With his victory at the FIWC11 Grand Final in Los Angeles, Cruz earned $20,000 in prize money and a priceless invitation to the FIFA Ballon d’Or 2011 Gala. At the Gala, Francisco talked tactics with Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, played FIFA 12 against Wayne Rooney and Gerard Piqué on a nearby PS3 and shook hands with superstars such as Lionel Messi, Xavi, Ronaldo, Neymar and Dani Alves. The morning following Francisco’s incredible night at the Gala, the team at FIFA.com spoke with him as he reflected on the experience.

This must have been an amazing experience for you. Does any specific moment stand out?

Francisco: I can’t really say what my favourite moment was. All of it was incredible. Beating Wayne Rooney at FIFA 12 and talking to Sir Alex Ferguson were certainly highlights. And of course meeting Lionel Messi, my favourite player. There have been so many highlights, I have to watch out that I don’t forget anything!

What did you discuss with Sir Alex?

Francisco: For me he’s a true legend. He’s been with Manchester United for more than twenty years now so I was very happy that I had the opportunity to talk to him. We talked about the best ways to cope with mental pressure in tough games. This was really helpful for me and I’ll definitely try to apply his advice at this year’s Grand Final.

You mentioned your EA SPORTS FIFA 12 match with Wayne Rooney. What was it like to play against one of your idols?

Francisco: It’s a dream playing against one of my favourite players. It’s a new experience and I would like to do it again next year, he is a good player. He kept possession of the ball well with England but he could not transfer that into goal scoring opportunities. He said he was the best FIFA 12 player at Manchester United and I believe him as he was very good. I had some good chances and I scored, but he could have scored one or two goals.

You brought your cousin to the Gala. Why did you choose him to accompany you?

Francisco: My family is very important to me. For the 2009 Grand Final in Barcelona, where I placed third, I invited my sister. Last year, my father came with me to Los Angeles, so now it was my cousin’s turn. He’s just as crazy about football as I am, plus he’s a really good friend of mine.

Did you ever imagine that you would be part of such a special night when you first played the FIFA series?

Francisco: No, not at all. It is still unbelievable. I mean who would have thought that playing EA SPORTS FIFA would one day take me to the FIFA Ballon d’Or! And now, here I am, among stars like Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney!

Is this day at the FIFA Ballon d’Or a strong motivation for you to defend your title?

Francisco: I’m very competitive and I want to win every game. Of course, this day is very special for me and If I could be part of this once more it would be fantastic. I’ll definitely give my all and try to defend my title!

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone that made such a fantastic trip happen. Here’s hoping all that sand has whetted your appetite for Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, which launches from November 2nd, only on PlayStation 3.

We followed in the footsteps of T.E. Lawrence – better known as Lawrence of Arabia and one of the historical figures that has a large role in the Uncharted 3 plot – in search of gold coins, with the team to gather the most booty at the end of the day collecting prizes including a beautiful (and valuable) watch, a Garmin GPS device and a Belstaff jacket. All attending winners will also receive the Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Explorer Edition on launch and one of the first PlayStation Vita consoles from the production line, along with Uncharted: Golden Abyss.

I’ll have a video documenting the entire event for you next week (as soon as we’re done editing it) but, in the meantime, check out these pictures and a breakdown of the challenges the Jordanian desert had in store for our intrepid contestants.

Sand Balance challenge, Lawrence Spring (GPS N 29 33.509 E 035 24.682)

A local Bedouin awaited our adventurers with a set of scales containing gold coins. Our contestants had several sacks of sand of different weights and had to choose which one balanced the scales perfectly.

Little Bridge (GPS N 29 31.207 E 035 26.548)

Our teams encountered on overturned Jeep in the desert and had to search it to find a scroll. Then, they moved over to a marked off square of fine sand and had to dig with their fingers in search of up to ten gold coins, against the clock.

Middle Bridge, Um Fruth (GPS N 29 28.127 E 035 26.938)

Our teams had to approach a local Bedouin tribesman and correctly say the phrase ‘Ahtaaju an atadarraba ‘ala al Arabia’ (which translates as ‘I need to practice my Arabic’) and were then allowed to take on the challenge, where they were given three throwing axes and had to get them to stick in a wooden board from a distance.

Large Bridge, Burdha Bridge (GPS N 29 28.58 E 035 29.026)

After using their GPS devices to locate a scroll, the treasure hunters found a shooting range in a gully and tried to hit three targets using a standard .22 air rifle.

Parachute Landing (GPS N 29 31.325 E 035 27.944)

Our adventurers followed their GPS devices to an abandoned parachute in the middle of the desert. Close by was a suitcase containing various items. They had 20 seconds to memorise as many of the items as possible and then write them down afterwards.

Lawrence’s House (GPS N 29 31.701 E 035 27.559)

The treasure hunters rode camels to the bottom of a rock formation and then had to search for a scroll containing their next clue. They then rode back to Lawrence’s House and drank tea with local Bedouin tribesmen.

Alameleh Inscriptions (GPS N 29 33.363 E 035 27.164)

A scroll was hidden beneath a loose rock next to the inscriptions.

Sand Dune (GPS N 29 33.216 E 035 26.725)

Our adventurers climbed a huge sand dune where they found a hand poking out from the sand, clutching a rifle and the next scroll (remind you of the first Uncharted 3 trailer?)

Al Shallaleh (GPS N 29 34.438 E 035 24.774)

Our teams climbed the side of the rock face to a waterfall and had to fill three bottles with water and take them over to a cylinder with fake coin at the bottom; the idea was to fill the cylinder so that the coin floats to the top, as quickly as they could.

