The event officially began at 10:30am with everyone ushered into the main stage area about 11am after mingling in the foyer. The first person to take to the stage was Michael Ephraim, Sony Computer Entertainment's Australia and New Zealand managing director. Michael gave a run through of some of the history of Sony in Australia (while of course telling us that the PlayStation 3 is the next big thing in gaming). It was at this point that Michael confirmed that Casino Royale would be given free of charge to the first 20,000 Australian registrants on the PlayStation network.
After Michael had explained some key the features of the PlayStation 3 and confirmed the Australian launch details, Insomniac's CEO Ted Price took to the stage to show off Resistance: Fall of Man. Ted’s talk began with a world exclusive trailer for Resistance. With the game already being out in the US and Japan for nearly half a year, it did lessen the impact, but it was at least nice to know they cared. The rest of Ted’s talk essentially explained why Resistance is only possible on the PlayStation 3. As part of his demonstration, he paused a level of the game at one point and moved the camera through the battlefield. Ted then skipped through the level frame by frame so it was possible to see just how much the PlayStation 3 is calculating for every object on the field. It's a lot. After Ted's extremely compelling presentation, Sony Australia's Public Relations Manager Adrian Christie stepped up to provide a more detailed looked at the capabilities of the console beyond gaming.
Ted Price taking us through Resistance.
During Adrian's presentation we got a chance to see a trailer for Casino Royale and a few new trailers for titles that will be available at launch (including Motorstorm). Adrian also used the PSP to view the files located on the PlayStation 3, which could be an incredibly handy for those bathroom breaks. Adrian demonstrated that you're able to copy a cd to the hard-drive on the PlayStation 3 and the console will even retrieve the names of the tracks for you. The Australian Gamer guys got a bit of a mention too, with their podcast downloaded to the music section of the demonstration PS3.
After Adrian had thoroughly run through all of the features of the PlayStation 3, two "celebrities" from the MTV Video Music Awards took to the stage. Sony is sponsoring the MTV music awards this year, so we had to listen to a few plugs. The two MTV "celebrities" (yes we have no idea who they were) then introduced the real stars of the show; the Eminence Symphony Orchestra. The main screen used for the rest of the presentation rolled up to reveal a full 58 piece orchestra who proceeded to perform two songs, one from Final Fantasy XII and another from Shadow of the Colossus. It truly was remarkable just sitting their listening to the incredible orchestrated music. After Eminence had finished, we were invited to attend the most important part of event; playing the games.
First Party
For the first twenty minutes it was just about impossible to find a (decent) free game, so the first title we had a chance to play was the critically panned, Genji: Days of the Blade. The game was only really in my hand for a few minutes before I got stuck trying to get through a door and quickly moved onto the next free console; Formula One Championship Edition.
Formula One Championship Edition looked phenomenal. At times it felt like we were watching a Formula One Race on television. Unfortunately in this instance it's probably a bit better if you are watching rather than playing, as Formula One Championship Edition wasn't all that great in terms of gameplay. Everything felt fairly generic, meaning that the game was just incredibly boring to play. The final game will include car damage and changing weather conditions, but when we bumped into another car we just bounced off our opponent, much like in Ridge Racer. Impressively the game will include online support for up to twenty two players, so hopefully the multiplayer will be a little more engaging.
F1 Championship Edition: Pretty but dull.
Motorstorm was the title that was on display the most, with about six PlayStation 3's devoted solely to showing the game. Despite this, it still took a little while for us to be able to walk up and play Motorstorm without waiting for somebody else to finish up. Since we last played Motorstorm a few things have changed. We played on a new track which didn't have quite so many death traps and some new cars were added. Boost is now an integral part of the game too, you can use boost rather frequently but every time you do your engine will come close to blowing up if you hold the trigger for too long. Blowing your car up will lose the precious seconds it takes to place your car back on the track. It's clear that Sony will pushing Motorstorm quite heavily, come launch. It's easily one of the most appealing titles on the console.
