http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=8489&Itemid=2
By Tom Ivan
It’s a big year for PlayStation 3 – its software could make or break the console just a few years into the current cycle. Next-Gen gives you our PS3 picks of 2008...
Along with its high price point, the thing that irked consumers most about PS3 during 2007 was its lack of killer games. Of course, PS3 played home to the likes of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, but they were never going to catapult PS3 from third place in the latest console cycle into a position of dominance. That’s what makes a great portfolio of software during 2008 so vital to PlayStation’s future – Sony needs system sellers, and most likely these will be PS3 exclusive titles. Thankfully for the platform holder the PS3 has a slew of potential blockbusters lined up for the coming year.
As all of the games are works in progress, release dates and some details are subject to change. Sales estimates are for the first three months of US sales and only take into consideration the PS3 version of the games. Estimates were calculated by reviewing the sales of a 2008 game's previous franchise installment (or a similar game, if it's a new IP) and increasing that amount by the expected percentage of growth of the console's installed base. Other factors such as consumer buzz, release dates and expected marketing push were also taken into consideration in our estimates.
Also check out Next-Gen's Xbox 360 Games of 2008. We'll be publishing Wii games on 1/7, PC on 1/9 and handhelds on 1/11.
Burnout Paradise
Electronic Arts
Criterion Games
January 22nd
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 300K-500K
According to Criterion the fifth iteration of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Burnout franchise will be “a complete reinvention of the series." Director of game design Alex Ward says that next-gen technology has allowed Criterion to realize its original vision for the Burnout franchise: an open world environment where you can do anything, anywhere, anytime, with no loading times and no traditional online lobbies or game menus, not to mention the most explosive pile-ups in Burnout history.
Devil May Cry 4
Capcom
Capcom Production Studio 1
February 5th
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 300K-500K
Created by the producer of the original Devil May Cry and Resident Evil 4, DMC4 looks set to continue the legacy of stylized, fast-paced action synonymous with the series. It’s a brash and beautiful looking production that manages to faithfully recreate the sword and gunplay basis of previous efforts while boosting the tempo to an entirely new level. An Xbox Live and PlayStation Network demo introducing gamers to DMC4’s gothic inspired supernatural world and its new protagonist Nero (Dante will reportedly be playable at a later stage of the game) should land later this month.
SingStar
Sony Computer Entertainment
SCE Studios London
February 5th
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 100K-300K
According to Sony, personalization and community take center stage in SingStar’s next-gen iteration. Billed as “a perfect addition to the social gaming genre," the game enables players to share their SingStar experiences with friends and the online community via videos and photos captured on the EyeToy camera and, for the first time, allows gamers to personalize their playlists by paying for downloadable songs from the in-game shop SingStore.
Haze
Ubisoft
Free Radical Design
Q1
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 200K-400K
Created by a team that worked on the likes of GoldenEye, Perfect Dark and the Timesplitters series, Haze is set in the year 2048 in a world where international peacekeeping is handled by the private military corporation Mantel. It plies its rebel uprising suppressing troops with a "nutritional supplement" (combat enhancer) called Nectar, but is it really for the greater good or just an evil mind controlling substance? Free Radical aims to deliver an adult, story-driven and thought-provoking experience, as well as a kick-ass FPS for PS3.
Grand Theft Auto IV
Rockstar Games
Rockstar North
April
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 1.2-1.7 million
While this list is skewed towards PS3-exclusive games, 2008 could well be the year of GTA IV. It’s unclear to what degree Microsoft’s move to secure exclusive GTA IV downloadable content for box Xbox 360 could limit PS3 sales of the multiplatform title but it’s going to be a monster either way. Expect a bigger world with more missions, weapons, vehicles and provocative women than in previous iterations. Oh, and did we mention that the series was going multiplayer? Move up, Saints Row.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
LucasArts
LucasArts
April
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 200K-400K
Forming part of a true multimedia project that will combine a videogame, novel, action figures, a comic book and a reference book, all set for an April release, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed the game is set between episodes III and IV in the movie series and will place players in the role of Darth Vader’s "secret apprentice," tasked with ridding the universe of Jedis. The combination of new technologies - Digital Molecular Matter for realistic environments and the animation engine Euphoria - combined with Havok physics and the franchise’s monster popularity will make the game a force to be reckoned with in 2008.
