We also were able to try some arcade games, but unlike Xbox Live’s selections, these are probably games no one would ever want to play. Q*Bert was terrible (although technically it was late 2006 if memory serves me right), and I still have nightmares about spending $5 of my hard earned cash for Rampart. Winners like Rampage World Tour rounded out the crap fest of PS3 arcade games.

On the bright side, Sony supported the Gran Turismo game with updates throughout the year. Calling All Cars was one of the first original PS3 games worth picking up. We received an add-on for Tekken that allowed online play. Everyday Shooter and Super Stardust HD made it worth looking forward to Thursdays, regardless of what time they go online. Finally, Sony made a big splash in late summer with the release of WarHawk. It was the first full game you could download on a console or purchase at retail on the same day. Personally I picked it up at retail in order to get the Bluetooth headset, but many people bought it online. It has turned out to be a very good online only multiplayer game with a subsequent add-on released at the end of the year.

Toward the last part of the year, downloadable content arrived for Rock Band, Guitar Hero, Resistance, Ninja Gaiden and more.

All in all, it wasn’t a bad showing for Sony. We just don’t know if they can keep it up – with multiple games being delayed like Little Big People and Home…it seems like there are ongoing issues that continue to hamper the PSN.

Best Downloadable game: Warhawk

Best Downloadable game that you couldn’t buy in store: High Velocity Bowling

Best PSone game to download: Destruction Derby

Other games worth mentioning: PAIN, Gran Turismo HD, Super Stardust HD, Everyday Shooter, Toy Home.

Biggest disappointment: Not enough PSone games released, too many HD movie trailers that aren’t worth the time.

Wish for 2008: More PSOne games! More add-ons for PAIN!

The #1 console online service easily held on to its position (unless you count the rather huge hiccup that happened at the end of 2007). Microsoft has done a very good job in both hyping the game (or games) of the week for a Wednesday release – letting everyone know what’s coming and how much the game is. The end of the year wasn’t a good time for the service, aside from the Live disaster there was also a small issue of Sensible World of Soccer. The game was delayed for quite some time, was given a formal release date announcement around Thanksgiving, and then when it finally came out it had a terrible bug that was so bad the game was pulled from the marketplace for a few days. The game was worth the wait though, as it is just as much fun as it was in the mid 1990s.

There was definitely something for everyone on Live Arcade. One of the biggest additions occurred with the fall dashboard update, which allowed gamers to download original Xbox games like Halo. While it’s a great idea in concept, if you have an original Xbox 360 with a smaller hard drive, it’s difficult to keep many of those originals on there. In addition, all Xbox originals are sold at the price of 1200 points or $15. While it’s easy to download, it’s somewhat more expensive than purchasing a used copy of a game on eBay. Microsoft also announced a “Greatest Hits” program for Live Arcade, reducing the price on some very popular games like Marble Blast Ultra and Lumines Live.

Board games made it over to XBLA with Catan and Carcassonne arriving to rave reviews. Card games such as Uno continue to do well on the service. Original games like Heavy Weapon and Mad Tracks also did well. Remakes of games like Tempest and Asteroids also arrived in a pretty new HD format. In a well kept surprise, a new re-tooled version of Pac-Man, called “Championship Edition” was released and it easily became one of the most addictive games on Live Arcade. There was even a re-release of the Mac favorite Marathon!

Although there were many great games released, there were some duds out there. Many of the old arcade games with fancy HD dressing still were just bad old arcade games. Xevious didn’t even get the true HD makeover! Some original games were better than others – Word Puzzle tried to be a Bookworm Adventures-lite, but it wasn’t very fun at all.