Conventional wisdom would dictate that, out of the big three console manufacturers, Sony would have the least to say, given that the PS2's launch took place last fall.  Not true.  In fact, Sony's press conference lasted what must have been an E3 record of at least two hours. (Not to mention the fact it started about a half-hour late).  It was clear that, while Microsoft and Nintendo had big launch announcements to make, Sony wanted to show the world that the PS2 software lineup isn't anything to sneeze at.

Hosted inside a movie studio sound stage in downtown Los Angeles, Sony went all out for its press conference, complete with a catered lunch and a fully decked-out press conference facility with glittering backgrounds, two huge video screens and tons of concert lighting.  The event started with the usual group of Sony executives speaking to the success of both the original PlayStation and PlayStation 2 – according to Sony's figures, now one out of every three U.S. homes has a PlayStation in it.  Most intriguing was a segment of the presentation where Sony spent time trying to dispel certain "myths" about the PlayStation. 

One myth, according to Sony, is that the PlayStation 2 is a difficult development platform to master.  Sony countered that you only need to look at the games in development for PS2 to see that the machine is easy to work with.  It doesn't take a logician to see the flaw in that rejoinder.  Sure, the games look great, but that doesn't mean a developer hasn't had a tough time mastering what everyone admits is a difficult platform to work with.  While all the Lorne Lannings of the world might have raised the white flag with respect to the PS2, other developers know that the time spent working to understand the PS2 hardware will eventually pay off. 

This year, the payoff was a lineup of software that clearly showed strength in many areas.  Last year's software lineup for the PS2 was lacking but twelve months later, Sony profiled a whole slew of exclusive PS2 games.  Sony V.P. Andrew House hosted the festivities for nearly two hours -- developer after developer came on stage to show their latest and greatest wares.

First up was Jak and Daxter, the new game from Crash Bandicoot creators Naughty Dog, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony.  Having left Crash behind, Jak and Daxter looks like an evolution of the Crash formula.  This time the world seems more open ended, not to mention more visually impressive.  Naughty Dog has been careful not to mess with the platformer-meets-adventure formula that worked so well for the first three Crash games.  While there wasn't much shown in terms of a story or character interaction, Jax and Daxter looks like a solid original PS2 title.