Final Location, The Nabataen Temple (GPS N 29 34.670 E 035 24.876)

The scrolls collected at each location were combined to show the co-ordinates to the final location and our teams had to input them to the GPS devices and navigate their way to the Bedouin trading post. There they handed in the gold coins to be counted and decide who would be the overall winner.

We then returned to our camp at Bait Ali in the Wadi Rum region to clear sand from ears and prepare for the evening reception, where Taylor Kurosaki and Arne Meyer of Naughty Dog gave a presentation of the desert gameplay in Uncharted 3, and Nolan North and Emily Rose offered some insight into the lengths they go to in performance capture to bring their characters to life.

We then presented Dario Ripamonti from Italy with the top prize of a Tag Heuer Grand Carrera watch, and Rui Unas from Portugal and Spain’s Alvaro Soria Salinas with the Garmin GPS 62ST mapping system second prize and the Belstaff Road Master jacket respectively.

It really was a fantastic trip and every attendee that I spoke to agreed. However, and most importantly, the event signifies that Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is less than a month away from release and I know you’re looking forward to it as much as we all are. Like I said, we’ll have a full professional video showing all that happened next week and, as a bit of a tease in the meantime, here’s some really rough footage I shot on my flip camera from the back of our jeep.

Hello Everyone,

This Monday there were nervous, sweaty fingers aplenty poised on any manner of gaming peripherals…the reason? A special Gran Turismo 5 driving event that could possibly be the biggest ever race.

At precisely 15.20 BST on Monday, over 7500 Gran Turismo gamers lined up on a virtual starting grid in a unique 3-way simultaneous race that saw F1 legend David Coulthard put his driving reputation on the line in a real versus virtual driving battle quite unlike any other.

Coulthard’s real-life challenge on the Dunsfold circuit, better known as the Top Gear Test Track, was beamed live via internet to thousands, he was joined at the track by F1 race commentator Martin Brundle who presented the live race action.

Meanwhile at Brooklands, Mercedes-Benz’s UK flagship experience location, six anxious competition winning contestants sat awaiting the starting flag with motor racing commentator Jonathan Legard doing his best as compere to calm fraying nerves.  The second set of virtual would be giant-killers were the hordes of GT5 gamers joining the race from home in a specially created in-game seasonal event – the Mercedes Benz Driving Event.

Standing between the gamers (and Coulthard) and glory was a tense 15 minute F1-style time attack on the famously challenging track.

In the end it was an incredibly close race, but experience won.  Coulthard managed to set an unbelievably quick time of 1’16.320, before cooling his tyres and spinning off as rain started to fall. It was enough to see off the challenge of the winning driver at the Brooklands event, Jason Birt who managed a more than respectable 1’16.868.

Even if his duel with the ex-F1 driver ended in a narrow defeat, Jason now has the rather sweet consolation prize of all expenses paid trip to the Brazilian F1 Grand Prix to look forward to.

Commenting on his experience an elated Jason said;

“This has been a real buzz,” he said. “It has been a very impressive day with the off-road, SLS and drifting experiences this morning and then the GT5 racing has been excellent. I only got the call on Thursday to say that I was taking part and so I am really happy to have won the virtual race and be going to Brazil. Shame I didn’t get to beat DC, but he is a real pro and it would have been quite a feat to beat him. A massive thank you to Mercedes-Benz and PlayStation for making this happen.”

Highlights of the event can be viewed at www.mercedesliverace.co.uk.

Gran Turismo 5 is now available in the Platinum range and the Mercedes-Benz Driving Event is available in GT5 until 23.59BST 26^th September with the live leaderboard viewable throughout this time on gran-turismo.com.

Hello Everyone

Have you ever watched a F1 race and dreamt what it would be like to pit your driving skills against a F1 driver, well if you have a copy of Gran Turismo 5, now is your chance.

In a unique race on Monday 5 September, David Coulthard will take the wheel of a real 6.3 litre V8 powered Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. GT5 fans from around the globe will simultaneously be able to pit their driving skills against the world-class professional driver, driving the same car through a specially created in-game seasonal event – the Mercedes-Benz Driving Event.

To make the race that little bit more dramatic, the world famous track located in Europe which will be the race location is to remain a secret until race day to give all competitors a fair chance at victory.

Meanwhile, back at Mercedes-Benz World, Brooklands, England, 24 prize draw winners will be battling to qualify for their place in the big race, and for those lucky few who set the top six qualifying times there will be a chance to compete against Coulthard in real time at the flagship venue where visitors are welcome to come and watch the action for themselves.

For the winning contestant at Mercedes-Benz World an all expenses paid trip to the Brazilian F1 Grand Prix in November awaits.

So here’s what you need to know if you want to get involved.

- The real and virtual races will begin at 15.20 BST. Real-time footage of the action from the secret track location and Brooklands will be streamed through a specially created site www.mercedesliverace.co.uk.

- Live coverage on the day will begin at 15.00 BST and will be presented by F1 commentator Martin Brundle.

- Leaderboard information for virtual racers brave enough to take on David Coulthard via the Mercedes-Benz Driving Event will be available on gran-turismo.com.

The in-game Mercedes-Benz Driving Event will be available until Monday 26 September so there’s plenty of time to keep honing those times. But the question is have you got the skills to take on and beat an F1 driver?

In the midst of all this Gamescom madness (did you see the Starhawk interview with Dylan Jobe? Jetpacks, “Strap it on and go!”) I’ve got some very exciting news for all you UK people. PlayStation Access Live is back, and we’re touring the country.

