No Heavenly Sword this year

By Ellie Gibson Published 22 May, 2006

Sony bigwig on PS3 launch titles.

PS3 titles Heavenly Sword, Formula One and Motorstorm will not launch alongside the console on November 17th, according to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss David Reeves.

In an interview with CVG, Reeves said that the games won't arrive until "after Christmas" - although Insomniac title Resistance: Fall of Man "will certainly be a launch title."

He went on to state that Sony plans to have a diverse range of games available at console launch, since "for the first time we are not going to go just for hardcore gamers." You can expect "a portfolio of social gaming" to turn up during the launch window - including a PS3 EyeToy game. "EyeToy is not playable at the moment, but it will come before March 2007," Reeves revealed.

SingStar PS3 is set to arrive even sooner - there's still doubt over whether it'll be a PS3 title, despite what the chaps involved told us during E3, but Reeves confirmed that it will hit the shops "certainly before Christmas".

Sounds like Reeves isn't too worried about shifting PS3s though, regardless of the launch line-up: "Without being too arrogant about it, I don't think we worry too much about building up the hype in the first six months, but where the rubber hits the road is going to be when all those hardcore gamers have bought PS3. They have also bought Xbox 360 and they have probably bought Nintendo Wii as well," he said.

"We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even [if] it didn't have games."

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (55) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • drumbaby #1 6 years ago

    Without Heavenly Sword, Genji 2 had better get 100 times better than it looked at E3 then.

  • Darren #2 6 years ago

    "We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even [if] it didn't have games."

    What an absolutely inane thing to say. I certainly won't buy a PS3 if it doesn't have any games that interest me!!! And surely, no hardcore GAMER would either...? :?
    Edited by 1 at 22/05/06 @ 17:29

  • Frogger #3 6 years ago

    They did bought the PS2 without any decent game 6 years ago (fireworks anyone ?)

  • RabidMonkey #4 6 years ago

    I liked Fantavision (still do).

    One of the more relaxing games this generation.

  • Darkedge #5 6 years ago

    so what is coming at lauch apart from stuff i've got/played already??

  • Darkedge #6 6 years ago

    heavenly sword looks like a flashier version of GoW.
    it's not an RPG with the specific button presses in the boss battle at the end of the vid.

  • tonynibbles #7 6 years ago

    Fucking love Fantavision.

    Just thinking about it makes me want to play it.

  • ralphwolfenstein #8 6 years ago

    No-one's managed to convince me yet that Heavenly Sword is anything more than Dynasty Warriors with a decent draw distance...

  • Xerx3s #9 6 years ago

    "for the first time we are not going to go just for hardcore gamers."

    IoW, crap party games that can be made quite easely to fill up the gap of the big titles

    "We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even [if] it didn't have games."

    Hes right about this though, some ppl will buy it, even if it was an empty box with PS3 on the side. They can have the shittiest lineup in the world for all they care and still beat any competition with ease.

  • rhinoxious #10 6 years ago

    Surely 'hardcore gamer' titles are what you need at launch, to satisfy the 'hardcore' people who are ging to pre-order 4 months in advance and spend £500+ on the day.

    All that social gamer stuff comes later when you have a big installed base.

    I'm sure that demand will be high for PS3, but its own worst enemy will be PS2 for the time being, will singstar be any more 'fun' on a PS3?

  • kangarootoo #11 6 years ago

    Launch titles almost always blow. The 360 launch list was pretty poor, the original XBox list was dire, can't remember the PS2 list 'cos I was a PC gamer when it came out.

  • Zero Beat #12 6 years ago

    At the moment I'm having trouble finding anything for £425 PS3 launch that represents the same value SSX and Timesplitters held at £300 PS2 launch.

  • pac666 #13 6 years ago

    I'm waiting for Wipeout if it's not a launch title I won't be buying.

  • Tricky #14 6 years ago

    "I'm waiting for Wipeout if it's not a launch title I won't be buying."

    It won't be. Instead they've got something called Fatal Inertia which is a blatant Wipeout clone. God knows why they bothered to be honest - should have just fastracked a new Wipeout, especially given how well Pure has done on the PSP.

  • alpha-0ne #15 6 years ago

    wow cant think of one game that wont be available elsewhere that will be available at launch that looks good

    did sony show any games at the E3 press conference that will be available?

    resistance and warhawk are the ones that spring to mind but thats it

    ill still buy one thats just me but if i didnt have a 360 already i would be concidering one for a line of Mass Effect, Crackdown, Gears of War, Too Human, Forza 2

  • Kami #16 6 years ago

    No Heavenly Sword? Not interested in your launch then Sony.

