It’s more than a feeling. Sometimes games can take us to the highest of highs, or kick us square in the balls/vag, leaving us pain-stricken and confused. So, rather than hide our emotions, I encourage you to chip in and share some of your emotional experiences with the vidya. Enclosed are some of my favorites (or most painful memories).
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Have you ever played Mechwarrior? If the answer is no, don’t feel too bad, neither have most people. The cockpit has been empty for sometime now, specifically in first person mech simulation games. The last genuine mech game that allowed some 1st person viewing was Chromehounds for the Xbox 360, an early release that saw everything from perfect scores to abysmal ones. When one thinks about all of the asskickery that goes on in games today, such as ripping people in half with a chainsaw, punching someone so hard they explode or paying a stripper to take her clothes off, it would make sense that the “giant robots shooting other giant robots” genre would be flourishing, but of course, this is not the case.

Here are some possible reasons, but feel free to throw your own ideas in:
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Until the latter part of 2008, one of the biggest gripes with the PS3, aside from its price, was the fact that its game library pailed in comparison to that of the Wii or Xbox 360. With 2008 nearing a close and the fatigued masses finally emerging from beneath a pile of games both exclusive and multiplatform, it is time to look into the future and examine some of the heavy hitting games likely to grace the PS3 in 2009. While this list is by no means all encompassing, it does seek to point out the PS3 exclusives in 2009 that will undoubtedly have you begging for more. It also serves to show the breadth of genre across exclusives.

Heavy Rain – Adventure/Mystery
While the adventure games of old like Carmen Sandiego have seemingly passed into obscurity, The creators of Fahrenheit are looking to bring back the adventure/detective genre into its once fine form. Among this game’s impressive qualities are 60 10-20 minute scenes of dialogue, the ability for the main character to die and keep progressing in the main story line, as well as the pain-staking detail that has gone into creating the game, whether it be in faithful real world creations of city terminals or using random french people as mo-capped facial extra’s in the game. Maybe if we are lucky, Quantic will add a sex scene that isn’t painful to look at either.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBlWTd3puAk&feature=related – The Casting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwZ9eCRm1SM&feature=related – Gameplay Footage
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While the popular game media does it’s best to avoid fanboy warfare, constant articles about the PS3 needing to be “saved” by games, movies, price drops etc. create an eternal sense of hopelessness around the console. Although it has not sold as well as the xbox 360 or the Wii, it is still doing a brisk business in its own right. With Christmas on the rise and a slew of exclusive games to be released, it seems the PS3 will see a marked success in 2009 even amidst the economic crisis. In the back of our heads however, there has always been one game that we knew could save the PS3 if its stock began falling: Final Fantasy 7.

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Floating amidst a sea of triple-A titles comes the small ship ”Valkryia Chronicles”. Sega’s ambitious JSRPG has been ultimately overlooked during the flood of games that saw games like Resistance 2, Prince of Persia, LittleBigPlanet and Mirror’s Edge make big splashes in the gaming market. That being said, you would be remiss to pass this game up, regardless of whether or not your proclivities steer you towards more dark and gritty shooters. With a mix of wonderfully crafted visuals, intuitive game mechanics and tumultous combat, Valkyria Chronicles is the perfect fix for those looking for a defining JRPG on the playstation 3, or any other console for that matter.

Valkyria Chronicles takes place within a reimagining of World War 2 called The Second Europan war. The small prinicipality of Gallia is caught within the crossfire between The prototypical Empire and the Atlantic Federation. Due to high amounts of a miracle resource known as Ragnite, Gallia gets invaded. Of course, this inevitably pulls the story’s protagonist, Welkin Gunther, into the fray. With his father’s tank and a bit of blind courage, he quickly rises up the rank’s in squad 7. While the plot and its devices may not be awe-inspiring in and of themselves, the superb writing and timing easily make up for any short comings. The care that went into creating such  likeable characters truly becomes appreciable in the tear-jerking scenes which I dare not spoil here.

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