For those who just pulled a confused face – PlayStation Access Live is your chance to get hands on with unreleased PlayStation software and hardware. It’s also your chance to meet up and socialise with fellow gamers, listen to live acts, eat and drink lots, meet some PlayStation staff and generally have a fantastic PlayStation experience. If you haven’t gotten involved with our Facebook fan page yet, you can redeem yourself by clicking here.

Right now I want to talk to you about our first 2 Access events. One in Birmingham and another in London. Read on…

Access Live Birmingham

Access Live hits the Rainbow Rooms in Birmingham on Thursday 25th August and won’t be leaving until Saturday 27th August.

With your first chance to get hands on with Resistance 3, Journey, ICO and Shadow of the Colossus HD, LittleBigPlanet Move Edition, DanceStar Party, Medieval Moves, After Hours Athletes AND jam to a live performance from Yasmin (she’s worked with the likes of N.E.R.D and Taio Cruz, more about Yasmin here) on Friday and Saturday; this is one hell of a PlayStation experience and you do not want to miss out. We’re still waiting for a couple of games to confirm their attendance too – so keep an eye on the PlayStation Access Facebook page for any last minute news.

Yasmin will be performing live at Access Birmingham on Friday and Saturday – be sure to select those sessions of you want to see her!

We’ve got 120 pairs of tickets to dish out across 4 sessions and they usually go like hot cakes – so go over to the Facebook page now, choose your preferred session and submit your entry. We’ll let you know if you’ve got a ticket early next week.

Oh, and I’ll be there. That’s a major attraction too, right?

…and darkness descended. A PunchDrunk adventure inspired by Resistance 3.

Now this one is really special.

Coming to London’s Waterloo Station Arches between 1st September and 4th September, this spectacular event will take you on a theatrical journey into the Resistance 3 universe. Here’s a snippet of the plot line from our friends at PunchDrunk…

London has fallen. Society has broken down. The Chimera have ravaged the city and only a few survive. The audience are charged with finding the last pocket of human resistance and sending a vital message to Resistance 3 Hero, Joseph Capelli, to aid his operation in the USA. To complete their mission, participants must work as a team, navigating their way through a disorientating and terrifying environment, encountering the survivors and remnants left in the aftermath of the brutal Chimeran invasion.

Taking PlayStation game mechanics and making them real world, the audience become characters in a narrative which relies upon them in order to move forward. The environment they explore is physically tangible and multi-sensory: lights, sound and smell inspired by Resistance 3 all heighten the level of immersion and pull the audience into this desolate world.

The threat is very real. Not only are the Chimera known to be within the immediate vicinity but the humans who remain have turned to extreme and savage acts in order to ensure their survival.

Just like any PlayStation survival horror game, the ultimate threat is that if the audience fail to escape their enemies, they are eliminated from the experience. Crucially, the success of the mission is in the participants’ hands, it is their responses and reactions which dictate its triumph or failure…

I’m hideously excited about this one. There’ll also be consoles at the event for you to play Resistance 3 on, so don’t miss out. There’s 75 pairs of tickets up for grabs, so head to the Access Facebook page to get your mitts on them.

These two events are just the start. PlayStation Access will be bringing you much more over the coming months, so get ahead of the crowd and join our Facebook Fan Page. Just be sure to hit the Like button once you get there so we can keep you posted about everything we do.

Catch you soon,

MB

Today we’ve got the brand new trailer for Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One for Gamescom.

There’s lots more trailers to come so stay tuned.

We’re excited to introduce a new PlayStation Network event: PLAY. PLAY is a brand-new annual program, where we’re bringing you four of the season’s hottest PlayStation Network action titles. With every purchase of a PLAY title in PlayStation Store throughout the duration of the program (which ends on 20 September 2011), you’ll receive a separate piece of DLC for each game, plus a new theme with every pre-order (pre-orders will be available for a limited period prior to release of the game, see details below). If these incentives aren’t enough, if you purchase all four PLAY titles in PlayStation Store by 20 September 2011, you’ll get a PSN voucher code for PayDay: The Heist as a bonus gift. And, PlayStation Plus subscribers will get an automatic 20% off every purchase of a PLAY title if they purchase them by 20 September 2011.

Pre-orders will be available for all four PLAY titles starting next week on August 10 in PlayStation Store. Remember, in order to qualify to receive PayDay: The Heist as a bonus gift, your purchases must be made by September 20, 2011.

Participating countries only. Age restrictions and other terms and conditions apply. Full details will be available on eu.playstation.com/legal from 10 August 2011.PlayStation Network PLAY is going to be an annual program.

Here is the 2011 line-up:

August 24: The PLAY program kicks off with Capcom’s highly-anticipated Street Fighter III Third Strike Online Edition, available to pre-order until 18 August, 2011. This action-fighting title features 20 playable characters, HD graphics, more than 200 pieces of unlockable content, more than 100 trials and more than 100 challenges When Street Fighter III Third Strike Online Edition is purchased through PLAY, purchasers will be able to unlock GILL, the self-proclaimed god, without having to beat the game with every character, as day-one DLC. All pre-orders will also receive a Capcom-produced theme. Street Fighter III Third Strike Online Edition will be €14.99 and is rated PEGI 12+.

