Sony's PlayStation 3 is coming up to its first Christmas and a few alarm bells are ringing. Although it's not had a disastrous launch and subsequent rollout there's definitely a sense that Sony is beginning to lose the 'mindshare' with press and consumers.
Take a look at this week's releases. While there's nothing stellar on display it's significant that the PS3 versions of both Tiger Woods PGA Tour and Stuntman: Ignition are both delayed until late September.
In fact, there are no PS3 releases this week at all...
Okay, so it's only one week but with Wii already eclipsing total sales of GameCube in its first year (yes, you read that right) and the Xbox 360 gaining a boost from a price cut and software like Bioshock and Halo 3 you have to wonder what Sony is playing at...
The complete list of games released in the UK this week (31/08/07):
Boogie, Wii, EA
Dragon Ball Z: Goku Densetsu, Wii, Ubisoft
Guild Wars: Eye of the North, PC, NC Soft
Impossible Mission, PS2/PSP, Play It
Stuntman: Ignition, PS2/360, Atari
Tamagotchi Party On, Wii, Atari
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, PSP/DS/PC/Wii/360
Worms Open Warfare, PSP/DS, THQ
Stuntman: Ignition (PS2/360)
Thankfully this franchise was taken away from Reflections and handed over to THQ some time ago so we won't be subjected to the insanely annoying frustration that crippled the original. Instead what you get are 36 stunt runs in six themed movies and because there's now a five 'strikes' and you're out system you won't have to go back to the beginning of a level simply because you scraped against a cardboard box.
Visually Ignition looks explosive with fire, lava, earthquakes and all forms of destructible mayhem going on around you as you attempt to win the director's favour. The game also has some interesting online features with stunt leaderboards and the ability to challenge rivals over stunt runs designed using the construction set. Hooper eat your heart out.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (PC/PSP/DS/360/Wii)
Don't expect a radical overhaul to the formula that's dominated the videogame golf scene for the last five years. Tweaks and subtleties is what this year's iteration is all about with extra control over draw and fade shots (by using the shoulder buttons), a 'putt preview' feature, that EA admits has been ripped off from TV coverage of the sport, plus a new Shot Confidence meter that tracks just how well you do on each individual hole.
Online it's now possible to post videos of your best, or craziest shots, for others to marvel at and you can even challenge others to come up with something better.
Player customisation features have also improved greatly and along with designing a near replica of yourself (or simply importing your own facial image) the animation even extends to the movements of individual muscles. The Tiger Woods games never fail to hit a sweet spot - we just hope the Wii version manages to tame the controls.
Worms: Open Warfare 2 (DS/PSP)
The Worms brand continues to endure, probably because there's just something uniquely charming about its combination of amusing characterisation and simple strategy. Although there's a decent single-player campaign taking you through many 'classic' battles in history it's the online features that impress.
Now you get to play people across the globe in Deathmatch, Race or the Forts multiplayer modes which takes the Worms handheld experience to new levels of hilarity.
isn't warhawk out for ps3 this week, or does it not count since its released on thursday and on the playstation store? the disc version might not be for another month but this surely still counts as a game release
my long term plan was to buy a PS3 to add to the Wii when the price dropped significantly below £400. I could buy it now if I wanted, but I think the whole price tag, bundle and 'Save £100' tag line treats me like an idiot, to be honest. Then this weekend I suddenly felt a strong urge to go out and get a 360. I thought how long before PS3 has got the same kind of range of games. Stuff like Bioshock is very tempting. £250 bundle seems very tempting. I can buy elder scrolls on 360 for £20, or pay £50 for the same game on PS3 - Sony is operating in p'take territory. I held off because my house is a mess, but when my new games room/lounge is ready in about 4 weeks...REAL price drop, Sony. NOW!
Get yourselves a 360 guys, honestly, if you cannot see that sony have had their period of dominance in the games industry then you are only fooling yourselves. Time to step aside fatcat Sony execs, plus the fact that they crap on europe from a great height. Let them know that you are not amused with them buy not giving them your hard earned dosh!
I think that the reason that Warhawk has not been mentioned is probably down to it not being on "general release". The game can only be downloaded from PSN by broadband users and therefore will be unavailable to a lot of PS3 owners.
In retrospect you don't normally have games that are being released for the VC and XBLA mentioned on the upcoming release schedule either.
Theres no getting away from it Sony have dropped the ball with the PS3 release shedule. They really need to get their act together.
I think that the reason that Warhawk has not been mentioned is probably down to it not being on "general release". The game can only be downloaded from PSN by broadband users and therefore will be unavailable to a lot of PS3 owners.
In retrospect you don't normally have games that are being released for the VC and XBLA mentioned on the upcoming release schedule either.
Theres no getting away from it Sony have dropped the ball with the PS3 release shedule. They really need to get their act together.
I think it is more of a case of developers getting their acts together. People need to be less critical of the ps3 whilst it is still in its infancy. I'd give it another year and then we can either congratulate or criticise sony fairly. Let's face it, the ps3 has come into a market (over a year) behind a decent launch by the 360, a machine that is in its second faze of developed games. The Wii has also been more popular than anyone imagined and taken some of the focus away from ps3. Not trying to make excuses for ps3, but it needs to be given time, just like 360.
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