God of war 3 is one of the most highly anticipated games of 2009, or is it? It is a simple question with a very simple answer, and to be clear from the start, this article is for all the God of War fans that have been eagerly awaiting the mighty Kratos. If you have a burning desire to silence, once and for all, any argument related to the release date of God of War 3, then keep reading. Because this article has the definitive answer to the question presented in the title, and that answer is supported by an arsenal of evidence that will help you put this argument to rest, permanently.

Based on the information that I have gathered so far, I have come to discover a horrifying truth. I have discovered that Kratos is chained to the Walls of Damnation, hidden far beyond the Nymph Valleys of Tartarus. Unable to break the mighty chains of Erebus, the God of Darkness, Kratos continues to struggle ferociously in a desperate attempt to free himself from his inevitable damnation, unaware that the time for the chains of Erebus to relinquish him is near. And when that time is at hand, only at that day will Kratos finally unleashes his wrath, through his blades of Chaos, upon Olympus, one last time, for one final battle with none other than Zeus himself. Only then will Chaos, the God of Nothingness from where everthing comes, prevail. And that day will be……in March 2010!

I hope the narrative answered the question presented in this title. As we go beyond the ridiculous narrative, I will thoroughly explain all the reasons why God of War 3 will not be coming in 2009. And the reasons are as follow.

First, God of War was released on the 22nd of March 2005. God of War 2 was released on the 13th of March 2007. God of War: Chains of Olympus was released on the 4th of March 2008. So apparently, it is a tradition for God of War to be released in March. Therefore, since we know for a fact that it is impossible for the title to be ready for March 2009, then the next logical release date for God of War 3, based on the obvious pattern, will be March 2010.

Second, the game is not ready to be released. I am sure that Sony Santa Monica did not have a sequel in mind after the first God of war, but i do know that they had the third installment in mind while making the second. In early 2008, 1UP did an interview with Cory Barlog, the Creative Director of God of War 2. In that interview, he said: ” after I finished God of War 2 I was already working on the story and design for the third game. So when Sony and I finally did part ways the foundation of the game, along with story that complete the arc we began in God of War, was complete”. This means that the title has only been in development for two years. That is not enough time for a regular PS3 game to be developed, let alone an important IP such as this.

Both Naughty Dog and Insomniac are helping Santa Monica in the development of God of War 3 just to give you an idea of how important this title is to Sony. I know that some of you will mention that both studios are involved because Sony wants to release it as soon as possible, but their involvement is simply because of their experience i.e. they are more familiar with the hardware because they had already worked on several titles for the PS3. I think that their involvement is not as extensive as many might presume; they are simply sharing the tricks of the trade. On the other hand, both studios have projects of their own to attend to. Insomniac is working on Ratchet 2 and Resistance 3, and Naughty Dog is working on Uncharted 2 and the next Jak and Daxter. Therefore, they cannot afford to waste both time and resources on projects other than their own.

Moreover, I believe that Sony has three aces: Killzone 2, Gran Turismo 5, and God of War 3. I know that some of you might mention examples of other AAA titles such as Uncharted 2, but I think that these titles are the most important to Sony; simply because they are important to the future of the PS3 more than all the other titles, and that is why Sony is taking very good care of them. Because how they sell makes a big difference to Sony. Therefore, the studios that are developing these games have to take their time to polish them to the max. Why do you think it took Guerrilla Games four years to develop Killzone 2? Why do you think Polyphony Digital is still developing Gran Turismo 5 after four years of working on the title? Gran Turismo is Sony’s flagship franchise; it is Sony’s best selling franchise; it is to Sony what Halo is to Microsoft; it is to Sony what Grand Theft Auto is to Take Two. That is why they are taking their time with it, and that is why they will take their time with God of War 3 as well.

Third, back in 2007, when the new in-game trailer for Killzone 2 was first revealed, and then shortly after, Resistance 2 was announced as a 2008 release, everyone expected both titles to be released in 2008. However, I predicted that Killzone 2 would not be coming out in 2008, because logically, it would make no sense for Sony to release two exclusive AAA FPS games around the same time. Because by doing that, their titles would compete with one another and eventually affect the sales of both.

