The Top 5 reasons why I want (or should that be 'need'?) a PlayStation 3

Gaming is a bit of a guilty conscience of mine. I don't spend many months of my life cocooned in my own bedroom trying to complete a game or blowing up Nazi's. I tend to go in and out of phases from time to time when I get bored and think 'oh, I haven't played this in a while, let's have a play.' As it currently stands, this household contains a PlayStation 2 and a Nintendo Wii (the former being my own). I do quite like to spend a fair amount of time on one game but not excessively. For example, I spent about 3 or 4 days playing Need For Speed: Carbon and got to the end. I was well chuffed. And again, I can spend forever on Time Trials on Gran Turismo 4 trying to beat my best time on a certain track. The Wii however, is a totally different experience. I tend not to be as competitive with that. It isn't taken too seriously. And since the Wii isn't technically mine, there isn't much on offer for me. Mario Kart is good but that's not really an adrenaline pump. I needed something with a bit more of a spicy flavour, so I did a bit of research into some games that the PlayStation 3 has to offer (I cannot stand the XBox360. XBox's are for the hardcore gamers aka NERDS) and I was somewhat in awe at what I saw. These are my 5 reasons for me to own a PlayStation 3, especially in this upcoming year...:

Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto has always been an old favourite. I was hooked when I first played Grand Theft Auto 3. And as I have grown up, so has the franchise. I know it's been out for a while but the fact remains - It's epic. The graphics have come a long way from the really shocking and appalling graphics of...er...San Andreas. San Andreas was good. Brilliant, in fact, but it was terrible how bad some things were. Trees would pop up of nowhere. People would be too blocky and the amount of glitches. Also, you could steal a fighter jet. You could fly around on a jet pack. That's good...to some extent. So when Rockstar went away and created 4 and re-created Liberty City, when I saw the results I was gobsmacked. Visually it was so clear. The cars had more realistic handling. Niko Bellic had a more realistic looking head and fingers whereas CJ just looked like a square balloon with a smiley face drawn on it. And webbed hands. Niko could also be thrown out of the car if he isn't wearing his seatbelt. Yet, the game still doesn't take itself too seriously despite being given this new century makeover. It's still got that underline smutty fun that's plagued games of the past. GTA is a dangerous series. It comes under a lot of scrutiny from people about the fact that you essentially have to go around stealing cars and shooting people to win the game. But the same theory applies to something like the Sim's when you phone out the firebrigade on a false alarm or on RollerCoaster Tycoon where you build a coaster and then purposely make it crash. If anyone has a ounce of common sense, they aren't going to recreate what they see in video games. So with GTA IV, don't do what Niko does. He's a computer based image and not real. He's just a vehicle to do what you can't do in real life. All with the added benefit of you not going to jail and stuff.

Gran Turismo 5

Gran Turismo 4 was, and I suppose, still is, for it's time, absolutely stunning. And it's a PS2 game. It's photorealistic and boasts a huge array of cars. Most of them being Japanese cars. The tracks are packed with colour and are bright and vibrant. All the cars are unique and each have different artificial physics. Fantastic. So why do I want Gran Turismo 5 if 4 is already all these good things? Well, the answer is simple really. 5 is more than 4. 5 is stated to have a bigger selection of cars (a rumoured 1,000 so I've heard) and more tracks. Ferrari and Lamborghini are lined up to be in GT5. . Grand Turismo have never had them two together in their games before. There is a 'driving from the seat' element too, adding more to the 'real driving simulator' feel that the series boldly states. And, if I read correctly on a GT5 forum, the almighty Bugatti Veyron will also be appearing on there too. There may not be any high classed British tracks on the list yet, like Silverstone or Donnington Park, but there is a London track and Dunsfold Park, famously the Top Gear Test track. Which only adds to the brilliance of this game. 4 was big. I've been playing it since forever and still haven't completed it. Chances are I will never complete it. If GT5 is going to be bigger then it looks like it's going to be a lot of fun trying to complete that. Especially with such big names that previously haven't appeared in the series.

