The pre-TGS conference was packed full of surprises for both the Vita and PS4. Find out what’s in store as I do a wrap up of all the important details you need to know.

The annual Tokyo Game Show doesn’t start until September 18th but Sony is ready to start building hype and kick up some dust. Sony hosted a pre-Tokyo Game Show conference to announce some new games, features and hardware for the PlayStation fans. While the event and announcements related to TGS are mainly Japan-central most of the announcements can or will come to the west if not already specifically stated. So lets take a look at some of the highlights:

System Software

Sony announced some new features for the upcoming system updates for both the Vita and PS4. The primary new feature for both platforms will be (dynamic) themes. You’ll be able to finally rid your eyes of that blue background on the PS4 if you so chose to. You can see an example of it in action below.

 

And here is a gallery of some themes that will be available for the Vita:

There currently is no release date for either system updates but it is rumored that they will hit later this fall with some rumors pinning an October release date. The updates will be 3.30 for Vita and 2.0 for PS4 respectively. We will get a solid release date and more details on the ins-and-outs of the new firmwares later.

Its also important to note that along side the new firmware update will be a new Vita app that will allow you to watch PS4 streams on your Vita.

Hardware

There was no new hardware besides some new variant announcements. The Vita will be receiving a new light pink and white vita aimed at female demographics in Japan. That new pink Vita will launch later this year on November 13th, 2014 for 18,980 yen. There will also be some new etched/engraved PSvita models.

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As far as the PS4 there were two new PS4 variants announced. The first is a white PS4 that will be the console only and be separate from the Destiny bundle.

The other is a very peculiar PS4 called the Metal Slime PS4. The PS4 is grey and includes a slime character usb cover on the top. The Metal Slime PS4 will be celebrating the release of Dragon Quest Heroes. There is no news on a release date, but the game releases in 2015 so you can expect it then.

 

 

Games

There were a plethora of new games, trailers and announcements that came from the conference.

Here is a brief highlight of the many announcements that happened:

• Persona 5 was announced for the PS3/PS4 slated for 2015.
• Disgaea 5 was announced for the PS4.
• Dragon Quest Heroes was announced for PS3/PS4.
• An upgraded port of Earth Defense Force 2025 was announced for PS4.
• We finally got a release date for the new PS4 exclusive Bloodborne; game is slated for a Feburary 5th, 2015 release date for Japan. There was also a special edition announced that includes an art book.
• A follow up to Resident Evil: Revelations was announced called Resident Evil: Biohazard Revelations 2. Only PS4 was announced as a target platform.
• Everybody’s Golf (or Hotshots Golf) will be coming to PS4.
• A new Ys game will be coming to PS4/Vita. The game will launch in Japan next year.
• God Eater 2: Rage Burst will be coming to PS4/Vita.
• Senran Kagura’s Estival Versus was announced for both PS4/Vita with a PS4 release date for March 2015.
• Yakuza Zero got some news announcing cross-play.
• A new Vita exclusive RPG was announced called Luminous Arc Infinity.
• Other notable mentions include screen time for: Metal Gear 5, Phantasy Star Nova Vita, The Crew, The Witcher 3 and Far Cry 4, Little Big Planet 3, The Order 1886, Dragonball Xenoverse, One Piece Pirate Warriors 3 and more.

Sony also announced that over 100 new titles will be coming to Japan by March 2015 to bring the total amount of titles to a whopping 600 titles.

Other Big News: UMD Passport Program Revival

Remember that notorious Japan-only UMD-Passport program to convert UMD games for the Vita for free? Well, its making an even stronger comeback to make everyone else very, very, jealous. If you are a PS+ member with a Japan account you can access 250+ “free” psp games on the PSvita starting later this month on September 17th. Unlike most news sites are reporting: this is a revival of the UMD Passport program and not just free games for everyone.

Details are scarce and Sony wasn’t too incredibly specific on how this would work but we’ll eventually find out when the program relaunches. Sony did put up this page in Japanese if you can read it. For now we know that you’ll have to register your UMDs via the program to get the game for free. Starting September 17th-30th titles will start to roll out in batches. The games will be available through out the weeks until the end of the year. The games being offered will be games that are not already on PSN and are UMD only. Fingers crossed for Kingdom Hearts.

So that’s about it! What did you think of the conference? Was it a good way to kick things off? Happy? Angry? Let me know in the comments below!

Also, if you’re interested in seeing the full 2 hour event in its entirety for yourself: you can watch an archived version here.