It’s rare that those who participate in the making of history actually have the ability to step back for a moment and grasp what they were involved in, but back in 2007 many realised something very special was going on. With the release of games like BioShock, Mass Effect, Call Of Duty 4, Halo 3 and Portal on the Xbox 360 there was a sense that a tipping point had been reached not just for this generation of games consoles, but for the games industry as a whole.
Since late 2007 we couldn’t help but compare and contrast our current release schedules with those fateful six months of blockbuster games and major new intellectual properties and in particular I have been watching and waiting for the PS3 to garner a line-up that could match it. It’s my hope, if not belief, that the next six to seven months could well be PlayStation’s tipping point.
The problem up until now is that PS3’s major exclusives have been spread out over so much time that excitement rose and fell too quickly to have a lasting impact. But now there is enough of a mix of genres, sequels and groundbreaking new projects, along with the arrival of a cheaper console that could make a significant difference to PS3’s fortunes.
Of the big sequels we have the old guard of Gran Turismo 5 and Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time along with a current-generation winner Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. That’s pretty much all your platforming, racing and shooting/adventuring needs taken care of in one swoop and that’s before God Of War III turns up next year, but things don’t end there. PlayStation 3 also has a wave of new titles that could match the likes of BioShock and Mass Effect for impact.
Heavy Rain for instance is attempting another leap in storytelling and player interaction that really has no comparison to anything we’ve seen before. MAG is the biggest online shooter ever released for a console. ModNation Racers is another step to establishing the PS3 as the console for user-created content and creativity. And finally, EyePet has the dual allure of being very casual friendly while also offering an Augmented Reality experience we’ve never seen before.
For too long we’ve said that good times were ahead for the PlayStation, but those times could now be upon us. Hopefully we can finally stop wishing and wondering and simply bask in the glory of another amazing year of games.
By Jonathan Gordon: Play Magazine
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