    "We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even [if] it didn't have games."

    If it didn't have games, then it'd be a dead console. And people would stop buying it. Regardless off name, if there are no games for a games console, it's self-defeating. What a dumbass comment.

    The more these guys open their mouths, the more I think Sony need a serious kick in a painful place...
    Edited by 1 at 22/05/06 @ 18:34

  • Carrybagma #17 6 years ago

    Social gaming???

    * "I spy with my little eye, something beginning with P"
    - "PS3?"
    * "Correct! OK. Now let's play - guess what's in the BD player!"
    - "Ummm. The De Vinci Code?"
    * "Nope"
    - "Err, then it must be..... nothing at all!"
    * "Correct!"

    Ho ho.

  • barat #18 6 years ago

    European launch titles:

    Call of Duty 3
    Fatal Inertia
    FIFA 07
    Fight Night Round 3
    Full Auto 2: Battlelines
    Madden NFL 07
    NBA Live 07
    Resistance: Fall of Man
    Rayman: Raving Rabbids
    Ridge Racer 7
    SongStar
    Sonic The Hedgehog
    Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
    Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
    Tony Hawk's Project 8
    Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
    Warhawk

  • alpha-0ne #19 6 years ago

    Mulltiplatform
    ---------------
    Call of Duty 3
    FIFA 07
    Fight Night Round 3
    Madden NFL 07
    NBA Live 07
    Rayman: Raving Rabbids
    Ridge Racer 7
    Sonic The Hedgehog
    Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07
    Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas
    Tony Hawk's Project 8

    ps3 only
    ---------
    SongStar
    Untold Legends: Dark Kingdom
    Warhawk
    Fatal Inertia
    Resistance: Fall of Man
    Full Auto 2: Battlelines

    Ill be buying all the multiplatform games on my 360 as it has a proven online system, out of the ps3 only games i will probably get resistance and was hoping to get heavenly sword and f1 but not anymore

  • richardiox #20 6 years ago

    Launch line-up does seem typically dry as far as platform exclusives go. No doubt Christmas 07 will be a different kettle of fish but in the meanwhile how will I be able to say no to a 360 this year with Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Test Drive, Alan Wake, Forza2 and Gears of War all due out (hopefully resi5 too).

  • Scimarad #21 6 years ago

    "No-one's managed to convince me yet that Heavenly Sword is anything more than Dynasty Warriors with a decent draw distance..."

    Gaming heaven!

  • nicehobo #22 6 years ago

    oh and warhawk wont be out till 2007 so you wont be tilting your controllers for a while...

  • captain-future #23 6 years ago

    "We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even [if] it didn't have games."

    Basically he insults Sony customers... *LOL*

  • Yossarian #24 6 years ago

    "how will I be able to say no to a 360 this year with Lost Planet, Dead Rising, Test Drive, Alan Wake, Forza2 and Gears of War all due out (hopefully resi5 too)."

    well I expect Dead Rising, Test Drive Unlimited, and Gears of War to make 2006.

    but I would put money on Lost Planet not arriving until early 2007, and Forza 2 and Alan Wake arriving by the end of 2007 at the earliest

  • kebab #25 6 years ago

    >>but I would put money on Lost Planet not arriving until early 2007, and Forza 2 and Alan Wake arriving by the end of 2007 at the earliest

    Why? what do you know?

  • alpha-0ne #26 6 years ago

    alan wake is 2007 anyway never was 2006, forza will be out this year with the force feedback wheel

    im a member of the forza 2 community and they let everyone know that the only reason they didnt show at E3 was becuase they didnt want to delay development by a month to polish one track when the best way to develop the game is not this way

  • Markusdragon #27 6 years ago

    What this bloke doesn't seem to understand is that the true hardcore can't actually afford a PS3 this year because they're busy mopping up all the current gen second hand bargains, preordering DS/PSP titles, waiting for the last few awesome looking current gen titles to arrive (Yakuza, anyone?) and just possibly buying games at £50 a pop for their 360s. That's a lot of strain for any income, especially one from someone who probably games more than they work.

  • Arwin #28 6 years ago

    I think the PS2 had Tekken Tag, SSX, Fantavision and, er, Ridge Racer, right? And that was the European launch ...

    But SSX was enough for me, just then. It was great. Still, though a lot of AA titles, not quite a stellar launch.

