PixlBit

The virtual Sony E3 booth isn’t actually like experiencing it in real life but you will gain a small taste of the expo.

Those of you who tuned into watch the Sony press conference probably caught mention that a virtual tour of the Sony booth was recreated on PlayStation Home… here’s a run down of what you can expect.

When you enter, you start on the main floor with your fellow virtual attendees with a couple of things one can do. The most interesting of these, if your timing is good, is viewable snippets of the Sony conference on the main screens. Scattered over the floor are the game booths, as well as a roped-off upstairs area that, once approached, will result in a pop up informing you to watch seven of the trailers debuted by Sony (Socom 4, Twisted Metal, Littlebigplanet 2 Gran Turismo 5, Killzone 3, Medal of Honor, and one for the PlayStation Move) in order to get access to "exclusive areas." You need to watch all of these trailers at least most of the way through in order for them to count towards your tally. Most of the trailers are fairly easy to find, though a couple are a little less obvious. In general, there are enough friendly people wandering about, willing to show you where things are if you get a bit frustrated.

Also visible on the main floor are the areas that where in real life one could play demos of games available in the Sony booth… however (and most frustratingly), this option is not available though PlayStation Home at this time. The best you’ll get is by visiting the “schwag” booth, where you can download the NCAA football 11 demo for free (or buy Cabin Boy related things).

Once all seven trailers have been watched, one get access to a VIP area where you can watch a featurette behind-the-scenes video of the creation of “The Playground” area in PlayStation Home and some of the things you can do in it. When you first enter, you’re told to “check regularly for rewards and updates!” so I assume it means it will be expanded in the future. Keep watching after the behind-the-scenes video is over will treat you to an additional trailer for Cabin Boy. Beyond this, there is nothing else visible to do in the VIP booth.

Exploring the virtual Sony booth, besides watching E3 trailers in HD, also gains you some unlockable accessories for your PlayStation Home character. Those of you who haven’t explored yet can expect some pretty long loading times for most of the videos, probably due to high demand.

There also appears to be other roped off areas that, at the time of my visit, no one had access to. I wouldn’t be surprised to see some expansion of the virtual booth over the coming days.