Well, the Sony E3 2008 press conference is over. As I predicted, Sony was relatively quiet and didn’t announce much that was new. In case you didn’t see the conference or read the news, here’s a quick recap:

• Video Download Service
  The new video download service goes live tonight! It looks like Sony got all the major players aboard, if memory serves. That’s cool. As well, you’ll be able to download your content to your PSP, which is also cool. To me, prices seemed inline with what you have to pay at iTunes or elsewhere. In other words, slightly too much.
• Resistance for PSP
  Sony announced a new Resistance title for the PSP, not developed by Insomniac.
• PSN Ratchet & Clank
  There’s a new Ratchet & Clank game coming to the PS3, and it’s a $14.99 PSN title.
• DC Universe Online
  DC Comics MMO by SOE. This is the first time that this title has been shown to the public.
• MAG
  By Zipper Interactive, this is a new shooter with 256 players online at once! They showed a teaser video with example gameplay. Parachuting from the skies!
• New PS3 Hardware
  Sony is upping the storage of the current 40GB PS3 to 80GB PS3. And while they didn’t say it, I assume this means that the current 80GB PS3 will fall by the wayside. In my mind, this is actually bad news. It means that Sony will no longer be selling a PS3 with BC or 4 USB ports or memory card readers. Doh!
• God of War 3
  Sony officially announced God of War 3 for the PS3. They showed a teaser video, but no gameplay.
• Greatest Hits
  Some greatest PS3 hits are getting a $30 pricetag, like the original Resistance, Warhawk, MotorStorm, and Call of Duty 3.

Tosh, Gary, Darrin - feel free to expand the list.

One of the coolest things was the use of a LittleBigPlanet level to help present some of the facts and figures surrounding the PlayStation universe. I want to play that level!

What do you all think? I am unhappy to be proven correct in that nothing really new and significant was shown off. MAG is cool, sure. But it’s not the knock-out punch that Sony really needed to deliver.

Or is it?

Sony Keynote
July 15, 2008 at:
- 11:30 AM PST
- 2:30 PM EST
- 7:30PM UK

E3 2008: The Thread

* IGN LiveWire
* Gamespot Video Feed(Started late yesterday)
* G4(last resort)

*links to several liveblogs*

* StiqOfJoy
* GiantBomb LiveBlog

If you know of any others let me know and I’ll update this post.

First, a Look Back at Sony’s Surprises from E3, 2007

• Redesigned PSP hardware
• Surprise price drop on North America PS3 hardware
• New Game Unveilings: Echochrome, Infamous
• First Looks at WipeoutHD and Socom and Killzone 2
• Exclusivity Announcements for Metal Gear Solid 4, Haze, and UT3
• ncSoft partnership and future PS3 exclusive MMOs
• More footage and more details about all other upcoming titles.

In hindsight, it was a fairly surprise packed show. MGS4 was a huge hit, but other titles were disappointing (Haze), and several still haven’t been released. The delays of the MMO type titles, such as Home and the ncSoft titles, are somewhat understandable since longer than usual delays and dev cycles are the norm for that type of game.

What to Expect from Sony at E3, 2008

New Games

Judging by past events, most new games that will be announced will likely still be in early development and won’t be ready to ship until late 2009 or so. However, I would expect a few 2008 surprises similar to how Sony revealed Folklore only a five months before it hit shelves in May 2007. Prime Sony Studio candidates for new game unveilings are: Team ICO, Naughty Dog, SCEA Santa Monica, Zipper, SCEE London. More games for the PlayStation Eye? More PSN titles? First look at flOwer?

Third Party Deals

Last year, they announced several surprising third party deals. Since we haven’t heard much since then, hopefully that means that there are some new developments that will be made public at the show. Namco has hinted at one PS3 exclusive that we will hear about (probably a Tales title that parallels the 360/Wii Tales titles). Will there be anything new with Square? Maybe we will hear more about that Rockstar PS3 exclusive that Sony execs hinted at?

Services

We are sure to hear about their movie-on-demand service. Will we hear about their planned music-on-demand service as well?

Hardware

Sony has been very tight-lipped about hardware in the past. Almost no one saw the price and hardware changes that were announced at least year’s E3 (although the redesigned PSP was widely rumored before hand). I’m not expecting anything, but I’m hoping to be surprised. Specifically, I’m hoping for lighter, slimmer PS3 hardware. They’ve already shrunk the CPU technology to smaller, cooler 65nm technology and they plan to make the same change to GPU hardware as well. Additionally, manufacturers are making blu-ray drives that are much slimmer than what current PS3’s use. Routine logic board optimizations and simplifications are also expected. A slimmer PS3 is inevitable, it’s just a question of when.

Surprises

It wouldn’t be a big show, without the surprises.

Anyone have any other E3 predictions or wish lists?