Tradition has it that around this time of year we start looking at the incoming year’s digit and reflect on what it might have in store for us. I’ll do it a little differently though, instead of just listing the known highlights of 2009 I will list only the exclusive Sony projects and judge them all according to a scale going from good, to bad, to just plain ugly. The measuring units are a representation of my opinion whether the given project is a good idea for Sony as a whole or not. A simple yay, nay or off with his head regimen if you will.

God of War 3:  Good.

Sure, the gameplay video shown was less than impressive, but judging from the previous games, which were two of the finest action games ever made, I think we can all safely say that greenlighting a sequel to the previous masterpieces was a good idea. Though, while the previous God of War games have been decent sellers they, nevertheless, never set the charts on fire. I expect this title to sell moderately well, about 2 million units, but it won’t be a system seller. Just a much needed vitamin shot into the PS3’s gaming library for 2009.

Uncharted 2: Good.

Brilliant idea! The only thing the original Uncharted was missing was more sales, lets hope the sequel doubles the sales of its predecessor, now on to the next.

Infamous: Good.

Am I a monster for admitting that I am most looking forward to Prototype out of the two? It just, you know, looks like so much more fun. But looks can be deceiving and my misplaced affections aside I am in no doubt. Infamous will be worth the very long wait we had to endure. Unlike Insomniac, which has just stopped trying it seems, Sony has a keeper on their hand with the developer Sucker Punch. Too early for me to judge how big of a success this game will be, but I think we can at least expect God of War 3 type numbers when all is said and done. Another million seller for Sony, coming up!

Heavy Rain: Bad.

Ever played Fahrenheit, or, God forbid, Indigo Prophecy (which the gimped Yankee version was called) that had all the nudey bits removed because tits are a source of all evil and terrorism? No, not many did. I did though, I played the dickens out of that game. Heavy Rain is the quasi spiritual successor to that game.

Now, a Sony exec has been quoted as saying of this game that he hopes it will have casual appeal. Well, I’ll make a bold prediction here, granted I have not seen much of Heavy Rain, but I reckon I have seen enough. Having played trough Quantic Dream’s previous effort I think I can safely say that this title will blow whale gibblets when time comes to bring in the muffin.  Fahrenheit was, for lack of a better description, a glorified DDR clone with a pretty nifty semi-interactive adventure interface unloaded on top of it. It seems to me that Heavy Rain is all that plus a pretty creepy trip to the uncanny valley.

I applaud Sony, as one of the few remaining developer/publishers still doing it, to embrace and encourage new thinking and innovative game projects and studios. But, old chap, Heavy Rain has Heavenly Sword written all over it I am afraid; do not expect it to be a system seller. I’ll be picking it up regardless though.

Killzone 2: Good

Ah, you knew it was coming. Ok, so what we have here is an FPS.  It is dark, it is gritty, it has macho grunts in armour with guns, it has long lines of ugly opponents to shoot in the face repeatedly in an exercise in monotony.  Why, in today’s gaming world that positively sounds like the golden recipe for success, or some kind of get rich quick scheme that actually works. At least I expect that if such a game was released on the competitor’s system it would sell 5 million copies, easy.

But see, the PS3 is not the competitor’s system, and somehow deep inside me there is a feeling. A feeling that Killzone 2, as sure a bet as it is, nevertheless will somehow fail to bring in the number of units that one might expect. Intuition or wishful thinking? I don’t know, we’ll see, for know I am willing to consent to popular opinion and deem this a ‘good‘.

MAG: Ugly.

What do you call 128 closet case NRA chimps running around and playing shoot the terrorist? Well, you get FAG apparently. Sony’s railroad spike to the head, closing surprise at the end of their train wreck of a keynote conference back in E3 of 2008.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what I think of Sony greenlighting this stain on their lineup. Do we really need another online shooter? Really? Think hard now, actually, honestly, really? Can’t all the toddler Yank puffs who shoot away their sexual frustrations in online macho head whacks just do it in the other dozen or so titles designed for exactly that? Hmmmm? In say, Killzone 2, Resistance 2 or maybe even SOCOM? Or perhaps COD5 Or Team Fortress 2? Need I go on?

The Agengy (and that comic book MMO): Ugly.

