The second of the big three E3 press conferences went down this evening as Sony made their big presentation for gamers and the press alike, promising that while the PlayStation brand may be down this generation, it is far from out.

Sony reached out to gamers of all varieties and ages in their press conference, pushing their system forward, even if some of the new ideas were…bizarre to say the least.

Here’s the main points I took away from the conference.

-You Want Originality? Sony Has It.

Perfectly sandwiching their press conference, Sony threw out the big thing that neither Microsoft or Nintendo seemed prepared to combat - unique, mature and ORIGINAL titles for this current gaming generation.  From the team who brought us Heavy Rain, you had Beyond: Two Souls, a dark and unique title, featuring a mysterious female protagonist with psychic powers named Jodie Holmes (portrayed by Ellen Page).  At end of the conference, you had the new game from the team behind the Uncharted franchise, The Last of Us, a unique survivor horror title.  Each showcased new concepts in gameplay and player immersion, and while we’ve previously seen The Last of Us, I walked away from watching this presser more excited for these two games than anything else I’ve seen so far.  Sure, Sony’s going to keep existing franchises going with a new God of War and the previously covered Smash Bros clone PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, but it’s great to see the world of gaming getting moved forward - and by a first party developer no less.

-By God, Sony Will Sell You A PlayStation Vita

Last year was the Vita’s big coming out party, this year was the hard sell for the new handheld from Sony.  PS3 games will be linking to Vita. You’ll be able to buy classic PlayStation 1 titles for the Vita. There was a lot of talk with the Vita, and yes, even some exclusive titles for the vita, including dedicated installments in the Assassins Creed and Call of Duty franchises.

-Remember Books? Get Ready To Meet The Wonderbook

In perhaps the weirdest, and riskiest thing unveiled so far at E3, Sony released a new extension for their motion based Move controller system - the Wonderbook.  What’s the Wonderbook? A mixture of AR codes with on screen graphics, it’s supposed to be an enhanced way to enjoy books or similar entertainment.  What really ensured the Wonderbook’s success, however, was the announcement of the Book of Spells, a new creation from J.K. Rowling, set in the Harry Potter universe. You get to learn and interact with spells, and it’s all part of the Harry Potter canon.  It’s as strong an app for this new project that I wondered which came first in this chicken and the egg scenario - did they have the tech and want to sell millions, so they approached Rowling, or did they develop it with Rowling, and decide to expand the audience?  Either way, we’ll see how well it pays off.

After a few shaky years (since pretty much the introduction of the PlayStation 3), I feel like that Sony is finally getting stable once more in the world of video games, and it’s allowing them to take some risks that Microsoft and Nintendo would never consider.  Perhaps they won’t leave this gaming generation as the #1 console creator, but they certainly are trying to deliver to the fan base which has supported them. Good show, gang.

Tomorrow: Nintendo unveils the Wii U at 12pm Eastern.

Source: The Verge