August 31: Hothead Studios’ The Baconing will be available to pre-order until 25 August 2011. This action-RPG title is the third in the popular DeathSpank series. Attempt to defeat the Anti-Spank and his army of Cyborques, before they cast an evil shadow over Spanktopia. Discover exciting new worlds and battle hordes of enemies as you search to unlock the secret within the Fires of Bacon. When The Baconing is purchased through PLAY, purchasers will receive an additional co-op character, Roesha – One Bad Mutha. All pre-orders will also receive a static theme, exclusive to PLAY. The Baconing will be €12.99 and is rated PEGI 12+.

September 7: Majesco Entertainment‘s BloodRayne: Betrayal will be available to pre-order until 1 September 2011. This 2D side-scrolling platformer features 15 bloodthirsty levels where Rayne attempts to infiltrate a treacherous castle, take out a fiendish horde and stop an evil vampire massacre. When BloodRayne: Betrayal is purchased through PLAY, purchasers will receive a BloodRayne: Betrayal virtual item for their PlayStation Home avatar and an exclusive dynamic theme. In addition, all pre-orders will also receive a static theme exclusive to PLAY. BloodRayne: Betrayal will be €12.99 and is rated PEGI 16+.

September 14: The SEGA title Renegade Ops will be available to pre-order until 8 September 2011.This top-down, driving shooter from SEGA features a huge variety of vehicles, guns and endless enemies. The game features Sandbox-style missions, so there are many different ways to play. When Renegade Ops is purchased through PLAY, purchasers will receive a Vehicle & Character Pack with two new vehicles and special weapons. All pre-orders will also receive a static theme, exclusive to PLAY. Renegade Ops will be €12.99 and is rated PEGI 12+.

Bonus gift: PayDay: The Heist. This gritty, first-person shooter from Sony Online Entertainment lets players take on the role of a hardened career criminal executing intense, dynamic heists in constant pursuit of the next “big score.” A PSN voucher code for PayDay: The Heist will be provided to buyers of all four PLAY titles as a bonus gift if they make their purchases by 20 September 2011. The game releases on 5 October 2011. The game can also be pre-ordered separately from 21 September 2 2011 until 29 September 2011, and all pre-orders will receive a static theme.

What gamer doesn’t want to get more action? Get ready because PlayStation Network PLAY pre-orders start next Wednesday, August 10.

We’re back from Comic-Con International 2011 and we’ve barely survived this year’s awesome, and awesomely busy, show!

One of the our personal highlights from Comic-Con was being able to be in front of over 400 fans and talk about Uncharted 3 during our panel on Friday, July 22. Moderated by USA Today’s Mike Snider, the panel was called “Developing Interactive Entertainment: The Performance Capture Techniques of the UNCHARTED Franchise and Today’s Film Industry” and it gave Amy Hennig, Taylor Kurosaki, Josh Scherr, Nolan North, Emily Rose and Richard McGonagle the perfect setting to discuss everything that goes into creating the industry-leading cinematics in the Uncharted series. The panel also gave our fans their first look at a brand new cinematic scene, and some behind the scenes footage of the cast, that we prepared especially for Comic-Con.

If you weren’t able to get into the room, or weren’t able to attend Comic-Con this year, we’ve got you covered with the following highlight reel shot and edited by none other than the PlayStation.Blog team.

You can catch video of the full panel – nearly 50 minutes long – courtesy of GameSpot.

We hope everyone had a great Comic-Con and a great weekend!

Sony Corporation issued the following press release today:

J.K. Rowling announces Pottermore
www.pottermore.com

J.K. Rowling today, Thursday 23rd June, answered mounting speculation about the nature of her new project and announced Pottermore, a unique and free-to-use website which builds an exciting online experience around the reading of her hugely successful Harry Potter books, and is partnered by Sony.

The announcement today was heralded by the revealing of the website’s name via an online search for its letters, and a ‘coming soon’ holding page which received over a million visits within 36 hours of launching.

For this groundbreaking collaborative project, J.K. Rowling has written extensive new material about the characters, places and objects in the much-loved stories, which will inform, inspire and entertain readers as they journey through the storylines of the books. Pottermore will later incorporate an online shop where people can purchase exclusively the long-awaited Harry Potter eBooks, in partnership with her publishers worldwide, and is ultimately intended to become an online reading experience, extending the relevance of Harry Potter to new generations of readers, while still appealing to existing fans. As the Pottermore Shop develops, it is intended that it should include further products designed specifically for Harry Potter fans, offering a potential outlet for Sony products and services related to Pottermore. In keeping with Harry Potter’s international appeal, the site will launch in English, French, Italian, German and Spanish, with more languages to follow.

In the new website, which launches in Beta on 31st July, the storylines will be brought to life with sumptuous newly-commissioned illustrations and interactive ‘Moments’ through which you can navigate, starting with the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s (Sorcerer’s) Stone. On entering, you choose a magic username and begin your experience. As you move through the chapters, you can read and share exclusive writing from J.K. Rowling, and, just as Harry joins Hogwarts, so can you. You visit Diagon Alley, get sorted into a house, and cast spells and mix potions to help your house compete for the House Cup.

At a press conference at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Rowling revealed some key features of the website. In an announcement which will thrill fans, she described how she hasbrought to life both the Sorting Hat and Ollivanders experiences from her books for the first time on Pottermore, by revealing the questions asked by the Sorting Hat – which places newcomers into their Hogwarts houses according to their characteristics – and the magic behind the Wand Chooser – which finds the right wand for each user from over 33,000 possible combinations. She also revealed glimpses of the new information she has provided on some of the best-loved characters.

