I'm feeling schizophrenic - must have been the heat wave last week - so I'm going to have a little debate with myself. Call it "A Column, Darkly." I'm fascinated by what's happening with Sony and its forthcoming PlayStation 3. Sony has been beleaguered lately with bad press, negative comments and unseemly rumours regarding its new console. Some of this was well earned by Sony; the company's E3 presentation was weak, for example. But there are other factors, which I'll explore later. First, let's look at what Sony has been doing and saying lately.

Phil Harrison, president of Sony Computer Entertainment's Worldwide Studios, said the other day that more than 100 games are being developed for PlayStation 3, which is due to arrive this fall. I find this to be a curious statement, because:

That seems like quite a lot of games since game makers just started getting developer kits for the final, finished hardware design. According to Gamespress.com - which isn't the Bible of course - there are currently 33 titles scheduled for release on the PS3 between now and the end of 2007, including Call of Duty 3, Stranglehold and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas. That's a far cry from 100. Surely, there are many titles in the works that haven't been announced yet. But by my math, that would mean that a third of all PS3 titles are unannounced and flying under the radar, which makes no sense from Sony's point of view because they want big titles to hype their new console. No matter how many times it's explained to me, I still don't understand why God of War 2, made by Sony itself, isn't going to be developed for PS3. You'd think that a sequel to a highly successful and critically acclaimed title like God of War would be a no-brainer for the new console. But if Sony itself isn't making the effort here, then how many third-party publishers and developers are willing to do the same? A number of previously announced PS3 titles have either dropped off the map or been outright cancelled. A blog called Technophilia.org recently featured a list of PS3 titles that were dropped or are currently M.I.A. The list included Ubisoft's Killing Day (unconfirmed); Track7's Theseis (cancelled plans for PS3); 10Tacle Studios' Elveon (cancelled for PS3); Monolith's Condemned: Criminal Origins (plans for PS3 scrapped); WWE Smackdown v. Raw 07 (cancelled for PS3); Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (planned for "next generation consoles," but will only appear on Xbox 360); and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (reportedly cancelled for PS3). The list did not include titles such as Fear & Respect, which were cancelled completely for all platforms, including the PC and Xbox 360. And it doesn't include high profile games like The Sopranos and Scarface: The World is Yours, which will be released on PS2 instead of PS3.

Sony's Phil Harrison

Something's fishy here. I'm not saying that Sony and Harrison are exaggerating, but I'm puzzled nonetheless. I think the company may be feeling the heat after being showed up at E3 by Nintendo and Wii, which has continued to steal Sony's thunder in the ensuing months with its lower price point and allegedly shorter game development cycles. Now comes word that Ubisoft is absolutely ga-ga over Wii and has seven titles in development for the console. And while Electronic Arts is pledging its full support for PS3, many are questioning EA since it reportedly showcased more Wii titles than PS3 games recently.

I guess that's what bothers me. Sony has reeked of desperation and its executives have been very defensive since PS3 fizzled at E3. I'd feel a lot better if game developers and publishers were more vocal in their support of the new console and were enthusiastically announcing exclusive, blockbuster titles for PS3. Instead, it just seems like developers and publishers are tepidly defending Sony out of loyalty rather than heralding the console as a result of true excitement.