In addition to Sports Champions (which, let's be honest, may as well be called "PS3 Sports," but you can't blame Sony for following the money), Sony also announced a slew of other games that'll use the PlayStation Move motion controller, including Move Party, Little Big Planet, EyePet, Motion Fighters, and the recently revealed SOCOM 4.

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.

Live Streaming by Ustream.TV
The 2010 Game Developers Conference is taking place in San Francisco this week, but you can watch Sony's press conference today in whatever room of your home you deem fit thanks to the glorious live stream above (and yes, pants are completely optional, provided sans-pants is appropriate attire for the room you pick).

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.

Sony is still hard at work supporting PlayStation Home, and is planning to roll out a new update tomorrow that will add several new features. The PlayStation.Blog outlines the additions, which seem to focus on ease of use for the virtual space. This will bring Home up to version 1.35, and Sony is touting it as a "streamlined interface." The feature list includes:

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.

Square Enix has shipped over five million units of Final Fantasy XIII globally, according to a report from Adriasang. This includes three months of availability in Japan, during which the company apparently shipped about two million units. The other three million were sent out this week for the North American and European releases. Square also boasted that the Final Fantasy series as a whole has shipped over 96 million units.

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.

In Japan, the equivalent of the ESRB is the Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (CERO), the industry outfit responsible for giving content ratings to every console game released in the country. CERO rates based on a scale of five letters: A (all ages), B (ages 12 and up), C (ages 15 and up), D (ages 17 and up), and Z (ages 18 and up only).

That "only" attached to the Z rating has been the source of consternation for many a gamer in Japan. Unlike the ESRB's "Adults Only" rating, CERO's Z seems to be applied almost exclusively based on violence standards -- if there's too much blood, you're out. What's worse, while a Z on the box isn't as bad as an AO rating in America (or being refused classification at all in Australia, effectively banning it from shelves), it essentially means that the game cannot be advertised in any public manner within Japan.

The situation came to a head recently when Sony's God of War III was given a Z, even though the first two games both got D ratings in Japan. Game-store owners were, to say the least, miffed. "[The Z rating] basically means I can engage in no practical advertising," one Tokyo-based store owner blogged last month. "There are no TV ads, no videos playing in the store. The best I can do is put up posters and flyers, but no matter how great the game is, you can't show what makes it fun with still images. Capcom [the publisher of GOW 1 and 2 in Japan] spent all this time building up the brand, and now it's all ruined!"

A recap of the best games due to hit Japanese shelves next week, courtesy of Famitsu magazine's review pages:

- Yakuza 4 (9/10/10/9, 38 points): We haven't gotten Yakuza 3 quite yet, but the sequel's already out in Japan, and it's apparently a scorcher.

Everybody loved the new game's multi-viewpoint storyline to bits. "The heroes are packed with personality," one wrote. "Each one has different moves, and it's fun to try exercising all of them during the fights. The story has tons of exciting developments for all four characters, and the way they all tie in together in the final chapter is incredibly hot." Another reviewer called it a shame that series hero Kazuma Kiryu "doesn't get much face time," but "getting the story from four perspectives is fresh and lets you experience the town of Kamurocho in a whole new way."

An early look at EA Sports MMA reveals that Strikeforce will be the main promotion featured in the game. You can compete not only in the Strikeforce hexagonal ring, but also have your fighters pound away at each other in a circle cage or boxing ring.