1. Codename: Kingdoms:

Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli: “I think when we put Crysis 2 out we will show a level that is, multiplatform-wise, maxing out, but we will look into with Microsoft how Kingdoms can push the Xbox 360 110 percent, to its limits.
 
 

 
 

“When you’re spending a multimillion budget only on the Xbox 360, that team will be able to crank out the last two or three percent left in the console. But I think that two or three percent will make the difference potentially between day and night that you cannot afford if you go multiplatform.”
 

2. Battlefield 3:
 

We all know that PC gamers are in for a treat. But what about the consoles version:
 

DICE executive producer Patrick Bach on Battlefield 3 “if not the best-looking console game this year, up there with the competition.”
 
 

3. Gears of War 3:
 

Cliffy.B: “I assure you that when you see the realtime gameplay of Gears 3, it looks very very great and even better than Gears of War 2, yeah we’re pushing it (Xbox 360).”
 
 

We already knew from the beta that Gears 3 is leaps and bounds over its predecessors considering visuals. A look at the latest campaign trailer for the game tell us that we haven’t see anything yet. This game is pushing the Xbox360 to its limits.
 

4. Uncharted 3:
 

Uncharted 2 is still one of the most beautiful games of this generation. Naughty Dog have claimed that they pushed the PS3 to its limit “We have to be uncomfortable. Three weeks before shipping Uncharted 2, we couldn’t even fit the game in memory.” So how can Naughty Dog up the ante this time?
 
 

Uncharted 1 used just two SPUs, Uncharted 2, all six but only at a street car level, Uncharted 3, however, will use all six just like a Formula 1 racer.
 

“We’re at full speed, optimizing code specifically for the SPUs, It’s a great resource because [SPUs] are extremely fast, and if you optimize they get faster than you ever thought they could be. That’s where the quality of our images comes from.”

5. Rage:
 

Rage is the first game to use Id Software’s new tech (id Tech5). John Carmack the legendary coder created id Tech5 to deliver a game with impressive visuals running at 60FPS on consoles.
 
 

John Carmack: “The great thing in this generation [is that] the fidelity of what we deliver now is beyond what my personal imagination delivers, and I see this quite clearly when I develop the tech. I have a picture in my mind of how you won’t see repeated texture tiling here, you’ll be able to put dirt in the cracks on this and I’ve got this vague sense of that. But when you look at the muddy shot scenes in Rage, you’re just like ‘this looks fabulous!’ It looks better than I imagined it would and that’s just great, to be able to say that.”

6. Forza 4:
 

Forza 3 is the best racing sim to date. But the folks at Turn 10 weren’t fully satisfied with the high praise Forza 3 got. Turn 10 promise “Unmatched graphics” and “the best looking game in 2011″ when Forza 4 arrive this year.
 
 

7. Skyrim:
 

Todd howard: “Do we wait for a new console cycle, because you know, with Elder Scrolls we usually like to start over, but we felt we had a real big laundry list of things that we knew we could do on the current generation of consoles.”
 
 

“We just felt that there was so much we could do with this current generation so we rewrote the entire renderer; we have full shadows and everything now; we rewrote all the caching; the AI systems; the quest systems; the dialogue; the interface; the animation system, we’re using Havoks behaviour system, which is one of the most advanced animation systems out there.”
 

Can’t wait to see more of this game.
 

8. Metal Gear Solid: Rising:
 

KP podcast host Sean Eyestone: “We’re redoing the engine from scratch, and it’s going to look amazing, it’s going to be a big project like Metal Gear Solid 4. The entire team is serious about making it look as good as possible on every platform.”
 
 

I’m a huge fan of the Metal Gear franchise and I’m pretty sure that Rising is going to be a stunner.
 

9. Bioshock: Infinite:
 

Chris Kline tech director of Irrational Games: “All major FPS engines (CryEngine 3, UE3, id Tech 5) are designed and optimized for static environments that the player moves through, which is a reasonable choice because, even if there are trees moving in the wind, the ground under the player’s feet isn’t going anywhere. Unfortunately for our tech team (but good for you) everything in Columbia is capable of moving.”
 
 

 
 

On top of that Irrational Games have developed a proprietary per-pixel dynamic relighting scheme that allows characters and dynamic objects to receive global illumination. It’s a shame that Infinite is not going to be released this year, but at least we are going to see more of this amazing title at the upcoming E3.