We also had a quick go of Resistance: Fall of Man, which is another title that Sony are heavily promoting. It seems like more of a generic first person shooter, but it's hard to argue that the graphics look anything short of incredible. Ridge Racer 7 was also on display and played as well as ever, although it appeared the game was the same version we played back in November. That rounds it up for Sony's first party launch lineup; they've got three driving games, an action title and a first person shooter; as previously announced all these titles will retail for $99.95.
Downloadable
Sony also had on display the four titles that will be available to download on the PlayStation Store come March 23rd. These were Tekken: Dark Resurrection, Super Rub-a-Dub, Flow and Gran Turismo HD. The first title we ventured over to was the bizarre Super Rub-a-Dub, which was only announced a few weeks ago. We've already written a preview for the game our initial thoughts were quite positive. The game does feel a little like a tech demo, but as long as the game remains challenging it could be quite a good introduction to the SIXAXIS controller.
Tekken Dark Resurrection: One of the more elaborate downloadable titles on the PlayStation network.
flOw was a game which impressed me personally. I haven't played the flash title so it took me a couple of minutes to get used to the controls and the aim of the game, but as soon as I got the hang of the gameplay I was moving around seamlessly. FlOw uses the SIXAXIS controller exclusively so you tilt it around to indicate where you want to go. It works well and slow simple movements are the best way to play the game. You can also jump in and out of co-op mode quickly and one of the neatest touches is the fact that when you pause the game you'll move to a level without enemies temporarily.
We also had an opportunity to race around the one track that will be found in Gran Turismo HD, which will launch alongside the PlayStation 3 and will be available for free. Gran Turismo HD felt pretty similar to Gran Turismo 4 is still very impressive. Little details like the sun blurring your vision temporarily when you leave a tunnel make this game an early technical showcase for the PlayStation 3. Gran Turismo HD was playing on quite a few PlayStation 3's too, only Motorstorm was playing on more of the consoles.
Tekken Dark Resurrection is one of the more substantial games on the PlayStation network and plays rather similarly to its PSP cousin (brother, step brother etc..). The game doesn't look all that different from the PSP version, but does contain enhanced graphics. Whilst the game does look pretty impressive visually it doesn't look as good as Virtua Fighter 5.
Third Party
Speaking of Virtua Fighter 5, this is one of the first big titles for the PlayStation 3. Graphically the game looks fantastic, with vibrant colours and incredibly detailed stages, the game is easily one of the best looking PlayStation 3 games at the moment. Gameplay wise the it’s very impressive, the final version of Virtua Fighter 5 will include 17 fighters including new characters El Blaze and Eileen.
We briefly tried out Need for Speed Carbon but it wasn't all that impressive on the PlayStation 3. In fact visually the game looked a little worse than the Xbox 360 version with some average textures and particularly poor models for the trees. As the game is essentially a port of the Xbox 360 version, this is a game that is only really recommended if you're very keen about the Need for Speed franchise.
Virtua Tennis 3: Which is looking brilliant.
Virtua Tennis 3 looked and played brilliantly, the game looked a lot more finished than when we last played it and even though the title isn't all that different from its predecessors; it's not likely to matter. With better graphics, updated players and fun gameplay Virtua Tennis 3 looks like one of the best third party titles for the PlayStation 3.
Other games on display that we didn't go near (either because we didn't have an interest or because we've played the Xbox 360 versions) included NBA 2K7, Blazing Angels, Tony Hawk's Project 8, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Call of Duty 3 and Sonic the Hedgehog.
Whilst there was a wide range of titles playable, there were a few games which were missing that we were expecting to be playable including Lair, Full Auto: Battlelines, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Rainbow 6 Vegas. Overall though, we came away feeling rather impressed by the PlayStation 3's launch lineup. The delay has meant that the console will be launching with some big names including Virtua Tennis 3, Motorstorm and Virtua Fighter 5. With less than a month to go we'll keep you updated on the PAL launch as it continues to creep closer.
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