Sony GamesCom Press Conference

[Edgerock]

-PS3 Slim Revealed. $299. Coming September 1st. "Same features and function. 120gb drive 33 percent smaller, 36 percent lighter." All the features of the current Fat PS3 are in the Slim.
-Effective immediately, all fat PS3s are having a price drop. $299 for an 80GB, $399 for the 160GB. They will eventually be phased out and the Slim will be the new standard.


-Firmware 3.0 announced. "animated themes, a What's New section and some other great interface changes." Coming September 1st, "PSN is getting a new look!"
-CONFIRMED: The battery overlay on the clock has been fixed with 3.0. Seriously.
-PSN Cards confirmed for Europe. 20/50 denominations, coming September.
-VidZone being expanded in Europe this year
-Video Download Service announced for Europe, coming to the UK, France, Germany and Spain in November. More markets coming 2010.
-"Digital Reader" announced: buy virtual comics on PSN! Graphic Novels, Indie comics and local comics too -- hundreds at launch. "Biggest names in the comics world (including Marvel, Spider Man, X-Men, Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Thor...)"
-New service announced: Minis for PSP. "These will be exclusive to the PSN Store and will have a 100MB size limit. 15 new games available at launch on 1st October. 50 titles coming in 2009. Tetris and Fieldrunners, are two examples."


GAME ANNOUNCEMENTS
-Gran Turismo 5 details: Over 1,000 cars, damage confirmed, and tons more!
-Eye of Judgement PSP
-Loco Roco Midnight Carnival PSP
-Minis for PSP (a new game download service, see above)


-Motion Controller will debut at TGS. A trailer was shown with some of the uses of the controller.
-The PS3 will be rebranded. No more Spider-Man font. There's not much more info outside of this, and if game art will still have the old logo.
-Home update coming September: new build for devs, plus more content for users like a shrinking potion, plus more Home spaces like Audi and Singstar.
-PSP 3000 is getting some new colours -- Turquoise Green, Lilac Purple (bundled with Hannah Montana!) and Blossom Pink.
-Get Gran Turismo PSP for free if you preorder the PSPGO October 1st through 10th. Euro is the only market confirmed right now for this offer.
-A few games were showcased, like Uncharted 2 and Heavy Rain.

[Isuka]

-PS3 Slim Revealed. $299. Coming September 1st. "Same features and function. 120gb drive 33 percent smaller, 36 percent lighter." All the features of the current Fat PS3 are in the Slim.

But... you can't install other operating systems on it, it's not a "COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM" anymore :( . I feel sad for the YDL guys. :'(

[Xyton]

-PS3 Slim Revealed. $299. Coming September 1st. "Same features and function.

So no backwards compatiblity, then? Boo.

[Shadow Hog]

Yeah, removing the PS2 BC was easily one of the worst choices they'd made... well, IMO, anyway. I can understand cutting it to cut costs, but still... at this point, can it really be that expensive to include?

[Kogen]

Yeah, removing the PS2 BC was easily one of the worst choices they'd made... well, IMO, anyway. I can understand cutting it to cut costs, but still... at this point, can it really be that expensive to include?

Probably just want to sell PS2s still. When PS2 dies they might just let everyone download a BC software update, or simply sell the PS2 games on PSN, or they do not care anymore like Microsoft.