Like they did at the E3 Expo trade show, Sony is taking Gamescom by storm with a slew of announcements that rocked the boat before the European trade show could even begin.

The biggest one is that the PlayStation 4 will be released in the United States on November 15th and in Europe on November 29th, well before the holiday season, and sooner than most people expected. The move will likely help Sony to continue to make gains against Microsoft’s Xbox One by letting the PS4 hit the ground running. The PS4 will have a large number of launch titles, 33 in all, across all genres. Even Minecraft was announced as being available for the PS4 at launch.

Sony also confirmed that Play Room, an augmented reality title that transports a player’s likeness into the quirky game environment, will be pre-installed for free on every PS4. Every PS4 will also ship with a two week trial of PlayStation Plus. In addition, most of the streaming content services available on the PS4 can be used without a Plus membership. Sony confirmed that Twitch TV, BBC News and other on demand services would be freely available for every PS4 owner. Also, the Music Unlimited service will let gamers stream their own music in the background of their games.

In PlayStation 3 news, the expected price cut for the exiting console was also announced. The 12GB Super Slim PlayStation 3 will now be on sale for $199. In addition, to help gamers who buy games like Call of Duty: Ghosts, Watchdogs and Battlefield 4 on the PS3, games that will also be on the PS4, buyers will be given a discount if they upgrade. Although details about the PS3/PS4 discount program were not revealed, Sony officials said it would be "significant."

The PlayStation Vita portable game console is also having its price cut to $199.