E3: Sony's 2008 E3 Press Event - The Specifics 2

Author: by Staff

Gamasutra is covering Sony's E3 press event as it happens, with the latest notable announcements from its 2008 slate of products - both hardware and software related. Here are the key announcements thus far from the press event, being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center: - SCEA will launch a new 80 GB PS3 this fall for $399. The system will have the same functionality as the 40 GB PS3, which is currently being sold at the same price point, and will not support PlayStation 2 backward compatibility. - SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton has announced that a new Lego Batman PlayStation 2 bundle is scheduled for fall 2008. The $149 bundle will not only include Lego Batman: The Video Game, but will also come with a DVD for animated film Justice League: The New Frontier. - Sony will release a new downloadable entry for its Ratchet & Clank Future series, titled Quest For Booty. Due this summer and priced at $14.99, the game will be significantly shorter than previous releases, with a new 'energy tether' mechanic for environment-based puzzles. - A brief clip was shown of Ragdoll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic, a downloadable PS3 version of the lighthearted physics based original PC fighter that was developed by LittleBigPlanet developer Mark Healey previous to his co-founding of Media Molecule. - The company debuted two other new PlayStation Network titles, Crash Commando, a 2D sidescrolling multiplayer shooter that looks similar to PC cult hit Soldat and Xbox Live Arcade title Undertow, and Fat Princess, a colorful birds-eye 3D multiplayer action title. The former is being developed by Sweden's Epos Game Studios, and the latter by DarkStar Industries. - Starting tonight, the PlayStation Network will also feature purchasable and rentable movies and television shows (standard and high definition). Sony announced several partners for the initiative, including Sony Pictures, Fox Film/TV, MGM, Lions Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner, Funimation. Television shows will be priced at $1.99. Movie rentals will sell for $2.99 to $5.99, while movie purchases will be sold for $9.99 to $14.99. The content will be portable, so users can download media to the PlayStation 3 and move it to the PlayStation Portable. - A new PSP Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters entertainment pack targeted to younger gamers has been revealed. The $199 bundle will comprise of a silver PSP system, the Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters game, a National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets UMD, a 1 gigabyte memory stick, and an Echochrome voucher to download the title from PSN. - Sony showed off two new PSP titles, Resistance: Retribution, an "over-the-shoulder" PSP shooter spinoff of its popular franchise, developed by Bend Studio and due spring 2009. Sony also showed a brief clip of a portable version of Sega's forthcoming PlayStation 3 SRPG, Valkyria Chronicles. - Life with PlayStation, the PlayStation 3's news and weather service, will be available by the end of the month. - The company introduced its lineup of PS3 Greatest Hits titles, all of which will be available in North America for $29.99: Resistance, Motorstorm, Warhawk, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night Round 3, Need For Speed: Carbon, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Assassin's Creed, The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Ninja Gaiden Sigma. - MAG (Massive Action Game), a new squad-based shooter supporting up to 256 players was shown. The title is being developed by SOCOM studio Zipper Interactive. Eight-player squads will be led by players who have proven to be leaders in the game. MAG will also feature ongoing faction-based campaigns and opportunities for character growth and tuning. Gamasutra will have more in-person commentary and analysis of the announcements from our correspondents in Los Angeles in the near future.