14 DAY TRIAL // Who thought that the first week (OK, “work week”) of gaming reporting for 2009 would be so filled with announcements, reveals and, well, news? If this is a sneak peek of how 2009 will be, then we're going to have a really interesting and cool year. So, here at Softpedia, we're beginning a weekly round up which, each Saturday, will tell you what you might have missed.
On Monday, we were Sony fanboys/fangirls as we've reported that the PlayStation 2 was the console with which gamers spent most of the time in 2008, while also acknowledging the fact that the PlayStation 3 would probably not see a price reduction in the short term, even if Sony seemed to be breaking even on component costs. Still, if Killzone 2 becomes a huge hit, the whole discussion about pricing might be rendered moot.
Tuesday saw Peter Moore throw a blog based tantrum because FIFA 09 was not included in Eurogamer's Top 50 Games of 2008, while Electronic Arts began the media blitz for its arguably biggest release of the year, The Sims 3, by offering the system requirements for the game. It's sad to see a game developer question the choices of game editors but we can always create a Peter Moore character in the upcoming Sims title and give him an uncontrollable bladder.
The PlayStation 3 again dominated on Wednesday as Sony told us that 2009 would be the year of the PS3 (we've heard that one before) and an independent study showed that those who use the Sony home console spent more time online than Nintendo Wii gamers. We solemnly promise we'll become Xbox 360 fanboys/fangirls next week.
Harmonix broke the heart of thousands of would be fake guitar rockers on Thursday as they announced that Rock Band 3 would not arrive in 2009, while Saint's Row 2 arrived on Steam and on torrents, just as we reviewed the PC version of its greatest rival, Grand Theft Auto IV. If only we could model Niko with the Saint's Row 2 character editor (hint: he would have been a bald, fat, old Caucasian with a ponytail).
The loose Friday schedule allowed my co-editor, Andrei Dobra, to spend some time with Saint's Row 2 (he took half an hour just to customize his character) and allowed me to think about the upcoming release of Empire: Total War, the new installment in one of my favorite franchises. Saint's Row looks to me like a more over the top experience than GTA IV, while Empire looks like it might occupy my whole 2009.
While we're looking forward to another busy week, don't forget you can get all the news related to videogames from the Games section of Softpedia.