Hasta La Gadget!

Sony’s E3 press conference is about to start, and we’re here waiting to see what they’ll announce. PSP Go!? PS3 Slim? Who knows?! We’re starting now.

Archive below:

11:00 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
We just cabbed it across LA, and we’re at the Shrine Auditorium, ready to liveblog Sony’s press conference. Wow this was bad corporate planning. Anyone waiting on a bus from Nintendo won’t make it if Sony starts in time…one minute from now.

11:07 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
So what will we see from Sony. The PSP Go!? Yeah, seems like a sure thing. The PS3 Slim? Seems likely. A Sony motion controller? That’s anyone’s guess.

11:08 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Matt thinks PS3 Slim will show. I think it sort of needs to now, given that it’s already leaked.

11:08 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:10 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Sony’s three-part screen is epically wide.

11:11 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
I’m really enjoying this blockbuster presentation. Loud rock. Big images. It makes Nintendo’s modest presentation look so…quaint.

11:11 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:12 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Last year Sony used a boatload of LCDs, this year, they went all out projection. I want this in my house…but you know, playing movies and stuff, not just PS3/PSP game clips.

11:13 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
The intro clip is over. Crowd is louder now. And Jack Tretton, President and CEO struts to the stage.

11:13 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
HA, and he immediately refers to the leaks, thanking everyone for still showing up. “Press leaks are no exception, we’re not going to be outdone by anybody.”

11:15 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
His stage presence is better than Reggie’s. He reminds me of Peter Moore in his prime for Microsoft. Confident and swaggering.

11:15 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Peter Moore is still the man, btw.

11:16 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Jack, let’s not be formal about his name, it teasing a big lineup. Including Heavy Rain, a game I’m pretty excited about, from the makers of Indigo Prophecy.

11:16 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:17 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Now we’ve moved to the PS2. Jack’s talking about the $99 pricepoint, its global strength. Sony sees the PS2 as existing beyond 10 years, as long as consumers are interested.

11:18 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Now we’re on to the PS3. 22 million PS3s sold last year.

11:19 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
What about PlayStation Network? 24 million registered accounts (how many of them active?).

11:19 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:20 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Jack gives a shoutout to inFamous, a much-needed highly praised Sony exclusive.

11:21 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Naughty Dog comes to stage to show us Uncharted 2. Let’s see this thing so we can get on with the hardware!

11:21 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
The Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta launches tonight, but they’re gonna show us some of the game now.

11:22 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
We’re watching a realtime playthrough. The landscape is urban, and much bigger than the old Uncharted. The graphics are colorful, but they are tough to judge on this huge of a screen. “Holy shit!” It’s a helicopter. Be careful!

11:23 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Huge chase sequence. Lots of cheers…from people I’m assuming were planted by Sony. But the game still looks fun. That helicopter just isn’t giving up!

11:24 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
More on Uncharted 2 over at Kotaku, of course.

11:24 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:25 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
So now police types are chasing our hero through a building. And who knew that a wooden desk could block high caliber bullets.

11:25 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
The cip is over. Jack is back – where’s a TM symbol when you need one?

11:26 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
“I’m excited about this game for not just one reason, but 256 reasons.” He’s going to show us MAG, teased last year, a huge war MMO.

11:28 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
The graphics are not as nice as Uncharted, somewhere between PS2 and PS3, but what do you expect if they’re pulling off this many players on one map?

11:28 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:29 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
A soldier is on the ground. A jet flies idly overhead. The team needs to assault a bunker in this brown and tan landscape.

11:30 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
The most striking feature is actually the audio, or lack thereof. Despite the massive battle (of about 30 people in close proximity) you only hear a few audio tracks. I hope they beef this up a bit, but of course, too much audio would be pure cacophony.

11:31 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:31 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
I see no lag in any of the helicopters or ground troops, though who knows how this is all networked. An airstrike is called in. I want this louder! Otherwise, not looking bad. Also, it will be playable, with 256 players, on the show floor. Moving on…

11:32 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Jack’s mic went out for a moment. No bigs. He’s back, talking about the PSP.