10. The Last Guardian:
 

Team Ico’s previous games have had some of the best artistic designs in the industry. Now with the technical prowess of the PS3 and Team Ico’s fantastic art will finally collide to create a game that will leave you speechless.

- Bayonetta (Bayonetta):
 
 

- Ninja Gaiden 2 (Ryu):
 
 

- Devil May Cry 4 (Nero and Dante):
 
 

- God of War 3 (Kratos):
 
 

What do you think? Which character is the most badass? Vote and share your thoughts with us in the comments section.
 
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

In everything we create, the main concept always revolves around design. Design is made up of two key factors: functionality and appearance. How well these two are served determines how good the overall design is. This is the basis of design in every aspect of what we see around us. How well something works, and how good it looks while working defines the quality of its design. This is a good indication why many products succeed in the market, while many others fail. This is no different in the videogame industry.
 

I played through the demo of Enslaved the other day, and this is what brought the topic to mind once more. The demo booted up, and I was greeted by Monkey’s lovingly dealt snarls and glares. The game handed control over to me, and up I push on the control stick. Monkey stutters forward with a heavy, slow step, and then kicks off at full speed. I removed the pressure from the control stick, and pushed on it again. The same thing happened. At first, I thought it may have been one of those randomly generated animations, and something that would happen on rare occasions, but, as I played more and more, it became evident that this was part of the design.
 
 

Snarly-snarly, Mr. Monkey.

This sort of thing forces me to question whether or not any of the designers ever decided to sit down with their efforts. The problem with this implementation of what is commonly found in platformers, which is to say slow movement at first, then having the character speed up, is that it’s of an unwieldy nature. The time it takes from when the control stick is tilted, to when Monkey hits full speed is too long, and the period of acceleration in between is almost non-existent; Monkey simply kick-starts into full gear after half a second’s delay. Although this issue is very easily remedied by Enslaved’s forgiving platforming style, there is still no reason for such a system to exist. Not in the way it is, now, at least.
 

Let’s look in the direction of the opposite extreme, now, shall we? Super Mario Galaxy. Arguably one of the best platformers to have ever been made. That’s a reason to immediately assume control design perfection, and you wouldn’t be very wrong. Pick up the Nunchuk, and smack that control stick to the far end. Mario will run on the spot for a fraction of a second, and speed up gradually, but quickly; not suddenly bursting forward like he’s had an injection in the rear. This is an effect that is so natural to the mind that it goes by unnoticed. It doesn’t annoy you, and so you don’t take note of it. Almost as if it makes sense, and that’s what the mind expects to happen. Albeit, Super Mario Galaxy is a much more precision-based platformer than Enslaved is, and so not having the effect perfected would destroy a large part of the gamer’s sensation of total control, while Enslaved simply annoys the player.
 
 

Happy plumber alert.

In Super Mario Galaxy, functionality is not sacrificed for appearance. This is one of the biggest flaws of today’s gaming industry: appearance over functionality. Animators have dictated that their lovingly-crafted dodge maneuver’s animation must complete all the way until the character’s hair falls back into neat curls over his shoulders before he can slam his fist into the face of the zombie gnawing on his leg. In fast-paced videogames, such as most Action/Adventure titles, FPSs, TPSs, etc. the functionality of the gameplay tends to be more important than the appearance. If I’ve got a sniper’s laser aimed squarely at my head, you’d better believe that I’m going to give up on reloading my gun and dive for cover. You’d better believe it.
 

Designers have alleviated a lot of these issues with simple fixes: allowing the characters to do multiple actions at the same time, such as reloading while taking cover, and, in many cases, even allowing players to ‘cancel’ out of the animation, and force the characters to do a more important action, such as block or dodge in the middle of an attack. That doesn’t mean, though, that functionality over design immediately equates to a better game.
 
 

Suggested course of action: press Square.

Game designers have also used this concept of appearance over functionality to their advantage; especially when it comes to the Horror genre. It’s a simple, quick and easy way to cause tension amongst gamers as they play through the game. Being chased through the desolate woods by a bloodthirsty bear? Why don’t you shoot it? Oh, right, you’re busy reloading. Sucks that that animation takes forever, and forces you to move at a pace no quicker than a lazy stroll. That is a brilliant example of how greater care to appearance than functionality can, in fact, enhance the experience.
 

