Unlike their competitors, Sony wasted no time getting to the most important topic for any gamer during its E3 presentation: games. Unfortunately, not all of the games shown were to everyones liking.

Beyond: Two Souls, developed by Quantic Dreams, the makers of Heavy Rain, was announced at the beginning of the show. Much like Heavy Rain, story and cinematic seem to play a large role in the game and follows the protagonist, Judie Holmes, over the course of her life.

Sony fans itching for some Super Smash Bros. are fortunately in luck; PlayStation All-Star Battle Royale aims to fill that niche. Battles are based around getting points, which players can obtain through defeating others and special moves. Big Daddy from Bioshock was confirmed as a playable character; other 3rd party characters may be included.

Sony also touched on their online service, PlayStation Network (PSN), revealing that over 200 games are due for release on the service within the next 12 months, including titles like The Unfinished Swan PSN and PS1 titles available online are also headed toward the Vita.  Fans can look forward to PS1 classics like Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy 7.

In addition, PlayStation Plus members can also expect to get great deals on content and online games, a smart move that will hopefully get more people to sign up for the service.

A Call of Duty game is in development for the Vita, along with the upcoming Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation (AC). Liberation is the first Assassin’s Creed game to feature a female assassin as the lead, has touch screen capabilities, and was built ground up for the Vita. There are also extras that can be unlocked when the game is linked up to Assassin’s Creed 3 on PlayStation 3. The games will give Vita owners something to look forward to in the coming months.

The latest flagship game in the AC series will have an emphasis on water, with controlling ships on the high seas as an important part of the game. A special and realistic weather system will also be in place in the game. Both Assassin’s Creed games will take place in America during revolutionary times.

Far Cry 3 multiplayer was also shown. The mode will include 4-player co-op and feature missions made specifically for multiplayer. Looking a little rough at this time, the game still has a ways to go in development, but looks to be a fun experience.

Sony, however, went wrong announcing Wonder Book: Book of Spells. Utilizing the PlayStation Move, players can cast spells and embark on quests in a Harry Potter themed world. The game is, however, nothing like the games fans were expecting and is more reminiscent of a point-and-click game meant for children. Many fans voiced their disapproval of the software and the lengthy amount of time devoted to it. 

Toward the end of the conference, a trailer for the new God of War game, subtitled “Ascension,” was shown. Fans of the series will be delighted to know that the game looks to follow its predecessor’s closely in terms of game-play and gore. A multiplayer mode will be included, up to 8 players can join in games of competitive team play where players will battle for control of the map. A release date of March 12, 2013 has been announced.

Sony closed its show with The Last of Us. Created by developer Naughty Dog, responsible for successful franchises like Crash Bandicoot, Jak and Daxter and the Uncharted series, the trailer for the game was by far the highlight of Sony’s conference. It features two characters, the ruthless Joel and the young but wise Ellie, trying to survive in a zombie infested post-apocalyptic world. While the concept might seem overdone, Naughty Dog breathes fresh life into the wasteland with fast and action-packed game-play.

While Sony had some high points and some low points, many fans overall were disappointed. Many games they expected to be shown or announced were not touched upon, such as Kingdom Hearts 3. Other than The Last of Us, there were no big surprises, and many hated Wonder Book: Book of Spells. Luckily for Sony, The Last of Us was enough not to alienate fans, but they definitely will not attract any newcomers with the show.

Image Courtesy of  PlayStation.Blog.Europe

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There are certain games that changed the face of the gaming landscape. They are not necessarily the titles that lasted the longest in our memories or the ones that made the most money, though significant overlap occurs. These are games that have challenged the perception of what it means to make a game and increasing, what it means to play a game.

Consoles and PC’s of every design, color and accessory will come and go but certain game plays stay with us because they fundamentally change the way we game. Their concepts were bold and while not always the newest, still innovative today. In no particular order, here are 10 games that changed the face of gaming.

Honorable Mention: Duck Hunt (Peripherals)

Easily one of the best gaming accessories in modern gaming history, the gun for duck hunt symbolizes accessories that have made gaming more than just pushing buttons but an interactive experience. Technology has grown today where items like the Wii Fit, Xbox Kinect and Playstation Move allow gamers an interactive involving experience with their games.

Duck Hunt isn’t so out of place in the modern world that a child cannot pick up the game and play it today. The graphics may have gotten better and wireless capability change the look of these peripherals but at the heart, shooting at the screen is much the same as it was 20 years ago. In a few years time peripherals will have a heavier hand in shaping game development but for the moment these items have not become a major concern for all developers, just some.

10. Star Wars: Rogue squadron (Franchise Game)                                                                                 

‘Rogue Squadron’ gets credit for being one of the most successful games based on a movie. In the franchise world of gaming, Star Wars has a mostly positive history of gaming successes. Featuring stunning graphics and excellent controls, the game was a riot for Star Wars fans to sink their teeth into. A meaty game with great sound design that made aerial combat come alive for the seriously discerning Star Wars fan.

Games such as ‘Star Wars Episode One: Racer’ and ‘Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic’ are mentioned in the same breathe as fan favorites that tied well into the main Star Wars Canon storyline. More recent games that tie just as well into their respective universes include ‘Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2′, ‘Transformers: War for Cybertron’ and ‘Matrix: The Path of Neo’.