Iron Man
Sega
Secret Level
May
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 100K-300K
Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four – whichever way you look at it Marvel’s comic book properties are big business in gaming. Iron Man, due to launch alongside the Robert Downey Jr. and Terrance Howard starring movie, is unlikely to be an exception. Using the same plot as the film, as well as extra content from the Stan Lee penned comic books, Iron Man will pit Tony Stark (the weapons designer who creates and inhabits the shiny, flying, Repulsor Ray-firing red and gold suit of the superhero) against the Iron Monger.
LittleBigPlanet
Sony Computer Entertainment
Media Molecule
Q2
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 400K-600K
This visually attractive, cartoony title will allow players to create entirely customizable levels by moving anything in the game’s glued and stitched-together landscape using skills learned from playing the game as opposed to a complicated level editor. Players can invite anyone within the LBP community to come and explore their patch or they can go and explore other people’s levels. The game’s slogan is "Play, Create, Share," and Sony hopes LBG can make good on Phil Harrison’s vision for Game 3.0 by persuading gamers to embrace emergent gameplay and content creation.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Konami
Kojima Productions
Q2
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 700K-1 million
The quintessential stealth series returns, also packing a multiplayer 'starter pack'. SCEA’s Peter Dille called it “the mother of all exclusives” and he may be right because MGS4 has game of the year potential. While some gamers may not embrace the franchise’s overly long cut scenes, the addition of a FPS perspective just might widen the game’s appeal, while improved combat and a beautiful new war-torn setting, in addition to MG’s trademark humor, cardboard box-scurrying and tranquilizer dart-firing are sure to please existing fans.
Home
Sony Computer Entertainment
SCE Studios London
Q2
Est. 3-mo. Sales: N/A (Free Download)
Not a game in itself but it certainly deserves to be mentioned. Home will be a free to use online virtual space and social networking service built into the PlayStation Network offering gamers, via a customized avatar, their own personalized apartment and a modern 3D environment to explore and in which to mingle with the PlayStation community. Sony insists Home, which will be free, is only “superficially” comparable to Second Life, and it plans to allow developers to integrate their PS3 titles into the service, although details of how are scant at present.
Madden NFL 09: 20th Anniversary Edition
Electronic Arts
EA Tiburon
August
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 700K-900K
Last year's Madden NFL 08 was one of the top-selling PS3 titles of 2007 in the US, so expect this special 20th anniversary Madden to enter the market with full force. It might be unwise to expect any radical overhauls of the series, but developer EA Tiburon may have some surprises in store for Madden’s 20th anniversary edition.
Gran Turismo 5
Sony Computer Entertainment
Polyphony Digital
TBA
700K-900K
The most highly revered of racing franchises will make a return in 2008 in at least one form, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, a demo featuring five tracks and fifty cars to choose from, while a late 2008 release for the full title is quite possible. Early impressions are highly positive with satisfying handling, lush visuals and slick presentation all evident. GT5 will deliver online racing for the first time, My Garage homepages where players can chat with friends and show off their motors, and a Gran Turismo TV channel packed with motor and racing content.
Killzone 2
Sony Computer Entertainment
Guerilla Games
TBA
700K-1 million
Microsoft could do with some competition in the shooter department and Sony hopes Killzone 2 will be the PS3’s answer. Guerilla says Killzone 2 could only be delivered on Blu-ray - the single player E3 demo level took up 2GB of disc space and featured gorgeous visuals, solid animations and physics, a new first-person cover system and plenty of frantic firefights between the ISA and the Helghast war machine, but whether it can live up to the hype that surrounds it won’t be known until nearer the game’s release, which will be preceded by an open multiplayer beta.
Final Fantasy XIII
Square Enix
Square Enix
TBA
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 600K-800K
The game will form a third of Square’s Fabula Nova Crystallis - Final Fantasy XIII project, the other two titles being FF Versus XIII and FF Agito XIII. Directed by FFX-2 director Motomu Toriyama, Square’s PS3 RPG epic will draw on the talent of a number of series veterans, feature stronger sci-fi elements than previous FF games and make use of Square’s proprietary White Engine. Set in a futuristic world divided into the floating fortress Cocoon and that which lies beyond its walls, Pulse, gameplay info is still heavily guarded, although sequences shown so far look visually breathtaking.
