THe year 2008 came to be known as one of the biggest years in gaming history. Aside from the embarrassingly large repertoire of triple-A games across all the systems, there were also some rather interesting mergers (Activision-Blizzard) and startling departures (Peter Moore to EA Sports). The year 2008 is looking like it is going to provide more of the same quality of games that were seen in '07. I'll begin this with shedding some light on upcoming games for Sony's Playstation 3.
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

First off, Metal Gear Solid has proven itself to be the premiere franchise of the Playstation brand. For over twenty years, Hideo Kojima has directed and produced a truly ground-breaking franchise. Years before the rise of Splinter Cell and Tenchu, a soldier known as Solid Snake crept his way onto the MSX2 Home Computer system and the NES to start what came to be known as the stealth action genre in video games. Snake appeared in a sequel and a spin-off known as Snake's Revenge; however, in 1998 Metal Gear Solid became one of the most anticipated games of the '90s. MGS was released for the Playstation and has proven to stand the test of time.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is a completely viable reason to buy a Playstation 3 at this point. Simply put, this will go down as one of the most important games developed for this generation. It's been 10 years since we first were introduced to Revolver Ocelot and Liquid Snake, and now the conflict will come to one final battle. Many memorable characters are making their return in this game and most importantly, David Hayter will continue to superbly perform as Solid Snake.
The game play will be drastically improved from other MG titles with a fully manipulative camera, which includes the traditional top-down view, first person view and over the shoulder view a la Resident Evil 4 and Gears of War. The Close-Quarters combat has been overhauled and snake now has a new form of camouflage called "octocamo" which allows snake to blend in to any surface.

Resistance 2

Resistance: Fall of Man was an opening day title for the Playstation 3 and turned out to be one of the best shooters available for the system. It took a strange twist on the WWII genre with an alien attack on earth and this direction worked pretty well for the game. The graphics were stunning considering it was a first-generation game and it had the fun, twitch-based game play that one would expect from games like Unreal or Quake.

The latest iteration of this game will include some staggering game options from 60 player online battles to an unheard of eight player co-op campaign. The game will be a continuation of the story set by the first Resistance and will take place across the United States. With these types of options, I can surmise that this title will be spinning in some happy PS3s for a long time.

Killzone 2

It's looking like this will be the year of the sequels in the gaming world, with titles like Resistance 2, Fallout 3, MGS 4 and GTA IV being released, it is looking like Killzone 2 will be added to the fray. Killzone came out on the Playstation 2 proclaiming itself as the "Halo Killer" unfortunately some lukewarm reviews debunked these claims and the game was not heard from again until E3 2005. During that year's E3, Sony unveiled Killzone 2 in a trailer that had everyone saying that there was no way that it was rendered by the in-game engine. The visuals were just so unbelievable, but as time went on and a couple more E3s allowed the game to shine, it started to pick up steam.

In this game, the ISA (the good guys) will be invading the enemy's home planet and this will hopefully provide some truly epic battles. The visuals are definitely for real and they are arguably the best that will be shown this year.

Little Big Planet

Little Big Planet is the quirky little platformer that will shake the foundations of what we know about video games. When one hears about sandbox games, they think of Grand Theft Auto, but to think that the same rules can apply to a platformer, the possibilities are endless. This, along with MGS 4 and Final Fantasy XIII, is the biggest reason why I will hate the fact that I do not own a PS3. I am a huge physics and customization junky and this is a game I could spend hours on.
The core of this game is to put players in the position of creating these unique characters that have strengths and weaknesses and use them to navigate worlds with puzzles and obstacles. The player will also have the opportunity to create their own levels and share them on the Playstation Network.

Closing Comments

As time has gone on, I've come to the realization that the Playstation 3 is no longer the awkward behemoth of a system that was being trounced by the tiny Nintendo Wii and the svelte X box 360. Now that Sony has officially won the HD battle, is gaining some great 1st party support, and has all the features that will make gamers gawk over it. 2008 will be the year that the PS3 will command some well deserved respect from the gaming community. While the console war is far from over, the PS3 appears to have been built for the long haul and will provide many years of enjoyment even when the other companies move on to the next generation.