At last week’s International CES, I had the opportunity to meet the head of Sony Computer Entertainment, President and CEO Andrew House. House ascended to the role after working for Sony in Japan, Europe, and at SCEA over the past two decades.

In this show floor discussion, I ask House about PlayStation Suite, his outlook on the Western launch of PS Vita, and his goals as CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment.

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PSP owners: get ready to have that tune swimming around your head again – there’s a Patapon 3 demo coming to PlayStation Store on Wednesday 7 July. I’ll leave Chris Hinojosa-Miranda from SCEA to describe what’s in Store…

I have been having a strange urge to walk around with one eyed covered, humming hyper-addictive chants looking to impale anything (or anyone) looking to start something… especially two-dimensional-tribal-mask-wearing enemies.

Why the hyper-aggressive musically induced comic mischief rage? Probably from the days I’m spending rocking out the new (very, very new) Patapon 3 Multiplayer Demo (now with more multiplayer!).

So you say, “What’s so special? Patapon 2 also had multiplayer?”

Well let me enlighten you with a few cool single-eyed-facts (to keep it in theme, I’ll limit them to three):

1. Patapon 3 is a whole new chapter in the Patapon saga.
2. There are some really cool new characters, including the Superhero Patapon.
3. To experience the awesome multiplayer adventures that lay beyond Patapolis, you’ll have to go through a strange portal called “the internet.”

That’s right. Patapon 3 has entered the interwebz (so to speak), with exciting new adventures that you can play with your friends via a wi-fi connection… and this demo is but a peep-hole glimpse into an entire new world, full of larger-than-eye enemies, super stylized eye-water graphics, and eye-popping excitement.

Should I tell you more? Ok, fine. Patapon 3, the Multiplayer Demo adventure can be downloaded for FREE on Wednesday, 7 July from PlayStation Store… exclusively for your PlayStation Portable.

If you are looking extremely confused asking yourself, “what is a Patapon?” No worries, here’s a quick recap of the story so far (now I am making squiggly motions with my arms taking you back in time).

The Patapons are an extremely ferocious war mongering tribe, whose only passion is to dance, sing, and pillage their way through the countryside in search of their beloved Earthend. Their adventure is a musical one, where you, as their leader, must lead them into battle with a series of timed-specific commands (attack, move forward, defend, retreat). Each command has a unique sequence (i.e. Circle, Circle, Square, Circle = attack), and each sequence must be entered in-time to the Rhythm of the Earth (an infectious 4/4 beat).

Why not give it a try?

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Whilst out at E3 last week, Jeff from PlayStation.Blog.US managed to get some quality time with Zipper Interactive at the MAG booth for an in-depth demonstration of the epic 256-player shooter.

Here’s the 2nd in our “Virtual Booth Tour” series: MAG (click here for the guided tour of God of War III).

You’ve probably seen some quick demonstrations of MAG, but that’s not enough time to do this complex game justice. In this video, Zipper Interactive designer Ben Jones takes us through the flow of a massive 256-player battle.

Apologies for the audio pops – it was quite loud on the show floor!

We’ll have more video booth tours coming this week!

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Today’s the day! The web has recently been awash with rumours and speculation about Sony’s E3 announcements, but now you can find out exactly what’s coming soon for PlayStation as the SCEA Press Conference gets underway in sunny LA.

The show starts at 7pm BST / 8pm CEST and Jeff from PlayStation.Blog.US is blogging live throughout – check out his updates below…

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It was eerily quiet around the LA Convention Centre on Monday, with the only activity coming from frantic crews applying a last lick of paint to the show stands and the few earlybird visitors taking pictures of the outside and working their way around the massive venue.

I’ll have pictures of the PlayStation stand for you very soon but, in the meantime, I can tell you that it’s looking spectacular and that many of the games you asked for in my first post are going to be playable. As I type, I can hear the pitter-patter of Heavy Rain falling behind me…

What I can show you is some behind the scenes photos from Room 502, which is kind of like SCEE’s living room while we’re here: a gorgeous space where we’ll invite journalists and retailers to try upcoming titles and interview the developers. It’s a real marvel in terms of design, with bright colours, quirky trinkets and funky furniture scattered among huge screens hosting cracking games. Here’s a few pics but there are plenty more on Flickr!

I’m also trying to arrange appointments to see all of the games you’ve been asking for. It’s going well and I’ll be meeting up with the developers behind Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, SingStar, VidZone and many more, although I’m still waiting to find out when they’ll all be slotted in. I’ve just received an invite to go and try a demo of FIFA 10 tomorrow and will be posting later in the week with my impressions and quotes from those in the know. If you have any burning questions for them then let me know in the comments.

Tomorrow is when it all kicks off so check back throughout the day for a cornucopia (word of the day) of announcements, revelations and discussion points from SCEA’s press conference, which takes place at 11am, LA time.

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