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Sony Announces 34 PS3 Games At Gamer's Day

Posted by Zonk on from the getting-out-and-seeing-the-sony dept.

destinyland writes "Sony just announced a whopping 34 titles that are upcoming for the PlayStation 3. Despite record losses for the game group, their stock shot to a five-year high and they promised to eliminate 80% of their operating loss within one year. Analysts think that Sony's plan for that might include eventually lowering prices for the PS3." The 'Gamers Day' event featured a great deal of new information about Sony products and services, including the new PSP Store. Joystiq had some hands-on time with highly anticipated titles like LittleBigPlanet and Heavenly Sword.

9 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. Doesn't mean much by AKAImBatman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sony just announced a whopping 34 titles that are upcoming for the PlayStation 3.

    Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather have a single gem like Super Paper Mario than 34 unnamed, generic, run of the mill "games". I'm sorry, but I'm not 14 anymore. I don't have time to play constant mediocrity. So a single really fun game is going to appeal to me more than a gluttony.

    And while I'm on the topic, I'd like to point out that Super Paper Mario literally defines what Nintendo means by "fun over graphics". The graphics are quite pretty vector drawings, but there is no $4,000,000, ultra-realistic, shiny armored characters that look good on an HDTV. Instead, the company put their budget into every aspect of the game. There are nearly a dozen different "pixls" you can pick up, giving you a wide variety of methods of solving puzzles. EVERY character in the game has its own lines. There are no "generic" NPCs. The storyline (while quite lengthy at times) is amazingly well done and lends itself directly to the gameplay. All the towns and areas have rich histories and plenty of text about the characters that populate them. The gameplay itself changes quite often. Besides the usual jumping around, there are amusing street-fighter-type battles, a cute NES-style RPG simulator, passcode protected areas, puzzles requiring special button presses or a specific order of block bashing, switch puzzles, item combinations to make new items, a shoot'em'up boss level, etc, etc, etc.

    I have been making a point of purchasing most of my Wii and Gamecube games at either used or below retail prices. But Super Paper Mario was worth every penny I paid for it. It is truly a fresh game that drives the bar of quality ever higher. If the PS3 had a game like Super Paper Mario, I can tell you that they'd be selling a LOT more boxes right now. Even at $699.
    --
    Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    1. Re:Doesn't mean much by hansamurai · · Score: 2, Insightful

      How do we know that within those 34 games, there isn't a "Super Paper Mario"-equivalent for either you or some other older gamer? Everyone has different tastes, some people like specific genres, some people will play something from every genre. I've grown out of the stage where I must own the latest and greatest right now and I really only have time for a couple of new games a year, yet I can still find those games across platforms and appreciate them, even though they're not Mario. Right now I'm playing Okami, Guitar Hero, Puzzle Quest DS, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Now that may sound like a lot but considering I only have a few hours a week, those will last me a long time. I only have time for games that are worth playing, I don't try to hold every game I play up to Chrono Trigger, but I'm not so elitist towards game companies or platforms that I don't even consider them.

      --
      Reviewing just the first hour of video games.
    2. Re:Doesn't mean much by DrEldarion · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What's to say there won't be a few amazing gems in there? Why do you assume they'll all be generic and run of the mill? As far as I know, there's nothing preventing anyone from making fun games for the PS3.

      Also, "fun over graphics" makes me roll my eyes. Get this through your heads, people - the two are not mutually exclusive. For a non-PS3 example (to avoid fanboy accusations), see Gears of War. I have had a ton of fun playing games on my Wii, but I am very frequently wishing for higher-resolution graphics.

    3. Re:Doesn't mean much by pl1ght · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Sorry, while paper mario might be fun. It just doesnt cut it in my book of what I consider fun. Id take Heavenly Sword any day over Paper Mario. Different tastes for different people. Nintendo understands the ADD generation where ridiculous short party games are all that many ppl find fun today. Some of us others still enjoy the epic detailed intricate hard games that come with 360/PS3 territory. Not to mention Multiplayer capabilities.

