Sony reveals details on PS3 games line-up

One of the biggest, and most unfortunate, surprises at the Tokyo Game Show 2005 has been the absence of any playable PlayStation 3 games. However, that didn't totally deflate the spirits of those present, as Sony Computer Entertainment released its full lineup of Japanese PS3 games at the show.

The list revealed a massive amount of third-party support for the console, which is sure to heat up the next-generation console war with Microsoft's Xbox 360. Sony currently has 102 games scheduled or already in development for the PS3, with 71 publishers on board its next-gen bandwagon.

One thing striking, if not terribly surprising, about the PS3 lineup is the massive amount of sequels it contains. As previously reported, Atari is releasing a follow-up to Alone in the Dark, was well as new installments in its Stuntman and Driver series. Ubisoft is releasing a third installment of Brothers in Arms on the PS3. SNK Playmore has already announced King of Fighters Maximum Impact 3, even though the second installment for the PS2 won't be coming out until the middle of next year. Wrestling game developer Yuke's also revealed it had an unidentified game in the works, raising the possibility of the first next-gen SmackDown! game or that the Xbox 360 Rumble Roses will be multiplatform.

Konami already announced Metal Gear Solid 4 at E3, and now it's revealed a new Gradius game is in development. The company is also making a soccer game, most likely the first next-gen Winning Eleven. Namco also has a good lineup scheduled for the PS3, with unnamed fighting, shooting, sports, and role-playing games in the works. While it's almost certain that the "fighting game" is the already announced sixth Tekken, which was shown at E3, the RPG's title remains a mystery.

As for new games, Koei revealed it is working on two original properties for the PS3: an action game called Blade Storm: Hundred Years War, the latest brawler from Dynasty Warriors series developer Omega Force, and a racing game ominously titled Fatal Inertia. It had previously announced its Akira Kurosawa-inspired action game Ni-Oh at E3 in May. D3 is publishing Digital Extremes' Dark Sector, one of the first games announced for next-gen consoles. Genki is making a new release for a "racing game series" and a "Japanese sword fighting game series", which are probably new iterations of Tokyo Xtreme Racer and Kengo.

Surprisingly, not many companies announced games for both the PS3 and the Xbox 360 at the Tokyo Game Show. Capcom reconfirmed that Resident Evil 5 (called BioHazard 5 in Japan) will come out for the PS3 and Xbox 360, and From Software revealed its newly announced game, Armoured Core 4, is in development for both platforms.

While it's generally said developing for next-generation consoles will be tough on small publishers, the PS3 list had a fair amount of budget game makers on the list. A small publisher named Magnolia will be releasing its affordable "Value 2000" series once again on the PS3. Also of note in the PS3 lineup is Arc System Works' unnamed "fighting game tool", a mysterious-sounding project from the company well-known for its Guilty Gear X series. Interestingly, Hudson is bringing its Rengoku series from the PSP to the PS3 -- the first time a series that debuted on Sony's handheld is making its way to a console.