Sony Computer Entertainment America to Showcase Ground-Breaking, Next-Generation Technology and New Innovative Online Services at 2007 Game Developers Conference

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) today announced details of its presence at the 2007 Game Developers Conference (GDC), with Phil Harrison, president of Worldwide Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment, delivering the opening keynote speech. GDC is the world's largest conference dedicated to the support and promotion of game development, running March 5-9, at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif.

Phil Harrison's keynote presentation, "Game 3.0: Developing and Creating for the 3rd Age of Videogames," will kick off the conference on March 7th, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. PST. The speech will focus on the key components of Game 3.0 -- community, user-generated content, collaboration and commerce -- all highlighted through live demonstrations of previously un-announced services and games for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™).

"This is a very exciting time to be part of the game development community. Advancements in technology combined with new consumer trends mean the industry has a great opportunity to create engaging new entertainment experiences for the world," said Phil Harrison, president of Worldwide Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment. "I believe we're at the threshold of a new era in creative game development that's destined to drive our industry growth through the next decade or more."

Following the keynote presentation, the SCEA booth will be a central focus at GDC as the company introduces new development tools and technologies designed specifically for PS3 and the PLAYSTATION®Network, as well as PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment system. The SCEA booth -- Booth #410, West Hall -- will offer visitors a sneak-peek at:

  -- Tuner for PS3 -- Developed by SN Systems, a subsidiary of Sony Computer
     Entertainment Inc., the Tuner is a profiling tool that enables
     developers to quickly highlight bottlenecks and conflicts in source
     code, helping them improve code performance. The Tuner is a software
     application, so there is no special hardware required, which enables
     developers to create high performance games with less guesswork.
  -- Unreal® Engine 3 -- Epic's next-generation game engine technology
     targets a diverse set of genres from fighting games to shooters to
     Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games
  -- High-Level Graphics Package -- PSSG (a PS3 optimized cross-platform
     graphics engine and tool-chain) production-ready extensible scene-graph
     framework that is written to take advantage of PS3 strengths
  -- Pioneering profiling and analysis tools and physics technologies
  -- Developing with Linux on PS3
  -- Demonstration of downloadable titles from the PLAYSTATION Network, such
     as flOw, Blast Factor™ and Calling all Cars™

Additionally, SCE developers, engineers, and other specialists will be hosting a variety of educational panels in an effort to support and encourage the creative innovation of developers and publishers:

  Monday, March 5:

  -- 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.: E. Daniel Arey, Director, Naughty Dog, Sony
     Computer Entertainment America, "Interactive Storytelling Bootcamp,"
     Room 3011, West Hall
  -- 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.: Vlad Stamate, Graphics Software Engineer, Sony
     Computer Entertainment America, "Core Techniques and Algorithims in
     Shader Programming," Room 3011, West Hall
  -- 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.: Dan Bardino, Audio Manager, Sony Computer
     Entertainment Europe; Sergio Pimentel, Music Licensing and A&R Manager,
     Sony Computer Entertainment Europe; Jason Page, Audio Manager, Sony
     Computer Entertainment Europe, "Audio Boot Camp," Room 3006, West Hall
  -- 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: John Hight, Director of Production, Sony
     Computer Entertainment America, "Console/PC Distribution Gatekeepers,"
      (part of Independent Games Summit), Room 3018, West Hall
  -- 2:30-3:30 p.m.: Jenova Chen, flOw creator, ThatGameCompany, "Innovation
     in Indie Games," (part of Independent Games Summit), Room 3018, West
     Hall

  Tuesday, March 6:

  -- 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.: Christer Ericson, Director of Tools and
     Technology, Sony Computer Entertainment America, "Physics for Games
     Programmers," Room 3011, West Hall
  -- 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.: Bill Dalton, Technical Director, Austin Studio,
     Sony Online Entertainment, "Large-Scale Engineering for Online and
     Offline Games," Room 3009, West Hall
  -- 10:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m.: John Needham, CFO and SVP of Finance, Sony Online
     Entertainment, "Downloadable Casual Games on the Console," (part of
     Casual Games Summit 201), Room 3020, West Hall
  -- 5:00-6:00 p.m.: David Jaffe, Creative Director, Sony Santa Monica
     Studios, "Building the Future of Indie Games," (part of Independent
     Games Summit), Room 3018, West Hall

  Wednesday, March 7:

  -- 2:30-3:30 p.m.: Gabe Ahn (Field Developer Support Engineer SCEA),
     "COLLADA™ in console game production" Room 3004, West Hall
  -- 4:00-5:00 p.m.: Bruce D'Amora, Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM,
     "Control your Performance Monsters: Cell Programming Tips and
     Techniques," Room 3004, West Hall

  Thursday, March 8:

  -- 9:00-10:00 a.m.: Jason Page, Sony Computer Entertainment, Michael
     Kelly, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, "PS3 Audio: More Than Extra
     Channels," Room 3006, West Hall
  -- 2:30-3:30 p.m.: Dave Murrant, Sound Design Manager, Sony Computer
     Entertainment America, "PS3: Audio Development From the Trenches," Room
     3008, West Hall
  -- 2:30-3:30 p.m.: Mark Cerny, Cerny Games, Jon Olick, Lead Programmer,
     Naughty Dog, David Simpson, Lead Programmer, Naughty Dog, "RSX Best
     Practices," Room 3001, West Hall
  -- 4:00-5:00 p.m.: Chris Carty, Principal Programmer, Sony Computer
     Entertainment Worldwide Studios, Nicolas Serres, Principal Programmer,
     Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, "Real-World SPU Usage,"
     Room 3010, West Hall
  -- 4:00-5:00 p.m.: Tsutomu Kouno, Japan Studio, Sony Computer
     Entertainment Worldwide Studios, "A LocoRoco Postmortem: Making
     Happiness into Gameplay," Room 135, North Hall

  Friday, March 9:

  -- 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.: Mark Teare, Character Artist, Factor 5, "Cross
     Application Asset Creation for Lair™: From Characters to Clouds,"
     Room 135 North Hall
  -- 12:00-1:00 p.m.: Scott Kirkland, Technical Director, Evolution Studios,
     "Applied Physics: MotorStorm™," Room 3001, West Hall

Please visit the official GDC web site (www.gdconf.com) for registration and additional information. Speaker and panel details are subject to change.

About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation® and PS one® game console, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, and the ground-breaking PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system.

Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and the PSP system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif. Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Visit us on the Web at http://www.us.playstation.com/

NOTE: "PlayStation", "PLAYSTATION", "PSP" and "PS one" are registered trademarks and PS3 is a trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

SOURCE: Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

CONTACT: Kimberly Otzman, +1-650-655-7524, or
kimberly_otzman@playstation.sony.com, or Patrick Seybold, +1-650-655-7549, or
patrick_seybold@playstation.sony.com, both of SCEA

Web site: http://www.us.playstation.com/
http://www.gdconf.com/