Games Cheats and Reviews

I hated the PlayStation 2. Despite the huge back catalogue of excellent titles like Shadow of the Colossus and Okami, the ease with which the developers could churn out endless volumes of shovelware left the games market flooded with so many badly made games that they threatened to eclipse the true classic titles that the PS2 will be remembered for.

Along comes the PlayStation 3. It was a large shiny, overpriced piece of hardware accompanied by ridiculous amounts of pomp and over-exaggeration almost hammered final nails in Sony’s coffin, for me at least.

Then something happened. I played the damned thing. My first proper encounter with the PS3 was at Edinburgh Interactive 2008 where the good people at Media Molecule were giving the general public their first ever taste of LittleBigPlanet.

This was not the Sony of the past that I was used to. The company that ruthlessly hoarded exclusives and allowed any old dross to be released on the PS2 to pollute the gaming world had been replaced by a company that embraced new and innovative gameplay adventures.

The PS3 was rapidly added to my Christmas list and I meticulously planned my games purchases (and review code requests) based on making sure that I acquired 2008’s PS3-exclusive titles.

So, one year on, what have I learned?

Despite Sony’s inability to get a product launch right and stubborn rejection of full screen anti-aliasing I have learned the true beauty behind the black behemoth that nearly sank the good PlayStation name into the mud.

The PlayStation 3 has several clear advantages over the Xbox 360 now that go far beyond the apparent technical advantages that Cell offers over the IBM PowerPC architecture at the heart of the 360.

These are more of a philosophical approach hiding behind all the bravado that Sony still has despite falling so far from grace.

The biggest advantage of the PS3 over the Xbox 360 is its flexibility as a platform. The console offers full internet browsing and the ability to install more than one operating system meaning that, although most users will never take full advantage of the chance to power their PS3 with Linux, it can perform a greater number of roles in the household than the very blinkered and streamlined approach adopted on the 360.

The willingness to experiment with new IP and new features is Sony’s next biggest strength. There are two main examples of Sony’s new experimental attitude. The first is the monumental LittleBigPlanet.  Concealed within a very cute and capable platform game is console gaming’s one and only user-generated content community.

Now with a 1.3 million user generated levels and a brace of industry awards, LittleBigPlanet’s community, is the most compelling example of how well Sony’s experimental approach has worked. This is something that the Xbox is yet to emulate despite their investment in the XNA software development tools.

The other example is the VGA’s indie game of the year Flower. The PlayStation Store does not have as large a library of games as Xbox Live Marketplace but PSN plays host to titles that are far more innovative than all but the very best that Microsoft’s platform has to offer.

In addition to thatgamescompany’s gem, the PixelJunk series, my personal favourite being Eden, CapyBara’s superb and addictive Critter Crunch and Queasy Games’ Riff:Everyday Shooter show Sony’s commitment to taking risks is bringing forward some of the world’s best in development talent.

The PS3’s final strength is, surprisingly, the exclusives. Microsoft may have Halo, Forza and the irritating ability to gain exclusive rights to DLC for games like Fallout 3 and GTA IV, but Sony still has the exclusives to put Microsoft to shame.

If we forget the ongoing saga of Gran Turismo 5 we can see the sheer depth of Sony’s portfolio. Beginning with multiple-award-winning game of the year Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, we see one of the best adventure franchises created in recent times blossoming in the most incredible fashion. Then there is the supporting cast: Motorstorm, Killzone 2, Ratchet and Clank, Metal Gear Solid 4 (best game of the series in my opinion), the upcoming Heavy Rain, The Last Guardian and, as we have already mentioned, the phenomenal LittleBigPlanet.

You can’t really argue with a system that has that many solid exclusive franchises under its belt. This year we have definitely seen Sony return to the kind of form that they showed during the PS2 era and 2010 looks even brighter. Thanks to the hardware revamp and the price drops the Playstation 3 will emerge into 2010 a serious contender in the console race.

Yes, the ride has not been smooth and I still love my 360 to bits – even if it is prone to spontaneous combustion – but Sony have managed to worm their way into my good books which means that there is still hope for the PS3 yet.