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Resistance 2

Sony started their press event with their biggest title for the holiday season, Resistance 2. Based on the incredible level of detail shown in the 300ft tall "leviathan" this looks like another PS3 title that couldn't be done on the 360. The scale of the environments is so huge that they dwarf those in Gears of War 2 and the promised 8 player co-op wouldn't be possible without the power of The Cell. The same could be said of the 60 player competitive multiplayer. I have to say, I'm much more excited for Resistance 2 than I imagined I would be.

LittleBigPlanet

After Resistance 2, LBP is Sony's next flagship game. The personalisation of Sack-Boy looks increasingly awesome and the user-created content possibilities and level interactivity still look great. However, little new has been shown of the game at E3 this year so it's a case of waiting to see how it pans out at release.

PlayStation Network

A big thing needed for the PSN is a web-based service for checking your friends and messages away from your console on a PC. Finally, this is on its way and should make the Sony's free network service even more attractive. It's really catching up with Xbox Live.

New PSN games announced include Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty along with various other increasingly high quality downloadable games. If the PSN is better than Live in one area, then this is certainly it. The overall quality of game downloads on Sony's platform is much higher than on XBLA.

PlayStation Home made the obligatory appearance but doesn't seemed to have leaped forward much since it was last shown. Also announced for the PSN is the launch of GT-TV in Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. It's a very niche service but certainly provides very high quality programming for motorsport fans.

Finally, Sony have announced a video download service to compete with Xbox Live Video Marketplace. What sets Sony's offering apart is that every video downloaded can be taken portable on your PSP and you can also purchase content in full, in addition to the usual rentals. As the amount of content increases this will make the PS3 a true multimedia powerhouse.

PlayStation Portable

The PSP seems to have been a bit shy of quality content in the last year but things look to be picking up in the future. One reason for this is Resistance: Retribution, a spin-off from Insomniac's flagship FPS title. On PSP it will be a 3rd person action game, similar to Killzone: Liberation.

Patapon 2 and LocoRoco 2 were announced from Sony's Japan Studio. Both look like more of the same so far, but both were awesome to begin with so that's certainly no bad thing. Also coming is a portable version of Super Stardust, the first PS3 game with trophies. If it's as entertaining as the console version then it could be great on the portable system.

More PlayStation 3

Going back to the main Sony system, DC Universe Online got its first showing during the briefing. Fighting as your own hero alongside the DC legends sounds like a great idea, but it's a little bit concerning that it could end up just being a copy of City of Heroes.

Also shown, albeit very briefly, were; Killzone 2, SOCOM US Navy SEALs: Confrontation and a teaser for God of War III. All 3 of these big hitters are looking great so far but we'll be well into 2009 before we get to play any of them for ourselves.

Much more was seen of inFAMOUS, the free-roaming superhero game coming in Spring next year. It looks very much like Crackdown for the PS3, but with more of a narrative and on the PS3, much more pretty. It's another of those titles that I'm interesting following the progress of, but it's not a must-have just yet.

Finally, there was the insane MAG, or Massive Action Game. It's a fully online multiplayer shooter featuring matches for 256 players, which is frankly, ridiculous. Team organisation is maintained by playing in 8 man squads and each player can level up and develop skills, CoD4 style. To keep players hooked there will also be faction campaigns taking place within the online game. If this game looks anything like the CG trailer shown, it could be truly amazing.

Conclusion

So far at E3 it looks to me like Sony has shown the most impressive catalogue of exclusive games. Though, it was interesting that 3 big franchises, Tekken, Gran Turismo & Uncharted, were no shows. They still have a little ways to go to match the experience of Xbox Live but it looks like they've caught up significantly.

It's going to be a busy holiday season!

If you're interested in what I thought about the Microsoft event, you'll find it in the previous blog-post.

Fallout 3

Microsoft began their presentation with a theme that would carry on throughout it - anticipated sequels. Unfortunately, I can't say that I'm one of the people anticipating Fallout 3. I have become increasingly bored of RPGs in recent years and tagging an FPS onto the genre seems to make it even less appealing, though I understand why RPG fans will be looking forward to this one.

