First up was Move Party, which seems to be an amalgam of random mini-games with a bit of a WarioWare vibe, but also the "augmented reality" style of games the PlayStation Eye (and EyeToy on the PS2) often featured. It shows the player on the screen in each mini-game, but with the Move controller replaced by what each mini-game requires. The demonstration included mini-games where the Move controller was used to swat bugs with a tennis racket, color in shapes as though it was a paintbrush, or, uh, cut someone's hair as though the controller was an electric clipper. Again, it was all very fast-paced in a WarioWare style.

Motion Fighter was about what the name implies. The player controlled the character with a behind-the-back view, and common-sense motions translated into the game -- throwing punches, crouching, leaning side-to-side, etc. You can change the aim of your punches, throw special kinds like hooks and uppercuts, or even throw a spinning elbow strike. Unfortunately, the spinning elbow didn't work the first time (precision!), but the player demoing the game got it to work on a second attempt.

Among the many gameplay demos Sony just showed off for their newly christened PlayStation Move motion controller was Sports Champions, a compilation of athletic events very much along the lines of Wii Sports.

The first event from the game that Sony demonstrated today was Gladiator Duel, which used two Move controllers as a sword and shield in an arena-style, one-on-one fighting game. Vertical and horizontal swings of the right-hand remote appeared to trigger the same sword movements onscreen, while moving the left remote would adjust the position of the player's shield. A quick uppercut allowed the user to pull a Devil May Cry and juggle his opponent in the air. There were also maneuvers that would prompt canned animations, such as hiding the remotes behind the back to perform a taunt.

A version of table tennis was also on display during Sony's Sports Champions demo. It looked pretty much how you'd expect a modern, motion-controlled table tennis game to look, but the precision of the Move controller allowed for some impressive trick shots. The person demoing the game seemed to be able to pull off shots with all sorts of spin, and with varying degrees of power behind them.

Capcom recently dropped off their upcoming downloadable double-pack that includes updated versions of Final Fight and Magic Sword, so we went ahead and put up some gameplay clips for your viewing pleasure. The entire package is slated for an April release and a price point has yet to be announced.

Nope, it wasn't Gem -- and it wasn't Arc, either. At their 2010 GDC press conference, Sony announced that the official name for their PlayStation 3 motion controller is PlayStation Move. On top of that, they revealed the first launch details for the controller as well.

It'll be available in three ways: a stand-alone package that comes with one controller for those who already own a PlayStation Eye (which is required to use the controller), a starter kit that comes with the Eye, one controller, and game; and an "ultimate bundle" with a PlayStation 3 console, Eye, controller, and game. Sony said pricing details would be announced later in the year, but they said they were targeting the starter kit to come in under $100. They also likened it to a "virtual console launch," indicating how hard they'll be pushing the controller with marketing at launch.

Sony didn't mention what game would be included with the starter or ultimate kit, but we'll update this story once we have more details.

Social games just aren't social enough, according to experts in the field.

A meeting of the minds took place Wednesday at the GamesBeat conference at GDC to discuss the future of social games -- that is, internet-based games that interact with your social network. The consensus among the panel was that these games need to better integrate their social aspects into gameplay, rather than as a separate feature.

The conference kicks off at 4PM PST (7PM EST), so come back in a few hours to watch whatever big reveals and announcements Sony has planned as they happen. Will we get more info on their motion controller? Maybe the first official motion controller games? Maybe an actual name besides "Sony Motion Controller"? Or maybe new games that don't have to do with the motion controller at all!

Come back at 4PM, and we'll all find out together.

According to a report on Eurogamer, Brown outlined the average cost of an EA developed game at around $30 million. MMOs, however, cost "significantly more than that," and Brown estimates that World of Warcraft specifically may have required upwards of $100 million. "That's lifetime [research and development] to actually ship it and obviously then there's maintenance subsequent to ship and expansion packs," Brown continued.

So, if World of Warcraft took $100 million to get off the ground back in 2004, how much can EA expect to spend on their Star Wars MMO? Brown didn't throw out any numbers of his own, but even if we assume The Old Republic costs the exact same amount to launch as Blizzard's game, that's still forgetting a couple key expenses: any costs associated with the Star Wars license, and, if you really wanted to be picky about it, the $620-million-plus EA spent acquiring developer Bioware and Pandemic back in 2007.

At the GamesBeat portion of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this morning, Steve Perlman, CEO of OnLive, finally announced details for the launch of the cloud computing gaming service. A year after the service was first unveiled at GDC in 2009, Perlman was able to point to E3 2010 as the official launch of OnLive.

June 17th is the date, and according to Perlman the service will be up and running in all 48 contiguous United States at that time.

Favorites: Personalize your own section to make locating your favorite places quick and simple.
Personal Spaces: Your clubhouses and personal spaces are now right at your fingertips. The personal spaces you own and the clubhouses you belong to will be viewable in one convenient location.
Friends: Finding your friends in PlayStation Home has never been easier. View the current location of your friends in PlayStation Home, and then navigate there to enjoy the action together.
Explore: Browse all the spaces PlayStation Home offers. Finding a space that suites your taste and mood has never been easier.
Recommend: Keep up with what's hot in PlayStation Home. This regularly updated category will feature the newest and most exciting additions to PlayStation Home.

Though the new features focus on making Home faster and easier, it may not be enough to bring back the lapsed user base. We've heard recent reports that advertisers are pulling away from Home, so Sony is probably hoping this will bring in enough new users to attract advertisers. The company boasted over 12 million registered users of the virtual space, but didn't specify how many of them use it regularly.

Of course, we should note that this is units shipped, not sold. We won't really know the sales numbers until next month's NPD data comes in. But it's fair to assume Square will be putting at least a few million units into the U.S. retail chains during the month of March, and the Final Fantasy name should have no problem selling most of them. Check out our review and details from the launch party for the anticipated RPG.