Written by Anthony 
When I first heard news of Grand Theft Auto going mulitplatform I was shocked, a little mad, and admittedly a bit nervous. Next came Devil May Cry, a franchise once only available on PlayStation consoles. After that went Tekken, along with many others. The most recent was a major shock to the gaming community, with Final Fantasy XIII going to Xbox 360. So how does all of this benefit us PlayStation 3 owners?
Sony, while always having been known for having talented 1st party developers that create quality titles such as God of War and Shadow of Colossus, suddenly had its back against the wall. If your back is against the wall, and you are feeling cornered, your only choice is fight, or flight. Sony being the king of the consoles, certainly isn’t the company to go down without a long-fought battle.
In this battle, the console wars, the tide is starting to turn. Xbox 360 is starting to slow down, and developers are starting to see the power of the PlayStation 3. And why is this? Because Sony 1st party developers have been forced stepped up their “game”…
Let’s take a look at the 2008 holiday line-up. For shooters, you had Resistance 2 which raised the bar for all multiplayer games with its 60 person multiplayer and its thriving community. We also had the award-winning LittleBigPlanet which was the most innovative title of 2008. Both of these games are a direct result of the console wars, as each developer not only had to perform to expectations, but also had to exceed them to win over new customers on the fence about which console to buy. Sure there were many more stellar games they released, like Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, but that is all I will touch on in 2008. Let’s move on to 2009.
With the recently announced 2009 PS3 line-up, it’s easy to see which console has the very best first party exclusives this year. Yes, I know the year has only just begun, and the other consoles may counter with their own big guns, but let’s be realistic here… I am sure Sony has a few tricks up their sleeve as well. Even without these “tricks” Sony is sure to make some serious waves this year.
Starting off with Killzone 2 (our review is coming Monday) a game that everyone said would never live up to its hype. I can say with confidence that Killzone 2 has not only lived up to its hype, but that the hype didn’t live up to Killzone 2.
Next, let us move to Heavy Rain and inFamous, both unique games in their own respect. Both of these are hoping to find their place amongst the many successful PlayStation franchises. Although both are deserving of our attention, they just might be a bit overshadowed by the next two titles….
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the follow-up to the breath of fresh air that was Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, with the first game being the beginning of what has become one of my favorite franchises of all time. A compelling story, enjoyable cast, and heart pounding third person shooting/platforming round out its feature set.
Lastly, let’s touch on God of War III, even though the game surely speaks for itself. After watching the trailer in HD, and checking out all of the screenshots, it’s easy to see that God of War III is set to be the biggest game of this year. One of Sony’s flagship franchises, and one of the most well known franchises in gaming. Sony Santa Monica has to not only bring us the quality God of War is known for, it has to take the franchise to new heights, giving us gaming experiences so ambitious that gaming will never be the same.
So in closing, with Sony not being able to rely on third party exclusives to drives its console sales, Sony’s first party developers must pick up the slack, and so far, they are doing a phenomenal job of not only doing just that… but they are raising the bar of expectations from the gaming industry.