Game designers have been caught up in this craze of achieving cinematic gameplay, and it’s been costing games their greatest assets: their gameplay. While it can aid in some instances, it generally tends to drag the experience down, frustrating the gamer and pulling them out of the experience, rather than enhancing it. It’s nice to play a game that’s extra flashy and pretty all over, but I don’t think I’d prefer watching my character tie his shoelace in the middle of a firefight, rather than watching my character trip over his untied shoelace as he shotguns baddies in the face.

5. ModNation Racers:
 
 

ModNation Racers is an upcoming kart racing game in development by United Front Games for the PS3. Players will be able to design and create their own characters, vehicles and race tracks in great detail. The overall style of the cars and characters is based on vinyl art and collectors’ toys, but players will be able to greatly modify their clothing and overall look. Players are also able to create and modify race tracks using the in-game ‘Track Studio’ tool. If you had tried the online beta which was made available in the US in December 2009 and in Europe in January 2010, I think you know how much fun the game is. ModNation Racers will expand on the great features Little Big Planet established while offering a different type of gameplay.

4. Lost Planet 2:
 
 

 
 

The first game was good despite some shortcomings. But it seems that the sequel is going to improve on every aspect of the original game. With improved visuals, bigger Akrid bosses, four co-op play in campaign mode, and better online experience, Capcom seems to have a winning sequel in their hands.

3. Alan Wake:
 
 

 
 

The wait for this game is almost finished. The game was shown for the first time in E3 2005 and since that time, Remedy has been hard at work to deliver this “Psychological action thriller.” The main protagonist Alan Wake is a bestselling writer, hasn’t managed to write anything in over two years. Now his wife, Alice, brings him to the idyllic small town of Bright Falls to recover his creative flow. When she vanishes without a trace, Wake finds himself trapped in a nightmare. Word by word, his latest work, a thriller he cannot even remember writing is coming true before his eyes. From what we have seen so far from the game, Alan Wake is highly likely to meet expectations.
 

2. Super Mario Galaxy 2:
 
 

 
 

The first game is not only the best game on the Wii, it’s one of the best games of this generation. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is about to expand the great gameplay and level design of the original game while introducing new items and power-ups. The new items include, drills that allow Mario to drill through planets and dirt, they can also be used to explore the interior of planets and uncover hidden treasures. One of the new interesting power-ups is the Rock Mushroom, which gives Mario the ability to turn himself into a boulder and smash through barriers. If you have a Wii, you owe it to yourself to get this game.
 

1. Red Dead Redemption:
 
 

 
 

If you have to buy only one game in May, then get Red Dead Redemption. This is without a doubt is shaping up to be the best game in May and possibly 2010 game of the year. Red Dead Redemption gives the player a large, open world environment allowing the player to move freely. Players on foot can walk, run, interact with the environment, and combat enemies with firearms. This game has everything a great game should have; stunning visuals (mind blowing attention to details), unique open world settings, amazing gameplay mechanisms, a very interesting online multiplayer, and more innovative ideas than you could possibly imagine. Rockstar games is taking the sandbox gaming to the next level in Redemption.

 
I know. There are many games coming next month not mentioned in the list, but honestly, these are the hottest titles I think gamers (including me) are looking forward to the most next month. Which games are you planning to get in May? Tell us in the comment section.
 

Today, Kojima tweeted another interesting tweet, revealing that he is working on another ‘Confidential Project’ which will make him leave his next project to the side in favor of this new “Confidential Project”:
 

“I’m going to leave my next project to the side while I focus on the “Confidential Project.”"
 

We can understand from his tweets that Kojima is working on two different projects at the same time. The first project will be different and it’s going to “challenge a certain type of taboo” and the second one is a very “Confidential Project”. E3 isn’t very far away, and I think we will see what the legendary developer is up to in June.
 

It was reported on NeoGaf that Alan Wake, was only running at the resolution of 547p by user MazingerDUDE (the same person who found out that the Xbox360 version of Final Fantasy XIII runs at 576p). Then, Remedy’s community manager clarified on Alan Wake’s official forums that the game runs at 720p stating that the pics used in MazingerDUDE’s analysis “are based off footage captured at 960×540.” Those videos were released by two of the most known videogame publications, Gamepro and Videogameszone. As he added that “Videogameszone and Gamepro both released footage without approval and due to the fact that we don’t know how many compressions their videos went through or what process they took it’s best not to use those videos as sources.”
 

