"08 Promises to be a very special year for PS3 owners"

Kaz Hirai and David Reeves showcase Sony's impressive 2008 line-up, but delay a few titles.

Sony's PlayStation Day conference brought us new release dates for key titles, but also delays and a lack of new game announcements. Sony rolled out the big guns, with SCE President Kaz Hirai and SCEE President David Reeves headlining the conference.

Sony Computer Entertainment President Kaz Hirai took to the stage to let the gathered press know that Sony is fully aware of the PlayStation 3's slow start.

"The first year of PS3 was a difficult one. Our customers were a little under-whelmed. This is something that we were aware of," stated Kirai. "Things have improved. 2008 has gotten off to a fantastic start. The rest is still to come. 2008 Promises to be a very special year for PS3 owners."

He went on to reveal that PlayStation Home will be made available to the public this autumn, and announced that LittleBigPlanet "will revolutionise the way gamers interact with games."

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe President David Reeves revealed overall PS3 sales in Europe to date of over 5 million (more than the Xbox 360), and confirmed that the "PlayStation 3 is first and foremost a games machine". It was quite ironic then that one of the longest segments of the conference was reserved for Blu-ray and the features available to movie watchers.

Although the overall mood was good in the PlayStation camp, news of Killzone 2's February 2009 release date will be a disappointment to many gamers. LittleBigPlanet also suffered a delay, but only by a month from September to October. Sony's other big titles on display, Resistance 2 and MotorStorm Pacific Rift, are still without an official release date.

Look out for more from Sony's PlayStation Day soon.