Which brings me to some very interesting questions. What games are expected to come out exclusively on the PS3 in 2010? Resistance 3? Motorstorm 3? the next Jak and Daxter? the next Twisted Metal? the next Syphon Filter? Those are great titles. However, are they enough to carry the PS3 through 2010? I hardly doubt that. On the other hand, what games are expected to come out exclusively on the PS3 in 2009? Well, we have Killzone 2(already came out), Uncharted 2, Heavy Rain, Ratchet 2, Yakuza 3, White Night Chronicles, Quantum Theory, Demon Soul, MAG, The Agency, DC Universe Online(even though MMO titles are usually delayed),Free Realms, Infamous, MLB ‘09: The Show, and WarDevil. That is quite an impressive list of titles for the PS3 in 2009.

Which brings me to my next question. Why would Sony release God of War 3, one of its biggest exclusive titles, in a year packed with PS3 exclusives? If the PS3’s game library is oversaturated with exclusives in 2009 but is deficient in 2010, why would Sony release it in 2009? It makes more sense to release it in 2010, because that is when the title is desperately needed. If they actually release it in 2009, it would compete with all the other exclusives released around the same time, and that would affect the sales of all the titles involved in this first party battle. Imagine if a gamer walked into a store, in November 2009, to buy games. However, he can only afford to buy one. He then finds Uncharted 2 and God of War 3. At that moment, he will be forced to make a painful decision, and no matter what his decision is, he will be walking out of that store with only one of the titles mentioned. That means that he will be walking out feeling both excited and disappointed at the same time. So why would Sony put PS3 gamers in such a painful situation? The answer is simple, they wouldn’t.

Fourth, it is a well known fact that the first and last quarters of every year have the highest game sales in the whole year. Specifically, February-March and November-December. That is why the big titles are always released around these months. Why else would they release Killzone 2 in February?Why else would they release Gears of War 2 in November? This is why I predict that God of War 3 will be coming in March of 2010. Sony needs a strong title for next March, and I think God of War 3 is it. Imagine this 2010 scenario, God of War 3 in March, Team ICO title in the Summer, Gran Turismo 5 in November along with Resistance 3 and Motorstorm 3. I think that would be a well covered year for the PS3; in addition to it being a better way for Sony to utilize their remaining big titles.

Fifth, over a month ago, Gamestop sources had revealed that they had received an e-mail from Sony informing them that the estimated release date for God of War 3 is March 2010. According to history, if a game’s release date is to be changed, it will most likely be delayed. Rarely has a title been released earlier than the previously announced release date. Meaning, it will either be released in March or beyond, but not before.

Sixth, on the 19th of Februaury 2009, SCEA sent out a press release to confirm the 2009 line-up. The interesting element in this press release is that they mentioned God of War 3 as one of the titles. After that press release, gamers across the world were excited due to this announcement, which confirmed what gamers had hoped for. However, on the 24th of February 2009, Sony sent out a new press release with the exact same information except for one slight, but significant difference, they added the word “Fiscal”. To clarify, a 2009 fiscal year is from April 2009 to March 2010. Meaning, the titles announced in the press release can be coming out at anytime from April 2009 to March 2010.

Finally, on the 4th of March 2009, a Dutch website posted that they had discovered that several game stores including the British giant Play had dated God of War 3 for late September. Two hours later, Sony responded to Spong regarding this matter. Their response was the following statement: “We haven’t confirmed a release date for God of War 3 yet, we should have more details on this at E3. We’re asking Play to remove that now as well.”

Sony’s response does not confirm nor deny the title’s release in 2009. In a way, that adds more confusion to an already hazy topic and gives gamers false hope. Sony had the chance to clarify the release date, but they didn’t. All they did was confirm that God of War 3 will be released at a specified time of their choosing. This stunt might actually lead gamers to believe that the title has a very good chance of being released this year, which it doesn’t. So to make things crystal clear, I will ask you a simple question. Why would Sony announce the release date for God of War 3? On the other hand, let me ask the question in a different way. What would Sony benefit from NOT announcing the release date for God of War 3? Take a deep breath, exhale, and now think about it for a second. That’s right. The answer is…..Hype.

What would happen if Sony announces next week that God of War 3 will be released on the 24th of March 2010? The answer is your reaction. Meaning, you are the reason why Sony is keeping the release date a secret. Because if you found out the exact release date for God of War 3, you will no longer have the need nor the desire to keep thinking about this title. That is because your primary need, which is knowing a specific fact, has already been satiated. So for now, you can just relax and let this title go, especially that the release date is a year from now. What will happen next is that you will unconsciously decide to put the God of War 3 subject on a mental shelf or in a mental drawer, in your mind, until the title comes out. In this case, you will no longer think about God of War 3 for the next year. In addition, you will focus on the great games that are available now, and that is exactly what Sony fears the most.