11:33 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
He’s running through the small handful of excellent AAA titles on the PSP. Let’s hear about the Go!, Jack!

11:33 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
HANNAH MONTANA BUNDLE WITH LILAC PSP!

11:35 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Kaz Hirai comes to the stage.

11:35 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:35 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Sony asked “how could we make the PSP better.” The next step?

11:35 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
The PSP Go!

11:36 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
It’s identical to the leak, thicker than I imagined when spun in virtual 3D.

11:36 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
There is no second analog. It will not replace the 3000 or UMD.

11:37 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
“Great screen, same great operating system…plays great games.” The PSP Go is more than 50% smaller and 40% lighter than original PSP.

11:37 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:37 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
16GB internal flash, Wi-Fi…

11:37 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Sliding keyboard, Bluetooth, M2 memory port…just as leaked.

11:38 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Today, “we’re launching a new application to launch the PlayStation store on the PC.” It’s called Media Go.

11:38 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:38 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:39 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
A new application called Sense Me (for PSP) has 12-tone audio recognition system, plays playlist based upon moods you select. Coming this fall.

11:39 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
PSP toolkits will be reduced 80% in price for developers.

11:40 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
All PSP titles going forward will be digitally distributed in PS Store, and UMD.

11:40 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:40 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
All of the services and features are on PSP and PSP Go!

11:41 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
PSP Go! available at $249 and 249 euros October 1st in NA and Europe.

11:41 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:41 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
We get it a month earlier than Japan, who gets the hardware November 1st.

11:42 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Kaz is moving on to the video delivery service. It has more than 1900 and 9400 TV Shows. Starting today, it will be available natively on the PSP too.

11:42 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:42 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Showtime, G4, Magnolia, all these people are coming to the PS (Video) Store.

11:42 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
“But our news does not stop there…”

11:43 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:43 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Kazunouri Yamauchi comes to stage to promote Gran Turismo for PSP.

11:44 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:44 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
He’s explaining, through the help of a translator, his game that runs at 60fps on the PSP platform and will hold 800 cars along with 35 tracks.

11:46 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
More details over at Kotaku

11:48 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
So…what do you think about the PSP Go!? I understand (and respect) Sony’s need for a unified platform, but screw the PSP, I want a second analog so I can play FPSs.

11:49 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
The lights dim for a Gran Turismo video…that includes lots of pretty footage of the Go! UGH, why can’t this have one more analog?? I actually like the Mylo-esque design. Why Sony? Why?

11:50 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Kaz returns to the stage, reminding us that Gran Turismo titles have sold over 50 million units worldwide.

11:50 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
And now, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker.

11:50 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:51 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
So…this is a different game than we saw at Microsoft the other day. But here’s Hideo Kojima, maker of MGS, again!

11:51 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Note: MGS Peace Walker is a PSP title, not PS3.

11:52 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:53 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
I admit it, there is nothing more confusing to me in this whole world than the Metal Gear canon. Kojima is reminding us that it fits in with the MGS timeline, somehow, in a very legitimate way.

11:54 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Now we’re watching a Peace Walker trailer. There’s a lot of vintage-looking video paired with a mysterious, gravely voice over.

11:55 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Now some gamepla footage. It looks…like an MGS title on the PSP. The chroma’s been cranked a bit, but otherwise, still lotsa jaggies.

11:56 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
And incidentally, there are like 4 Snakes onscreen at once in multiplayer

11:57 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:57 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Haha, and as a kicker, Snake crawls behind a guard, whips out a box and hides. Then, ANOTHER snake crawls behind the guard, hides under the same box. Now Kaz returns.

11:57 AM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

11:57 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
We’re almost an hour in to the presser. Is there room left for more announcements?

11:58 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Nope, Kaz ends the press conference. That’s it! Wait…now Jack returned to stage. It may have been a fake-out. Yes, it seems Jack is continuing the press conference. Damn that Kaz and his authoritative presence.