Now, Matias Myllyrinne the Managing Director of Remedy’s entertainment spoke publicly about the issue on his twitter account and stated the following:
 

“Game journalism is not about playing a game in 10 minute segments and posting random quality videos on the net. Disappointed.”

Nevertheless, Alan Wake looks fantastic. But did Videogameszone and Gamepro gone too far by releasing some low resolution videos for Alan Wake without Remedy’s approval? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
 

The point I want to clarify here is, Mass Effect 2, which is the best looking game on Xbox360 is running on the Unreal Engine 3 (multiplatform engine). Most of all Xbox360 games (exclusives and multiplatform) do run on multiplatform engines. With most of the biggest exclusives on Xbox360 are powered by the Unreal Engine 3 (Mass Effect 2, Gears of War 2, Lost Odyssey and etc). Multiplatform engines are designed to run on multiple platforms, which means they aren’t created to take full advantage of a specific console/platform. Yes, we see games such as Mass Effect 2 look better than an average Unreal Engine 3 game. But that because of the developers who are creating the game. With better art design and better optimization, a game can look better than another even if they are running on the same engine.
 

This year, we are seeing Xbox360 exclusives running on new engines or to be more accurate, engines that created to take full advantage of Microsoft’s console. Halo: Reach looks so much better than Halo 3 and ODST, but the real star that showed what the Xbox360 is capable of is Remedy’s upcoming Psychological thriller, Alan Wake.
 

Alan Wake not just raising the bar for Xbox360 in term of visuals, it’s raising the bar for this whole generation. Technically and artistically, Alan Wake is shaping up to be the best looking game of this generation. From the real-time projected shadows produced by the essential flashlight, the total absence of aliasing, the breathtaking realistic lighting effects (the best I have ever seen), the epic scale of the environments, SSAO (Screen Space Ambient Occlusion), the atmospheric effects to the vegetation which interacts with characters and wind. Truly impressive stuff.
 
 

The best thing Sony did this gen is they let their first party devs to create games with one thing in mind: Taking full advantage of the PS3 power. That’s why we have been seeing PS3 exclusives looking better than Xbox360 games. Things are about to change now, as we are seeing games such as Alan Wake equaling or surpassing PS3 exclusives in term of visuals. And the most impressive thing is: Alan Wake is running on a $199 console with limited storage capacity (DVD9). It will be interesting to see what does Sony have up their sleeve at the upcoming E3.
 

Naughty Dog has really raised the bar with their latest game Uncharted 2. The game won many awards and got a very positive feedback from the gaming community and the fans. The first Gears of War game was revolutionary, and the sequel was great despite the laggy online play, but then Uncharted 2 came out and it stormed the gaming industry in a big way. We knew that Gears of War 3 in the works, and if the latest tweet from Cliff Bleszinski the Design Director of the Gears of War franchise is an indication for what to come, then expect great things from the game:
 

“@Naughty_Dog YOU’RE GOING DOWN! IT’S ON!”
 

“It’s on” means the Competition is soon to get started. Though Naughty Dog accepted the challenge and replied directly to his tweet:
 

“@therealcliffyb We’ll offer up hugs too if that’s what it takes! We have two fuzzy, cuddly dogs for hugs!”
 
 

The newest tech demo for the latest version of the Unreal Engine 3 looks impressive, which will absolutely run the next iteration in the Gears of War series. Also, Cliff Bleszinski stated before in an interview with IGN that Epic games is aiming to maintain the visual leadership in the industry. Expect an official announcement for Gears of War 3 in the coming months or most likely at E3 2010. But will Epic games be up to the task and raise the bar once again? Let us know in the comments section.
 

Update: It seems that they were talking about The Escapist’s 2010 March Mayhem: Developer’s Showdown. a fan-voting tournament on escapistmagazine.com. Both of Epic games and Naughty Dog are competing with each other (matched up in a bracket). Click here to vote for your favorite developer. We regret the error.
 

