesting. Crowd is genuinely intrigued.

[12:02] Harrison touts Wipeout HD, which will be presented in "eye-blistering" 1080 HD.

[12:03] Send in the montage! Wipeout HD, SOCOM: Confrontation, and Warhawk. Harrison also brings the (PS3) Pain.

[12:04] Warhawk won't just be online MP ala Motorstorm--it will also have four-way splitscreen offline.

[12:05] All four games shown off can be bought either via boxed Blu-ray discs or via digital download to the PS3's HD. SOCOM developer touts the fact that if it's on your HD it loads faster.

[12:05] Harrison: "I think those games alone demonstrate the power of the PlayStation 3 platform."

[12:06] PlayStation Home update: Everything is going to plan apparently...

[12:06] and what? Harrison shows that the Home service will extend to mobile phones.

[12:07] The 3D avatars will be only for the PS3, but there will be home functionalities on mobile phones.

[12:08] Cut back into Home. Harrison's avatar struts down the boardwalk, and he intros some new spaces "under construction" which Home users will be able to purchase.

[12:09] Montage of an amazing pad reminiscent of the mansion in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The avatars there apparently are living it up!

[12:09] Harrison then visits his own Home, er, home--a Norwegian ski lodge where he apparently likes to kick it in full ski gear.

12:13] Harrison continues to show off Home features, such as the ability to upload images from mobile phone directly into your private space on the virtual service.

[12:14] Bringing up Home's common PSP interface, Harrison announces the ability to meet up with your friends and launch games directly from within Home.

[12:15] Publishers will have the chance to create game-specific lounges where Home users can meet up with discuss or play their favorite titles.

[12:17] Tretton returns to the stage to reiterate the new 80gb PS3 model and the price drop for the original 60gb version, sales of which have doubled at a number of retailers since Monday's announcement.

[12:18] Blu-Ray movies are currently enjoying a two-to-one sales advantage over HD-DVD titles, thanks in large part to the PS3.

[12:19] 15 exclusives coming to PS3.

[12:19] NCsoft is "joining the PlayStation camp"

[12:20] Under the agreement, NCsoft will make a series of PS3-exclusive MMORPGs

[12:21] Tretton now touts the fact that Ubisoft's Haze will be exclusive this holiday season to the PS3.

12:22] Trailer showing the corporate soldier hero of Haze and how he broke away from the private military

[12:22] Big montage of huge battles between Mantelcorp soldiers and rebel forces, which apparently the hero joins.

[12:23] Actor playing the hero breaks the glass in live-action scene.

[12:24] Tretton back on stage, and he introduces Unreal Tournament III

[12:25] Tretton says that Unreal Tournament III will be exclusive this year to the PC, and it will allow the importations of mods made for the PC version to the PS3. That's pretty big stuff, especially for the mod community.

[12:28] Following a UTIII trailer, a montage hits the screen: Call of Duty 4, Assassin's Creed (to the tunes of UNKLE), Kane & Lynch, Resident Evil 5 (same clip that was at last night's Microsoft conference), Burnout: Paradise...

[12:31] ...Madden NFL 08, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Simpsons game, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, the delayed Medal of Honor: Airborne...

[12:32] ...and Rock Band, which is looking better and better.

[12:33] Tretton comes back to introduce "one last third-party platform" which he is "happy to say is only on PlayStation 3."

[12:34] Enter Hideo Kojima to introduce Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. He's nearly blinded by flashbulbs.

[12:34] Onto the stage comes Konami's Hideo Kojima to present Metal Gear Solid 4, which he says will complete the story of Snake. He also says it will be his last time making a game in the hallowed franchise. Like we haven't heard that before...

12:35] Kojima says all the mysteries of the MGS series will be revealed and solved in the fourth game. It will also bring stealth directly into the battlefield.

[12:36] Enough talk! Show us the new trailer already! It's composed entirely of in-game footage.

[12:37] Colonel Campbell's gravelly narration talks about Snake's final mission. It's not an order from Washington, nor is it sanctioned by the UN. "This isn't justice, it's a covert assignment. A hired hit. Will you do this for me? Will you terminate Liquid?"