    The PS3 looks a lot better, but yes, that's partly thanks to multi-platform games. Still, if they are released, it will be interesting to see how well they compare. It's going to be important for the perception of the PS3 vs the 360 even though the 360 titles would be 2nd wave, so expected to make better use of the 360. I would almost buy both a 360 and a PS3 just to be able to compare the games myself.

    As far as proven online technology is concerned, that's actually a bit of a misconception - GameSpy is providing the online support, and that's a proven third-party provider from the PC scene, and they're now supporting PS3, PSP and even PS2.

    It almost sounds like a de-hyping campaign, though, doesn't it? D'ya think they learnt something from E3? ;)

  • dllord #29 6 years ago

    Lost Planet is 1st Q 07!!!!!!

  • tiddles #30 6 years ago

    The images of Heavenly Sword's level designs shown in this month's Edge imply that it's more God Of War than Dynasty Warriors - too much up and down for a DW-style game. Details are otherwise scant, however.

  • effinwooly #31 6 years ago

    why would anyone buy a PS3 at launch ? seriously !

  • SeesThroughAll #32 6 years ago

    Let's see if the backwards compatibility works fine. If it works as well as it did for PS2/PS1, then there will be hundreds of cheaper games available at launch for those who decide to buy a PS for the first time.

    If I buy a PS3, I'm expecting to be able to play GoW and GoW2 on it...

  • drumbaby #33 6 years ago

    Well, it worked for the PS2 :)

  • Dizzy #34 6 years ago

    >why would anyone buy a PS3 at launch ? seriously !

    eBay?

  • Foxclose #35 6 years ago

    Guys, don't forget about the High Def Sony movies!

    If Sony releases Da Vinci Code (movie) on Blu-Ray then I am sold on DAY ONE!
    Also I really hope that Resistance: Fall of Man is the great game they want it to be.
    Edited by 1 at 22/05/06 @ 23:41

  • lefizz #36 6 years ago

    Resistance looks like a pretty straight foward Sci-Fi Blaster.
    Lost planet on the other hands, that demo is bloody amazing
    Edited by 1 at 23/05/06 @ 00:00

  • Kami #37 6 years ago

    "why would anyone buy a PS3 at launch ? seriously !"

    Because there are many who are what the industry descirbes as "Hardcore Early Adopters". These are the people who buy the latest thing because... well. It's the latest thing. Regardless of whether it will succeed or not, if it's cool to have one at that moment, they'll get it by fair means or foul. And, if past online auctions suggest anything, money is no object to these people.

    ... but you burn out of those in the first three to six months. After that point, you're in the position where you need to attract new customers. This can be done via marketing but also would come down to the games, and word-of-mouth plays a heavy role.

    The thing that gets me though, is the past couple of generations have been... hmm. Well, let's phrase it this way: how many of us have had to return/exchange a PS2? How many returned their PS2 within the first 6 months? I remember when I got my first PS2, Sony had to swap it twice at least, three times maybe. Also recently, my PSTwo had to be exchanged again, third time for that one.

    Technology advances, but there's always a few technical issues to iron out first... which is why it's not THAT bad to get a system launch last. By the time it reaches us, the technical issues should have started to be resolved. OK, that's not a hugely true statement, but it's close enough to the point I'm trying to make. The advantage with getting a system launch last is that in theory, it should be the more reliable batch of systems you'll be recieving...

    PS3 is using brand new technology with Blu-ray. And I would wager that in the first six months, someone will find a huge technical cock-up that needs resolving. Such is the price of advancing technology I guess... it's never going to be possible to make a flawless system at launch...

  • ejstyles #38 6 years ago

    To have the audacity to assume that hardcore gamers are mugs and will buy any old tat has really annoyed me. Truth be told, the PSP has proved that they can push a format without the games. Heard about Lost Planet and Resistance being bandied about. Lost Planet looks awesome, and more importantly, different. Resistance looks a lot like Black to be fair. Not as next-gen as I'd hoped.

  • lambtron #39 6 years ago

    Are there really people willing to shell out 500 quid to play next-gen eyetoy?

    0_0

  • JonFE #40 6 years ago

    Kami, there is one more thing to add to those lines. Traditionally Sony released its consoles in Europe last, meaning that the only Japanese got the 'first wave' of systems (the ones having most technical glitches) and, by the time they got released here, many were identified and/or resolved.

