Gaiden, Shirokishi lead new PS3 game charge

While Sony's 2006 Tokyo Game Show keynote speech was something of a letdown for gamers looking for announcements of anything PlayStation-3-related, the same could not be said about Sony's press site. Shortly after the keynote speech concluded, Sony made screenshots and info available for 32 PS3 games, including five that were previously unannounced.

Leading the pack is the official announcement of Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the next-gen system. The game will once again be developed by Tomonobu Itagaki's Team Ninja, and will be the first Ninja Gaiden game since Ninja Gaiden Black for the Xbox. Few details have been released about the game, other than its Japanese release date--spring 2007. However, screenshots released indicate that the blonde-haired Rachel will be a playable character.

From slicing up bad guys to slicing golf balls, it also appears that there will be another golf game to choose from for PS3 owners. In addition to the previously announced Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf 07 and next-gen version of Hot Shots Golf, Sega is offering up Sega Golfclub featuring the Miyazato Family. The game will feature the Miyazoto siblings, a trio of famous Japanese golfers, on real-life courses such as St. Andrews. The game will be a launch title in Japan.

Another new game announced was a PlayStation 3 version of the Flash-based Web game flOw (working title). According to Sony, the game features "a new style of entertainment provided by the download capability of the PlayStation 3," and players will be able to "dive into the blue with the 6-way motion-sensing controller." The price and release date of the game were listed as TBA.

Next on the list is Genki's driving game Wangan Midnight, based on the Japanese comic of the same name that runs in Young Magazine. Slated for release in spring of 2007, Wangan Midnight will have players racing through the streets at speeds over 300km/hour. Genki has previously developed games based on the license for the PlayStation 2 and arcades.

Japanese consoles love their mahjong games, and Konami is bringing another one to the PS3. Arriving day-and-date with the system in Japan will be Mahjong Fight Club Online. The game will allow gamers to test their mahjong mettle against one another, or one of 48 computer players based on real-life experts from the Japan Professional Mahjong League.

One previously announced game was also given a tentative subtitle. The next Monster Kingdom game will have the suffix Unknown Realms (working title) tacked to its name, and will be released in spring 2007.

Some of the listed games had new features confirmed for them as well. When Sony first unveiled the PS3 controller's motion-sensing capabilities, Warhawk was the only game confirmed to make use of them. However, a number of other games included variations of the phrase "new motion-sensing controller" on their feature lists.

Among them is a trio of Sony titles: the action-slasher Heavenly Sword, the dragon-riding Lair, and the first-person shooter Resistance: Fall of Man. Third-party titles making use of the motion-sensing feature include Capcom's Monster Kingdom Unknown Realms and Namco Bandai's Ridge Racer 7. Both of those games, as well as Lair, will also support downloadable content.

[UPDATE] Two mysterious black boxes initially labeled "coming soon," were revealed to be Gran Turismo HD, which had been conspicuously absent, and Shirokishi, a new role-playing game from Level 5, the studio behind Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King.