[12:37] There are scenes of Snake, Meryl Silverburgh, and others stalking Revolver Ocelot, whom Liquid Snake seems to have taken control of
[12:39] Suddenly the entire attacking force is overcome by vomiting and convulsions--the victims of nanomachine attack? Liquid/Ocelot has taken control of an entire army via these nanomachines. "He's planning an insurreciton."

[12:39] Snake: "You're planning to take him by force? That's crazy. It isn't that simple."

[12:41] This game will be the ultimate Metal Gear fan service. A bombastic scene of Raiden fighting MGS2's Vamp amidst several of the biomechanical bipedal Metal Gears. This is one acrobatic and extremely bloody fight.

[12:42] Raiden impales himself in order to impale Vamp--yet the two keep fighting. The end of the trailer indicates a simultaneous worldwide release for the game, coming in "early 2008."

[12:43] Kojima-san to play MGS4 demo at Metal Gear event next week in Tokyo. Wish you could be there!

[12:44] Tretton moves things over to Phil Harrison, as his Home avatar appears on screen in a Ratchet and Clank costume.

[12:45] Via a PlayStation Home theater, he introduces a trailer for Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction.

[12:46] Montage of Rachet giving the business to some opponents with some signature cartoon violence.

[12:47] Next up is some footage of Folklore, which features some witchcraft-inspired, soul-sucking action.

[12:47] Now it's time for Heavenly Sword, from Ninja Theory.

[12:49] Harrison says the game will take advantage of the PS3's high-capacity Blu-ray disc drive.

[12:49] Big montage of the God of War-like game--crowd delivers solid applause.

[12:50] Montage of NBA O80--the only NBA game in true 1080p HD!

[12:51] Now comes a new clip from LittleBigPlanet, the Media Molecule game that was the talk of GDC 2007.

[12:52] Montage shows off game's level-creation abilities. This thing is halfway between mad genius and totally adorable.

[12:53] Last but not least is Naughty Dog's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.

[12:53] Trailer looks like a cross between Far Cry and Tomb Raider--very slick, smooth graphics.

[12:54] Short clip highlights facial animations, before cutting off suddenly.

[12:55] Next up, Harrison announces a new game from Sucker Punch, developer of the Sly Cooper series.

[12:55] Trailer begins with a dead-serious tone, showing darkened streets.

[12:56] Shows lone hero with a shaven head fighting off foes with lightning--game is called "Infamous."

[12:56] Now comes the latest on Gran Turismo.

[12:57] Gran Turismo 5 Prologue coming for digital download...sometime. No date given.

[12:58] Clip shows immaculately rendered racing cars whipping down tracks and streets. Graphics border on photo-realistic.

[12:58] Ends with shot of an Audi parked in London. Harrison, an Englishman himself, signs off and hands over the baton to Tretton.

[12:59] Apparently Harrison "forgot one thing..."

[12:59] BAM! Hellghast appear on every screen, the new Killzone 2 trailer begins.

1:00] Harrison assures everything on screen is in real time, and it looks almost as good as the 2005 trailer.

[1:01] A group of ISA commandos arrive in another drop ship into the midst of a war zone. Graphics get a bit choppy then, but it still looks pretty impressive.

[1:01] One one screen, a camera shows someone playing the game in real time on the corner of the stage.

1:03] Human troops run into the interior of a building. Big lag after checkpoint. Apparently this is nearly the exact same stage demo as last night's preview event.

[1:04] And like that, it's over! Harrison bids farewell to everyone, then gives it over to Tretton-- but for real this time.

[1:05] Mop-up time. Tretton hopes audience has seen Sony's commitment to gaming. Uplifting montage of PlayStation logos and hardware.

[1:06] Tretton wishes everyone good luck and thanks them for their attention. That's it!

Ace Pace wrote: All three of you people reading my posts, sick of me?

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:Nintendo better build the Wii Balance Board like a fucking brick, considering how they intend it to be used.