The Playstation 3 keynote at the Games Developers Conference (GDC) unveiled impressive real-time demos on the PS3 and elaborated further on details revealed at last week’s Playstation Business Brief in Japan.

Delivered by Sony Computer Entertainment President, Worldwide Studios, Phil Harrison, the keynote gave everyone a taste of what to expect on the new console with the demos, which included the highly anticipated titles, Warhawk and Heavenly Sword, displaying to the full extent what the PS3 is capable of, 1up reported.

Sony’s online service was one of the topics covered by Harrison, who confirmed comments made by SCE President, Ken Kutaragi, that the basic service would be free.

The online service, currently with the in-house name of Playstation Network Platform, will allow third party servers to connect independently, which according to Harrison is “key”. Developers will receive the first edition of the service next week.

Much of the news from the GDC, however, came from Harrison’s question and answer session following his keynote, where he admitted Playstation 3 shortages were possible at launch.

Harrison said it was inevitable that there would be some console shortages upon release, but defended Sony’s ambitious worldwide launch, which, along with North America, Europe and Japan, will include additional nations, such as Australia and some sections of Asia.

“Yes, some consumers will be disappointed, unfortunately,” he said. “But our ramp-up of over 1 million units per month is the fastest we’ve ever had.”

It was also confirmed that Playstation 3 games, unlike PS1 and PS2 games, would not be region encoded. This could mean that gamers may be able to play PS3 games from anywhere in the world on their console.

“The thing that makes the games region free or not is different than what makes the hardware different.

With the power voltage and things like that, the hardware will need to be specific to a region.

Software, however, will be region free.

It’s possible for developers to put all the TV formats - PAL, NTSC, HDTV, and so on - on the disc,” he said.

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is set to have a years head start on the Playstation 3 after it was released last November, but Harrison denied Sony would be at a competitive disadvantage.

“I think what you’ve seen today and in our previous announcements is that we have a tremendous powerful hardware coupled with an excellent software backing. We’re not concerned,” he said.

More information about the Playstation 3 will be presented at the E3 conference in May, where final design and price details are expected to be announced.

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Related:

• Kutaragi: Playstation 3 Worldwide Release in November
• Kutaragi reveals info about PS3 online service
• Australia included in simultaneous worldwide PS3 launch