Final Fantasy Versus XIII
Square Enix
Square Enix
TBA
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 300K-500K
For Final Fantasy Versus, Tetsuya Nomura is at the helm as game director, and indications suggest he’s creating the darkest FF yet, pushing away from the light magical styles of his previous works such as Kingdom Hearts in favor of a more realistic, bleaker world. The action-oriented Versus will center around a young king battling to defend his kingdom and its crystals, and fans should expect a more visceral, bloody and vicious approach to combat than in previous FF games.
Tekken 6
Namco Bandai
Namco
TBA
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 700K-1 million
The latest addition to the twelve-year-old, 20 million-plus selling series, which has a habit of attracting casual and hardcore fighting fans, Tekken 6 has already released for arcade machines. For PS3 it will feature online multiplayer and boast the most characters ever included in a Tekken title. Director Katsuhiro Harada has promised to retain the popular elements from Tekken 5 and T5 Dark Resurrection, while increasing the size of multi-tiered battle stages that feature daylight / night time transitions, as well as throwing in a deeper level of character customization that will feature more heavily in gameplay.
Resistance 2
Sony Computer Entertainment
Insomniac
TBA
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 1-1.2 million
While it’s yet to be officially announced, everyone knows a follow-up to Sony’s most hyped PS3 launch title is in the works, and a late 2008 debut is likely considering that Insomniac has released a title for PlayStation platforms late each year since 2002. While confirmed info is non-existent, leaked info suggests that gamers will reprise their role as Nathan Hale and that the title will predominantly be set in the US, featuring levels based in San Francisco, Chicago and Louisiana. Insomniac’s texture streaming work on Ratchet & Clank Future should ensure it’s a gorgeous game.
MotorStorm 2
Sony Computer Entertainment
Evolution Studios
TBA
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 500K-700K
Sony announced a follow-up to the US, European and Japanese chart topper MotorStorm, which has sold more than 3.31 million units to date worldwide, at 2007’s Tokyo Game Show, along with its acquisition of UK-based developer Evolution Studios. Few details have been made available, but MotorStorm 2 will be powered by a modified version of the engine used for the original, graphically acclaimed title, and fans can expect more of the same mud-stained rally car, big rig, dirt bike, ATV, truck, buggy and mudplugger racing mayhem that made MotorStorm such a thrill to play.
SOCOM: Confrontation
Sony Computer Entertainment
Slant Six Games
TBA
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 700K-900K
The latest in Sony’s popular SOCOM Navy Seals series, SOCOM: Confrontation will be a multiplayer-only, third person tactical shooter, available via the PlayStation Store as a download or as a Blu-ray disc bundled with a headset at traditional retail outlets. Sony hopes the fourth title in the multi-million selling PlayStation franchise will be able to ape the online-only success of Warhawk and increased popularity of the Ghost Recon games, and plans to support the 32 player title with tournaments, clan ladders and leader boards.
Tomb Raider: Underworld
Eidos Interactive
Crystal Dynamics
TBA
Est. 3-mo. Sales: 300K-600K
The eighth game in the Tomb Raider series and the third to be developed by Crystal Dynamics, Underworld will follow on from the events of Legend. According to Play magazine it will feature an environment that “reacts and remembers” (Lara leaves footprints in the mud which may be washed away by rain, while dead bodies and debris will stay put), as well as full motion capture for gaming’s first lady to bring a more natural fluidity to her swashbuckling actions. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune upped the ante, but we think Eidos is up to delivering the first true next-gen Tomb Raider title.
Forward Thinking
The success of SCE’s 2008 software portfolio will either make Sony’s dominance of the last-gen seem even more of a distant memory, or in contrast revitalize its fortunes and make 2007 look merely like a year of transition.
Software, and specifically PS3-exclusive games, is what’s going to drive an increase in SCE’s market share during 2008. The platform holder will be looking to the likes of Metal Gear Solid, LittleBigPlanet and Gran Turismo in the hope of shifting systems, and they are exactly the kind of titles that could convince consumers to take the plunge and jump on the next-gen bandwagon by plumping for a PS3 over its rivals, or prompt the vast number of PS2 users yet to make the transition to move up to Sony’s latest system.
---------------------------------------------------
Looks like great year for PS3!
![[Prototype]](https://www.vgchartz.com/games/boxart/2846586AmericaFrontccc.jpg)
