Even though it doesn’t occur until the summer, the Electronic Entertainment Expo is truly when the gamer’s year begins. With every major publisher and developer trying to outdo one another with impressive announcements, the convention not only establishes the tone of gaming for the rest of the year, but it also gives us a glimpse of just where our favorite pastime is heading in the future. Keeping that in mind, over the course of the next three days we here at Gamervision will be polishing our crystal balls, shaking the hell out of our Magic 8-Balls, and contacting the spirits of the damned in order to predict just how we think E3 will go down for the Big Three.

At E3 2008, Sony didn’t exactly impress at their press conference. In fact, they were on the boring side. Other than footage of LittleBigPlanet, there was not too much to cheer about; even the God of War III teaser was ruined by some dude talking over it. Sony has been promising “the year of the PlayStation” since the PS3 launched, but that year has not happened yet. However, 2009 is looking good for the publisher, and despite their lackluster performance at E3 last year, I actually have high hopes for Sony. Here are our predictions for Sony’s E3 press conference.



Big PS3 Exclusives Will Finally Get Release Dates.

I would be extremely surprised if we walked out of Sony’s press conference next Tuesday without knowing the release date, or at least a release window, for God of War III. My guess would be March 2010, if we want to get really specific. In addition, Sony really needs to start showing off its system exclusives, and announcing release dates is a great way to build anticipation and excitement. I expect to hear dates for some or all of these games: White Knight Chronicles, MAG, Heavy Rain, and Gran Turismo 5.

The Next PSP Will Be Announced.

The PSP2, or PSP Go!, whatever it’s called, has been an industry rumor for what seems like years now. At this point, there’s too much evidence to simply ignore it, and it is about time Sony addresses the PSP’s design flaws. Up until now, the PSP hasn’t come close to competing with Nintendo’s DS, and that’s not going to change unless Sony does something drastic.



Valkyria Chronicles Will Have a Sequel Announced.

Valkyria Chronicles may not have sold particularly well in North America, but it was still one of the most critically-acclaimed PS3 exclusives of 2008. It also did well enough in Japan to make the developers interested in continuing the franchise (which has already been done in the form of an anime series). I hope Valkyria Chronicles gets another shot in the U.S., because it was really a fantastic game that too few people played. With good marketing and word-of-mouth buzz, though, things could go better for the sequel.

Sony Will Respond to the 360/Netflix Arrangement With its Own Streaming Service.

I’ll admit, when Microsoft first announced their arrangement with Netflix at E3 last year, I didn’t really care. However, it wasn’t long before I realized how cool it was to be able to watch streaming movies on my 360 for eight bucks a month. Sony needs something comparable for the PS3 to stay competitive. Maybe an arrangement with languishing movie rental retailer Blockbuster is in the works? We will soon find out.



The PS3 Slim is Real?!

We all laughed when those fakity fake fake PS3 slim pictures started making their way around the internets recently, but what if a non-fake slimmer PlayStation 3 was actually in development? It’s not like it would be the first time Sony released a smaller console model in the middle of the generation (they did so with both the original PlayStation and PS2). It seems unlikely, but if Sony really wanted to shake things up, this might be the way to do it.

A Monthly DLC Service Will Be Announced.

Sony has hinted at some sort of downloadable content subscription service before, and this would be a good way to encourage PS3 owners to grab games and expansions from the PlayStation Store. A monthly fee would cover a certain number of downloads, or else provide the gamer with some sort of incentive for subscribing, such as early access to demos and DLC. The idea doesn’t particularly excite me, but I’m open to the suggestion.



Yakuza 3 is Coming to North America.

Did I mention that the PS3 needs more exclusives? The Yakuza series may not be a best-seller on North American shores, but Yakuza 2 got great reviews when it came out for the PS2 in the western hemisphere last year. Yakuza 3 launched in Japan a few months ago and shot up the sales charts, so maybe publisher Sega will decide to give it another go in the States.

PSP/PS3 Integration Will Work Like Never Before.

I know the PSP and PS3 are already supposed to work together, and they do… kinda. However, if a new PSP is indeed announced, I have a feeling it will work with the PS3 in brand new, possibly unforeseen ways. Hey, maybe you’ll be able to charge your PSP with your PS3 without having to turn on the PSP and switch it over to USB mode. Even that would be an improvement.



Grand Theft Auto IV’s “Lost and Damned” Expansion Coming to PS3.

Just like the “360 exclusive!” Fallout 3 downloadable content is about to come out on the PS3, it’s only a matter of time before “Lost & Damned” makes the jump from one console to another. In this day and age, “system exclusive” often simply refers to a timed exclusive, especially with it comes to DLC. Since 360 owners have already had access to this DLC for several months, it’s about time PS3 owners got a chance to play the additional content for one of 2008’s best games.

PlayStation 3 Price Cut Imminent.

Let’s not mince words here: the economy sucks, and the PS3 is too damn expensive. Sony may lose more money on hardware if they lower the price of the PlayStation 3, but it needs to be done for them to stay competitive. With the 360 Arcade priced at $200 and the Wii sitting comfortably at $250, $399.99 is too high an entry price. If there isn’t a significant price cut, Sony will at least introduce some new bundles that will help new PS3 owners save a bunch of money.

Now that all of the predictions for the big three press conferences have been made, be sure to check back next week and see how accurate we were! We'll have tons of E3 coverage all next week and beyond, so stay tuned.