Gamescom: Sony Press Conference Round-Up

What does the future hold for the PlayStation brand?
Sony's Gamescom press conference was definitely one of the most anticipated events of the German convention, and so it was a great development to see that they didn't disappoint much. Although the newly revealed IPs weren't great, and Wonderbook and LittleBigPlanet Vita don't look spectacular yet, for fans of PlayStation consoles there were a lot of great reveals on offer. Here's a summary of all the news and trailers that were unveiled, with some of the best previews found below the list...

• LITTLE BIG PLANET VITA- Fans of Sackboy have been waiting since the announcement of the PlayStation Vita for the release date of the handheld version of LittleBigPlanet. Sony opened with just this fact, revealing that the Vita game will ship on October 18th, as well as being bundled with specific PSVita Wi-Fi consoles from that date too.
• PLAYSTATION ALL STARS BATTLE ROYALE- And speaking of Sackboy, it's also been announced that he'll feature in Sony's Smash Bros-rip off along with Ratchet (Ratchet & Clank), Dante (Devil May Cry) and Spike (Ape Escape). This ensemble brawler has now been delayed, though, so it'll be with us on November 23rd.
• CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS DECLASSIFIED- This COD spin-off will take place in between 2010's Black Ops and the upcoming Black Ops II, although whether it'll focus on Alex Mason again is yet to be confirmed. What we do know that is a Wi-Fi version of the acclaimed online multiplayer component will ship with Declassified when it arrives this November.
• MORE VITA UPDATES- The PlayStation Vita will also be getting exclusive versions of FIFA 13 and Need For Speed: Most Wanted as well as a group of unannounced PSOne titles this Autumn, Sony was happy to confirm too.
• AND MORE VITA UPDATES- On top of those new reveals, Sony had even more to reveal for their rising handheld hardware. This included the following titles: Tear Away (a new IP from LittleBigPlanet's Media Molecule) and Killzone: Mercenary (a spin-off to the main franchise).
• ASSASSIN'S CREED III- It was confirmed proudly by Sony that the PS3 version of Assassin's Creed III will ship with four exclusive missions that make up an extra hour of campaign content. Exciting stuff!
• WONDERBOOK UPDATE- The interesting Wonderbook project won't just be looking at Harry Potter in its library, either. Disney and BBC are stepping onto the bandwagon too, the latter investor using their Walking With Dinosaurs franchise in doing so...
• NEW FRANCHISES- Sony also revealed a couple of brand new IPs (franchises) for the PlayStation Network as their conference drew to a close. These were Until Dawn and Rain, more details on which are expected to surface in the upcoming weeks.

Predictably enough, there was not even a hint of PlayStation 4 gossip on Sony's minds here. That said, the company definitely seems to have enough to keep it going on Vita for the rest of 2012, and with The Last Of Us coming in early 2013 there'll still be some mileage left in the PS3.