NBA 08 is the follow up to the PS3 first party launch title, NBA 07. The game looks to build upon what was started last year to take the game to the next level. But too many features were left out to bring it there. The game is pretty, but needs some depth to really compete in the basketball game market. Here is a breakdown of some of the facets of NBA 08 for the PS3:

Presentation and Graphics: NBA 08 runs at a blistering 60fps at full 1080p. Not many games can claim that honor, but Sony has made sure their NBA line looks top notch. There are, however, some clipping issues which prevent the graphics from being the best they can be. The details in the arenas and crowd this year are a huge step up, as are the player and uniform details. The game presents some really cool replays, but these seem vary sparse and only after a big dunk. I would have liked to have seem these occur more often, say with a big crossover to nice steal. The camera seems to stay too far away from the action, not giving you enough opportunity to find that tight passing line into the low post. 4 of 5

Hit the jump for more…

Kaz Hirai, master of the PlayStation World, let the cat out of the bag (finally). The rumble-enabled version of the SIXAXIS, now called the DualShock 3, will be making it’s way to a PS3 near you.

No pricing has been set as of yet, but expect the new controller to drop in Japan in November and hit the US and Europe in Spring 2008. Why the huge delay? Anyway, the controller is said to be slightly heavier, with no outward appearance changes other than the addition of the DualShock 3 logo on the controller.

I’m quite excited about this one. Going to have to replace my current SIXAXIS with a DualShock 3 to get my rumble back for PS3 games.

Ruh Roh Raggy. I don’t think Sony is going to be happy by this one. EA accidentally spilled the beans on a rumbling SIXAXIS for the PS3. Not being talking about it, but by allowing people to play Burnout Paradise with the new controller.

According to IGN, the new controller is heavier with a sticker on the bottom which says “RUMBLE”. No word on this being the final design.

Expect an official announcement from Sony tomorrow at their press event.

The wheels of vibration are again turning, which rumors resurfacing of a rumble-enabled PS3 controller being announced at the Tokyo Game Show.

According to the latest 1Up Yours podcast, Shane states that the DualShock 3 is “confirmed” for TGS, along with the release of firmware v2.0 which brings in-game XMB access.

While this rumor has been going on for a while, it does seem logical to release this new controller before the Holiday season and before Home is released to the public. I can only hope some of the recent and upcoming huge titles will support rumble if it is ultimately announced later this week.

This is one title that I have heard some mixed reviews about. Lair is being released September 4th in the US for the PS3. The game features aerial and ground dragon combat using SIXAXIS controls. We’re looking to get our hands on a copy today to give you some impressions.

In a world ravaged by endless conflict and natural disaster, a call for peace turns into a bloodbath of betrayal and deceit in Lair™ for the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system. Playing as a warrior named Rohn who rides a voracious dragon trained for deadly aerial and ground combat, gamers must defeat the war-hungry Mokai to save the Asylian civilization. Together, Rohn and his dragon will attempt to change the destiny of a world on the brink of extinction by scorching, clawing and smashing through thousands of enemies and their war-trained beasts.

With all the mixed reviews the game has received so far, who knows what we’ll think.

Hit the jump for more…

That’s right folks. Prepare to frag the ever loving shit out of your friends on the PS3 with the precision of a mouse and keyboard. Or use the SIXAXIS if that’s what you prefer. But hey, having the choice is the best part.

Mark Rein confirmed on the official Epic forums that UT3 would see out of the box keyboard and mouse support on the PS3.

I checked with Steve Polge and he said that YES we are supporting keyboard and mouse in Unreal Tournament 3 on PS3. He is confident we are doing it in a way that will be balanced without feeling “gimped” for either side. We’ll also allow people to choose whether or not they want to allow mixed controller vs. keyboard/mouse games or not.

Good idea giving people the choice for setting up the games. Takes away one reason for users to bitch about stuff. Now if only Microsoft would allow keyboard and mouse support on the Xbox 360…

Want to know more about the controls, environments, and all around gameplay in Metal Gear Solid 4? Well, here you go.

This interview goes into SIXAXIS control, how the camouflage works, the types of environments in the game, and the future of the series.

Here’s your HD goodness.

The first thing that came to my mind after playing the Heavenly Sword demo was “where’s the rest”? More on that in a bit.

The game is beautiful, there’s no doubt about that. All those great screens and videos we’ve seen in the past definitely do the game justice. Animations were very crisp and the framerate is pretty stable as well, only dropping in a couple spots. I’m guessing it could be demo code that will be improved later on.

The controls feel very good, with similar button mappings to God of War. Oddly the game doesn’t have a jump button, which I would have thought would have made it easier to perform aerial combos. The use of the L1 and R1 buttons to change your fighting stance works very well. Aerial combos are very fun with the control scheme as are the Superstyle moves. The SIXAXIS control for aftertouch when throwing an object is fun, but I don’t think it will play that big a role in the game. I love the camera controls by using either the L2 and R2 buttons to pan left/right or by tilting the SIXAXIS in either direction.

Hit the jump for more…

With all of the confirmations of the PS3 controller getting back its rumble feature it got me thinking of a few things. Since Sony will be in the midst of a redesign for the controller, why stop at just adding in rumble?

In an interview with Kikizo at E3, Kaz Hirai hinted at more new features for the SIXAXIS:

We’re also looking at a variety of other things that we can incorporate with the controller, and we’ll come out with announcements when we think we have the right mix of features for the PS3 controller.

With the introduction of the rumble technology back in to the SIXAXIS controller, Sony can really think outside the box and instead of just pawning off a half assed “new” controller, that many feel we should have gotten already at launch, really go nuts and add in something that will make gamers run out and buy this thing.

Some things I was thinking about was a possible introduction of a new charging system, make this puppy chargeable on a stand or add in a microphone for chatting. Or maybe they could swap the left analog stick with the d-pad and revamp the triggers that many gamers have complained about. One rumor floating around is the new revision of the SIXAXIS will have multiple zone rumble support (instead of the left and right we’ve seen in the past) to give even better feedback.

What would you like to see in a new version of the SIXAXIS? Let us know in the comments.

The little screen inside the first PS3 Home trailer may have served this purpose, but Sony just announced that LocoRoco is coming as a downloadable title for the PlayStation Network.

The game is tentatively titled “Buu Buu Cocoreccho! by LocoRoco”… ummm, yeah. Not sure the name is the best, but if the gameplay is anything like Loco Roco, I’m sure this is going to be fun.

Sony describes the game as “It’s LocoRoco, but it’s not — a peculiar extra chapter.” That, and a sentence with three different uses of the world play: “Even if you don’t play it [as in control the game], the world and the LocoRoco will play [as in both playing amongst themselves and as in playing back like a video] on their own.”

Yeah, that’s pretty damn vague there Sony. The game is set to have around 200 LocoRoco characters and utilize SIXAXIS motion controls. Sony says the game is around 95% done, so I would expect the game to be out this fall.