To put it bluntly, as long as you don’t know when the title will be coming out, you will continue to guess, to wonder, to speculate, to argue, and THINK about it. Because as long as you are thinking about it, your mind is focused on it. When the level of focus is high enough, the title or product will be so strongly attached to you that ,in a way, you will unconsciously feel that it is part of your identity. So you feel the need to get it when it does come out. And when that happens, you become a guaranteed buyer, and that is exactly what Sony wants.

When you are constantly thinking about the release date of a title, you are constantly thinking about the actual title, and what that does is imprint that title in your mind so vividly, that not only will you feel compelled to buy it, but that the thought of buying it will seem natural to you, just because it makes so much sense on an emotional level, and that is marketing at its best. So apparently, Sony is a lot smarter than we thought. After all, they are using the cheapest possible way to market their product, and by cheap, I mean price wise. Because this marketing tool is free!.

What is the cheapest way to market a product? A combination of Hype and Uncertainty. If they know that you are excited about the product, the only thing they have left to keep you hooked is the release date, so all they have to do is keep you uncertain about it. Since you are uncertain about the release date, you will stay hooked; that is the bottom line.

In summary, Sony’s main objective is to create, in you, a strong desire to buy their product, and maintain that desire until the product is released. However, is it possible for Sony to tell you what you want to know about a product and still keep you thinking about it? Absolutely; all they need to do is give you a vague answer. By doing so, you will not be satisfied by the answer; therefore, you will continue to wonder about the product, and I think that will be their next move.

I believe that Sony will not make any announcements regarding God of War 3’s release date at GDC. On the other hand, as long as Sony has confirmed that they will be making an announcement at E3 regarding the release date of this title, my prediction is that their announcement will be vague. An example of their announcement would be something like “Spring 2010” or “Early 2010“. However, I think it is essential to emphasize, at this point, that Sony will not be the first company to do this.

For example, when the first Halo 3 trailer was shown at E3 2006, everyone expected it to be released in early 2007; simply because the words “finish the fight 2007” were present at the end of the trailer; in addition to the fact that Microsoft is known to release games soon after showing footage of them. But that did not happen; they kept gamers thinking, and the hype train kept gaining momentum with ads and video documentaries, until the day came when the release date was finally announced.

I am not claiming that what Sony is doing regarding the God of War 3 release date is wrong, I am only explaining why they are choosing to do it, and I think it is both legitimate and justified. If Microsoft used this exact strategy with Halo 3, their flagship franchise and one of the best selling games of all time, even though they backed it up with a monster marketing campaign, what makes you think that Sony, with its weak advertisement skills, won’t.

If God of War 3 was coming out this year, Sony would have , at least, made an initial announcement by now. For example, something like “Fall 2009” would have been fine. The fact that they did not make such an announcement yet regarding the release date confirms that the title will not be released anytime soon, which confirms that it will not be released this year.

On a personal note, I believe that God of War 3 is a big title. I also believe that even if Sony announces a March 2010 release date for this title tomorrow, it will still sell extremely well when it comes out next year.

I know that you did not expect this article to be as long as it turned out to be, but I think it is important for this article to be very informative, and to deliver an extremely thorough analysis of the evidence provided. I hope that has been accomplished because that was my initial objective. On the other hand, it wouldn’t surprise me to read in the next few days an article criticizing this one, titled, “The Article That Became A Novel!”.

As disappointing as it is, to me and the millions of God of War fans out there, to not have God of War 3 in 2009, I think that would be a good thing. Because the longer they keep it from coming out, the better it will look and play when it does come out. On the other hand, 2009 is already packed with tons of exclusives on both consoles. So my advice to you is to embrace and enjoy all the great games that are coming out this year as much as possible. And while we are enjoying the great games of this year, Kratos will be watching from a distance, waiting to be released from his chains, from his
torment, from Sony. But make no mistake, once this year is over, the end will begin; you will hear the sound of chains breaking from a distance, you will remember my words, and you will realize that sound can only mean one thing,……….the release……….of the mighty……….Kratos.

God Bless You Kratos; this one’s for you

Master Samo

For years the Gran Turismo franchise has been the king of driving simulators. From it’s days on the Playstation to it’s last release Gran Turismo 5: Prologue. It has usually been the best looking driving game on the market and the most realistic driving expierence for racing fans. Though the guys at EA, and Slightly Mad Studios have a game that’s coming for Gran Turismo’s crown.

