E3: The PlayStation Conference 2006

The complete report from Sony's anticipated PS3 showing as E3 week kicks off, complete with the photographs that prove it's real. We look at the final PS3 controller, launch details, massive game line-up and much more besides.

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"This is Full HD. This is roughly three times the amount of information you are seeing on the screen right now than the average broadcast HD in a household, and it's twelve times more than GT4 on the PS2." The demo used assets from GT4 that had been "boosted" in quality and put onto the PS3 system. "Please pay special attention to the loading times here," he requested - GT4's loading times were around 10-15 seconds, whereas GTHD has been optimised with hard disc performance, so players will probably be able to be able to get from the menu to racing in maybe "two or three seconds", as his playable build perfectly evidenced.

GTHD was shown off (and freely playable to attendees afterwards) on tracks including Tokyo and Grand Canyon. The problem really was that GT4 already looks so amazing that GTHD, regardless of its fancier resolution, was perhaps not as impactful a PS3 demo for the audience as expected. As if to highlight this, a GT1 (PS1), versus GT4 (PS2), versus GTHD (PS3) comparison was offered - yet a clear attempt to further exaggerate the difference was obvious when the step in resolution from GT1 to GT4 res was invisible, so that the jump to the full-screen 1920x1080 result looked more impressive. Sneaky.

GT4 creator Kaz Yamauchi demanded a personal photo from us

The detail was nice though, and the crowd of in-game racing spectators seemed to move and react more like it did in the prerendered GT4 sequence, for real this time. "We think the next GT will easily surpass the qualities you have seen in GTHD. We'll be conducting beta testing based on GT4's online capabilities in Japan and the US - the world of GT will not expand, but explode," he said. "This time we hope to deliver the next GT not too far from the launch of PS3," he said with a straight face.

Phil's next demo brought onto the stage EyeToy creator Dr Richard Marx - no stranger to the event having shown up last year and in 2003. "The next demonstration is a game that we're going to be revealing at E3 - a combination of three different things: a traditional, card-based battle game, the power of PS3, mixed with the amazing ability of computer vision." The game, Eye of Judgement, developed by SCE Japan, looks like a ten year-old's dream; players place actual cards on a real game table under the watchful eye of EyeToy, which spawns monsters on-screen depending on the card played. The monsters battle each other and you can unleash special moves atd combos. Phil plays a special card, spawing his own special boss - the rubber duck from last year's tech demo, which breathes out a fire attack to win the short game. Awesome. It will be playable on the E3 showfloor.

Eye of Judgement looks very original and cool

Kaz came back on stage to talk about the PS3's Online Network Strategy. "In the next generation of hardware, online and network will become like air conditioning in a car" - today it's a standard feature, not an option, he pointed out. With more than three million PS2 users online in North America, he said that "online and networking for the PS3 is as essential as the air that we breathe!" Another one for the quote bank.

By offering things like video chat, friends list, ranking, player profiles, voice and text messaging, the company aims to create an environment that's "more than just a place to play games - it's a virtual community." And these basic services will be offered free of charge (similar to the basic online functionality of the free Xbox Live Silver service). The inevitable similarities to Xbox Live and the Marketplace system developed for 360 were shown proudly and shamelessly. "The connected console also gives opportunity to offer a distribution channel that's always changing... we're going to be offering a variety of entertainment content to users of PS3, as well as PSP." He announced the PlayStation Card - a payment method for purchases, in various denominations such as $50, similar to Microsoft Points on Xbox 360.

"Let's go shopping", invited Phil as he returned to the stage once more. He showed how the system lets you purchase various stuff and how the online system offers community features, shows what's new and cool, how you can purchase items through your account, explaining that items are "really interesting when they are built into the game." This was highlighted with an all-new Singstar for PS3, based on the successful European PS2 karaoke series. "Singstar really comes to life in the network era", he said. "I'm going to save you the pain of listening to me sing... but play it at the booth, we'll have both PS2 and PS3 versions."

Next up was welcome sequel, Genji 2, in a realtime gameplay demo. "Massive battle sequences that can only be made possible with the power of PS3" were shown off by Game Republic's Bill Ritch, who emphasised realtime weapon change as one of the new features implemented in the sequel. "The player will be able to create their own unique and devastating combos" he said. The game looked pretty cool but does have a way to go to reach anything like jaw-drop status. It concludes with a boss battle against a big crab.

Next Phil showed off an example of PS3 and PSP interoperability, with a demonstration of PS3's Formula 1 title in which a PSP unit's screen was used as an "interactive wing mirror, rendered in realtime and synchronised with the PS3 - you can position this next to your TV screen and see for yourself what's coming up behind you", he enthused. "This software technology can be freely downloaded from PS3 to PSP."

One of the event's more impressive demonstrations followed, as Phil introduced a Ninja Theory's genuinely anticipated action game, Heavenly Sword.

A mix of realtime gameplay and real time cinema scenes blended together for a visually arresting title running at a flawless 60fps, demonstrating what they described as "the most phenomenal animation system, linked to the AI of all the characters." With those demos out of the way, a series of short trailers were shown off for games that are, as Phil puts it, "perhaps a little bit further out". First up was Lair - a nice, stylish trailer with fire-breathing dragons and superb medieval characters, but it was all cinema and no gameplay. London Studio's Getaway was shown in a short but stunning sequence, featuring scores of pedestrians in a brilliantly realistic, seedier part of London that the Piccadilly we'd seen in "Getaway Future Vision" - the camera pans back into a room with two detailed characters, one of which just got his ass capped by the other.

Rhino Studios from SCE Japan had a trailer for a game called Afrika - we've no idea what it's about but it looked beautiful. Think Lion King Africa - a beautiful wildlife setting at various times through the day, beautifully lit, with Rhinos, giraffes and zebras, in a demo that sounded just as impressive as it looked. There was no action, no humans, no anything apart from a bit of grazing and sniffing the floor, but we want to know more about this one - it looks pretty unique.

SCE Japan's ClapHanz production had a trailer for Everybody's Golf, and Game Republic had a Harry Potter-esque fantasy offering called Monster Kingdom - "7 doors and 7 worlds await him - the next generation of Dark Fantasy". Then, it was time for Phil's two new titles "to show for the first time today anywhere in the world".

SCE London Studio's secret project, Eight Days, was up first, and looking quite special. Set in Arizona - the same setting from last year's 'Explosions' tech demo - there's a high-speed car shootout followed by what appeared to be realtime thirdperson shooting action (with a crosshair and HUD detail), boasting eye-opening animation. This trailer seemed like a good example of how to integrate actual gameplay with a game's CG cutscenes - a guy jumps through the window of a trashy Pulp Fiction style diner at one point - for a great game trailer. It finishes up with an oil trailer smashing through a few desert stores, before someone throws a lighter down to set off the explosion we saw from twenty angles last year. See how things all make sense eventually? Hmm? This could be one to keep an eye on.

The next new game was Naughty Dog's unnamed project, set in a jungle with a young lead character shooting up fools. "Some things lost should never be found... some curses cannot be undone... on the trail of a legendary treasure, the hunter becomes the hunted". The lush vegetation looks like it's straight out of the Far Cry sequel Crysis, while some enclosed cave scenes add variety. This generally looked promising.

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