Everyone knew what Microsoft and Nintendo's plans for the future were before the beginning of E3 this year. Microsoft had their Halo 3, while Nintendo was selling out their hardware worldwide on the broad based appeal of their system. Sony's future, however, wasn't so clear. A price cut within less than one year of the console's release, the loss of several key PlayStation 2 franchise exclusives to the Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation brand last year saw a big hit that caused "massive damage," leading to the ultimate departure of the father of the brand, Ken Kuratagi. Nevertheless, Sony pressed on and presented as much positive news they could muster.

New Slimmer PSP
First off Sony announced an updated design to the PlayStation Portable syem. The new system will be 19% thinner, 33% lighter, a faster UMD drive and feature better power consumption resulting in longer battery life. It can also output a high quality video signal via a component connection directly to TVs, bringing a much needed feature for the success of the UMD movie format, which unfortunately has been all but abandoned. The new PSPs will be released in September and also come in two new colors which are also part of two new entertainment packs. First is the Ice Silver, part of the $199.99 Entertainment Pack that comes with a 1GB Memory Stick, Daxter, and the Family Guy Frickin' Sweet Collection on UMD. The other color is a white Star Wars-themed PSP that will retail in October for $199.99, packed with Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron.

PlayStation 3 Platform Drivers
While many of the first-gen next-generation titles will be multi-platform due to development costs, Sony has a very healthy lineup to counteract the same releases on Xbox 360. Sony highlighted the following third-party games in a video montage: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Assassin's Creed, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, Resident Evil 5, Burnout Paradise, Madden NFL 08, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, The Simpsons Game, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Medal of Honor: Airborne and Rock Band.

First-party Titles
Sony has quite the development deck when it comes to first party games. Looking to expand their IP catalog, Sony announced several new franchises. But first off was Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction from Insomniac Games. Next was an seasonable update of Sony's NBA franchise NBA 08. The new titles include Heavenly Sword, a hack and slash title with many nods to the God of War franchise. Folklore, a real-time action game with RPG elements similar to Devil May Cry. GDC hit Little Big Planet, a physics-based puzzle game. Infamous, from the creators of the Sly Cooper series, a MMO-style sandbox game similar to Crackdown. Finally, Gran Turismo 5 and 5: Prologue on the PlayStation Network.

PlayStation Network
Speaking of the PlayStation Network. Sony is pumping a lot of effort and money into making the PlayStation Network as unique of an experience as possible. Start off with the PlayStaion Home, Sony is bringing the essence of Second Life and The Sims to the base functionality of the PlayStation Network. While fundamentally similar to Xbox Live, Home is a much different experience with the ability to customize your space and your virtual avatar. Features to launch games from within Home and download and watch videos are in the works. While it may seem a bit much for the entire PlayStation 3 audience to embrace, it is definitely different than anything out there and may prove to be a great idea in the end.

Exclusive Titles for PlayStation 3
Aside from the PSP slimdown, the other big news at Sony's press conference was the reiteration of the exclusivities that PlayStation 3 will feature. First off, Korean publisher and online game developer NCSoft announced that they were going to bring their online games to the PlayStation 3 exclusively, along with a new game based on entirely new IP. Ubisoft then announced a new sci-fi shooter Haze would be a time-based exclusive title.

Help us Kojima-san! You're our only hope!
Lastly, Sony introduced Hideo Kojima, noted creator of the Metal Gear Solid series. Sony made it absolutely clear that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots [View the E3 07 Trailer Now!] was a PlayStation 3 exclusive right before Kojima took the stage. While everyone anticipated a new trailer, many were shocked when Kojima revealed that a playable version was unable to be completed in time for E3. While Kojima joked that those who were in Japan next week were invited to come play it, many left disappointed that Metal Gear 4 was once again unplayable, three E3s in a row. But what was the biggest shock of the entire conference was the end of the trailer declaring a simultaneous worldwide launch of Metal Gear Solid 4 in Early 2008, missing the crucial holiday season for Sony.

Just getting warmed up
It appears that 2007 will be looked at as the year that Sony started to get their act together. The company is definitely not hitting on all cylinders, it is making its case that they will return to the juggernaut status they so enjoyed with the PlayStation 2. The loss of several exclusive big-hit franchises has clearly hurt Sony, as evident of the complete snubbing of Grand Theft Auto IV throughout the entire press conference. With the price drop of the 60GB model, Sony has a better shot at correcting their initial false start this year. It will take a few more big-named games the beginning of next year for Sony to ride the wave of momentum it will see when Metal Gear Solid 4 is released in Early 2008. Once Sony figures things out, these early years will be easily forgotten. But if they don't seize this opportunity soon, it could be all she wrote for the once king of the video game industry.