11:59 AM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Resident Evil is coming to the PSP, Jack explains, along with a bunch of other titles…including HANNAH MONTANA! Big cheers for her. Jack responded, “Yeah, I knew I’d get you with that one.”

12:00 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:01 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
We’re watching a PSP promo video, btw. It’s alright I guess.

12:02 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
This is great. The sausage-dominated crowd keeps cheering for the pink/girly games.

12:03 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Ooh, white PSP Go!

12:03 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:04 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Jack is back, again. He’s explaining why PSN is great.

12:05 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Oh right, PlayStation Home. Now they’re talking about PlayStation Home. I’d literally forgotten that Sony might bring it up.

12:06 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Could Sony announced anything re:Home right now that would pique your interest?

12:07 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
We’re watching a Home promo video in which conservative people in suits walk through doors and magically transition into funky digital avatars. My personal favorite? A confident female CEO-type becoming Chun Li.

12:08 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
If “meh” manifested as an applause, I just heard it.

12:08 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:10 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Now onto a PS3 promo video. These videos become so monotonous, presented in the exact same style. No one can be paying attention at this point. Scratch that, someone is recording video in front of us.

12:10 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:11 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
I keep expecting the video to be over, then it’s not.

12:12 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Seriously, it’s as if the audio designer purposefully planted musical phrases to mislead the audience while Sony showed us every game that ever has been or will be on the PS3 platform.

12:13 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Maybe Kotaku has some insight as to the nature of Sony’s video editing.

12:14 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Alright, the full feature PS3 film has ended and Jack is Back talking about Rockstar, makers of Grand Theft Auto.

12:14 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Agent, made by Rockstar North, is an exclusive coming to PS3.

12:15 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
It’s a 70s-themed…logo, apparently. We aren’t hearing anything more about Agent right now. Instead, Ubisoft is going to show us Assassin’s Creed 2.

12:16 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Ubisoft is so French. I mean, so Freedom.

12:16 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Wow, the game looks good though. The crowd, fuller than before, is full of people wearing unique, individual garments.

12:18 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:18 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Ooh, da Vinci’s flying machine makes an appearance, flying around Venice fluidly. The game looks very pretty, implementing motion blur touched up with just the gentlest brush of bloom lighting.

12:18 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:20 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Now we’re seeing some battles. You know what this reminds me of? Heavenly Sword. Something about the new movement qualities of the game that I don’t think were deployed in the first version.

12:20 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
And that’s that for Assassin’s Creed 2.

12:21 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Look for the PS3 and PSP versions of Assassin’s this holiday season.

12:23 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Now for a Square Enix video. I was going to be sarcastic, but the techie art direction is actually pretty hot.

12:23 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:24 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
We’re watching footage from Final Fantasy XIII Versus, btw.

12:25 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Final Fantasy XIII. That’s 14! We’re about to see it.

12:26 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
It’s PlayStation exclusive in 2010.

12:27 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
What can I say? It looks like a new Final Fantasy game. And the crowd goes wild.

12:27 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:27 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Jack: “So there’s one that didn’t leak out, huh?”

12:27 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Jack is teasing motion control gaming.

12:28 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:28 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
“We’re working to create an experience that is much closer to real life than anything you have ever seen.”

12:28 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
He invited the creative forces behind the “PlayStation Motion Controller” to the stage.

12:29 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
“It far surpasses anything on the market now.”

12:29 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
They are holding an engineering prototype that has a bright purple flowing sphere, trackable by the PS Eye.

12:30 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
And they’re going to show us 100% live tech demos, no precut videos.

12:30 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
We’re watching a virtual Motion Controller tracked onscreen. The controller is moving VERY fluidly on the screen. It’s perfect. Like 60fps.

12:31 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Wow, now it’s a tennis racket onscreen.

12:31 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:31 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
And now a bat. And now a club. And now a stop sign…that hit a tennis ball. This is a great demo.