The game is Need for Speed: Shift. Now over the past couple of years, the recent Need for Speed’s have continually gotten worse and worse, but the guys at Slightly Mad Studio plan to change that trend. Members of the development team once worked at Simbin Studios, and worked on the GT Legends and GTR2 games. The guys at Slightly Mad are taking this game in a slightly new direction. Instead of focusing on the street racing aspect that made Need for Speed famous, Shift is going towards a more realistic driving expierence; as seen in Forza and Gran Turismo.

The game is beautiful. This game will easily challenge Gran Turismo 5 as the most beautiful racing game when they both come out. In Shift, the driver will have an effective rear view mirror while in the cockpit view. You will even be able to see the reflection of opponents cars on your hood.  Unlike Gran Turismo, in Shift your cars will collect dust and dirt, and when the driver hits a wall or another car their car will be damaged. In past Gran Turismo’s, this wasn’t available. The inside of the cars will also be fully modeled down to the tee.

The game will come with between 60 and 100 cars at launch. At the time, it is unknown how many maps will be available, but the game will feature both real world racing tracks and real world locations like London. This game could be a good option for 360 owners who want a Gran Turismo-like expierence, or PS3 racing fans who want another expierence. This game is already being praised in it’s current stage of development, and can only improve between now and this Fall. Daniel Bloodworth of Gametrailers said, ‘I would actually buy this game today, and it’s still in development. It looks great and is a lot of fun.’ Will this game be better than Gran Turismo 5? Only time will tell, but it looks like it has a lot of potential to revive the Need for Speed series.

Need for Speed: Shift is coming out this Fall for the PS3, 360, and PSP.

Ice Cube- No Vaseline

I am posting some diss tracks, and since HHG was talking about N.W.A I remembered one of the greatest diss tracks ever made. No disrespect to N.W.A, but Ice Cube merced you. LMAO, I still laugh when listening to this. I will post an N.W.A track tomorrow so you can compare. There is no response to No Vaseline by the way. So that says it all.

RIP Eazy

* Jeff Rubenstein (Sony) – Guest Stars On Gamers In The Street
* Tekken 6 Superior On PS3
* Xbox360 Surpassed Gran Tourismo 5 Graphics
* Game Review – Sega Genesis Collection (Must Buy)
* And Much Much More Enjoy The Show

GAME BEEFS EPISODE 2 HIPHOPGAMER VS JEFF RUBENSTEIN (SONY) FIND OUT WHO WINS BELOW

GAME BEEFS EPISODE 1 WINNER www.gamingvice.net GARY FRANCIS

For too long, games based off movies were utter trash; though you can also say the same for movies based off games (see Max Payne & Doom). Fortunately, these games have been progressing through time; the bad part is that it has been taking too much time. Many developers have proclaimed their games to be the first to break the chain of horrible movie based games, yet none have succeeded since probably 007 Golden Eye. Probably things will change for the better.

Fact, it has been improving, and once again, it’s the 007 series to break the chain with their Quantum of Solace; unfortunately, it seems it was a little too late. No one seems to be interested in games based on movies anymore even though the games may be great. Ghost Busters already seems to be another great game on a huge movie based franchise from the 80’s. The action of the game seems just as good, even better than that of the movie. The developers of the games made the right decision with the game play; it allows you to explore many areas at once, though not entirely a free roam game, it still is very good.

The trend is looking to continue with the upcoming release of Wanted: Weapons of Fate. The cover system in Wanted shows a level of realism not seen anywhere else before. You can go behind cover and instead of the simple side to side action we see in most 3rd person shooters, you have the option to use the bullet time action effect when coming out of a cover which is amazing and adds to the experience of the game in a positive perspective. Another great aspect of the cover system is that if there is someone else directly behind the location where you’re covering, you can use a quick time action effect which is a close combat with the enemy that allows you to knife him or just simply melee him for the kill; unseen on any game before. Although Wanted has all the features of a normal cover system using game and more, the game isn’t as complex as many may be thinking it is. In Gears you have free mobility from side to side and you’re allowed to hop over your cover if possible which is great and simple but that’s all you’re allowed to do excluding blind fire; but Wanted adds so much more animation and fluidity to their style of cover that you feel like you’re controlling the action in the movie itself. Everything in the game play seems flawless and no less. The story for Wanted is already great so if they could just nail the game play right, it will be a true success; fortunately it seems as though they have got the game play right so everything is set and go.

Wanted is due to release later this year and if the developers can tighten up the controllers just a bit more, the game will be top notch.

View this video below.