J.K. Rowling’s announcement on YouTube and sony.com today revealed that Pottermore (along with the Pottermore Shop) will be open to all users in October 2011. From today, 23rd June, fans can submit their email addresses on Pottermore.com in order to be contacted by the site following the opening of registration on 31st July, Harry’s birthday. Also on that date, an online challenge will be launched, whereby the first million people to complete their registration will gain early entry into the website, and help put final touches to the experience.

J.K. Rowling commented, “I wanted to give something back to the fans that have followed Harry so devotedly over the years, and to bring the stories to a new digital generation. I hope fans and those new to Harry will have as much fun helping to shape Pottermore as I have. To add to my input into the website, everyone will be able to join in by submitting their own comments, drawings and other content in a safe and friendly environment – Pottermore has been designed as a place to share the stories with your friends as you journey through the site.”

Pottermore has been made possible with the support and partnership of Sony.

Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Sony Corporation, commented: “Sony’s association with J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore brings together one of the world’s most innovative brands with the most successful book series in history, in a pioneering partnership that will help shape the future of story-telling. We are proud to be a part of it, both at this momentous announcement, and as we collaborate on its development over the coming years.”

On Sony’s partnership of Pottermore, J.K. Rowling commented: “As I think people know, I am very protective of Harry and have always been very selective with any new initiatives, but I am totally committed to making this partnership with Sony and this wonderful new website a success. There are many companies I could have worked with on this ultimate digital expression of Harry Potter’s universe, but it is Sony’s unique philosophy of creativity in harmony with technology that made them my first choice. The spirit behind Sony’s make.believe philosophy is one that rings true with Pottermore’s own values.”

The detailed creative execution has been led by TH_NK, a leading UK digital agency, under the supervision of J.K. Rowling and the Pottermore management team, in co-operation with Sony. J.K. Rowling’s publishers, Bloomsbury in the UK and Scholastic in the USA, as well as her international publishers worldwide, have been active supporters in the creation of pottermore.com and the Pottermore Shop. Warner Bros, the makers of the hugely successful Harry Potter film franchise, is also one of the partners who have worked to support the launch of Pottermore through a variety of marketing, promotional and other efforts and will continue to collaborate as the project grows.

The storyline of the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, will go live on the site in early 2012. The Pottermore Shop opens when the site opens to all in October, selling complete ranges of the eBooks and digital audiobooks in a selection of languages, exclusively.

Designed for fans of all ages, the website has been created with child safety in mind, employing best practice and compliance with internet codes of practice in the UK, Europe and USA, and elsewhere.

To watch J.K. Rowling’s exciting announcement go to sony.com

I have just been privileged enough to spend the past week sharing the journey of our 12 GT Academy winners. As you may know, GT Academy is the competition we run in conjunction with Nissan to find the fastest Gran Turismo gamers and see if we can turn one of them into a racing driver.

It turns out that it is possible – as proved by Lucas Ordoñez, the Spanish who won the first Academy in 2008. Lucas went on to race two seasons in the European GT4 Cup before Nissan gave him the chance to race in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup this year in what’s called an LMP2 car (Le Mans Prototype 2). These are amazing looking cars with some serious power and so the stakes were high.

Well Lucas went to the Le Mans 24 Hour and with his more experienced Signatech Nissan team-mates, Franck Mailleux and Soheil Ayari, they came second in the LMP2 class. From GT gamer to the Le Mans 24 Hour podium in less than three years – incredible.

So, we decided to take the 12 GT Academy finalists – 2 each from Germany, France, Italy, UK and Holland and one each from Spain and Portugal – to watch Lucas’ story unfold and show them what they were fighting for. Le Mans was an incredible experience. Hundreds of thousands of people, an amazing race and an incredible opportunity for the boys.

On Saturday night they had a nation vs. nation endurance kart race that started in daylight and finished in the night, to give it a real Le Mans flavour. The track was right next to part of the circuit so on one side you had the real cars roaring past while our guys raced each other. The French contingent did a really good job on home soil.

After that it was a long, tired journey back to Silverstone. The guys all drove in convoy in six identical red and white Nissan 370Zs. Quite a sight.

On Monday the Academists were woken by some serious looking ex-military men with flash grenades in their dorm at Silverstone. They were then put through some punishing physical tests. It’s called ‘beasting’ in the army and I can see why. The serious side is that you need to be very fit to be a racing driver. The fitter you are the better you will concentrate, especially in 24 hour endurance racing.

Tuesday was a full day in Nissan cars at Silverstone. 370Zs and GT-Rs and they looked really good fun. Contestants recorded a benchmark lap time which was repeated at the end of Wednesday to see who had made the most progress.

There was some more fun on Wednesday with a special ‘Triathlon’ that involved pulling the car, racing it around the Stowe Circuit, cycling and then a run. Pretty exhausting but won by a confident Dutch pair.

Wednesday saw high pressure pursuits with a black GT-R driven by a professional chasing down the competitors. Very entertaining, but also an indication to the judges as to how the drivers would cope with pressure.

On the subject of judges, Eddie Irvine, former Ferrari and Jaguar F1 driver, was our head judge. He was helped by a team of mentors including Johnny Herbert (UK), Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA), Jeroen Bleekemolen (NED), Franck Mailleux (FRA), Sabine Schmitz (DEU) and Lucas Ordoñez (Iberia). Imagine being taught how to race by that line-up.

A fantastic experience for all the competitors but, sadly, some had to go. On Wednesday night the mentors had to choose their strongest territory contender and eliminate the other. James from the UK, Alexander from Germany, Bastien from France, Edwin from Holland, Bruno from Portugal and Federico from Italy were all out.

