PS3 2011 Preview: 20 Exclusive Games

As Jeff is fond of pointing out, nearly every major PlayStation series is making an appearance in 2011 — even Kratos is in on the action with his guest turn in the new Mortal Kombat. Add third-party publisher PS3 exclusives and upcoming PSN games and upcoming PlayStation Move games and you’ve got a 2011 that’s jam-packed with PS3-exclusive titles.

Here’s an updated list of 20 games you’ll only play on PS3 in 2011, using the latest publicly available information. Of course, schedules can shift and plans can change — as always, we’ll keep you posted. For the moment, though, this is where we stand for 2011.

Did we miss anything? What’s the number one game you’re dying to play? Let us know in the comments!

Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel

Release date: March 2011
Developer: Gust
Publisher: NIS America
Long-awaited by fans of the Ar tonelico RPG series, and the first 3D entry in the series, Knell of Ar Ciel introduces a heavily revamped, real-time, action-based battle system. The series’ signature Song Magic will still be present, however, and will be influenced by the type of clothing you wear into battle. NIS America is promising some “kinky” special moves from this third and final chapter in the RPG series.

Hyperdimension Neptunia

Release date: February 2011
Developer: Idea Factory
Publisher: NIS America
Now here’s a creative premise: Hyperdimension Neptunia is a role-playing game loosely based on the video game industry, starring characters who are thinly veiled pastiches of the current crop of video game consoles. Your party of console goddesses is searching for a precious book called Histoire, and they’ll butt heads with the villainous Arfoire — an embodiment of all that’s wrong in videogaming — while busting heads with combat abilities like Skills Links, character swapping mid-combo, and the ability to summon images stored on your PS3’s hard drive to gain a competitive edge.

The Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

Release date: Spring 2011
Developer: Team Ico
Special features: Stereoscopic 3D
Two of the most celebrated games of all time are being re-released on the PS3 in enhanced form. In the enigmatic Ico, you must help a young girl escape a mysterious castle haunted by spectral, shadow-like creatures and the dark influences of the Queen. In the avant-garde epic Shadow of the Colossus, you and your trusty steed embark on a quest to topple 16 giants and resurrect a young girl. Included on one Blu-ray disc, both games bring remastered graphics, stereoscopic 3D support, Trophies, and more.

inFAMOUS 2

Release date: 2011
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
Venturing into the sinister streets of New Marais, messenger-turned-superhuman Cole McGrath tangles with a lethal race of mutants and an anti-mutant vigilante cabal while pursuing an unstoppable entity known as The Beast. While expanding his electricity-based super powers, Cole will continue to struggle against the most dangerous foe of all: himself. Expect to see some impressive action setpieces in inFAMOUS 2 — Sucker Punch is citing UNCHARTED 2 as a key inspiration.

Journey*

Release date: 2011
Developer: thatgamecompany
The developers of the acclaimed (and award-winning) Flower and flOw return to the PS3 with Journey, a multiplayer game that eschews the traditional trappings of multiplayer games in favor of thought-provoking simplicity. As you explore the shifting sands of a lost civilization, you’re free to team up with another player or forge ahead by yourself — either way, you’ll never spot a matchmaking lobby because Journey’s multiplayer meetings happen purely by chance. You’ll float through the breeze and surf sand waves while deciphering the secrets of your enigmatic Journey.

Killzone 3

Release date: February 22nd, 2011
Developer: Guerrilla Games
Special features: Stereoscopic 3D, PlayStation Move, sharpshooter
Following a devastating atomic blast on the surface of Helghan, ISA Sgt. Sev is left stranded on the homeworld of the Helghast — humanity’s sworn enemy. Outnumbered and outgunned, the ISA must elude a bitter civil war between warring Helghast factions, survive the inhospitable Helghan jungles, and harness high-tech firepower in order to take out the Helghast’s war machines. Robust 32-player multiplayer with upgradeable skills, two-player split-screen co-op, stereoscopic 3D, plus support for PlayStation Move (and sharpshooter) make Killzone 3 the definitive state-of-the-art PS3 shooter.

The Last Guardian

Release date: Holiday 2011
Developer: Team ICO
A young boy, a gigantic griffin-like creature, and a strange, dreamlike environment collide in director Fumito Ueda eagerly awaited game and Team ICO’s first title designed solely for the PS3. The The Last Guardian will expand on Ueda’s reoccurring theme of unlikely partnerships: As the main character, the boy will need to tend to and escort the plus-sized Trico…not always an easy task, considering that the big lug has a mind of his own. In turn, Trico can defend the boy from other dangers lurking in the fortress-like game world.

LittleBigPlanet 2

Release date: January 18th, 2011
Developer: Media Molecule
Sackboy moves from a platform game to a “platform for games” in this ambitious sequel that enables gamers to create their own dream game across a myriad of genres: arcade, sports, adventure, puzzle, party, first-person shooter and pretty much anything else you can dream up. LittleBigPlanet 2‘s Story mode is on a grander scale too, pitting Sackboy and friends against the creativity destroying Negativitron in an adventure that spans the Cosmos.

MLB 11 The Show

Release date: March 8, 2011
Developer: SCE San Diego Studio
Special features: Stereoscopic 3D, PlayStation Move
Spring training gets a shot in the arm with MLB 11 The Show’s new co-op play mode, which lets two players team up online or offline. Then there’s the new analog stick-based control for hitting, pitching and throwing. Support for stereoscopic 3D and PlayStation Move — plus 30 free days of MLB.TV if you reserve and purchase the game — throw in a high-tech curveball.

