Bright Possibilities

Sony has been catching a ton of shit lately for its failed PS3 hyping- LittleBigPlanet, Resistance: Fall of Man, and Warhawk, among others, have been getting crazy press for their own takes on their respective genres, but the sales have done nothing to reflect the quality. Nintendo hasn't even put out a post-Thanksgiving Nintendo franchise game like Mario or Zelda for the Wii. Everyone is absolutely in love with the Xbox360 and all its fucking majesticness- yet the fact that it had a 67% FAILURE rate for its launch year has somehow not phased people. I know many of my friends are on their second, third, or even fourth 360 since they adopted the console a Xmas or two ago.

That said, the PS Network is looking up. The PS3 is getting some great games in the coming year, the library of DLG/DLC on the PlayStationNetwork is growing rapidly, and interconnectivity between the PS3/P is getting more useful every day. I recently began using the PSN Store, much like the 360's Marketplace, and finding some great gems hidden amongst the library of good DLGs. For one thing, the PSN allows users to download PS1 classics, for those of us who grew up playing not Mario or Zelda, but Crash Bandicoot, Twisted Metal, and Spyro the Dragon. That library is getting more expansive every week and month. The games return in all their former glory, and most are playable on the PS3 OR THE PSP. Portable Crash? I have two, and at $6.99 apiece, I'd say thats a great deal.

The orginal content is even more exciting. Games under $10 like echochrome, a game full of puzzles inspired by the works of M.C. Escher, is intensly entertaining and offers a $5 expansion featuring hundreds of different user-created puzzles (a feature in the game). With nearly 60 fun and challenging puzzles in the game itself, it makes for a great single or multiplayer experience. Beats, a $4.99 game from Sony Europe, is a portable rythym game based on titles like Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and DDR. 2 things seperate it from these titles: it needs no expensive peripherals to play, and it uses the music you already have. That's right, you add music to your PSP, select the track from the in-game menu, and it generates a challenge BASED ON THE SONG. Playing a speed metal track- get 30-note strings with rapid changes to different notes and areas on screen. Funk- weird transitions and breakdowns.

All that is well and good, but what about the PS3 owners who want a 30, 40, or 50 hour game and are not concerned about cost? We're fucked for exclusives! The best one we have is MGS4, and that only lasts as long as you want it to! Resistance was fun, but it got overshadowed by Gears of War for 360. Warhawk was online-only, and no story mode. GTA IV- no DLC even announced for us yet. What's a guy to do?

OH wait, that's right, wait for God of War III, due out soon next year. HD bloodshed like no one else can do bloodshed. Or how about inFamous? Coming out of SuckerPunch Studios (of Sly Cooper fame) it tells the story of a morally ambiguous character named Cole (before you skeet your collective selves, he's white and NOT voiced by "Terrible" Terry Tate) who gains developing superpowers based around electricity after an explosion rocks New York City. In the same vein as Fable and Elder Scrolls IV, your actions determine your social standing and public opinion- as well as publishers having hinted that the more brutal you are, the more violent your powers are; thus, the more evil you become, the more difficult it is to reverse. While it's not a PS exclusive, Brutal Legend shows the most- well, fuck hyping this game again, even though it deserves it. Read my last post.

The PS3 is looking up in the coming year and if it can get some big name titles under it's belt SOON, it might begin working it's way out of the 3rd place hole it has dug itself into. Stop hyping "1080p support and Blu-Ray capability" Sony- start pushing the "Our games kick ass" creed you have always done so well. If you aren't off your high horse yet, you better start dismounting soon or the 360 will push you guys the way of Sega- making occasionally noteworthy games for other people's consoles. Don't fuck around in '09, guys- we still believe in you, but you need to step it up. You should realize now you aren't invincible, and that now YOU are the late one to the party- you need to play catch up this time, not Microsoft, not Nintendo.

***UPDATE*** One of the lesser known gripes PS3 owners had is the inability to view flash videos outside of YouTube. That means Cracked.com, Metacafe, Dailymotion, and Break were all lacking video support. However, that has been fixed with a recent update allowing users to view flash videos from almost every known FLV source. Cool as hell, in my opinion.