We all know that Sony needs to show off something really special at this year’s E3. The good news is that they showed off more surprises than Nintendo did, with the biggest being MAG from SOCOM developers Zipper Interactive. Think Resistance 2’s 60 player online mode sounded impressive? Think again – MAG will let 256 players battle it out. Squads of 8 players can be led by those who have shown skill on the battlefield with characters that can be customised to match your playing style. The video showed troops being dropped off in helicopters, APCs swarming over huge landscapes and such. Also shown in teaser form was God of War 3.
The familiar looking Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Bounty is due to hit the PSN for a cheap $15. It’ll be shorter that the last Ratchet & Clank game, hence the lower price. Others due for the PSN store include 2D shooter Crash Commando, top-down shooter Fat Princess, Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic, PAIN Amusement Park, FlOwer and Siren: Blood Curse.
LittleBigPlanet also has a release date. A release month, rather – October 2008. Sucker Punch’s infamous – an open world superhero game – is looking good and should be one to watch, while the online DC Universe could be the first truly successful console MMO. Killzone 2, Motor Storm 2, GT5, Resistance 2 and Home all got another showing. There’s still no date for Home.
The PSP got a look in too, with Resistance Retribution from Bend Studios. It’s third person and looks rather grey. LocoRoco 2, Patapon 2, Super Stardust Portable and Midnight Club: Los Angeles Remix are on their way as well and should all be self-explanatory.
They haven’t forgotten about the PlayStation 2 either: a Lego Batman bundle is coming, which will also include a Justice League DVD for $150. A new PSP bundle was announced which will include Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (why not the newer Secret Agent Clank?), National Treasure 2 on UMD, a 1GB memory stick and a voucher for echochrome. The price? A nice $199. A new 80GB PlayStation 3 is also reported to be out soon for $400, but it sounds as if it’ll be the same as the current model which is sans PlayStation 2 compatibility.
MAG certainly has the potential to be massive, although things could get a little too hectic with 256 players. Trying to spot snipers will be near impossible. Other than that though, it would appear that Sony are sticking to the same out business plans they’ve used for years – churn out as many sequels to popular titles as possible. Home had better be worth the wait.
Fuck me. The PSP is only 100 quid over there and the PS3 is only 200. Fucking hell, we get ripped off over here.
Yeah i was gonna buy one from the US 4 my bro, the only thing thats stoppin me is that it won’t play region 2 UMD’s and since they’ve been reduced to a fiver on loads of sites i was hopping to buy a few
UMDs are a pointless still-born format though.
Or if they really matter, you could import a Japanese one, they play the same UMDs as the UK. But seriously, pointless. Just rip some of your DVDs to a memorystick (perfectly legal if you own the DVD).