Look, I am sure MMO’s are big business and all, luring poor OCD saps into monthly payment bondage like so many heroin dealers making future clients of neighbourhood school kids. But SOE, that independent MMO specific gaming arm of Sony, has a pretty terrible track record as a pusher.

They were doing semi-decently until Blizzard came along with World of Warcraft and started running circles around the entire industry. Now all they can do is fight over the left over scraps with the other poor MMO muts. Their insunk eyes and scrawny half dead looking bodies show they are not doing too well at that either.

I am going to go ahead and say it, the people over at SOE are not talented people, The Agency and that #ugh# comic book MMO both look terrible. All I see upon viewing videos demonstrating each games awkwardness is two bottomless holes in the ground each with a sign sticking out beside them instructing Sony to shovel development money into them. I’ve said it before, maybe MMO’s can be made to work on consoles, who knows, but I am sure of one thing, SOE will not be the ones to make it happen.

Here is an idea, those 2000 necks being prepped to be parted from the Sony body in a move to combat massive losses?  How about throwing the entire SOE unit into that meat grinder for good measure? That is right, just fire the whole gang. You want guaranteed MMO success for the PS3? I suggest taking that money being funneled into the dark pit of SOE and using it to purchase a successfull MMO studio in Korea, a really well known one with a good track record.

Then set that studio to develop a PS3 MMO project aimed at the Korean market. That would all but guarantee you a monopoly on console MMO’s in two of the world’s biggest, most lucrative MMO markets, China and Korea. All those Korean gamers who want nothing to do with your console will suddenly have a reason to pick one up and dump monthly subscriptions into your coffers as they slowly exhaust themselves to death as you tend to their OCD’s.

Sure enough you not only have opened up a much needed giant revenue stream into your gaming division but you can also put a fourth feather in your hat. Congrats old boy, you are now the only console manufacturer to be out and have moderate success in 4 totally different regions at the same time.

Oh, and did I forget to mention you should have done all this about two years ago? Yeah, sorry about that, just slipped my mind.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII: Ugly.

First: Final Fantasy XII, or at least the exclusivity of it.  Oh, Sony, years from now you will be sitting in a dimly lit pub rudely asking for another pint as you spill your current one while you harass the other pub goers with stories about the one that got away. How you scared away this delicious little treat into suggesting you start seeing other people I will never know, but you did it all the same old boy.

And Versus?  What do we know about this Final-Fantasy-Light title? It has a guy sitting on a chair and Square Enix thinking this is still 1996 were pre-rendered CGI is all the rage, this game has plenty of that. So…… yeah. I’ll discuss this title in the 2010 incarnation of this article.

White Knight Chronicles: Good.

This game looked so incredible and fluid about 3 years ago when we first saw that video of it. Since then, though, my excitement for the game has sort of run out of steam. The game is already out in Japan, there it certainly didn’t impress Famitsu much, what with the low scores and all, and the newest videos don’t look nearly as impressive as they did all those many years ago. It seems maybe the fluidity and innovation of the combat system fell somewhat short of the early demonstrations as well.

But heck, what else does this game have to go up against? Not too many JRPG’s coming out lately, are there? Square Enix certainly doesn’t seem to be in any rush to change that either. So, the game, as good as promised or not, will hit a dry spot, and we can all be thankful for that I suppose. I don’t think it will light up the charts either, it will likely debut in a low spot on the top ten best selling list only to quickly disappear from it never to be seen again a few weeks later.

Next Team ICO Project: Good.

We know naught of this game but confirmation of its existence and a single mysterious piece of art. A hole with a chain coming out of it. Not much to go on, granted, but Fumito Ueda has never failed to bedazzle us before so why should we doubt him now like a bunch of bratty unappreciative sods?

A Sony exec was quoted as saying of Ueda-san that he and his team are like the Olympics, returning once every four years. The four year passing since the release of Shadow of Colossus is scheduled to be up in late 2009. So, I figure it is about time we find out more about this project and perhaps dare hope to see it released before year end.  Don’t expect huge sales though, I think I bought half of all the copies ICO sold over here and Shadow of Colossus never broke a million, if my memory serves me right.

Do I want it regardless? Oh, you shouldn’t even need to ask.