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Sliced Gaming Feature: Gaming 2007 - The Year That Was

Writer: Gordon Craick
Posted: 1st January 2008, 11:59pm

2007 was a very busy year for gaming across the board - possibly one of the busiest ever. Key titles appeared throughout the year, and the final quarter of saw major releases that many gamers had been waiting for many months. In fact, there have been so many A-grade titles this year, it's almost been hard for anybody to keep up, never mind have the hundreds of hours at hand to play through them all for many.

We're going to give you a brief rundown of the year that was, and check out some of the new directions gaming started to take us in 2007. We run through each of the major platforms, and some of the key games that appeared. If you haven't had a chance to play all the big ones, you've still got a few months of 2008 before the whole cycle begins again.


Playstation 2

This year saw the final throes of the Playstation 2 for most hardcore gamers, but it did continue to live on with Sony's support. Sony had started to pitch the PS2 as more of a budget family console in 2007, as the Slimline model price crept well below $200 heading into Christmas. Singstar R&B continued Sony's hit series for tuneless party fun, while Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz offered an LA twist to the series. Guitar Hero III also kept the PS2 alive, with the requirement of controllers meaning it was easier to use the ones you already had for the system, rather than upgrading.

God of War II provided one of the best PS2 games (or any game) earlier in 2007, and may well be remembered as the last 'great' action game for the system. The graphics managed to fit somewhere in between the last generation, and the current crop, even without the full support of highdef. Excellent and fast paced gameplay, as well as a good storyline kept attention right until the end. Rogue Galaxy also appeared towards the end of the year, keeping the attention of RPG gamers while PS3 RPG titles continued to look thin on the ground.

Outside of the party or family style games, developer attention started to drift to the PS3, and Xbox 360, as they worked hard to get titles ready to capture the audience as penetration reached economical levels. It's seems probable that this time next year there won't be much to say in this PS2 section except to wish the console farewell.


Playstation 3

While the US and Japanese markets saw the PS3 in 2006, Australians had to wait until late March to get their hands on the official release here. For many, the wait was not as painful as it first seemed, as title after title either was delayed overseas, or was in fact announced as a dual title for the Xbox 360 as well. The initial high price of the console also kept many away in 2007.

The launch itself was subdued here in Australia after witnessing the US release (continued next page)