I'd also like to point out that a key gameplay feature of pausing time to aim at different body-parts has been borrowed from Square-Soft's PSone title, Vagrant Story. However, in FPS combat it might be nice to have a different way to approach the action.

Resident Evil 5

Like MGS4 earlier in the year, Resi 5 seems to pay a lot of fan service with its gameplay and control scheme The co-op elements look very like Army of Two or the Splinter Cell games, but it's interesting to see how they're being approached by a Japanese developer.

Fable 2

Again, I must stress that my interest in RPGs is seriously low these days and so Fable 2 was never going to get me excited really. I did notice though that even this game is boasting co-op modes. Microsoft has clearly decided that co-op is going to be their buzzword for this year.

Gears of War 2

The Gears 2 trailer looked stunning but it's extremely unlikely that the gameplay will consistently match the same epic scale of battle, given that the engine is so focussed on small skirmishes. That said, the scale of the action is still bigger than the first Gears and the draw distance is mightily impressive.

As for gameplay, well, it certainly looks to have been improved but the improvement is a jump rather than a leap. It certainly looks like a case of "just more Gears."

Fall dashboard update

This is obviously where the bulk of the attention lay during Microsoft's presser. The update makes the 360 dashboard much cleaner, with the basic functionality under the shiny UI seeming very similar to Sony's XMB in the way it scrolls through sections.

Avatars, very similar to Nintendo's Miis will also be coming to replace GamerPics. You'll be able to choose clothing and facial features similar to Sony's coming Home service, but this races the question of how much Microsoft will be pushing new premium items through Marketplace. On the other hand, unlocking items by playing certain games is a great idea.

The new dashboard also brings a party system across all games which is quite simply an awesome feature. You'll be able to chat with multiple friends simultaneously and take your party straight into any game. Fantastic.

The Primetime section of the new dash focussed on pick-up-and-play quiz titles which makes me wonder a little if Microsoft are becoming too casual. This coupled with the Avatars seems to suggest they're moving into a very grey area between hardcore and casual. At least with some of the system's features.

Xbox Live Arcade

Geometry Wars 2 is obviously going to be one of this year's big titles on XBLA. I for one loved the first game and the Wii version and can't wait for more. Galaga Legions on the other hand, seems like much more of a niche title but should appeal to hardcore fans of the series.

Of course, even bigger than Geo Wars, is Portal: Still Alive. Arguably the biggest sequel still to be released this year, this is sure to give fans of the original even more addictive maps and story to sink their teeth into.

There's also the South Park game which should be a laugh on XBLA.

Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

For Banjo fans this game is going to be a huge event, but for me it's something of a big "meh!" The release of the original N64 game on XBLA is much more exciting, though I never did really like the controls back in the day.

Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise

More Viva always sounded like a great idea but the concept of scanning cards to unlock extra Piñata seems like a bit of a gimmick that could potentially cheapen the franchise. Though I'm still interested to play it myself and see how it pans out.

Scene It: Box Office Smash & You're In The Movies

These games seem to be further examples of Microsoft going a bit too far down the casual road for my taste. You're In The Movies is particularly low point for me. Most of what was shown looked either borrowed from or no better than a PS2 EyeToy game. Also the idea of cutting gameplay into short films seemed like it would get old fast.

Guitar Hero: World Tour & Rock Band 2

GH: WT doesn't appear to be up to the standards of the RB sequel. RB's superb libraries of DLC and larger initial disc-based set-list put it it a much stronger position than GH. The forwards compatibility of RB1 DLC with the sequel as well as the opportunity to copy RB1 disc tracks into RB2 really sets RB apart from the competition.

Lips

This in almost every way is SingStar for the 360, except for one incredible feature - the ability to use any song from a Zune or iPod. Normally I wouldn't go anyway near a game like this after SingStar but this feature and the great looking microphone make it seem very tempting.

