To be quite honest, I would buy a PS2, skip the PS3 for a while, and I wouldn't play any of those games you've mentioned. They're good, I guess, lol. Who am I kidding, they are great, but they aren't nearly the best games on the console, and indeed suck up the joint compared to the best.

I'm assuming you don't own a Wii or Gamecube, so you'll want to play Resident Evil 4 first and foremost. Here is a comprehensive list of games you've missed:

1. Final Fantasy X

2. Shin Megami Tensai Persona 3: FES

3. Metal Gear Solid 3

4. Resident Evil 4

5. Final Fantasy XII

6. Odin Sphere

7. Okami

8. Devil May Cry 1 and 3(special edition)

9. Tekken 5

10. Silent Hill 2

11. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness

Now let me tell you my opinion.

God of War, or as I call it, God of Puzzle, is God of Aweful. The most over-rated pair of games, ever. They are like DMC, with worse/less action, a better story, and a series of clunky frusterating block puzzles and mini-games designed to seemingly make the game boring as hell, because why the hell else do you get puzzles on my beat-em-up?

It has conventions that were stale in RE1. The game gets credit for style over substance. Great graphics and cool crap happening around you while you do the mini-games and puzzles don't prevent this game from being terrible. It's only considered good because of Kratos.

You take Kratos out and put Dante in and you've got the worst DMC game ever released. Considering Ninja Gaiden 1 is better than any DMC yet released, you see where God of Puzzle falls within that genre.

Now, Shadow of the Colossus is awesome, but it goes wide in the other direction. The game has no story whatsoever, and the ending is terrible. Basically, there is no ending. The gameplay, however, is amazing and the game is still a must-play, and imo, much better than ICO.

You've said you have to make your decision quick and I highly suggest taking my advice, you'll be a happier gamer in the end, trust me. I've never had somebody come back and say "You sob! RE4 sucked." You should play it, and if you have never played MGS3, you need to play it. Despite popular opinion, it's every bit as good or better than MGS4, and it is required playing anyway. Setting around waiting for PS3 to be BC isn't fun gaming, and the PS3 isn't really a must buy machine, if I'm honest, assuming you already own a 360 you may never need to own a PS3.

Must plays:

Metal Gear Solid series (get the Essential Collection for cheap)

God of War 1/2 (obviously you have these down)

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus

Jak & Daxter series

Metal Gear Solid series (get the Essential Collection for cheap)

Once you get done with these, you'll be itching for a ps3 for games like MGS4, God of War 3, the next Team ICO game, and Uncharted (even better than J&D, but with more shooting and far superior controls).

I thought of giving the MGS essential collection a whirl.........until I found out its not being released in Australia.

2.

Playstation 2.

Essentially, I'm about to finish exams and my family is going away, meaning I'll have the house to myself for a month. I have a lot of GTAIV left to get through, but this month will be the last opportunity I get to really do significant amounts of gaming for at least six months.

I once owned a PS2 briefly before it broke, and finished GoW, got half way through GoW2 and started Kingdom Hearts.

I own both Kingdom Hearts (saw them VERY cheap a few months ago and had heard good things), so I'd like to know if the series is good enough to really sit down and devote 50 hours of my time too this holiday? To clarify, I literally only JUST started KH before my last PS2 broke.

Shadow of the Colossus is non-existant in this country. After 6 months of searching every second hand game store top to bottom, I've neither seen nor heard of a copy being avaliable. But by sheer luck, I found out a kid I used to babysit up the road has a copy, which he will lend me if I wish. Once again the question is, how long does this title take to complete? Is it worth it?

So in essense I want to know:

- How long will it take to play KH AND KH2 and is it worth it?

- How long will it take to play SotC and is it worth it?

- Are there any other games of critical importance I should play? (I may borrow an FF or two of a friend)

One last thing. Has anyone heard of even the remotest possibility of the PS3 getting BC in PAL regions anytime soon? If so, I could be swayed to hold off on buying a PS2 in order to get a BC PS3. But if I buy a PS2, it'll be a LONG time before I go near the PS3.