1. Lost Odyssey has better cast of characters and a better story overall:
 

Lost Odyssey main protagonist Kaim and his fellow companion personalities and characteristics are more interesting than Vanille, Lightning, hope and the rest of the cast of Final Fantasy XIII. When you talk about humor relief characters, Jansen is funnier and more entertaining than Sazh. Lightning the main protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII is the typical emo character, while Kaim is an immortal who has seen a lot of bad things happened to him or to the people he loved in his 1000 years of living. Themes that were presented in Lost Odyssey such as immortality are mature and more interesting than the typical themes presented in FFXIII. Final Fantasy XIII has some good moments in its story, but when you compare those high points with the high points found in Lost Odyssey, Final Fantasy XIII story feels average at best. The Thousand Years of Dreams also gives Lost Odyssey the edge over Final Fantasy XIII in story telling.
 

2. Lost Odyssey soundtrack is stronger and more memorable:
 

While some tracks from Final Fantasy XIII are good, it pales in comparison to the master work done by Nobuo Uematsu in Lost Odyssey. Lost Odyssey battle theme is more heroic and more epic. The boss battle themes in Lost Odyssey are more intense and gives the player a sense of danger while keeping the epic feel to them. Lost Odyssey soundtrack is one of the best soundtracks ever made for any game. It’s memorable, emotional and epic at the same time.
 

3. Voice acting in FFXIII is weaker:
 

Vanille voice over sucks, and the strange thing, it’s one of the most important and the most talkative character in the game. Which sucks. Also, Lost Odyssey gives the player the option to play the game in various languages while you can play FFXIII in English only.

4. Lost Odyssey is less linear and its world is more interesting to explore:
 

If you think that the lack of real towns and villages or exploration in FFXIII doesn’t hamper the experience, you are fooling yourself. Ok, FFXIII opens after more than 25 hours of gameplay, but after this point, you begin to get used to the linearity which discourages the player to explore the game’s world. Lost Odyssey gives the player more freedom from the outset which encourages the player to explore every area in the game. Also, FFXIII world is less interesting.
 

I presented to you four reasons why Lost Odyssey is a better JRPG than FFXIII, and I can give you more reasons, but I won’t. I’m not saying that FFXIII is a bad game, no it isn’t. But it isn’t as good as I was hoping for. The funny thing is FFXIII has a higher score on metacritic despite the fact that Lost Odyssey is the better game. Also, FFXIII sold over 1 million copies in its first week in the west while Lost Odyssey overall sales still didn’t hit 1 million. A very sad facts indeed.
 

X10 gave us a good look for what to expect of the Xbox360 this year. With games such as Halo: reach, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell: Conviction, and Fable 3, you can see that the Xbox360 lineup is much stronger in 2010 compared to last year’s. And if Microsoft’s Aaron Greenburg recent statement that X10 is “just a glimpse” of this year’s lineup is true, I think it will make things even harder for Sony’s PS3 to catch up with the Xbox360.
 

I’m not saying that PS3 doesn’t have great games in 2010. In the coming days, PS3 owners will play something unique called Heavy Rain and in March PS3 owners will finally have the opportunity to play one of the most anticipated games of this generation, God of War 3. Also, Gran Turismo 5 will be released this year as well. But where are the PS3 exclusives that will be released in the second half of this year?
 
 

 
 
Fumito Ueda’s upcoming title The Last Guardian might not be released this year (though I hope it will). Also, unannounced games such as Killzone 3, Infamous 2 and others which I think that they will get announced in the coming months or at E3 2010 will not make it this year. Killzone 2 and Infamous were just released last year and I don’t think that they can develop and release full blown sequels in this short period of time.
 

We all know that both of Sony and Microsoft are making games for their motion controllers, but recently, I’m noticing that third party developers such as Capcom and Ubisoft are leaning more towards Project Natal than to Sony’s motion controller. Which does concern me. Don’t also forget that the Xbox360 is still the cheapest HD console which will always be a major Obstacle for Sony to catch up with Microsoft’s Xbox360.
 

Xbox360 already looks strong in 2010. On the other hand, Sony looks good, but not as strong as they were in 2009. E3 2010 is just months away which means that Sony may surprise us all and turn the play field upside down. In my opinion, the company that is going to sell more consoles in 2010 might be the winner of the HD war. What do you think? Will Sony strike back? Tell us in the comment section.