The Future's Bright, the Future's Sony?

This week nearly a thousand games journalists gathered in London for a peek at Playstation's future. I'm bringing you some of the key points below direct from the Sony press center.

Kaz Hirai, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc, confirmed that the PlayStation mission is to focus on "games, games and more games" and looking to develop a "harmonious marriage between games and communities" in the future. Also that, while accepting that the past 12 months had been a difficult the arrival of big titles in 2008 like LittleBigPlanet, Resistance 2, MotorStorm Pacific Rift and Buzz!: Quiz TV, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Haze are positive.

PlayStation Home is due to launch in the autumn once development is complete. Hirai said that "I said at the Tokyo Game Show that I would not open up Home until I was completely happy with it and I still stand by that statement. We have been testing Home for some time and I simply feel that, as great as it currently is, it needs a little bit more time before it is ready for the wider public, something we firmly believe we can provide in the autumn."

During the conference there were previews of Creation, LittleBigPlanet as well as highlights of the 20,000+ usergenerated Singstar Videos. New multiplayer modes are coming in Resistance 2, there was an introduction to the brutal, unpredictable island at the heart of MotorStorm Pacific Rift and a video for the new PS3 title Mirror's Edge. There will also be an exclusive Metal Geat Solid bundle to support its release.

The big news on sport is GT Academy. Described as "the ultimate racing contest", GT Academy will be a European competition lasting over 6 months, where virtual and real-life racing will come together to make the dreams of 2 aspiring racing drivers will come true: a four-month training programme to gain their racing licenses followed by a real-life race driving in a Nissan 350Z in the official Nissan team at the 24-hour Dubai race in January 2009 - pretty amazing stuff!

It was also announced that Men In Black will be the first Blu-ray Disc that will support the exciting new BD-Live feature in Europe, as well as the imminent release of Go!View in the UK. The service, which is a joint venture with between Sony and Sky TV, will let PSP users build up a unique TV schedule on their PSPs. More partners are being sought across Europe to extend the service for PSP and possibly PS3 owners.

Five million PS3 units have been sold compared to the 4 million predicted at the Games Conference in Leipzig in August, and there has been over 3 million registrants on the PLAYSTATION Network resulting in nearly 60 million items to date.

It looks like Sony are looking to develop a number of exciting new ventures and features in the next 12 months. The partnership with Sky, the advancement of PlayStation Home and the further development of their new BluRay/HD DVD 'monopoly' means that they'll be able to cement the PS3's position as an allround household entertainment centre, especially with Sony's catalogue of music potentially available as well. Meanwhile MGS4 and Motorstorm as well as new titles look to reinforce their game. All does indeed look bright for Sony.