The final day started with something pretty special for the competitors, aerobatic dogfights in stunt planes. They were then back at Silverstone and had the chance to drive a Renault Clio race car and the 350Z GT4 car that Lucas had raced in Dubai previously.

Another difficult one as the judges had to decide to drop two of the competitors before the final race. It was a bit of a shock that Sascha from Germany, a former mountain bike champion, went out, but chatting to the instructors afterwards it seems he was over-driving the car. Thomas from Holland had done well early on with a strong team-mate as well, but just didn’t cut it. I should say at this point that this had been a really good bunch of 12 guys. I am sure all of them had a great time and took a lot away from their week.

And so the final race…

Jann Mardenborough, the young contestant from Cardiff, Wales, took pole position. The race was nail bitingly close. Jan led and looked comfortable until he missed a gear and Thibault Lacombe from France passed him on the outside of the last turn. Thibault had been quick all week and looked to be pulling out a lead. But Jann kept a cool head and reeled him back in eventually passing him. He then managed to pull out a second a lap and took the flag with an eight second lead. Incredible stuff!.

The judges decided that Jann was a clear winner and so we have a British GT Academy champion who now embarks on whole new journey as a racing driver.

My congratulations not only to Jann, but also to all the guys who made it that far.

You can see everything that went on at www.facebook.com/gtacademy, www.flickr.com/gtacademyeurope/sets and www.youtube.com/gtacademyeurope . You’ll also be able to follow Jann’s progress on these channels as he enters a driver development programme to prepare him to race in the Dubai 24 hours in January. And don’t forget, there will be a TV series in the autumn.

Stay tuned throughout the following week for more E3 Replays.

For the keenest of fans, it can be hard to keep up so, now that the avalanche has abated, here are some of the E3 trailers you might have missed. Let us know in the comments which titles you’re most looking forward to and, if you have any questions around any of them, ask away – it’s a lot easier for me to seek out the answers now that I’m back in the office.

PlayStation Vita

Little Deviants

Little Deviants is a series of madcap adventures that will showcase the multitude of features and functions your PlayStation Vita possesses, including rear touch pad, touch screen, the motion sensor, front and rear cameras, augmented reality and the microphone.

LittleBigPlanet

Sackboy comes to PS Vita in a brand new adventure powered by your imagination. Play, Create and Share your own games and levels designed specifically to utilise Vita’s varied set of control methods.

WipEout 2048

In a departure for the classic series, visit the time when the sport of Ant-grav Racing was born. You can either use traditional WipEout controls or try a new control scheme using Vita’s touch, tilt and voice control capabilities. You can even race online against PS3 players.

Sound Shapes

From Jonathan Mak, creator of Everyday Shooter on PS3, comes a musical adventure where you can play, create and share your own compositions via a medium that all self-respecting gamers know well – the side-scrolling platformer.

ModNation Racers

The hit kart-racing game in the play, create, share stable comes to PlayStation Vita and creating your own tracks is quicker and easier than ever thanks to touch screen and rear touch pad controls.

Everybody’s Golf

Tee off with this classic PlayStation Golf series that utilises intuitive touch screen controls and a dynamic new shot system.

Reality Fighters

Augmented reality comes to the beat-’em up genre. Get yourself in the game using the PS Vita camera and fight against advanced opponent AI in the world as you see it.

Super Stardust Delta

The addictive twin-stick shooter comes to PS Vita, bringing new modes and controls, such as using the touch screen to create black holes.

Smart As

The new generation of brain games tests your analytical skills, dexterity and three-dimensional problem solving.

PS3

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

I’ve no doubt you’ve already seen this but I don’t need too many excuses to play it again. Nathan Drake’s third PS3 adventure draws ever closer and looks just as spectacular as his previous outings.

Journey

From the creators of FlOw and Flower, Journey is a relaxing voyage through a desert-land with an innovative approach to online multiplayer.

Starhawk

The spiritual successor to Warhawk brings Build & Battle to the shooter genre, allowing you to sculpt and shape the battlefield in real time and without taking your finger off the trigger. It also introduces a brand new story and lead character, as seen in this trailer.

Resistance 3

The atmospheric Resistance 3 trailers have been amongst the most viewed here on the PlayStation.Blog since the game was announced, and this new one sees Capelli trudging through snow in his fight against the Chimera.

Dust 514

Announced at E3 2011, this PS3 exclusive shooter from CCP Games feeds into their incredibly popular PC MMO, EVE Online.

Medieval Moves

Adventure through a fantasy world of dungeons and goblins as Deadmund seeks to overturn a curse that has turned him into a skeleton. Featuring instinctive PlayStation Move controls, from the creators of Sports Champions.

EyePet & Friends

You can now raise two pets at a time in the augmented reality sequel on PS3 and two players can join in the fun using a pair of PlayStation Move controllers.

I also played half a dozen games of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and was lucky enough to be buddied up with Naughty Dog’s Richard Lemarchand; a top guy who spent the day in the SCEE lounge chatting and doing interviews. If he didn’t already know that the Uncharted games are great, quite a few people told him so today.

I also did some work, including a live video interview with another Richard, from Bigbig Studio, about Little Deviants; I wrote a hands-on piece about Rochard, an upcoming PSN Platform puzzler, which I’ll post later today; and I interviewed London Studios’ Dave Ranyard about DanceStar Party, a dancing game using PlayStation Move that was announced here at E3.

I also took a tour of the entire show floor and took lots of pictures, and you can see them here in this handy slideshow.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

Tomorrow is the last day of the show and I’ll be taking the chance to check out as many PlayStation Vita games as I can and we’ll be doing yet more live interviews. Tune in!

