6:31: The conference is starting!
6:33: Hirai takes the stage. He's thanking everyone for the support all these years... blah blah blah blah blah.
6:35: He says that everyone must discuss how to expand the industry as a whole -- not just individual companies.
6:36: Now he's talking about "user experiences in the network era."
6:37: To show off the various aspects of games for the network era, he introduces LittleBigPlanet.
6:38: He also mentions Singstar as an example. You know... downloadable songs and all.
6:40: He says that games are the core of PlayStation.
6:41: Sony will be pouring even more resources into PS3 and PSP development from here on out. He moves on to the PS3 in particular.
6:42: He's talking about the success of the PS3 slim. In three weeks, the slim system sold 1 million worldwide.
6:43: Sony believes one of the reasons for the revision's success is the lower price.
6:44: He moves on to a video showing the PS3's lineup.
6:45: Showing clips from Ratchet & Clank Future 2, Heavy Rain. Just a short clip from the old trailer, though. Last Guardian!, FFXIII!!!, Trinity Zill O'll Infinity, Yakuza 4!, Infamous, God of War III, Uncharted 2.
6:46: He attributes the PS3's capabilities in part to Blu-ray. He moves on to the PlayStation controller. While Dual Shock is the standard controller, he notes that Sony previously released Eye Toy, which allowed for a unique, direct control in the PS2 era.
6:48: He mentions PlayStation UI: Motion Controller.
6:49: The sphere at the top, along with gyros and accelerometer sensor allow for precise tracing of position. The controller makes use of PlayStation Eye.
6:50: The controller will be released in Spring 2010. He says they plan on making it a standard controller to follow Dual Shock.
6:52: He moves on to PSP. Worldwide sales for the system: 52.9 million units. Now they're showing a reel of PSP games. Gran Turismo, Minna no Sukkiri, Minna no Tennis Portable, Yuusha no Kuse ni Nama Iki da 3D, Kingdom Hearts BBS, Last Ranker - just a short CG clip, Dynasty Warriors 6 Special, Gundam VS Gundam Next Plus, Phantasy Star Portable 2, Peace Walker (just played it, by the way!), LocoRoco Midnight Carnival, EchoShift, LittleBigPlanet Portable.
6:54: Now he's discussing the use of the PSP and PSP go as a network terminal. There will be 700 titles available for download when PSP go hits North America, and 400 when it hits Japan.
6:57: Oh man... he's talking about PS2 now. BORING! Worldwide sales have reached 138.8 million. Europe has 51.9 million of that! Good job! Actually, North America has 56.8 million... even better job!
6:58: Next, PlayStation Network talk.
6:59: PSN accounts: over 29 million, over 600 million downloads, over 25 billion yen in sales.
7:00: He's recapping some of the Gamescon video service announcements -- start of service in Europe, the BBC streaming service, etc.
7:01: Sony Japan will detail its own video service at its press briefing later today. (We'll be live blogging that as well.)
7:02: Moving on to PlayStation Home, he discusses the expanding item and lounge availability. In Japan, the service has a tie-up with Georgia canned coffee. He also briefly mentions Life with PlayStation.
7:03: Hmm... he seems to be winding his speech down.
7:04: Yep, that's it! There may be a Q&A, there usually is. Yep... some dude from Nikkei BP is going to have a chat with Kaz. This is where they announced the PS3 pre-release price drop a few years ago. Did I mention that Kutaragi is here, sitting up at the front?
7:05: Mr. Asami from Nikkei BP... that's our man.
7:05: Kaz was apparently in America during Japan's Silver Week. He just got back yesterday, and he has jetlag! He's talking about American game stuff... music games, etc.
7:08: He's talking about future tech, and makes mention of the 3D technology that Sony announced a while back. They're still progressing with the development.
7:10: We just got Last Guardian footage! Here it is.
7:11: Farther off, he suggests the possibility in the future of your in-game characters reflecting your feelings/emotions. Or something like that... Or something like that... Hmm... Kaz has been taking the Kutaragi pills it seems.
7:19: Sorry for the lack of updates... he's just talking about general business issues.
7:19: Did I mention that I played Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker? It was totally rad. The Q&A session is over!!!
7:20: They're moving on to a panel discussion with Imperial Hot and crew. I'm going to the Yakuza stage to see me some porn stars.
7:20: That's it! Thanks for reading.