PS3 Fanboy

We've been somewhat critical of Sega's Viking: Battle for Asgard in the past, but we're pretty impressed with the newest round of screens Sega's released. These new screens feature more of the visceral head chompin' violence that we've seen in the past, but they also show off the game's impressive use of explosions and lighting. Also check out the massive battles. Pretty nice, huh?

Here are some images to check out from Sega's famous brawler which is due out next year. The aesthetics are shaping up to that next-gen feel, especially with the environments. Apparently gamers will be able to deck these characters out in different clothes and accessories purchased from an in-game shop. Makes you wonder if they plan on adding any support for micro-transactions over the internet as well.

Some people just like to hear their own voice. If you're the next aspiring American Idol, you may find this worth checking out. Last week some new My SingStar images surfaced showing off the next-gen karaoke game for PlayStation 3. It gives off a quirky vibe to those who may not be keen on this type of game, but we could be seeing some really sweet applications thanks to the PS3 hardware.

With secret weapons emerging, hardware of the like could provide a fresh angle on a song-driven game like this. Though you can only push an EyeToy or camera so far for a karaoke title. However there's always the possibility of downloading all kinds of new songs over their network platform too. And what about the chance of downloading user-created content as well? Maybe that's just wishful thinking, but hey... it could happen!

She's deadly, beautiful and red-headed. The premise behind Heavenly Sword's heroine is enough to get you interested in checking out the images, but seeing some of the concept art alone shows even more potential. It may just take a console as powerful as the PS3 to realize some of these beautiful environments. Take a gander at these pics to see what will be coming your way in the not-too-distant future.

Here are a handful of screens from Virtua Fighter 5, slated for a spring '07 release. If you haven't been following the title and want to sink your eyeballs into some more images, check out this link to find some from earlier last month. So far it's shaping up to look like a winner (but how will the new controller interface with it?).

Dubbed Gran Turismo HD, it is actually considered to be in prototype-phase as opposed to a GT product. The idea is to show off the muscle behind the PS3, and anyone would be hard to argue that these fall short of doing just that. Of course what would a next-gen Sony console be without some sort of Gran Turismo installment? This statement should give fans of the series something to look forward to: "The wait for the next generation of Gran Turismo, post launch of PS3, may not be as long as you think."

Feast your eyes on some saucy new screenshots for Alone in the Dark. While Atari hasn't officially come out and confirmed it for PS3, other sources have hinted at it coming to the Sony machine. Taking that into consideration, we don't have a solid release date, but it'd be nice to see it in November.

Here are a few screenshots of the PS3 launch title Resistance: Fall of Man. Look eerie enough for you? Either way, it's hard not to love the dynamic environments and grungy atmosphere. But do you think Frontlines: Fuel of War looks that good?

[Resistance: Fall of Man]
[Frontlines: Fuel of War]

As you can see above, there are a few things different between the two PS3 SKUs planned. (Hint: the obvious alterations concern high-def output and wireless connectivity -- though Bluetooth controllers should work just fine with both, with or without any chrome case highlighting.)

So what's HDMI, built-in multimedia card-reader slots, wireless internet connectivity, and an extra 40 gigabytes' hard disk space worth to you? $100? Now that Sony's gone with the 2-SKU approach with its next-gen hardware (a la the Xbox 360's premium and "Core" systems), we can expect some tough consumer choices after six months -- with console shortages possibly for another six months after that -- as $100 separates the base $499 and premium $599 versions of Sony's "Clear Black" hope.

HDMI is important to those who want to take full advantage of Blu-ray high def and have the new screens to use it; MemoryStick, SD, and CompactFlash slots would be nice for the PS3 memory-card users and those will run multimedia on the system; Wi-Fi's the only way to avoid stringing ethernet cables for online access; and 360 owners might appreciate the full 60GB available to potential buyers of the premium PS3 model. Neither model comes with a second HDMI port; thankfully, one should hopefully be all most users need. The details are laid out in a feature-comparison table at the end of Sony's official PS3 hardware press release, available in both Adobe Reader and Microsoft Word formats. Determine what's most important to your PS3 ambitions there.

[Image pieced together from the PlayStation.com forums; thanks, Guru]