MotorStorm Apocalypse

Release date: Spring 2011
Developer: Evolution Studios
Special features: Stereoscopic 3D
Superbikes screeching across crumbling rooftops, monster trucks soaring between collapsing skyscrapers, muscle cars dodging incoming military bombardments — now this is off-road racing! Evolution Studios is digging deep with the third iteration of their flagship racing series, adding not only apocalyptic urban racetracks but customizeable vehicles, perks, and rowdy local factions who will try to put the kibosh on your fun. Other MotorStorm Apocalypse highlights include a robust new Photo Mode and new multiplayer options — expect a playable PSN demo in 2011.

No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise

Release date: Fall 2011
Developer: AQ Interactive Inc.
Publisher: Konami
Remastered HD graphics, PlayStation Move support, and a host of gameplay updates and extra content round out this enhanced, definitive version of No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise. As the loser-turned-killer Travis Touchdown, you’ll use your Beam Katana (and PlayStation Move or DualShock 3) to slice and dice the 10 greatest assassins in the world — assassins with names like Destroyman and Bad Girl. You’ll engage in odd jobs to pay for new weapons and combat training as you slash your way to the top of the United Assassins Association.

PixelJunk Shooter 2*

Release date: 2011
Developer: Q-Games
The first sequel in PixelJunk history is more than a collection of new levels, challenges, and bosses. In addition to an all-new single-player campaign set in the belly of an enormous space beast, PixelJunk Shooter 2 introduces a fleshed-out Online Battle mode that plays like a game of cat and mouse — if the mouse had access to homing rockets. The series’ fluid-based gameplay also gets shake up thanks to the new organic surroundings. Just wait until you encounter stomach acid!

PlayStation Move Heroes

Release date: Spring 2011
Developer: Nihilistic Software
Deadly bowling balls, grenade launchers, and fire whips barely scratch the surface of PlayStation Move Heroes’ hefty weapon arsenal, and all are based on the personalities of the game’s lead characters — Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper and Bentley, and Jak and Daxter. Being a PlayStation Move exclusive, the weapons and gameplay take full advantage of the motion controller functionality. That means you’ll be able to steer those bowling balls, fire those grenades, and whip away with 1:1 accuracy as you collect crystals and wreak havoc in environments inspired by all three game series.

Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One

Release date: Fall 2011
Developer: Insomniac Games
Fans have long requested a multiplayer Ratchet & Clank title, and Insomniac Games has seen fit to deliver in spades with Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One. Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark team up with perennial villain Doctor Nefarious to escape a gigantic device called the Creature Collector. The co-op gameplay is put to good use against massive boss creatures and physics-based puzzles, and a streak of competitive play comes out as players scramble to collect as much currency as possible.

Resistance 3

Release date: September 6th, 2011
Developer: Insomniac Games
Sentinel Sgt. Nathan Hale is dead, a victim of the Chimera’s vile contagion. Earth sags under the crushing weight of the invader’s armada. Defeat appears imminent; all hope is lost. Amidst a complete societal breakdown, surviving Sentinel Joseph Capelli begins a cross-country journey to his hometown of New York City and, perhaps, the secret to overcoming the Chimeran threat once and for all. Resistance 3 re-introduces the weapon wheel from Resistance: Fall of Man, a new arsenal of upgradeable weapons, and new multiplayer modes and options.

SOCOM 4

Release date: 2011
Developer: Zipper Interactive
Special features: PlayStation Move, sharpshooter
Zipper Interactive returns to the series that made them famous. This squad-based tactical shooter pits Ops Commander Cullen Gray and a four-man team of NATO special forces soldiers against a terrorist threat in Southeast Asia. In addition to a harrowing single-player campaign set in a beseiged city, SOCOM 4 includes a robust 32-player multiplayer mode and support for PlayStation Move.

Sorcery

Release date: 2011
Developer: The Workshop
This PlayStation Move exclusive had everyone talking after its debut at E3 2010. In this adventure based on Irish folklore, you play as a wand-waving wizard who battles creatures of darkness with magic spells and potions case using gestures from the PlayStation Move.

Twisted Metal

Release date: 2011
Developer: Eat Sleep Play
David Jaffe and Scott Campbell return to the car combat series that made them — and PlayStation — household names. On the PS3, Twisted Metal introduces massive-scale 16-player online battles, sprawling urban environments that crumble under explosions, more realistic weapons and combat, and customizeable vehicles — including, for the first time, helicopters. Eat Sleep Play is preparing some over-the-top multiplayer modes as well, including the aptly named “Nuke.”

UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception

Release date: November 1st, 2011
Developer: Naughty Dog Studios
Special features: Stereoscopic 3D
Globe-hopping treasure hunters Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan return in a search for the fabled Atlantis of the Sands — Iram of the Pillars — in an adventure that will taken them to the sun-baked deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. In addition to a sweeping new single-player adventure, UNCHARTED 3: Drake’s Deception will introduce technological advancements (including realistic water, fire, and sand), a more maneuverable Drake, and enhanced online multiplayer.

Yakuza 4

Release date: March 15, 2011
Developer: SEGA
Publisher: SEGA
Raise hell in an open-world Tokyo (fictional Kamurocho, Tokyo’s red light district, to be precise) with stylish mobsters, a serial killer on the loose, and 100 million yen gone missing. Yakuza 4 ups the ante on Yakuza 3 by introducing three new characters, each sporting a unique set of bone-crunching hand-to-hand attacks. Once the violence is over, you can unwind with mini-games – a popular element of any Yakuza game — including karaoke, pachinko, and ping pong. And yes, hostess clubs will make the cut in the US version this time. And I’m not talking about the snack cakes.

*Indicates a downloadable PSN title