And Sony wins the battle of the E3 2009 press conferences! They started on a nice self-deprecating tone, and then followed through with lots of gameplay, lots of trailers, minimal boring talky bits, nary a celebrity in site, and a few surprise announcements despite much of their news having been leaked over the last week. The really big news is a pair of high-profile exclusives for the Playstation 3. The first is Agent, Rockstar's upcoming espionage game set during in the 1970s, during the height of the Cold War. The second is Final Fantasy XIV. After Square/Enix's monster JRPG series had strayed over to the Xbox, securing another exclusive is a bit like putting toothpaste back in a tube. Congrats, Sony!

Among the other Playstation 3 exclusives prominently featured was the gorgeous Uncharted 2. In an extended single-player sequence, protagonist Nathan Drake eluded a helicopter while working his way though several buildings populated by bad guys with guns. It may sound like a hackneyed scenario (Oh no, an unbeatable helicopter that you'll have to face off in a later boss battle!), but Uncharted 2 does it justice with its cinematic gunplay and vivid characterization. However, I'm not sold on the new sidekick. I want Elena back. This brunette's not good enough for you, Nate!

MAG, short for "Massive Action Game", which is in turn short of "We Couldn't Really Think Of A Name So We Just Went With A Category", was fired up with 256 players connecting at once. At least, that's the claim. As will probably be the case in the full game, I only saw about fifteen of those players during the demo, so I'll have to take Sony's word that there were 241 other people in there. While that many players is an impressive feat, it doesn't seem like it's going to affect the gameplay one whit. Based on the demo, this looks like a competent but standard game in the same vein as DICE's Battlefield series: vehicles, aircraft, squads, objectives, spawn points, artillery, tactical screens, yadda yadda yadda. The developer, Zipper Interactive, has tons of experience doing multiplayer shooters based on their time with the technically modest but popular SOCOM series. I'm at least glad to see they're stepping it up a notch.

ModNation Racers is an attempt to bring the Little Big Planet imperative of "play, create, share" to a kart racing game, complete with customizable big headed drivers. But instead of the cartoon look of Mario Kart, it's got that claymation filmed look of Little Big Planet. The easy-to-use track designer has potential to be a great outlet for creativity. If Little Big Planet players can work the magic they've worked in a game that consists of little more than moving from left to right, I expect ModNation Racers players will be able to accomplish wonderful things as well.

I was surprised at how unmoved I was by a new God of War III demo, in which Kratos makes his way around a city while an angry giant lumbers largely in the background. Pulling skeletons apart, manning a ballista, riding harpies, quick time events to dismember, implace, and cut sub-bosses? Been there, done that, and on the Playstation 2, no less. I guess I figured it would somehow be more once it finally reached the Playstation 3.

Sony showed the trailer for Team Ico's untitled followup to Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, in which a bird/dog/griffon creature and a little boy interact to the strains of Carter Burwell's soundtrack from Miller's Crossing. I'm sold, no matter what music they end up using. There was a teaser for Gran Turismo 5. I wasn't aware Gran Turismo was still around. Little Big Planet has secured the rights for Disney characters, which includes Pixar's catalogue, of course. The only specifics mentioned were Sack Boy versions of Jack Sparrow, Cinderella, and Mr. Incredible, but I imagine Sony and Little Big Planet are going to get a lot of mileage out of this deal.

Sony also reaffirmed their commitment to the PSP by showing off plenty of new titles, including announcements of a Gran Turismo (seriously?), a Metal Gear Solid, and a Resident Evil. The new PSP Go with its sliding faceplate was a surprise to no one, as news of this Cartman-esque PSP revision has been circulating for a few days. But what was a surprise was the $250 price point. Ouch. Way to help Nintendo sell more DSs.