9. GoldenEye 007 (Shooters)

Not to be confused with ‘Duck Hunt’ for its shooting peripheral, GoldenEye 007 on Nintendo 64 was the seminal shooting game that started it off for many adolescent gamers. The 007 games have a checkered past, with GoldenEye 007 being well received while others such as 1999′s third person shooter Tomorrow Never Dies was negatively received by fans due to its awkward controls.

GoldenEye 007′s innovations include precision aiming, sniper shooting and generally accurate targeting profiles not seen in many other games of that era. Its commercial success may have started off because ‘GoldenEye’ the game was a tie in for the ‘GoldenEye’ movie, but the real success was built on its multiplayer level design, weapons selection, and music.

In many ways it is not unlike current First Person Shoots of today because many of those elements were taken from GoldenEye’s design. Gamers that play Call of Duty or Battlefield will have no issue playing GoldenEye 007 though they will complain about the graphics for a game designed in 1997.

8. Street Fighter (Fighters)

There were many mediums for which Street Fighter was played. There was the console, which on Nintendo and Super Nintendo were a smash success. There was the arcade, of which fans argue which variant of Street Fighter was the best and tournaments are still held today. There was the PC, where fans could not only play but also watch it played on a huge 22 inch TV size monitor.

No matter the way you played, Street Fighter made Capcom a household name. Not to be confused with a different Ken that drove a fancy car and had a beach house, these are hard core fighters with attitude. Spawning live action and animated movies, the Street Fighter franchise has grown into a powerhouse hit of fighting entertainment. From humble beginnings in the 80′s to great success in the modern era, Street Fighter remains the king of fighting games.

7. Super Mario Bros (Platformers)

The platforming plumber we all love, with a theme song that no one will ever forget and characters that never grow old, Super Mario has lasted the test of time. Those faithful to Nintendo have been awarded with a series that has grown and evolved in amazing ways from its original title, Super Mario Bros in 1985.

Since then, there have been imitators and replicators, but none shall ever top the awesome power of plumbers, mushrooms and Yoshi. Super Mario Bros continues on today, with Nintendo releasing games such as Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 as well as Super Mario 3D Land on the Nintendo 3DS.

6. Pole Position (Racers)

One of the first racers and still inspiring racers today, Pole Position set the foundation in both arcade and simulation racing. Known for popularizing the above and behind driving prospective, Pole Position is also known for tracks based on real life racing circuits, adding the first taste of realism in racing simulators for that era.

Successors now feature environmental factors and a physics engine of unparalleled power add to the experience. Games that followed in the wake of Pole Position include the Forza series, the Gran Turismo Series, the Ridge Racer series, Sega GT as well as countless others on consoles, computer and in arcade cabinets.

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At first glance, Microsoft looks like the software behemoth that most of us have grown accustomed to just love hating. Look a little deeper and you’ll discover that not only has Microsoft changed the dynamics of the gaming world, its actively shaping the future of the industry as whole.

The story of how Microsoft was able to enter an industry dominated by Nintendo and Sony is quite a long and interesting one.

At first it was Bill Gates announcing the coming of the first Microsoft gaming console. On November 15, 2001, the original Xbox is launched along with their online platform Xbox Live, offering a vision of online gaming that was then unrivaled by its competitors.

To its credit, Microsoft realized the looming potential that home gaming consoles had vis-à-vis the online gaming world. What they did with Xbox Live was nothing short of banging open a truly fresh market for both large game developing companies as well as their smaller indie counterparts. The floodgates were then open. Today, Nintendo is scrambling to find a way into online gaming while the former generations’ market leader Sony plays catch up with its own PlayStation Network. The growth of the Xbox Live service is also showing no signs of abating, recording a 16% increase in revenue in 2010.

Microsoft is now upping its game (quite literally) in a big way with its newest entrant, Kinect.

Kinect is basically a very smart device that detects your motion and allows you to interact with your Xbox 360 without a controller. Although the peripheral received a wave of initial criticism –due to issues of lag and appeal to solely casual gamers – the numbers spoke of a different story. Kinect went on to sell 8 million units in just its first 60 days on the market. What is really mind blowing is the interest that the peripheral is generating amongst hackers wanting to manipulate the technology behind it. A team at MIT’s Media Lab fine-tuning a hologram video marks one of the more recent hacks involving Kinect. Check the top 12 Kinect hacks here.

Microsoft of course is probably reveling in on all the seemingly newfound popularity. So much in fact that they have been able to work it in their favor. Instead of pursuing litigation against individuals hacking its hugely successful new product, Microsoft is instead supporting them. In fact they are working on launching a developers kit to assist those hackers with their endeavors.

The reason why Kinect will continue to be a huge success revolves around the software used to operate the device, the “brain”. This allows Microsoft to remotely update Kinect’s mental prowess and adapt it to more complicated commands and environments.

In short, Nintendo might have introduced the first instance of motion control gaming to the mainstream, however the future seems to holding its fruits in Microsoft’s favor. If Microsoft’s achievements to date in the gaming world hints at anything, it is that they will continue to expand the market as whole, and may I dare to say yes, even dominate it.

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