I’ve been following E3 for many years now and there are two types of announcement that always demand public attention: new hardware and exclusive games, particularly new IPs. This year we’ve brought both and, if the reception at the press conference on Monday night weren’t enough, you just have to look at the queues to get hands-on with PlayStation Vita and the array of PS3 and PSP titles available on the show floor.

Tuesday started early for me, partly because of jet lag but mainly because I wanted to get my hands on some of the games before the crowds arrived. First port of call was Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and a particularly thrilling level featuring a cargo plane. I don’t want to ruin it for you but rest assured that Naughty Dog’s genius set-piece design is present and correct in Drake’s third PS3 adventure.

I played it in the SCEE lounge, which is located in the business centre, away from the show floor, and where us employees that made the trip over from Europe hang out and invite journalists to play our games and grab interviews with their developers. This area is limited access so I took a few pictures to give you an idea. I love the creative work our events team does with this space each year.

As those of you that stayed up late will have seen, I worked with Jeff, Sid and Rey of the US PlayStation.Blog on a live video stream where we invited devs to join us at the PlayStation booth to chat and demo their titles. I spoke with a couple the guys from Zindagi Games and Santa Monica Studios about Medieval Moves and I have to say, even though I’ve been in front of the camera quite a few times, knowing it was going out live put some caused a few butterflies. We’ll be holding more live streams just like that later today and tomorrow, so please tune in.

I’ll pop another post on here tomorrow morning and my plan is to have a walk with the camera and take pictures of all the booths to use in a photo slideshow. If there’s anything in particular you’ve heard about and would like me to snap, please let me know.

Hope you’re enjoying all of the news coming out of E3 2011.

Last year, I wrote a series of posts going through the years and looking at the big announcement, and you can check them out again by clicking through the links below.

1995: The inaugural Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) took place a few months before the original PlayStation launched in Europe and America. It gave Western gamers their first glimpse at the console that set us on the road to where we are today.

1996: Two characters that epitomise the original PlayStation were both first seen in ’96. Crash Bandicoot and Lara Croft don’t have a lot in common, but they ushered in a bold new era in gaming.

1997: Not for the last time, Snake was the word hissing around everyone’s lips in 1997. The Metal Gear Solid trailer set a precedent for announcing your game with lavish, cinematic trailers.

1998: The Real Driving Simulator debuted in 1998, redefining how a driving game can look and feel. ’98 was a vintage year that also brought us the brilliant Silent Hill.

1999: Despite appearances from David Bowie and Aerosmith, PlayStation 2 was the star of E3 ’99. At the time, it was a breathtaking display of power from a console demonstrated with a real-time demo of Final Fantasy VIII.

2000: Once again, Solid Snake stole the show with the first reveal of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Such was the impact of that nine minute trailer, each screening drew huge queues as attendees returned for repeat viewings.

2001: For sheer breadth of quality games, 2001 is hard to top. Any show boasting Final Fantasy X, Devil May Cry, Silent Hill 2, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and Grand Theft Auto III is bound to be remembered.

2002: The Getaway was debuted at E3 2002 and here’s a little known fact: there’s a pub on the corner of Great Marlborough Street, not far from the SCEE offices, called the Coach & Horses; one of The Getaway’s interiors is based on that very hostelry.

2003: You’d think that the unveiling of Gran Turismo 4 would have been enough to send everyone home excited, when Ken Kutaragi stepped on-stage holding the first PSP, all headlines were rewritten in a flash.

2004-05: E3 2004 was all about pocket-sized fun on PSP and grand brutality as God of War was revealed. In 2005, we were back with new hardware as PlayStation 3 was revealed and footage from Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots and Killzone 2 set mouths to drool mode.

2006-07: Naughty Dog has been creating PlayStation stars since 1996 and in 2007 they revealed their latest: Nathan Drake.

2008-09: A plethora of games announced for PS3, including LittleBigPlanet and God of War III, before PlayStation Move starred in 2010.

Which are your favourite E3 moments and what would you like to see announced a week from now?

The true star of the Aussie MUBI launch was international actress ‘Miranda Otto’ – best known to us for her role as ‘Eowyn’ in Peter Jackson’s ‘Lord of the Rings’ franchise. Miranda sat in a panel discussion along with Efe and Michael, discussing not only the creative merits of the MUBI film service for PlayStation 3, but also praising some of the cult Australian films that are accessible via the new service.

MUBI is available in an unlimited 30 day subscription at only AUD$19.95RRP – giving you the freedom to explore and watch whatever you want, as much as you want. Or, you can be spontaneous and take your pick from across the catalogue, with individual films priced at only AUD$1.75RRP for short films and AUD$6.25RRP for feature length films, each with a 7 day entitlement. MUBI even offers a selection of free films from its library, so download the MUBI app from PlayStation Store today, and start exploring the amazing catalog of films.

For those who perhaps have already started using MUBI, please recommend any ‘must see’ films in the comments below

Those that had played it were encouraging others to do so with anecdotes of physically ducking out of the way as a racing truck tumbles towards them. The other big news for the boys from Evolution Studios last week was that they were showing the first new track since the game’s announcement.

I managed to prise Game Director Matt Southern from his dark room for some well earned Vitamin D; check out the interview below.

It seems there are more MotorStorm Apocalypse announcements coming in the next few months, and I’ll be on hand to bring them to you.

I took my friend Dave and this is my/our report on what happened on our trip.

