Alright, these 4 games seem to be the flagship franchises that will spur on their respective consoles through this holiday season. LBP and F2 are being released in the same week, as are R2 and G2. This competition is very interesting to me, and i think can dictate the tide of how the hardware will do this season.

I will list the pros and cons of each game individually as far as SALES POTENTIAL is concerned and nothing to do with quality of gameplay, graphics, etc. This is all strictly my opinion.

LittleBigPlanet

(+) Mass marketing. Sony is backing this thing extremely highly, with lots of high budget advertisements scattered everywhere. (I agree)

(+) Bundling. And not just any ordinary bundle, its very extremely attractive.. like people would be willing to buy the box on Ebay. (Sony does this often, but it's not to sell LBP it's to sell PS3s and if I'm not mistaken only in Europe)

(+) Great media. The idea behind LBP being "a limitless world" seems to be hitting a lot of people quite fashionably, especially game reviewers such as IGN. Expect high ratings from this thing (some are even putting 10's already even before the game is released) (The media hype is high, but the casual gamer can't wrap their heads around why they would want this game even if they would love it after they got their hands on it... more hands on time with casual gamers is what Sony needs to do with this game)

(+) Casual + Hardcore satisfied. There's plenty here to do for the hardcore fan with the level creation, and the casual fan won't be left behind either since its a pretty simple platformer with only three buttons to really worry about, not to mention that the main character is rather cute, which will appeal to women and kids (the market that Sony seems unable to get). (I don't think it'll expand the market for Sony much... the game is to heavy with creation and the complex worlds people are making may scare off some would be casual buyers)

(-) It's a new IP. There's always a larger risk of flopping for new IP's. (it's not really a risk since 2d platforming is really a gaping hole on the PS3)

(-) Lack of information. While Sony has taken giant leaps to educate every gamer out there about the things LBP can do, the mass majority still do not know what this game even is. (nail on the head... )

(-) Strange concept. People will have a hard time coming to grips with the idea, and may just steer away from it like it were a niche title. (hardcore already sold on the game... casuals... maybe not so much)

(-) Question whether this game can indeed push hardware. Again, its not an established IP that people have been following and the concept is relatively unknown and strange. (I don't think it will.  I think 90 percent of sales will be current PS3 owners)

Fable 2

(+) Established IP. It was a pretty successful game in the original Xbox generation (2.6 million sold according to this site).

(+) Quality starved RPG market. There simply aren't that many good RPG's out there at the moment in the next gen consoles. (that's a matter of opinion... many would take you to task for that, but I'll let it slide)

(+) Lionhead Studios. These guys have been known to produce quality, and a lot of people are going to be driven by the name. (do you miss their older games to?)

(+) Freedom concept. Molyneaux has had lots of opportunities to market this game as having the ability to be a one player MMO, quite a compelling idea in itself. (agree)

(-) Not as much marketing. Compared to the other titles this holiday, this game seems to be suffering from inadequate attention. (looks like it's just starting... wierd for such a big named game... biggest seller on the original Xbox that didn't have the name Halo)

(-) Cutting the limited edition. Seriously, I'm sure this pissed off a lot of fans. (no shit! >_<)

(-) Molyneaux' ceaseless rambling. Yes, its a positive thing for him to market the freedom concept. But he keeps going on and on and on about other things unrelated to his game, and recently he even 'requested' that game reviewers 'understand' where the game is coming from before reviewing it. Sounds like he's afraid someone might find something majorly wrong with it (unlike the last game all of his talking is about stuff that is already in the game... last time he made alot of promisses, but this time he kept his mouth shut till the stuff was in game and working.)

(-) Not Bundled. This game is supposed to, according to Molyneaux, bring the non-gamer into the equation. Why, then, would Microsoft bundle stuff like Kung-Fu Panda in its holiday lineup and not its big exlusive RPG? (Microsoft has never done this to my knowledge... good games stand on their own... they usually bolster either family friendly games or games that are a little under the radar like Forza 2... I'd never have bought that game, but I really like it now that I got it with my Elite.)

Edge: LittleBigPlanet. Simply because of the amount of marketing going behind it. Both titles have the potential to be big hits, but the mother company's backing of LBP, I think, will be the determining factor. (I'd give it to Fable 2 just because it's a big release for the 360 and got super good press at E3 and since.  However just like LBP it'll sell mostly to current 360 owners... though I think both games will cause people to go multiplatform)

Resistance 2

(+) Very compelling marketing. The whole Project Abraham thing (calling random people about a disaster) along with a whole website featuring a collection of gruesome experiments, coupled with a really complex alternate history thing is a very smart way of going viral.

(+) Large monsters. Ordinary people don't see the fun gameplay to be had in a shooter. They see the enemy design, and that 300-foot tall chimera would've convinced a few onlookers, and might just interest some casual gamers.

(+) Resistance 1 = success. Despite being a launch title and having little more graphics than a PS2 game, and the fact that the PS3 user base was much smaller back then, it went on to sell 3+ million copies. If that's any indication, this game should surpass that if not simply because the PS3 install base now is much bigger.

(-) Its another shooter. PS3 has so many shooters already and more to come.

(-) SOCOM. This might just steal some of the thunder away because of the relatively close release dates.

(-) Gears 1 > Resistance 1. By far, Gears 1 was a better game and a larger success. The chances of their sequels following the same pattern are rather high.

(-) PS3 lack of install base in America. Shooters are typically successful in the USA, but with the PS3 having less than 6 million consumers in its single largest market, install base might just become a hindrance.

(agree with you on R2)

Gears of War 2

(+) Heavy marketing budget. Lots of ads circulating everywhere about the action packed sequences (and there are plenty of them).

(+) Gears franchise familiarity. Lots of people already associate Gears as a 'Halo' (flagship) type of game for Microsoft.

(+) 360 install base in America. the USA loves their shooters, and the 360 has a large chunk of consumers in the states.

(-) Gears 1.5. Some people tend to think that this version of Gears is simply an expansion set with few new features. Some reviewers might take this as a point for low scoring. (this one has a story... that's enough to make it more than 1.5)

(-) Multiplayer is overshadowed. Resistance 2 is marketing heavily on its massive multiplayer, which has the potential to eclipse Gears 2's appeal on this aspect simply because of the numbers being thrown, and numbers are the most easily recognizable statistic for a layman. (R2 has 60). (Gears MP has never been about numbers so much as it's about up in your face.  R2's multiplay, while huge, lakes a cohesive platform.  Where if I play Gears or Halo or whatever on my 360 I know most everyone has a mic, but on the PS3 it's hit a miss.)

Edge: Gears of War 2. The install base in America, I believe, will dictate how this battle goes. The difference between the 360 and the PS3 in that region that loves its shooters is simply too large.

Discuss :D (all of this is strictly my opinion)

1. banjo is being released more than two weeks later than LBP. fable 2 is being released on the same day as LBP.

2. i think fable 2 is more like lbp because they both work on a freedom concept.

Fable 2's freedom:  Free the slave lead them back to their captor only to slay him in front of them... my question... how do they react.  I can't wait to find out.

LBP's Freedom:  Create awsome(or shitty) 2D side scrollers.

While they both have "freedom" one is freedom of choice the other is freedom of creation... not really the same... LBP and Banjo have more in common because both have the freedom thing, but both have creation tools... in Banjo you can theoreticly create the Death Star.