So the PlayStation 3 has finally had a price cut, although they have announced that it may only be available at the reduced price of $499 (yes that's reduced!) while stocks last on the 60GB model (a 80GB model at $599 will replace it). I know some of you are Still wondering if it worth getting one while they are $100 less, so I am here to convince you that the PS3 is finally a solid purchase. Except in Europe where there has been no price cut, sorry lads it's probably still not worth it there :(
Of course non of this matters to me because I purchased mine 2 weeks before the price cut! D'OH! But I got the no longer available 20GB model at $399, which lacks functions I don't care about so I'm still OK with my purchase.
So many of you will be saying, "but aren't there no games on the PS3 to warrant a $500 price tag?", well it's true that for the first year of it's life the PlayStation 3 has had very few great games worth playing, and most of the ones that were great already appeared on the 360. But I assure you, during the next year there are more than enough great games to convince you the PS3 is more than a great Blu-Ray player. So let's take a look at my picks along with there estimated release dates.
LAIR - 8/14/06Essentially Star Wars Rogue Leader with dragons and knights, created made by the same people that made Rogue Leader. This game may be one of the best looking games out between now and MGS4.
John Woo presents Stranglehold - 8/20/07Yes this one is coming to the 360 too, but the PS3 version may be the better choice as it comes with the John Woo/Chow Yun Fat classic movie (of which the game is a sequel) Hardboiled on the disk as a full HD Blu-Ray movie! How freaking sweet is that!
Warhawk - 8/28/0732 player online battles, described as battlefield for the Halo crowd but with cooler vehicles. Looks like after Halo 3 and Team Fortress, this could be the best online shooter this year. Best of all this will be a PSN downloadable title meaning the cost can be shared between friends!
Oh and did I mention that it looks pretty nice too?
Heavenly Sword - 9/28/07Affectionately called Goddess of War, Heavenly Sword combines all the thrills of games like Ninja Gaiden and God of War with hot chicks and gorgeous graphics. A demo will be hitting the PSN (PlayStation Network) in the next few weeks!
Haze - 11/20/07From (some of) the creators of Goldeneye and (all of the creators) of Timesplitters. This futuristic FPS features 4 player co-op and a kick ass story. I have high hoes for this. It will be coming to the 360, but probably 6 months later (it doesn't even have a release date on 360 yet).
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - 11/28/07Cross Tomb Raider with Far Cry, Gears of War and Prince of Persia and what you get is this jungle adventure with plenty of action game, looks like a must play!
And that's all THIS year.
And don't forget HOME is less than 8 weeks away!Then in January or February next year we have what may be the greatest game of all time Metal Gear Solid 4! Which may eventually come to 360, but I doubt it will be within 12 months and I doubt that it will run as well on the 360 hardware as it was designed for the PS3. Even MGS2 didn't run as well on the Xbox as it did on the PS2 due to being designed for the PS2 hardware.
Also here are just some of the games coming out in 2009 -
Little Big Planet - Create your own levels and play with friends! This game looks AMAZING! Check it out NOW!
Unreal Tournament 3 - Built with the new special PS3 supported Unreal Engine, Epic Games claim this will be the first time the PS3's cell processor is made to sweat. Epic say it already looks better than Gears of War did at this stage of development and the PS3 version is not only the lead version but will feature exclusive support for custom mods (created on the PC).
The Agency - Syphon Filter meets Perfect Dark Zero meets an MMO. One of the games I am most looking forward to on any system.
Heist - A wicked looking bank robbery simulator! This is one to keep an eye on for sure, it's already looking pretty sexy.
Killzone 2 - I presume you have seen the real trailer for this from E3 by now, if not download from the PSN or check it out, although I highly suggest you find a HD version if you really want to see how great it looks.
Folklore - Like Fable on acid, looks pretty cool to me.
White Knight Story - A cool looking Japanese RPG that takes place in England. The battle system looks good but I'm not sold yet. Lot of hype for this game among RPG fans.
Check out the video and preview for more info. So while the PS3 had a pretty crappy first year, the next 6 months are looking pretty fantastic, easily as good as the 6 months the 360 has ahead of it. I think if I had none of the new systems I would still go with the 360, but I would pick a PlayStation 3 over the Wii at this point (although I'm loving RE4 Wii Edition). But it's a great year to be a gamer.
EDIT: Found this amazing list of upcoming exclusives for PS3, put together by "
Stunt" over at
www.ps3forums.com . Click here to view.
