joeblow
01-18-08, 10:51 PM
ign (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/846/846509p9.html) is down on HOME but very high on exclusive releases this year:
2008 Predictions
As you've just seen, we already have a good idea of what many of the biggest games of 2008 should be. However, there's still nearly a full year ahead of us and lots of time for Sony to shake things up in one way or another. Here are a handful of predictions that we think will happen over the next calendar year.
Sony Will Go on a Buying Spree
Sony still has a lot of catching up to do to get out of third place in console sales, and one of the best ways to do that is to secure as many exclusive titles as possible. With more and more studios being gobbled up by publishers, exclusive titles are becoming rarer. Studios like Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games and Sucker Punch are pretty much already Sony exclusive, so picking them up might not be a necessity, but it would help make sure they stayed in the Sony camp.
A studio like Free Radical Design would be a great requisition, while a company like Natural Motion could give Sony exclusive future access to some very impressive technical prowess. There aren't too many independent studios left, so now is the time to move and scoop them up.
The PlayStation Store Will See a Major Overhaul
This one is sort of obvious, but it really needs to happen. Though it's doing a much better job of updating the store each and every week with new content, a number of changes will eventually need to be made. Firstly, the Thursdays-only updating schedule will eventually come to an end as the Xbox 360 Marketplace will continue to post content, like Rock Band downloadable tracks, days in advance of the PlayStation Store. The shoe will drop when a big, cross-platform demo is set to hit on a different day and Sony will have to change its formula.
As well, the content layout will be changed drastically. As more and more demos, downloads and more pop into the store, Sony will see the need to revamp the store to give gamers much easier access to the content. More refined category searches should crop up as part of an overall relaunch that should hit either around E3 or just before the next holiday season starts.
PlayStation Packaging or Price Changes
Word recently came out that Sony has cut the production cost of the PlayStation 3 in half, thereby giving it much more leeway for another price drop. Given that there's still a lot of gain to be made in the console race, it will eventually need to make a change to how the system is sold, via either a lower price or some sort of killer pack-in deal. The MotorStorm pack-in worked well, but it was only in the most expensive package. But including both MotorStorm and Resistance in the cheapest package will make it a killer value for gamers while also introducing them to two of Sony's newest franchises, setting them up for purchasing the sequels when the arrive. So expect either a price drop or killer bundle to hit before the next shopping season begins.
Home Doesn't Take Off
While we're expecting an update on its release at GDC (including the possible announcement of an immediate beta launch), we won't be surprised if Home doesn't have as much of a long-lasting impact as Sony hopes it will. Unless Sony changes a number of things before its release, gamers will quickly tire of having to go into someone's apartment to see their trophies and walking into a theater to watch a trailer when they could just hit up a website and do the same thing (or download it off the PlayStation Store). Though it should come off as being successful for what it does, many gamers will shrug it off and go back to playing games on the system.
Sony's Lineup Dominates This Year's Holiday Season
Nintendo has already released a Mario, Metroid and Zelda title for the system, and Smash Bros. will be out relatively soon, leaving its must-have library as old news. Microsoft has a strong lineup, but most of those games are cross-platform. Sony, on the other hand, will have a bevy of killer exclusives hit the system throughout the year, and especially around the holidays.
Resistance 2 is already scheduled for the end of the year, and we expect Killzone 2 to release around the same time. We also expect to hear that Infamous, SOCOM: Confrontation and, hopefully, Gran Turismo 5 will launch around the same time as well. But we don't expect that to be the end: Sony will pull out all the stops and get MotorStorm 2 and God of War III out the door before 2008 is over as well, at least in demo form. And remember, we don't even know about the E3 announcements yet...
2008 Predictions
As you've just seen, we already have a good idea of what many of the biggest games of 2008 should be. However, there's still nearly a full year ahead of us and lots of time for Sony to shake things up in one way or another. Here are a handful of predictions that we think will happen over the next calendar year.
Sony Will Go on a Buying Spree
Sony still has a lot of catching up to do to get out of third place in console sales, and one of the best ways to do that is to secure as many exclusive titles as possible. With more and more studios being gobbled up by publishers, exclusive titles are becoming rarer. Studios like Naughty Dog, Insomniac Games and Sucker Punch are pretty much already Sony exclusive, so picking them up might not be a necessity, but it would help make sure they stayed in the Sony camp.
A studio like Free Radical Design would be a great requisition, while a company like Natural Motion could give Sony exclusive future access to some very impressive technical prowess. There aren't too many independent studios left, so now is the time to move and scoop them up.
The PlayStation Store Will See a Major Overhaul
This one is sort of obvious, but it really needs to happen. Though it's doing a much better job of updating the store each and every week with new content, a number of changes will eventually need to be made. Firstly, the Thursdays-only updating schedule will eventually come to an end as the Xbox 360 Marketplace will continue to post content, like Rock Band downloadable tracks, days in advance of the PlayStation Store. The shoe will drop when a big, cross-platform demo is set to hit on a different day and Sony will have to change its formula.
As well, the content layout will be changed drastically. As more and more demos, downloads and more pop into the store, Sony will see the need to revamp the store to give gamers much easier access to the content. More refined category searches should crop up as part of an overall relaunch that should hit either around E3 or just before the next holiday season starts.
PlayStation Packaging or Price Changes
Word recently came out that Sony has cut the production cost of the PlayStation 3 in half, thereby giving it much more leeway for another price drop. Given that there's still a lot of gain to be made in the console race, it will eventually need to make a change to how the system is sold, via either a lower price or some sort of killer pack-in deal. The MotorStorm pack-in worked well, but it was only in the most expensive package. But including both MotorStorm and Resistance in the cheapest package will make it a killer value for gamers while also introducing them to two of Sony's newest franchises, setting them up for purchasing the sequels when the arrive. So expect either a price drop or killer bundle to hit before the next shopping season begins.
Home Doesn't Take Off
While we're expecting an update on its release at GDC (including the possible announcement of an immediate beta launch), we won't be surprised if Home doesn't have as much of a long-lasting impact as Sony hopes it will. Unless Sony changes a number of things before its release, gamers will quickly tire of having to go into someone's apartment to see their trophies and walking into a theater to watch a trailer when they could just hit up a website and do the same thing (or download it off the PlayStation Store). Though it should come off as being successful for what it does, many gamers will shrug it off and go back to playing games on the system.
Sony's Lineup Dominates This Year's Holiday Season
Nintendo has already released a Mario, Metroid and Zelda title for the system, and Smash Bros. will be out relatively soon, leaving its must-have library as old news. Microsoft has a strong lineup, but most of those games are cross-platform. Sony, on the other hand, will have a bevy of killer exclusives hit the system throughout the year, and especially around the holidays.
Resistance 2 is already scheduled for the end of the year, and we expect Killzone 2 to release around the same time. We also expect to hear that Infamous, SOCOM: Confrontation and, hopefully, Gran Turismo 5 will launch around the same time as well. But we don't expect that to be the end: Sony will pull out all the stops and get MotorStorm 2 and God of War III out the door before 2008 is over as well, at least in demo form. And remember, we don't even know about the E3 announcements yet...