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Sony has been dishing out mistakes and missteps left and right ever since the PlayStation 3 was announced in 2005. The outrageous prices to features like backwards compatibility getting cut were just a few of the failings that Sony's mammoth Blu-ray monster has had to deal with. The most damning aspect for the system has been in the area of games. From losing a ton of exclusives, most recently Final Fantasy XIII, the system looked to some as if it was going under - and hard. As much as I was in the same mindset about the PS3 at first, I've come to see that the first few years for Sony are just a slow boil.
If you look at games alone, you'll see that this little system actually has much more to offer in the long run than most people give it credit for. While those of us, myself included, have been enjoying our Xbox 360 exclusive RPGs over the past couple years, we shouldn't be counting the PS3 out at all. The PlayStation 2 took a while to really get going as well, especially with its extremely sad launch and lack of RPGs. Once it got going the system never slowed down in terms of RPGs, but it really never had that much competition, so it wasn't really an issue. This generation, the Xbox 360 and even the Wii now are offering more RPGs than ever before, so it's easier for people to dismiss Sony as down and out already. I don't believe they are down and out at all.
This console generation is going to be much more balanced in terms of RPGs than in the past few. When looking at console RPG exclusives, right now the PS3 is clearly behind the 360 and a little behind the Wii. While the PS3 has really gained steam with the release if Valkyria Chronicles, one fantastic game is hardly enough to make up the ground needed. But that doesn't mean we should count the PS3 out already, if anything, it's just getting started. Alongside sharing a handful of multiplatform releases with the 360 and Windows platforms, Sony's Juggernaut really does have some powerful RPGs on the way. The biggest title of the bunch now that Final Fantasy XIII is no longer exclusive is that game's cousin Final Fantasy Versus XIII. The PS3 also has From Software's Demon's Souls coming to North America via Atlus this fall and Level-5's online/offline title White Knight Chronicles coming early in 2010. A few niche titles such as Koei's Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll and Nippon Ichi/Hitmaker's Last Rebellion are also coming out next year. This isn't even counting the currently Japanese-only games Atelier Rorona, Agarest Senki Zero, and Trinity Universe which might or might not ever see a US release. Finally, straight out of E3 2009, Square Enix announced that the PS3 would be the only console that Final Fantasy XIV would be released on at launch (it will also be on PC).
This whole editorial isn't trying to say that the PlayStation 3 is going to come out on top in this current generation of consoles. I'm just trying to clear up the misconception that many have about Sony being completely out of it for this generation. When you combine the multiplatform games and the system's exclusive RPGs, you have a very impressive list of RPGs, a list that's just going to get longer. The PlayStation 2 took awhile to start up, and has been going ever since. I believe that the PlayStation 3 is still picking up steam and will continue to plow on over the next few years like a snowball rolling downhill, gathering momentum day after day. Though it's taken much longer for developers to jump on board due to higher costs of production and steeper learning curves, once they get over the hump, it will be a much stronger fight for the PlayStation 3. In the meantime, hang onto your Xbox 360s and Wiis, as they're not going to be taken down easily any time soon.
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