John Woo's Stranglehold
Developer: Midway
Publisher: Midway
Genre: Action
Release Date: August 6th (360)/August 20th (PS3/PC)
System(s): PS3/360/PC
Ever since I first saw screens I was impressed. What I am not impressed by is that Midway is heading this game. Midway is great at making "middle-of-the-road" games, ones that aren't in the greatness category but they don't suck either. I hope maybe they can change their ways and actually make a great game, but I will wait on reviews first before even renting this. It is also sounding a lot like Max Payne which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but playing the same type of game can get old no matter who is attached to it.
Madden NFL 08
Developer: EA Tiburon
Publisher: EA Sports
Genre: Sports
Release Date: August 14th
System(s): PS3/360/Wii/Xbox/PS2/Cube/PC/PSP/DS
I would not be surprised if EA pushes the release of this game up a bit if they feel the heat of 2K's effort in July. I am pretty interested this year after renting last year and skipping the buying part. Gang tackling (also in NCAA this year) and more GM-centric options as well as a supposedly boosted Superstar mode make me pretty excited for this game. What doesn't make me excited is no online leagues, only one camera angle (why?) and the radio announcer is back...d'oh! It is also obvious the 360 version will probably win out in a head-to-head with the PS3 version. The 360 runs at 60fps (supposedly without slowdown) whereas the PS3 version runs at 30fps...whoops!
Lair
Developer: Factor 5
Publisher: Sony CEA
Genre: Action
Release Date: August 14th
System(s): PS3
For some reason Sony didn't show this game off at their press thing at E3 and I have no idea why. This has been touted as a pretty big game for the PS3, but I don't see it selling a whole lot of systems unless the reviews are beyond reproach.
Bioshock
Developer: Irrational Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Genre: RPG/Action/FPS
Release Date: August 21st
System(s): 360/PC
I'm all in on this one! I will have to get it for the 360 simply because I don't think this will run well on my PC. The spiritual successor to System Shock and System Shock 2 is simply something that cannot be missed. Only problem is that no matter how much press this game gets it isn't going to sell very well. It will sell to fans of the other two games and the hardcore demographic, but the mainstream gamer? No way, I just don't see it. This game will probably be a good candidate for game of the year even with the other stuff coming later this year.
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Developer: Retro Studios
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Action
Release Date: August 27th
System(s): Wii
I don't own a Wii, but outside of Twilight Princess this would be a great game to sell a Wii to me. It's still hard to find a system out in the wild, but I have seen it on one or two occassions. The stuff coming out from E3 on this just makes it that much more interesting to me. I think this game had one of the better showings at E3.
Blue Dragon
Developer: Mistwalker/Artoon
Publisher: Microsoft Games Studios
Genre: RPG
Release Date: August 28th
System(s): 360
Finally, one of the RPGs I've been waiting for comes out over here. This game did generate some 360 sales over in Japan, but much like BioShock above I don't see this game selling a lot of copies here in the States. The E3 demo got me interested and I'd love to see more of the game when it comes out.
Warhawk
Developer: Incognito Studio
Publisher: Sony CEA
Genre: Online Action
Release Date: August 28th (maybe)
System(s): PS3 (Online only)
Sony showed a lot of this game at E3. It doesn't sound like there are a lot of maps in the game, although there is land-based combat along with the air combat. Also, if this is anywhere near $60 Sony is going to have a tough time selling it to a lot of people.