Last year a good portion of Jack’s opening remarks at the Sony Press Conference were an apology to the PlayStation Network system-wide hack and much time was spent talking about 3D games and we even wore 3D glasses as part of the presentation.

Good news in 2012 for Sony and their press conference – it was MOSTLY all about the games.  They did bore us for some network, upgrades and bundle jargon but for the most part it was a showcase of upcoming Sony exclusives and non-exclusives coming to the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita.  Something else to point out – no big name celebs or athletes this year at the presser and no giant after-party live performance like we were treated to in 2010.

Sony’s ‘best kept secret’ started off the show with BEYOND (Two Souls) from the team behind Heavy Rain.  This game is attractive to look at and will feature voice acting from Ellen Page as the female protagonist Jody Holmes.  Beyond looks like a mix of the best parts of Heavy Rain and LA Noir – most of what we saw was cinematics and not actual gameplay.

A new section of Assassin’s Creed 3 was shown off at the Sony presser – this time on a giant ship!  We’re still unsure if the person running the demo was controlling Connor or the ship (or both) but either way we were treated to some tasty looking swash-buckling fun on the high seas!  The gameplay demo showcased a ship to ship battle and ended with soldiers about to scramble for hand-to-hand combat – thus far everything we’ve seen from Assassin’s Creed 3 has been riveting to say the least.

Assassin’s Creed 3 Liberation for the PS Vita was seen for the first time – the game features a female protagonist in an open world with touch support and other Vita goodness – could this be the game that sells Vita units?

Far Cry 3 (another Ubisoft game at the Sony press conference) showed off their four-player co-op live on stage with game producer Dan Hay helping teammates blow up a bridge.  We had a chance to play Far Cry 3 co-op recently at an event and it definitely has a fun ‘play with me’ vibe to it – you can see that interview here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avFcBTfxaWQ.

Book of Spells was announced and revealed for the first time as a project that uses the PS Move and has J.K. Rowling attached.  We’re not quite sure how many gamers are asking for something that utilizes the PS Move and PS Camera to tell fantasy stories and let you wave around your control to cast spells but if that’s your cup of tea then keep an eye out for Book of Spells.

We finally got to see some single-player campaign action for the upcoming God of War Ascension.  Thus far everything we’ve seen strikes warmth in our Kratos hearts but we’re a bit concerned that the franchise is giving us ‘more of the same’ especially when you still cannot control the camera – hoping to get some hands-on with the game soon!

The Sony press conference concluded with Naughty Dog‘s upcoming The Last of Us gameplay.  The Last of Us looks fantastic – we’re not quite sure why EVERYONE is so bonkers over this game but from seeing this demo one can see that Naughty Dog has mastered things like intensity, pacing, mood, tone, oh and that little girl who tags along with you – yah she’s pretty neat too!  So far the only thing going against The Last of Us is the name of the game as everything else seems like a treat!