Split/Second: Velocity

Since the utterly insane Burnout guys at Criterion haven't released a game since Burnout: Paradise, I found a game that is seems like just as much fun whilst we wait for a planned TBA Burnout. Split/Second is very similar to Burnout. I stumbled upon Split/Second in a newspaper article that said something about dropping things from helicopters to stop your opponents. I thought it sounded cool. Turns out, that when I watched the trailer, that's not all that happens. As one races around a track, they can trigger off certain parts to stop their rivals taking first place. For example...blowing up an airport control tower and send it plummeting into someone elses path. Or heck, blowing up the whole damn airport to stop the rest of them. It's like Burnout but on whole different level. High speed. Explosions. Car crashes. It's like it's been lifted right out of a Michael Bay film. The aim of this is very similar to Burnout. Try not to get in the way of things. In Burnout's case, it's other cars. In Split/Second's case, it's cars, buildings, cars, towers, helicopters, cars, and every-damned-thing. It's about having the reactions and pulling off the right moves, hence the name but it looks so good, I don't think I can hold the temptation much longer. Oh and there aren't licenced cars which means you don't feel bad for smashing them to kingdom-come. However, there is one game that does offer that "freedom" of smashing a car with a badge.

Blur

No, not the 90's Britpop band, but the game that looks like a cross between Mario Kart and Deathrace. On acid. Blur showcase's the real big names in the motoring industry. Ford; Lotus; Audi; and even Koenigsegg. Again. It is very similar to the Burnout games and indeed Split/Second. But, like I said, this is like Mario Kart. What you do is you pickup pickups and use them to (how do I put this simply?) stop the others winning. And there could very well be an explosive outcome. I was watching a gameplay trailer and cars fly through air when being hit by mines and bolts of electricity. It's insane. It looks very good but I'd still say it wasn't photorealistic, which in all honesty, I prefer on. It's a fantastic, arcadey arcade game. It looks highly playable. It doesn't look difficult at all. I mean, what's difficult about smashing and blowing up cars?

Test Drive Unlimited 2

I own Test Drive Unlimited on the PS2. I waited ages for it to be released and when it was, the PS2 version wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. It was a love/hate thing. I loved the cars and the fact that you could test drive them before buying them. I loved the fact that that the very real Hawaiian Island Oahu was entirely mapped out. It takes forever to get to one side of the island to the other. Brilliant when you have an Aston Martin V8 Vantage...Then there's the downside. It wasn't as good looking as the PC and 360 counterparts; it didn't feature Ferrari; and certain aspects were missing. However, TDU2 is a whole different game. It's still got the exotic cars and the exotic locations, but now there's more. It is claimed to have more cars like the new McLaren MP4-12C and the Aston Martin DBS and even offroad vehicles like the Audi Q7. It will feature a 24 hour day cycle and a weather system (which affects handling); and more routes. Because, not only is Oahu present in the game, but Ibiza too. That's two mapped out islands. How? You'll never have to go to either island ever if you own this. With the added benefit of being able to travel through them in a supercar. Yes, it's not the real thing but for less than 50 quid...what you pay for is rather spectacular.

I know the title says "5 reasons" but I think this deserves a mention...

Hmmm...Atari know how to make a good game. They've been doing it very well for a very long time. I read the other day that they are going to be releasing another game before the end of the year. A game series that, let's be frank, did what Grand Theft Auto did, a whole lot earlier. I am talking about, of course, Driver: San Francisco.


Atari and Rockstar really don't like each other. But this game is head and shoulders above GTA. Not only because it was the original sandbox 'drive were you want' game, but now this has done something Grand Theft Auto could only dream of. Fully damageable, licensed cars in a sandbox environment. And it doesn't stop there. Unfortunately, we can't let Tanner get out of the car. What he does is he shifts from car to car which means he doesn't steal them and that makes not only better than GTA but cleaner fun! It teaches kids not to steal. Wonderful! They've also reverted back to the Old Skool type of game they had originally with a classic location (San Fran') and the classic style of game. There's a lot of chases through alleyways packed with cardboard boxes. It's like a 1970's cop film. Tanner has now hung up the keys to his 'copycat' Ford Mustang and now has a very sleek and very realistic Dodge Challenger. And that's all cool by me! Rockstar...beware!