    Which makes me skeptical, because I keep reading about how many people are on their second, third or even fourth PS2 and I wonder how many more will face this same problem come November, when the PS3 will launch simultaneously across the major territories, without having the Japanese as 'crash-test -dummies'.

  • Triggerhappytel #41 6 years ago

    No Heavenly Sword at launch is gonna harm the line-up.

    Is Resistance (such a crap name...) the only first-party title out on launch day (other than SingStar, but doubt I'd buy that anyway)?

    I guess I'd rather Sony take the extra time to get the games up to scratch, but it will harm the launch to be missing exclusives such as HS, MotorStorm (which looks like it needs a lot more work) and WarHawk.

  • Darkedge #42 6 years ago

    "As far as proven online technology is concerned, that's actually a bit of a misconception - GameSpy is providing the online support, and that's a proven third-party provider from the PC scene, and they're now supporting PS3, PSP and even PS2."

    Gamespy is one reason I will be f*cking avoiding the PS3 online service. It's horrible on PC and can't imagine that sony's expertise with online PS2 games will help ;)

  • #43 6 years ago

    but where the rubber hits the road is going to be when all those hardcore gamers have bought PS3. They have also bought Xbox 360 and they have probably bought Nintendo Wii as well,

    for the first time we are not going to go just for hardcore gamers.

    Does anyone at Sony have a fucking clue?

    So you're basically saying that at launch what will really matter is that the hardcore gamers will buy the console to an extent that it will sell out. But you are basically going to screw over the hardcore gamer by not releasing anything much that they will really appreciate on the platform - WHAT!???

    If I classed myself as a 'hardcore' PS gamer right now, I'd be seriously considering a Sony boycott. Screw you guys, I can play 90% of your launch lineup on a cheaper console, with a great online system, earlier than your console is released with a quality on par with yours (at least) AND get other titles, that are genuinely interesting (Gears, Lost Planet, Viva Pinata, Dead Rising etc) and a retro gaming experience to boot. Screw you, Screw you up your stupid asses.

  • ejstyles #44 6 years ago

    I know that Lost Planet isn't on PS3, just making mention that 2nd gen XBox 360 titles are looking more impressive than what my new £475 (with a game) Blu-ray trojan horse can chuck out on launch. Not money well spent just yet.

  • jimmyboo #45 6 years ago

    I heard somewhere that Warhawk is NOT going to be a launc title. I could be wrong though.

  • SeesThroughAll #46 6 years ago

    I heard somewhere that Warhawk is NOT going to be a launc title. I could be wrong though.

    The developer who was at the Sony E3 press conference said that. He said something like "close to launch".

  • jimmyboo #47 6 years ago

    Lost Planet is an X360 title. It also doesn't particularly excite... looks just like more of the same, if only prettier.

  • #48 6 years ago

    Having played the lost planet demo, I can tell you that it's very good fun, even if it is "more of the same".

    The lack of Heavenly Sword is gonna hit hard for sure.

  • lambtron #49 6 years ago

    "The developer who was at the Sony E3 press conference said that. He said something like "close to launch"."

    yes but Sony also said they would launch in Spring - best to take these things with a pinch of salt ;).

  • lambtron #50 6 years ago

    @jimmyboo - what is Warhawk if not more of the same only prettier? Its the definition of that as are 99% of the PS3 launch titles. As were 99% of the 360 launch titles. I fail to see your point...

  • Rambaldi #51 6 years ago

    @Kangarootoo

    "The 360 launch list was pretty poor, the original XBox list was dire"

    Right...Halo, PGR, Rallisport Challenge, PGR3, Call of Duty 2, Condemned etc.

    Yeah, really dire.

  • #52 6 years ago

    I agree with Rambaldi.
    Personally I have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of the 360 lineup. Sure the games haven't changed my life, but they were fun and stuff.
    PGR3 - first driving game I have ever really got 'into'
    Kameo - good old-fashined fun with some really cool bits.
    COD2 - same old stuff, but a trip and pretty. My multiplayer FPS of choice
    Condemned - different, scary and good for it.

    Nothing really below 7/10 there (but I really don't like PDZ, madden was a bit of a let down too).

  • Joe #53 6 years ago

    "for the first time we are not going to go just for hardcore gamers."

    What? Seriously what?!

    Spending 500/600 euro at launch doesn't place you in the hardcore gamer catergory?

  • thinktank #54 6 years ago

    Where is blackdog he should be all over this

    Sony needs their favourite fanboy!

  • Mr_Brown #55 6 years ago

    LoL... Sony console with shite launch lineup shocker!