Square-Enix RPGs

Most of Square's 360 RPGs seem like tired attempts to rejuvenate the J-RPG genre. However, the announcement that Final Fantasy XIII will be released on 360 is a massive blow to Sony and will seriously affect the console's appeal to anyone who already owns a 360.

Conclusion

Overall I would say that Microsoft's coming library of titles seems very strong and the FF XIII announcement certainly gives them an advantage over Sony at this point. However the strange movement into the grey area between casual and hardcore with some of the new dash features and casual titles could hurt them in the long-term. For now though, all seems well in the Microsoft camp.

Just one thing, where the heck is Alan Wake?

With the PlayStation 3 firmware fixed after last week's hitch, now seems as good a time as any to talk about trophies. I've unlocked most of those availble in the basic version of Super Stardust HD (the version without the expanded content) and the system seems pretty cool. I like the idea of having trophy "levels," but like GamerScore on the 360 it will probably become irrelevent quickly once people start sharing game saves. This is likely to be a major problem on the PS3, with game saves being freely moveable using portable storage devices like USB flash-drives. The other problem is that I already have a large amount of 360 achievements and continuing to increase that score is much more appealing than starting over with trophies.

Also of note before the madness of E3 next week, is the retailers' summer sales. Get down to your local Game or GameStation (if you're in the UK) and you'll find bargains galore. Today I picked up Colin McRae: DiRT and Virtua Tennis 3, both on 360, for only £5 after trading in the tedious, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.

DiRT is phenomenal so far, with stunning graphics and a much better "feel" than Codemasters' other recent racing game, GRiD. Virtua Tennis has always been my favourite tennis franchise and the third game is no exception. I didn't like the new ultra-realistic approach of Top Spin 3 (though I loved Top Spin 2). I prefer Virtua Tennis' more pick-up-and-play approach.

That's all for now, time to relax before the hectic mess that will be E3 week.

Having found myself stuck in the 16,000 GS region on Xbox Live for what seemed like an eternity, I've finally broken 17,000. This is thanks largely to Rock Band, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Battlefield: Bad Company. I've also gone back to Forza Motorsport 2 recently to unlock some more of the easy (but very time consuming) achievements I have left over there.

On the subject of Battlefield: Bad Company, I won't be reviewing the game but I am enjoying it. It's filling the absence of a Black sequel quite nicely by providing some vary similar "everything blows up" style gameplay. It's also got a very amusing story which helps it to stand out from all of the other games in the totally saturated FPS genre. It looks pretty too, despite the occasional flat texture and grainy character models, but those are understandable given that the levels are so huge.

I'm actually surprised by how much I'm enjoying it considering that most FPS games released in the last 2 years have bored me to tears. That said, it doesn't really do anything new for the genre, especially in its gameplay layout which seems to consist of simply moving to specific locations and either ridding them of enemies or destroying a large target with C4. Overall though it's been pretty entertaining and it executes most of its mechanics very well, so I'm giving it an 8.0 rating.

As both a fan of Guitar Hero and Aerosmith I decided to buy Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (360) this afternoon. The best thing I can say about it is that it does exactly what it says on the tin: it's totally a Guitar Hero game about Aerosmith.

I've finished the career mode on hard, which as you may already have guessed makes it both shorter and easier than Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. That's to be expected though when it focusses on a single band's music. For this reason the game is more like an expansion for GH3, rather than a full game in itself. This is no bad thing, because I'm always hungry for more GH content and I'm a big Aerosmith fan.

However, about halfway through the game, once the novelty of "being Joe Perry" wore off I started to get bored. This wasn't because of the music of Aerosmith, but because after playing Rock Band (even solo), GH just doesn't have the same magic anymore. In RB the crowd sing along with your songs and guitar solos are made to really stand out in the songs. Playing GH: Aerosmith, the sense of involvement in a band was nothing like as good.

Don't get me wrong, GH: Aerosmith is a perfectly solid and ok game. But however incredible playing "Walk This Way" may be, it just isn't quite the same as Rock Band.