12:31 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:32 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
And now a mace. This is like perfect 1:1. And the virtual objects are very tight. I’m impressed. Very impressed.

12:32 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:32 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Then they switched the perspective of the virtual object to an FPS. AWESOME.

12:34 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:34 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
And the device has a trigger, just for FPSs.
12:34 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:34 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
They’re showing a ton of virtual objects. This is a tech demo, but it’s robust.

12:34 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:34 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
But what about drawing? Hell, what about writing? The device is tracked with “sub millimeter accuracy.”

12:35 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:35 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:35 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
This is the best motion control demo I’ve ever seen. It works perfectly. I’m just not spotting flaws.

12:36 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:36 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
I want to play with this right now. Now they’re showing an RTS tank game. Then, they cut to an FPS perspective putting the viewer into a tank. So cool.

12:37 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:37 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:38 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:39 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Now for something more complex. What about a full model holding a sword and shield? The swipes and thrusts as it cuts up a skeleton. This character is ever so less fluid than the other demos, but still excellent. Oh, and now ninja stars are being thrown. And now archery! This archery demo pwns what Nintendo showed off earlier. From the first person focus shift to the camera, to the smooth animation, it’s the best arrow simulation I’ve ever seen. Once again, “perfect” comes to mind.

12:39 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:39 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
“We’re looking forward to sharing more about the motion controller with you in the near future.”

12:40 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Spring 2010 release on motion controller.

12:41 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:42 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
While Jack talks about LittleBigPlanet, I’m going to fanboy out a bit more about the motion controller. Maybe it’s not the 1:1 tracking technology, maybe it’s just the HD and physics capabilities of the PS3. But it looked at least a generation better than Wii MotionPlus. Then again, not coming until Spring 2010, it probably should be.

12:43 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Matt on PS3 motion controls: “It’s Wii to the max.” That’s gonna end up on a Sony poster somewhere, but I can’t disagree with him.

12:43 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
BTW, more on ModNation Racers, which I’m not covering at the moment, at Kotaku.

12:46 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
They’re still talking about this ModNation Racers game.

12:46 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:49 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
STILL watching the damn ModNation Racers.

12:50 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
ModNation has gotten more face time than any other thing Sony’s presented today.

12:51 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Jack is now about to offer us a “sneak peek” at a new title, from the maker of Shadow of the Colossus.

12:52 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
It’s called The Last Guardian.

12:53 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
A little boy is running from something. And now we see it, a huge feathered cat. It grabs the boy from a ledge, saving him from death. Maybe this cat isn’t so bad!

12:53 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:54 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Interesting art design: The boy is a textureless cartoon, while the world around him is more realistic.

12:54 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
The relationship between the boy and this beast is remarkably touching, even in a short clip. The crowd doesn’t clap all at once. They need a moment.

12:57 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

12:57 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Now for some Gran Turismo promo video action. There is either a lot of prerendering going on, or the game is photorealistic at 60fps.

12:59 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Next up? A live demo of God of War III.

1:00 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

1:00 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Kratos is running around, doing his thing in a nice looking but not so surprisingly detailed environment.

1:01 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Uh oh…a Titan has crawled out of lava. This can’t be good.

1:04 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

1:05 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Anyway, GoW III is OK. It’ll be fun. I’m sure fans will like it. But it’s pretty similar to the scale of GoW II. It doesn’t feel like much more than a graphical boost.

1:06 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
March 2010 on God of War III.

1:06 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Jack is back on stage, wrapping things up.

1:07 PM ON JUN 2 2009
matt:

1:07 PM ON JUN 2 2009
Mark Wilson:
Jack: “I promise we will not become complacent no matter what we have accomplished.” And with that, the event is over. Later guys.

We’ve teamed up with Joystiq for live coverage of E3, and Nintendo’s keynote is next up for the extra special liveblogging treatment. The event is scheduled to start at around 12PM ET / 9AM PT.