    4. Re:Doesn't mean much by AKAImBatman · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Nintendo understands the ADD generation where ridiculous short party games are all that many ppl find fun today. Some of us others still enjoy the epic detailed intricate hard games that come with 360/PS3 territory

      Not epic and detailed? You obviously haven't played Super Paper Mario.
      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
    5. Re:Doesn't mean much by badboy_tw2002 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Oh Lordy Lords...can we please just be done with that old "Gameplay vs. Graphics" chestnut? I love playing the Wii and all, but I really hate the spineless doublethink that gets brought up as soon as someone mentions something from another platform. "Ugh, probably just some pretty pictures on some $10,000 HDTV no one owns - I for one prefer GAMEPLAY in my GAMES over GRAPHICS, but maybe that's just ME and not some beer-guzzlin sheeple - sniff sniff"

      I've worked in game development for a while now, and have done programming and project management. Let me assure you, we do not have a column with dollar signs that says "Graphics" and one that says "Gameplay" and add money to one and subtract it from another. You know what makes great games? Great ideas, great designers, great execution. You really can't polish a turd, but you can take a great idea and make it a steaming pile by not executing on it. Execution means polish, and polish a lot of the time means a high graphic standard (not photorealistic - Okami anyone?) Here's another fun fact: Artists are cheap. The real cost in HD game devlopment is still what it always was - engine development, tuning, optimization, getting that 60 fps so you don't look like a chump (well, that's a programmers point of view :). So all those "skyrocketing prices of next gen game development!" FUD pieces you read, well, no one around here suddenly went "oh shit, HD, we need twice as many artists, and we need to shudder our windows with $100 bills so the HD looks really good!" Game development hasn't changed because suddenly the resolution doubled. Hell, HD was passed a while back on the PC, and you never saw any "oh shit, now we're totally screwed" pieces in the PC world.

      The fact of the matter is, a good game is a good game. Graphics can and do make a game more enjoyable. The two aren't mutually exclusive, no matter what the Nintendo PR (is it even them saying that?) machine would have you believe. After all, where was that talk when the Gamecube was putting out equal or better quality graphics as the Xbox/PS2?

  2. Re:Lower the price? by alvinrod · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Additionally, getting extra PS3's into the wild will increase the number of game sales which also increases profit for Sony. In addition to this, every PS3 out there is also a Blu-Ray player and helps move Sony a few steps closer to winning a format war that they've invested a lot of money in. If Blu-Ray wins out, people are more likely to start buying Blu-Ray players and Blu-Ray movies (both of which Sony sells) which will also generate some extra revenue for Sony.

    There are probably a few more angles I haven't seen, but I think that covers most of it.

  3. Though who cares if it's a "franchise entry" by Sciros · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Twilight Princess is "Another franchise entry." Mario Galaxy, Smash Bros Brawl, Metroid Prime: Corruption, etc. -- the games that make the Nintendo Wii's holiday season (hopefully) worth waiting for through the current drought are all "franchise entries." Mind you they are also technically "exclusives."

    Cross-platform franchise entries such as NBA 2K8, that's a different story. Those I agree aren't worth getting excited about, at least not over a particular console.

    Also, I'd call Ninja Gaiden Sigma a "PS3 exclusive." It's not Ninja Gaiden or Ninja Gaiden Black, really, and it's also not being released for the 360 (sadly, as I am a NG whore).

    Anyway, don't think I'm disagreeing with your general sentiments; I'm not. The PS3 is really lacking in titles that make the console worth purchasing. That list does little to change that.

    --
    I like basketball!!1!
  4. Re:Lower the price? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    You pretty much nailed it.

    The other angles would be that someone who have bought a PS3 might be inclined to buy a big-ass HDTV and a surround sound system (both of which Sony sells at a nice profit) to take advantage of their shiny new PS3.

    Also more units sold, means it gets easier to entice game houses to release more titles for the console.