Day 1

My word it’s early, 3:45am to be precise & I’ve been woken by a combination of an alarm on 2 phones and a wake up call on the hotel room phone. It’s all good though as I’m up this early to catch a plane to Germany so that I can attend Gamescom.
After a bumpy landing (which Dave describes as a controlled crash) we arrive, already Dave is talking non-stop about getting “free stuff”, as much as he can carry, he wants a free PSP Go. I tell him he’s not going to get one. Our first experience in Germany is listening to “Come on Eileen” by Dexy’s Midnight Runners in the taxi taking us to the hotel, it’s a bit random.

We meet James (our Sony contact for our stay) in the hotel and we arrange to meet up at the entrance to the press conference later, we also meet the competition winners from Spain & Germany.
The Sony press conference, wow. Being at such an event was fantastic and a real honour, a genuine feeling of a once in a lifetime thing. From the business side of things everything is looking good for Sony and the Playstation brand. Now on to the important stuff, the games.

LittleBigPlanet 2, MotorStorm Apocalypse & InFamous 2 were shown in video previews during the presentation. There was a first look at a Killzone 3 multiplayer, and all I can say is jet packs in multiplayer. I’ll say it again. Jet packs in multiplayer. We were taken through a level of Medal of Honor with a guy from Likin Park, (can’t remember his name) who, comically died right at the end of the mission.
We also had a visit from the guys at Insomniac Games to make an announcement, they announced… a new Ratchet & Clank game, everyone was expecting Resistance 3 but they showed a new Ratchet & Clank game that included 4 player co-op, display over and they head off stage. Maybe Resistance will be announced later in the year.

Hang on though, what’s this, they’re coming back on stage to show something else they’ve been working on. It’s a live action trailer, that’s a bit weird. We get to the end of the trailer and it becomes abundantly clear it’s for Resistance 3, there are Chimera everywhere, their eyes lighting up in the dark. Lots of whooping and cheering, Resistance 3 is confirmed.

After the show there is hands on access to all the games shown, I had a go on MotorStorm Apocalypse in 3D, LittleBigPlanet 2, The Fight PS Move game as well as Tiger Woods using the move controllers & Gran Turismo 5 (with pedals and steering wheel) all of which are excellent.

Motorstorm in 3D is very well done, it’s nice and subtle and doesn’t try to dominate the game, the best 3D bit for me was during one of my many crashes, when another car went over the top of mine, that really showed off the 3D. After I’d finished, I chatted with a couple of the gents for Evolution Studios who confirmed to me that the 3D does not increase the games load times at all.

Sadly I missed my main aim, playing Killzone 3, but there was a demonstration on the main stage of playing Killzone using the move controllers, it looks very good and easy to use.
After consuming plenty of free drink and food, Dave & I collected a goody bag each and headed back to the hotel talking like little giddy children about what we’d been lucky enough to have been a part of.
Dave leaves without a PSP Go

DAY 2

Gamescom press day.

Our passes allow us entry in the press day at Gamescom; this is a day earlier than the general public are allowed in. It gave Dave and I an excellent chance to have a look around while the venue was quieter than it would be when the public was allowed in (although there were still a few thousand people there!)
The PlayStation stand was brilliant, with access to hands on time with loads of games (Killzone 3, InFamous 2, LittleBigPlanet 2, MotorStorm Apocalypse, Eat Them and SOCOM to name a few). Moving around the show we got hands on time with Crysis 2, Medal of Honor, PES 2011, Enslaved & Brink. The only disappointment is that I didn’t get to see Rage or Fallout: New Vegas, the queues were crazy even on press day.

Killzone 3 stands out for me personally, I played the arctic mission that involved the jet pack and I can say that controlling the jet pack is easy and a lot of fun. As you’d expect it looks stunning. I was always going to get Killzone 3 now I want it more than ever.
We tried to take advantage of the thinning crowds later on in the day and the smaller queues. We did this for Call of Duty: Black Ops, as the queues for this had been huge all day long. Having said that, we still queued for 40 minutes. Once we got in we got to watch a play through of a level set in Russia, it would have been nice to get some hands on time but it wasn’t to be.

The main push of the show is clearly motion control. I have to say that now I’ve experienced Move first hand I think it’s excellent, there is no lag in you movements appearing in the game and they are unnervingly accurate, the Tiger Woods game confirms my golf is as bad in the virtual world as it is in real life.

A long very tiring day is going to end with a trip to a few bars in downtown Cologne.
Tomorrow’s report may be a little groggy.
Dave does not have a free PSP go,

DAY 3

Today we decide to leave it a bit later before heading to Gamescom, we have a feeling there might be a few more people there today. We are right.
Being able to attend on the press day has turned out to be more of a bonus than we’d thought it would be. The queues are massive, it’s difficult not to go up to people in the queues and tell them where their time would be better spent queuing.

It really makes you appreciate how lucky you are when you see signs that say “2 hour wait from this point.”
With so many people there today Dave and I decide to only stay for a couple of hours. We spend the rest of the day in Cologne city centre enjoying the continental café lifestyle.

I’d like to finish off by thanking everyone at Sony for running the competition, then for some reason picking my entry and for being excellent hosts. Dave & I had an excellent time.
I’d recommend that everyone buy PlayTV, it’s an amazing product with some stunning PR (hopefully that’ll help James).

If anyone has any specific questions I’ll be happy to try and answer them in the comments section.
Dave does not have a PSP Go.

NB. Paul’s at work at the moment, so he may be slightly delayed in responding to any questions you might have about his Gamescom 2010 experience.