PlayStation 3 launch date and price revealed

Further new announcements came in the shape of London Studio's Eight Days, a promising-looking Arizona-set free-roamer based around fantastically violent gunplay, car chases and enormous set-pieces. This was followed by footage of an unnamed game from developer Naughty Dog that's set in a jungle and features a wealth of ledges and leaping.

In total, Sony showed off 29 PS3 games at the conference. While some of the movies - including that of Eight Days - did look almost too good to be true, other titles were shown actually being played, including first-person shooter Resistance: Fall of Man, the hack 'n' slash of Heavenly Sword and plane-'em-up Warhawk.

Also impressive was the use of PSP connectivity in Formula One: the PSP acts as a realtime rear-view mirror to be place atop your telly. Likewise, the demo by EA boss Larry Probst of NBA Live 07's procedural awareness (in which players really appear to be looking at the ball) highlighted the leap forwards in the power of PS3.

Above: Eight Days is among the new games line-up for PS3

Finally, two classic series made an appearance. Final Fantasy XIII will be released in two versions for PS3 - FFXIII itself and the intriguingly-titled. FF vs XIII. Meanwhile, a new Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer confirmed the game will be released in 2007. It rattled through a familiar line-up of characters, including Naomi Hunter, Colonel Campbell, Meryl, Otacon, Raiden, Liquid, Ocelot and Solid Snake himself - now known as Old Snake.

We'll be bringing you an overload of new PS3 screens, movies and - yes - hands-on playtests throughout the week.