Gamescom 2009 : Sony conference discussion

[Shifty Geezer]

This is the thread to discuss Sony's conference at the European GamesCom event held in Cologne, Germany. The conference is being held from 17:30 to 19:00 BST, 9:30 PST. Sony are expected to make some big announcements, such as PS3 Slim, a price cut, and new online services coinciding with a suspension of PSN over the conference period. If anyone has links to live feeds, let me know and I'll add them.

Eurogamer text feed
IGN text feed
PlayStation Blog feed

 

[Bad_Boy]

Double note that PSN is going down from 12pm-2pm (eastern). Same time as the conference. I'm speculating a 3rd section on the store for psp/ps2 games. I have my doubts firmware 3.0 is coming anytime soon. I'd guess that would be in december. But we shall see.

oh and...hey.

 

[ShadowRunner]

Im convinced GT5 is going to be announce for release before xmas.

Most looking forward to getting a closer look at FFXIV, apparently its going to be demoed in some way.

 

[tirminyl]

Unfortunately I cannot access any live blogging sites so I will be furiously spamming F5 on my keyboard and draining my battery life using Twitter for news.

As for PSN being down, it has to be actual maintenance or adding back-end support or the PS Cloud. I can't see them needing it to add another section to the store or anything like that.

 

[szymku]

PS2 backward compatibility would be nice....

 

[DrJay24]

Let's discuss the real announcements, not wish lists..

 

[slider]

Double note that PSN is going down from 12pm-2pm (eastern). Same time as the conference. I'm speculating a 3rd section on the store for psp/ps2 games. I have my doubts firmware 3.0 is coming anytime soon. I'd guess that would be in december. But we shall see.

oh and...hey.

Good spot. I'm keeping my feet firmly on the ground though. Also, obligatory mention of Bad_Boy's return for big events.

 

[djskribbles]

If PS2 BC is added, everything would be going better than I had planned. I sold my PS3 (20GB w/160GB) 2-3 weeks ago hoping (although pretty confident) the Slim would come out soon; now if BC is added, I won't have to buy a PS2 anymore, and the money I got for my PS3 more than covers the cost.

 

[patsu]

You guys are more optimistic than me. My guess is no BC. No firmware upgrade (later). Hope to hear more about PS Cloud. If GT PSP is coming out soon, I'd like to know *whether* Adhoc Party will be available outside of Japan.

EDIT: I see Arwin mentioned EU video services. That should be announced too but I don't know why they need to take down the entire PSN if it's only EU videos.

 

[nightshade]

I just want one thing, a release date for GT5 this year with a gameplay video.

Donno if its being optimistic or being Too Optimistic

 

[djskribbles]

I'm kind of in the middle right now; if it doesn't come now, I think it will be added eventually. I didn't sell my BC PS3 thinking BC would be added, but now I have some hope that it will.

@ nighthade, +1.

 

[Arwin]

I jumped into the presentation podium and it updated. Now there's some kind of game in there. It took me a few tries but I beat it and got a nice animating trophy ornament as a reward. Quite amusing - nothing special, but smart to put some kind of game in there to keep you busy.

We're certain to see Uncharted 2 and Heavy Rain, because that's what the browser startpage told me. Also noticed by the way that LittleBigPlanet GOTY edition comes with several things included, among which the MGS pack, 18 special user generated levels, and a beta key for Mod Nation Racers.

EDIT: and LBP is getting a new content/expansion pack, which includes water, demonstrated here:

http://blog.eu.playstation.com/

 

[nightshade]

Seems like GT5 will make an appearance after all !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS1VYgsBg-I

There are GT5 Pods with [apparently] G27. [check 1:36 for a GT logo]

 

[DJ12]

EDIT: I see Arwin mentioned EU video services. That should be announced too but I don't know why they need to take down the entire PSN if it's only EU videos.

There was a rumour PSN was getting a complete overhaul a week or so back and it's going to include a (optional) pay monthly fee for unlimited PSN downloads.

There are GT5 Pods with [apparently] G27. [check 1:36 for a GT logo]

Quite the jump someones making there if you ask me, all the wheels have a red portion on the right of the wheel so I'd bet they are GT Driving Force wheels not G27s. (Even though the video is dodgy you'd still be able to make out 2 columns of red buttons each side rather than the single largish red splodge on one side)

Anyway, I think that is enough evidence to confirm GT5 is going to have some sort of "megaton" announcement, maybe release with the slim as soon as September.

 

[JardeL]

[ http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2009/08/18/live-from-gamescom-scee-press-conference/ ] ...

 

[Iron Tiger]

It's looking more likely than ever that the PS3 Slim will be announced, and according to Kmart and Sears pre-order pages, shipping in the U.S. next Monday (August 24)!

 

[Brad Grenz]

If it will actually be in stores by monday that will be astonishing.

 

[DJ12]

If it was Monday stores would definitely already have stock which would mean we would have had leaked photos from the backroom geeks on minimum wage.

 

[obonicus]

keeping an eye on the eurogamer live feed, hope it's not as embarassing as the last one.

'now some guys are on stage and they're not speaking english it's like germanic or something lol'

 

[xmu]

My money's on PS3 slim at $299/299e.