A New Dawn for PS3?

It’s been a long time coming. We have endured sloppy Xbox 360 ports that weren’t as good as the original. We have seen exclusive after exclusive popping up on the release schedules of other consoles. Weeks went past with nothing of note appearing on PSN. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The good times are almost here.

It all started with, curiously enough., an Xbox 360 port. When Rainbow 6: Vegas arrived on PS3 things changed. It wasn’t the first network game, it wasn’t the first FPS. It’s not even the best looking. But for a game that demands good communication and teamwork it can’t be bettered. Just as important is the dead room Players can chat with other corpses and their remaining team members and it perhaps this more than anything which has made this the game that is defining the PS3 online experience

So at last we have game that we can spend hours online with. But of course you could have done this on an Xbox 360 couldn’t you? Or a PC for that matter. It’s not exactly a reason to rush out and buy a system. Is it? Well maybe not. Not on it’s own anyway. But Vegas isn’t going to on it’s own much longer.

E3 showed just what a game that is built from the ground up for PS3 can look like. Killzone 2 wowed everyone with it’s graphical quality. But this week saw the first game play footage of a title that is even more important. Metal Gear Solid 4. And it didn’t disappoint.

The 15 minute demo showed off lot’s of very cool features. The active camouflage system looks fantastic. The ability to throw yourself on your back and fire at enemies behind you is a great idea. But as well as the obvious stuff there were some lovely little touches. The scraps of paper blowing in the wind, swirling on a backdrop of a war torn city in the middle east, the PS2 pad used to control the Metal Gear robot, even the lad mag that you can use to divert the attention of enemies – it’s a game that seems to excel on the little details as much as it does on the big and flashy features. Hideo Kojima loves his series, and with this being the final instalment you can bet that he is going to be going all out to make a fitting swansong.

Also this week the Heavenly Sword demo went up on PSN. It’s short – maybe 6 or 7 minutes of game play – but it is a beautiful game. At the beginning of the level you get a close up of your characters face. The emotion as she describes the fate of her villagers instantly makes you want to help her. Although you can just bash your way through the demo you will get far more out of it if you take your time. There is more to this game than meets the eye, and getting into a button tapping rhythm is the most satisfying way to despatch the enemies. The counter system works wonderfully well too. Again there are some nice little touches. For example you can pick up an object and throw it. Nothing particularly clever there, but if you keep the button held down then you get an in-flight view of the object. Better yet you can steer the object using the Sixaxis tilt function. Clever huh?

Other good news included an announcement from Rockstar that they are developing a brand new franchise. Exclusively for PS3. No word on how much this has cost Sony – the GTA Xbox 360 exclusive content is rumoured to have cost Microsoft $50 million. Imagine paying $50 million just to stop people playing a video game. Madness

So things are looking up. The release schedule is getting pretty crowded. Both Lair and Warhawk now have release dates. And don’t forget Little Big Planet and Home are coming too. From now until the end of the year we are going to have plenty of games to play, and 2008 should be the best year yet. So keep the faith. We are going to have a lot of fun.

After the storm - E3 2007

This years E3 was arguably the most important in Sony’s videogame career. The PS3 has not, it’s safe to say, had the easiest of times. From hardware delays to the loss of exclusives and a threadbare release schedule the PS3 has had a bumpy old ride. The machine’s highlights have been few and far between, so it seemed important that Sony made a strong showing at E3.

Microsoft held their conference first. After a nice live rendition of the main Halo theme the Seattle beast presented a safe line-up that held no real surprises. They didn’t need to though-with Halo 3, Bioshock and Mass Effect waiting in the wings the 360 has plenty of games coming that will keep fans happy. More importantly, they already have a pretty big selection of top games to choose from.

Next up Nintendo outdid themselves on the strange-o-meter. Reggie did his best not to look too uncomfortable as the Wii told him that he has had a few more pies than he should have. Meanwhile fitness trainers waved their limbs around in an effort to look as though this really is the future of keeping fit. We weren’t convinced, and to be honest even Reggie looked under whelmed. Nintendo have made some strange decisions over the years, but you have to wonder how this one will fair.

So with the competition playing it safe and barmy in equal measure Sony were left to try and inspire. Phil Harrison appeared in person and on Home throughout, and it makes a nice change to see company devote so much time to something that is ostensibly free. Ok, so it gives Sony and it’ partners an easy way so sell stuff, but the integration between Home and games looked promising. Home could well become the main “dashboard” for the PS3.

What we were really looking for though was retail games that would sell the PS3. And to be fair Sony ticked a lot of boxes. Wipeout HD looked really nice, and was moving at a fare old rate. Gran Tourismo 5 looked gorgeous, but neither game really showed what play would look like.. Little Big Planet continues to impress both graphically and in terms of the gameplay mechanics. It’s just the sort of innovative title that the PS3 needs.

Another title that continues to excite is Uncharted. Visually it’s stunning, all the more cinematic for shunning any sort of HUD. If they nail the gameplay this could be a cracker.

There were others of course, butt he over riding impression that I had from the conference was that as good as Sony’s presentation was, it still has a long way to go. PSN needs to be developed further, and they desperately need to get some high profile exclusives that will shift hardware. Microsoft has some top titles due for the 360 for the rest of the financial year. Sony needs to start matching these.

It also appears that Europe has slipped on Sony’s list of priorities. With everything from PSN releases to retail titles slipping here, and with prices here just about as high as they are anywhere in the world, I can’t help but get the impression that we are getting the Nintendo treatment.

So, as I said this was probably Sony’s most important E3 to date. Was it a success? I’d say a cautious yes. But they have a lot of work to do if they are going to challenge Microsoft. It could be a very interesting 12 months.

ThreeView Changes

No, we are not dead!! Far from it. But we have been extremely busy playing games. I was going to kid on and say that we have been busy at work, have personal lives that need looking after, that we had joined a gym... yeah I know, you wouldn't have believed any of that. Safe to say certain Mr Clancy has come along and given us new love for all things Sony. Well, the PS3 at least. And it’s just going to get better from here on in.

Here’s the deal. There are a lot of PS3 and video game related websites. Most of these report news that appears on other sites. And they are doing the same. So everyone is chasing the same news and trying to spin it in different ways. That’s time consuming and largely pretty unsatisfying from a writers point of view, and ultimately a little shallow for you. So we are changing. We will still comment on important news stories of course. But from now on we are looking to give you features. Fewer articles yes, but more detailed and more original. We play games a lot, just like you do. We know what you want to see.

ThreeView is written by gamers, for gamers. So that’s what we will concentrate. We will leave the Reuters chasing stuff for others. We hope you enjoy the new approach. If you have any comments or ideas on ThreeView content then get in touch.

ThreeView

Lair site open

Lair has been on the radar for a long time now - so long in fact that I was starting to lose a bit of enthusiasm for the title. Just as well then that Sony have opened a lovely new website for the game. Its suitably dramatic orchestral score sets the scene well, and if the actual gameplay is anything like as pretty as the cut scenes then we could be onto a winner.

SIXAXIS contol is also an intriguing prospect. Although a few games have supported it, it's been very much in the "Oh yeah that's kind of cool... can you turn it off now?" category. Fingers crossed folks. Check out the new site here.

Final Fantasy XIII misses E3

Hands up if you are surprised by this. Anyone? Nope. 1UP appear to have revealed in a recent podcast that FFXIII won't make it to the party this year. It's a real shame, because this game could well shift consoles. If the preview CGI from last years E3 is anthing to go buy this game is going ot be beautiful. Never mind, all good things come to those who wait. I hate that saying. Nuts, give us our games now!