PS3 At TGS – The Last Stand

The next gen wars are kind of like the Royal Rumble (bear with me while I explain the analogy).

Wannabe’s like the Phantom Game Console clamber into the ring with visions of greatness, former champs and industry stalwarts like Nintendo dive in under the ropes looking for one more shot at title, precocious young tykes like Microsoft strut in with cautious optimism, while last years reigning champ Sony slowly pushes the ropes down as he swaggers into the ring, one leg at a time, assured of victory.

Just like the Royal Rumble, there’s always one idiot who gets overzealous and is chucked out seconds after flying into the ring, much to the amusement of onlookers, he vows to be back but we all know he’s gone for good.

At this point all bets are off, it’s anybody’s game. The old stalwart has a pretty good shot, he’s a fan favorite, everyone’s got a soft spot for him (I seem to remember Hulk Hogan winning the Rumble when he was in his late sixties, of course, the Hulkster never loses a fight ever, except to Mr. T). The precocious newcomer also has a pretty good chance of coming out on top, we’ll call him the Heart Break Kid in this analogy. He’s flashy with a bag of new tricks and he’s promising the world. Well what about the reigning champ? Right now things don’t look so good for him, he’s kinda like Andre the Giant at this point, sorta slow moving and just wading through guys through sheer force of will, but he looks vulnerable, now he’s on the ropes and it looks like his competitors are straining to lift him up and tip him over the edge. But it ain’t quite that easy.

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The next gen wars are kind of like the Royal Rumble (bear with me while I explain the analogy).

Wannabe’s like the Phantom Game Console clamber into the ring with visions of greatness, former champs and industry stalwarts like Nintendo dive in under the ropes looking for one more shot at title, precocious young tykes like Microsoft strut in with cautious optimism, while last years reigning champ Sony slowly pushes the ropes down as he swaggers into the ring, one leg at a time, assured of victory.

Just like the Royal Rumble, there’s always one idiot who gets overzealous and is chucked out seconds after flying into the ring, much to the amusement of onlookers, he vows to be back but we all know he’s gone for good.

At this point all bets are off, it’s anybody’s game. The old stalwart has a pretty good shot, he’s a fan favorite, everyone’s got a soft spot for him (I seem to remember Hulk Hogan winning the Rumble when he was in his late sixties, of course, the Hulkster never loses a fight ever, except to Mr. T). The precocious newcomer also has a pretty good chance of coming out on top, we’ll call him the Heart Break Kid in this analogy. He’s flashy with a bag of new tricks and he’s promising the world. Well what about the reigning champ? Right now things don’t look so good for him, he’s kinda like Andre the Giant at this point, sorta slow moving and just wading through guys through sheer force of will, but he looks vulnerable, now he’s on the ropes and it looks like his competitors are straining to lift him up and tip him over the edge. But it ain’t quite that easy.

Most people have accepted that the PS3 will be the most powerful next generation console available,  it’s also unquestionably the most versatile (HDMI+1080p+Interchangeable HDD’s+non-proprietary memory formats and Blu-Ray FTW!). In addition, taking into account the PlayStation brands track record of stellar third party support it’s a given that the platfrom will see an impressive number of solid first party titles, by all accounts we should be swearing over our first born children and worshipping at the altar of the Sony PlayStation 3… so why aren’t we? Why is there so much hate in the media and press for Sony’s big black bundle of joy? Why are we still wondering whether King Sony will have a hard time coming out on top this gen? Simply put, what’s the weak link in the chain?

Here’s a hint, it isn’t the machine, it isn’t the software lineup either, it’s the people steering the ship. Well, perhaps that’s not entirely accurate, it’s more what they’re saying and what they’re not doing that’s killing the PS3 in the media. Thankfully (and yet somehow frustratingly) the mouths at Sony have clammed up, and in the past few months we’ve heard little to nothing from Krazy Ken, Garrulous George and er… Cantankerous Kaz. In the next few days, that’s all going to change. The Tokyo Game Show is Sony’s last stand. What have they got that they might be able to wow us with? Let’s see…

Killzone PS3

No, it won’t be at the show, let’s just get that out of the way first. Most say Sony’s intentionally keeping Killzone on the hush, hush for two good reasons:

• In order not to harm or steal the spotlight for Insomniac’s high profile PS3 launch title Resistance: Fall of Man.
• They’d like to get it as close as possible to the level of visual fidelity seen that very first CG video from E3 2005.

Personally I think it’s got more to do with the former than the latter, but we can always hope. Apart from interfering with Resistance’s impending massive ad campaign, Killzone is being developed by a Western development studio, and TGS has traditionally featured and focused on games developed in the East.

