Sony’s marathon E3 press conference Monday, which I attended, was a roller coaster of surreal announcements and pronouncements by the company. It started with Sony Computer Entertainment of America CEO Jack Tretton offering a profuse apology for the PlayStation Network outage and data breach, and just got more awkward from there.

The event had its high points, with spectacular footage from upcoming games such as Uncharted 3 and Resistance 3. A Sony exec drew applause (apparently the no cheering in the press box rule does not apply to video game journalists) with the announcement that the low-end, WiFi-only version of its Vita handheld will be $250, on par with Nintendo’s 3DS, while a 3G model will be $300. He also got the crowd giggling when he identified the Vita’s 3G network partner as AT&T, revealing the name in the manner of a punchline after heaping praise on the network’s coverage and reliability.

Tretton raised eyebrows by declaring the PS3 dominates the Netflix streaming game, accounting for 30 percent of the service’s streaming, according to a study.

I’ll remember the event mostly for Kobe Bryant’s surprise appearance to demonstrate motion controls in NBA 2K12, causing himself to turn the ball over and play porous defense before spitting out seemingly scripted dialogue praising the accuracy of the controls and the game itself, declaring his bungling virtual Lakers ran their offense better than his real-life team did this year.

E3 2011: Introducing PlayStation Vita, Starting at $249 [PlayStation Blog]

PlayStation claims lead in Netflix devices, adding CinemaNow to PSN [Joystiq]

Sony Apologises for PSN Outage (Again!) [Kotaku]

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.