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We are well aware of the boldness of our statement but in the immortal words of a Jedi, "I have a feeling about this," we believe indeed that online gaming for the PlayStation Network powered by the PlayStation 3 is in fact set to take the online gaming community by storm and overthrow the online gaming king sitting atop the masses some might know of as Xbox Live!
There's a good chance that I could be wrong and I'm willing to admit that but, I think that Sony has something in store for its gamers this year that's really going to allow PlayStation Network to shine. We all get the distinct impression that this years E3 is going to be all about the NGP but, the NGP will cover about as much time as the PlayStation Move did last year. The rest of the show thoroughly covered 3D, PlayStation Network and Sony's game line-up for this year. Sony have got to be up to something. We know that Sony does in fact have a lot to cover and its leaving us in mystery. What surprises they may have? We've heard this massive list of games and what we can expect from Sony this year and then you've got Microsoft (Que crickets). Dead silence meaning that we can either expect some major surprises and Microsoft are better about keeping things quiet with a surprise blowout, that Sony perhaps may be more generous in what they're putting out, as they've mentioned a lot but we know there are still surprises, or Microsoft are thinking they can coast by this year. Our suspicions lead us to believe its going to be about Kinect and a lot of casual games.
As far as Kinect goes, we expect to see the next Gears of War, the Halo: Combat Evolved with Kinect support and Codename: Kingdoms which seems to be a God of War type game developed by Crytek and has been confirmed to have Kinect support. We expect to see that, Steel Battalion and Panzer Dragoon, is all we can think to call it. We know that Microsoft have acquired Skype, which the PSP may or may not continue to use henceforth and we'll see that integration into Kinect at E3. We can't be sure really but, we're speculating that Konami will be showing Metal Gear Rising with Kinect/Move support this year.
So, back our statement made earlier. Why do we even think that way? Its a bold statement, its true but we really believe that Sony have got a lot of momentum going on their side. Perhaps its a metaphor but, we really feel that Sony is going to have a big year with their online gaming. So far, Gears of War is only massive online game mentioned right now. Battlefield 3 is a given but, its also available on PlayStation 3 as well. Other than Gears of War, we're just not seeing it. But, when we go back to Sony, I've been reviewing countless videos from various sites as well the information released on as many as I could find and I really believe that the PlayStation 3 is going to become the go to destination for online gaming. The mystery surrounding Sony's implementation of RakNet has me really thinking that there's a bigger picture and that its not just about online stability. Its the feeling that Sony could in fact announce cross-game chat this year and that other online features will appear. We've been carefully watching Sony's check-list and PlayStation Plus has happened, PSOne Classics have happened, Cloud Support has happened and Cross-Game Chat as part of PlayStation Plus we feel is at the door.
In a previous issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine, the Editor and Chief had made mention of something going on within PlayStation Home that he "couldn't talk about just now." But sounded as though he'd seen great things or perhaps he was just looking for something to write. RakNet has to have something good to bring to the PlayStation Network and we think this year could bring all of that out.
As far as online gaming, Sony has a solid line-up just begging to be played. We know a good chunk about Naughty Dog's Uncharted 3 Multiplayer and its various modes and its clearly a much larger and more ambitious project. Naughty Dog have stated that Uncharted 3 Multiplayer is all about pulling out all the stops and delivering the definitive online multiplayer experience. They've never lied to us before. We also know that InFamous 2 is out to carry on that Sony mentality spawned by the masters over all Media Molecule with the Play, Create, Share tag-line. InFamous 2 is carrying that on as the torch have been passed to them. Its all about Creating levels and discovering new ways to play the game and then posting those idea's online to draw the crowd to play them. LittleBIGPlanet did wonders in this area. Sure, there were levels just there to get trophies but, so many at the same time posted levels that really would blow your mind. LittleBIGPlanet 2 was all about Hansel and Gretelbot and it was great!
We've also got Twisted Metal we get to look forward to this year. Its back and its on the black behemoth and its not going to disappoint we're certain and Jaffe hasn't even revealed all that much. He's still be really quiet and is jazzed to announce much, much more we know.
There are several other games with online support, but in my search for this subject, I was buzzing around the PlayStation blog and stumbled upon Starhawk's multiplayer gameplay and got really excited. Granted it was showing just Capture the Flag, it wasn't just Capture the Flag. More will be shown on its multiplayer at E3 and will even be playable but, we know that so many are going to walk away really impressed.
E3 again, is just around the corner. Its at the door and one of Sony's big themes this year is going to be going above and beyond with the online multiplayer. Its what they've been emphasizing since last years E3. When you put all the developers together they all really drive hard home their multiplayer experience which give their games immortality. Its not just a play through the campaign and shelve it, its popping that disc back in and living on and on through that online. What sense would it make to make such a big push and not have any new online functionality and services to accommodate and evangelize that experience. The announcement of Cross-Game Chat could be crucial to that and its one of the most sought after features of the PlayStation Network. Sony have integrated Netflix as Microsoft have done, they've combated ESPN with NHL and MLB GameCenter Live. Microsoft will announce more features like that to live but, we feel the announcement of CGC, would indeed have enough power in such a small thing to trump what Microsoft has and as I've heard, its RakNet that makes that possible because its much cheaper and easier to integrate.
Expect great things from Sony this E3 with its online service. They had some hurdles to jump over and some hoops to jump through, but we're confident its possible. We'll find out in just a few short days.
For all things Sony, for all things PlayStation, for all things E3 and all things gaming, check back with us as we keep you inside the X-Gaming Zone here at the XZONE.
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