Chances it’ll be at the show? Very low, I’d say right around when Helghan freezes over, yuk, yuk! So when can we expect to hear some news on Killzone? Don’t hold your breath, I doubt we’ll be seeing or hearing much from the guys at Guerrilla till a few months after Resistance hits. Speak of the devil…

Resistance: Fall of Man

Wait, didn’t I just say traditionally Western developed games don’t feature at TGS? Yeah, but like the article title suggests, this really is the PS3’s last stand. Resistance is a launch title and Sony can’t afford not to utilise a stage as grand as TGS presents to convince gamers that Resistance can go the distance, add to that the fact that the Ratchet and Clank games (also developed by Insomniac) sell surprisingly well in Japan, and it’s pretty much assured we’ll be seeing and playing the game in Tokyo. Well, that and the fact Sony have confirmed it’ll be there.

What’s the latest nooz on the Resistance effort?

Pretty interesting actually, word is that Resistance has come a long way since E3, with new lighting and enhanced models added to the mix have a look at these comparison screens compiled by Wollan of NeoGAF:

Yeah, it’s looking that good. Where the original Killzone was once touted as the  PS2’s Halo killer (to the detriment of the title and the developer) it seems that some people (Shane Bettenhausen of 1up)  are drawing  parallels between Resistance and the boost Bungie’s Halo gave to the Xbox at its launch: “It’s totally Halo, while GoW branches into a weird GRAW-meets-Resident Evil 4, by-way-of UT, direction. Sure, it looks choice…but 8-player max “stop-n-pop” gameplay isn’t exactly Halo. And well, people like Halo. If Resistance can out-Halo Gears…Xmas should be terribly interesting.” Couldn’t agree more Shane… that said I’m totally stoked about Gears.

At this point it seems as though Resistance will receive the fill brunt of Sony’s launch marketing push. The game’s apparently almost done, with Insomniac focusing on polish, polish and more polish right now. If you’re still under the impression that this is just another WWII shooter, think again, Resistance is going to be huge for PS3.

Devil May Cry 4

The DMC series is 2 for 3 outings so far, the first was a stellar action adventure title that debuted on the PS2 and gave gamers a taste of fast paced over the top action of the incredibly stylish sort. The second was craptacular (that is to say, bad, and not in a good way) and that’s all we’ll say about that. The third was a huge return to form that not only expanded the design of the first, but breathed life into the formula. DMC 4 promises to do even better. Dante reportedly takes a back seat to newly introduced protagonist, Nero (pictured  in the first screen dealing much damage to some  malcontent marionettes. He’s armed with a stupefyingly powerful double barreled revolver, a highly  customizable giganto-sword called the “Red Queen”, and a demonically possessed right arm that loves to deal damage in large doses.

So what’s the new news? Well we’re hearing word that the game is surprisingly far along, with 2 years of development behind it. Capcom have said Sony specifically hinted to them that the title be ready as close to the PS3’s launch as possible. Capcom, kudos to them said “Hey, this is DMC4, we won’t rush it!”

The latest issue of Game Informer magazine also hints at the possibility (however slight) that DMC 4 might make use of the PS3’s online capabilities in some form. (Cross your fingers).

Expect it to not only make an appearance at TGS, but to be playable as well.

Heavenly Sword

I think people are going to be pretty surprised at the scope of this project when we finally get a good, proper look at this game. What we’ve seen so far has been confined to a relatively small arena in the game world, the concept art we’ve got a glimpse at promises wide open sand covered vistas, forests at night, and ancient temples all waiting to be explored.

There’s still a big question mark hanging over Heavenly Sword despite it’s positive showings at both previous E3’s. E3 2006 proved that the game’s combat mechanic was pretty solid, but we’re still waiting to see just how deep, varied and engaging the game really is. Of particular interest is the game’s story, which we still don’t know an awful lot about to be honest, we know Andy Serkis (of Lord of the Rings fame) will be providing and directing most of the game’s extensive motion capture work, and that… well, not much else.

Again it might be a little odd to see a game developed in the West being showcased front and center at the Tokyo Game Show, but when you consider the content of Heavenly Sword and it’s obvious Wushu influence, it makes sense doesn’t it? The basic gameplay at E3 already seemed pretty tight, and the spit and shine applied to the game in the year between its showings at E3′ 05 and E3 ’06 was pretty impressive so we’re looking forward to seeing what it looks like now.

There are those who say Factor 5 makes great looking games that are all glitz glamour and little substance, well, the company’s track record kinda supports that claim. Star Wars Rogue Leader and Star Wars Rogue Squadron for the Gamecube were technical achievements that stand out as amazing examples of graphical wiz-bangery, but most would agree that they weren’t too tasty when you got to the meat and potatoes of the gameplay.

That said Factor 5 have always delivered a polished experience, and there are rumblings that Lair looks absolutely stunning. For some reason we’ve only caught glimpses here and there of the title, some of it real time footage, and some CG pre-rendered sequences. It looks like at TGS we’ll finally find out exactly what Lair is about. Here’s hoping it lives up to the hype.