2007 was a fantastic year for gamers, and 2008 was possibly even better – but what is 2009 going to bring…? Luckily for us, Gametrailers has put together a video montage of their most anticipated games for 2009 and in general I think I have to agree with them. To be honest though, I don’t think we are going to …

Heavy Rain by Quantic Dreams is one of the most anticipated games on the PS3. I think it even trumps Killzone 2 on salivating factor. Artist Morgan Yon has done 5 new concept art images for the company that made Fahrenheit (I loved that game so much). So check the link at the bottom for more coma-inducing gorgeusness. For those …

Maybe preview is the wrong word since they only really interviewed someone and were shown a slideshow of the game but it’s still a fascinating read. Heavy Rain is one of the oddest games to come along in a long time, and it’s exclusive to the PS3 which seems to be making a habit of publishing odd games. Heavy Rain …

The graphic impact of Heavy Rain is truly staggering but there is still a huge question mark over whether or not the gameplay will be good or even exist at all. From what I have seen before the gameplay looks like it is made up entirely of quick time events and it looks like it’s more of an interactive story …

And now for something completely different... David Cage of Quantic Dreams has confirmed that in the upcoming PS3 title "Heavy Rain", if the main character dies, you will still be able to continue with the games central plot. If you haven't seen any of the screens or videos yet, the main character is a journalist that is investigating a couple of disappearances and the woman pictured in the image above. David Cage had the following to say: “I can’t really tell you too much about what the story’s about or how it’s going to work with the characters, all I can tell you that your character - the main character - can die, and the story will continue,” When asked whether the death of the main character will lead the player into some sort of side story, he replied by saying that “No, no,” and that "It's one big story". This all sounds rather interesting. The only question I have is, is whether the main character might die at your hands or if it will be something that is more heavily scripted into the plot. I believe it will be the latter and possibly based on a huge decision that must be made in game.

This years convention at Leipzig brought forth a ton of new content for us to check out and also showed off a lot of games that we can all be looking forward to in the future. It must be said that Sony definitely cleaned up this time around and had a very strong showing. So then, what were the best games shown at Leipzig this year? Eurogamer have posted up a full list of what games they thought were the best in each category and also included runner-ups.... Best Single Player Game: Heavy Rain I still don't entirely know if this game it going to deliver on what is being promised by the developers but I do still think that the game has massive potential and could prove me incredibly wrong. The fact that the developers of Heavy Rain were responsible for some very good and under-appreciated games, namely Fahrenheit (Project Ego) and Omikron make me definitely want to give them the benefit of the doubt. Runners-Up Dead Space Fallout 3 Mirror's Edge Resident Evil 5 Best Multiplayer Game: LittleBigPlanet This game is looking like a sure fire winner long before its even hit the shelves. So much hype and buzz is flying around about this game and I have had more than a handful of people tell me that they are looking to buy a Playstation 3 just to play this game. The combination of all the features that this game is offering means that both casual and hardcore games will be able to enjoy hours of fun and multiplayer and sharing goodness.... Runners-Up Left 4 Dead Warhammer Online Battlefield Heroes Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 Best new IP: LittleBigPlanet What more can I say.... Runners-Up Heavy Rain InFamous Mirror's Edge Spore Best Visual Impact: Heavy Rain There is no doubting that the visuals in this game are looking mind-blowing.... It's all looking super realistic and may be the first truly cinematic experience that we will see on a console. Runners-Up LittleBigPlanet MadWorld Mirror's Edge Prince of Persia Best Comeback: Street Fighter 4 With a great new look and visual style, Street Fighter returns for another go. I really respect that the developers, while switching over to some very smooth 3D graphics, have decided to keep the gameplay the same as the old 2D versions and only tweak and change a system that has been popular for an incredibly long amount of time.... Runners-Up Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Operation Flashpoint 2 Diablo III Fallout 3 The line up is looking pretty good and Sony really seemed to bring as much as they could to the table this time around.

While there are very few who would disagree that Heavy Rain is looking really interesting, there are a few things that needed to be pointed out about the direction that it is taking. What makes what I am about to say even more interesting is the fact that today, David Cage, the boss of Quantic Dreams actually said that he considered Heavy Rain to be "the most important title for next year". Really? Why on earth would he say that? There is no doubt that the game is looking visually stunning and the concept is interesting to say the least, but after looking at some gameplay footage and watching a developer interview I really have to wonder what the buzz is all about. In the developer interview, the previously mentioned David Cage speaks about how Heavy Rain is a different interactive experience and how it allows people to interact and not only watch a story. The gameplay footage says otherwise though. From what we have seen so far, the game looks to be the equivalent to a movie that breaks for some quicktime events. Now while we have seen very little of the game so far, this is the footage that they decided to show off as their first gameplay video. While the story may prove to be a deep and emotional experience it kind of feels like they are basically making a movie and then adding some mini-games onto it to make it interactive. This is an interesting concept as far as I can see and may indeed may be an interesting way to tackle storytelling in the future but does it make this game important? I'm interested to learn more about the game as more details pour out onto the internet but I fail to see what exactly it is that the developers are aiming for here and whether or not this game could truly be considered a game rather than an interactive "film". What do you guys think? Do you think the game is onto something or do you think that it may just be too early to really tell what it's going to offer?