We’re live! We’re on the scene at the Nintendo keynote, getting ready to fire salvo after salvo of news at you, our readers. Get those bingo cards ready and start making your own predictions of what the Big N’s got planned in the comments section. (And no, “Cammie Dunaway does something embarrassing” doesn’t count!)

Continue reading Engadget & Joystiq live from Nintendo’s E3 2009 keynote

Filed under: Gaming

Engadget & Joystiq live from Nintendo’s E3 2009 keynote originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The original Xbox launched in November 2001, with the Xbox 360 following just four years later, the shortest console cycle ever. The four-year anniversary of the 360 is five months away, but yesterday Microsoft proclaimed that “the future of home entertainment has a new name: Xbox 360.” Huh.

It became remarkably clear today that Microsoft sees more than months left in the Xbox 360—more like years. Microsoft’s big ballyhoo, its motion control Project Natal, won’t even arrive until 2010. And likely deep into 2010—think next summer. The Zune Video Marketplace will deliver 1080p instant streams; you’ll be able to download full retail games come August, cutting out the Gamestop middleman; Netflix integration is even deeper; and Facebook and Twitter are now wrapped in. Why would Microsoft do all this for a console progressing into obsolescence in the next year or two? It’s not simply pumping out new games or features—they’re growing and entrenching the current platform.

Sure, there’s a incentive to extend this console cycle simply because of the high costs of development—the time and money that goes into producing a major game for the Xbox and PS3 easily approaches that of a (small) Hollywood film because of their enormous complexity. There’s still returns to be made on this generation. So perhaps Sony wasn’t so foolish for declaring that the PS3 is a ten-year console. The Wii is markedly cheaper, simpler and less powerful, so part of me suspects you will see a new console from Nintendo more quickly than from Microsoft and Sony.

But it’s more than that, especially when you consider how Microsoft and Sony are extending the life of their machines—they’re turning them into platforms beyond gaming consoles. Xbox Live’s Marc Whitten remarked at the Xbox party tonight that a big part of the reason behind the New Xbox Experience was to build the framework for these features. It’s interesting to think about the NXE as not simply the UI overhaul and stuff we reviewed a few months ago—it’s everything after that. We are squarely in Xbox 360 2.0.

Think of it another way: If we were talking about all of these new features on a computer or mobile—Netflix streaming, Last.fm, Zune Marketplace, Remote Play—what we would call them instead of features? Apps. That’s what makes this generation more platform than console—they have apps that tap into and expand their power in new and different ways, just like apps do on any other kind of platform.

But so far, we’ve only seen first-party apps. Or at best, closely partnered third-party apps. It’s effectively a closed system. Which reminds of us of another formerly closed system. The iPhone. It did some neat things before iPhone 2.0. But it was painfully limited. The iPhone wasn’t truly powerful until it got apps. Until it allowed basically anybody to develop apps for it, not just the chosen few (well, Google). That’s exactly what the Xbox 360 and PS3 need to live even longer. And not just longer lives, but better, richer lives. Cheap SDKs for anybody to develop apps. Just think of how long ago Twitter would’ve come to Xbox.

It’s already halfway there—you stream videos, download software, apply updates, listen to music, social network—and only going even further in that direction with the stuff we’re seeing it at E3, that the old, artificial distinction between these consoles and “real computers,” which was already laughable, is completely obsolete. So that objection, that consoles aren’t supposed to be like computers, they’re supposed to be self-contained is completely meaningless. It’s time to open the Xbox 360 and PS3 to apps, so we can see what they can really do.

Filed under: Gaming

Video: Beatles Rock Band books surprise gig at Xbox 360 meetup originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Before E3 2009, rumors were flying back and forth between blogs and press releases. One rumor that fans and news sites anticipated was the announcement of a new Metal Gear Solid. There was a mention of “lightning” in recent interviews as well, which begged people to question if it would focus on Raiden.

Today at Microsoft’s conference the rumors were true for the most part, but no one anticipated the new game, Metal Gear Solid Rising, to be released for the Xbox 360. Kojima refused to comment further on the details of the project, but he has, once again, surprised us all.