PS3pub is housed by our network of sites that are comprised of multi-platform gaming news sites. While watching the video department capture some GTA4 gameplay, it was easy to see what the excitement is all about. It isn’t just the controversial subject matter that’s the focus, it’s the attention to detail and deep gameplay that’s been evolved since previous installments. Next-gen sequels tend to upgrade games simply on an aesthetic level but GTA4 ups the ante in just about every regard be it graphics, animation, story and most importantly: game mechanics. But don’t just take my limited perspective on it, check out what these esteemed gaming sources had to say:

Editor’s Choice: Perfect 10
“Grand Theft Auto IV is a game that you simply have to play.”
~ Gamespot

10: Masterful
“Grand Theft Auto IV is the best game since Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time”
~IGN

5 Stars: Outstanding
“Rockstar’s magnum opus is a modern-day masterpiece that could change the way the world views videogames.”
~Gamespy

“A+”
~1up

If you’ve never been a GTA person now just might be the time to see what’s up.

When I heard that Mortal Kombatants were going to be pitched against the DC Universe I about had a cardiac. Even more shocking than the official news was the amount of internet backlash towards the idea of Mortal Kombat vs. DC. I kept reading, “It doesn’t make sense”, “Midway’s out of ideas”, “Superman would beat everyone”. So much fanboy hate with 100% unsubstantiated claims and opinions.

Since fighting games became a viable genre there’s always been Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter 2. Midway and Capcom ushered in a new era of video gaming and allowed the likes of Virtua Fighter, Tekken and Soul Calibur to become a worldwide phenomenon. Capcom integrated many other properties for their Vs. titles that all started with X-Men vs. Street Fighter, which pitted characters from the Marvel Comics universe with Capcom’s. If you look at it analogously, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe makes not just good sense, but perfect sense, since it faces rival fighting game property against rival comic book property. Midway’s not out of ideas, they’re just fulfilling a fighting game imperative over ten years in the making.

How could Superman be defeated in a fighting game? A quick Superman 101 class would educate that Superman’s powers are solar based drawn from our yellow sun and his weakness, as everyone knows, is kryptonite rock emitting a radioactive energy from his home world: Very scientific powers and weaknesses. DC Comics continue to publish stories where Supes is vulnerable to a significant number of magic-based attacks, attacks where science claims no dominion and thus render Superman attackable and yes, able to be beaten. Outworld is a completely mystical war realm engulfed in dark magic, so it’s not a stretch to believe its inhabitants and their powers couldn’t stand toe to toe with DC’s finest.

Admittedly I know more about Mortal Kombat and DC comic book lore than any one person probably should, but facts are facts. Haters can keep hatin’ but unbiased, objective true fighter fans will be on PS3 and 360 this Fall experiencing the most righteous thing to happen to Mortal Kombat to date.

Tyris Flare. One my many childhood girlfriends is coming back this year. Countless hours have been spent in my 1980s playing Sega Genesis with Tyris and company riding beasts and doing that double sword slash, double sword hilt skull crack, kick combo. And if you were feeling particularly cheeky you’d pick them up and bodyslam them into the dirt. Not only that but you could kick little gnomes around and they’d drop magical potions that you’d collect to unleash your super elemental attack of destruction. Really. Be it lightning, earthquakes or my personal favorite: Tyris Flare’s dragon summon that set all in view into an incinerating pyre.

The joys of my youth return this year in next-gen bliss with Golden Axe: Beast Rider. You can have your Halos and your Marios and your GTAs. Dibs on Tyris. The horrendous internet rumor that claimed that Beast Rider was a 360 exclusive was thankfully debunked and the official website even sports a Playstation 3 logo found here. Tyris is looking a little more hardcore this time around. I think they updated her look to keep her from appearing too Red Sonja. Now it seems they’ve injected her with a little God of War in playstyle and aesthetics, which sounds like a good thing to me. Tyris, you’ve come a long way, baby.

The title is going to rock some M-Rated content with plenty of politician provoking sexploitation and ultra-violence. As any good barbarian themed entertainment piece should. I began to see what direction they were going to take the game when I saw the following screenshot. There is like, a person fountain standing there missing half of their body parts. I am thoroughly and decidedly stoked.

Oh yeah, RUMBLE SHOCK! At least that’s what I’ve always called it. DualShock as you probably know it is back now on the Playstation 3. Among some gripes about some development decisions over at Sony, the choice to omit DualShock at launch for their next-gen, now current-gen, console was one of them. Rumbling always was a welcome surprise that added that extra sensation when getting stabbed by a faceless nurse in an abandoned hospital hallway. Or when your buddy lands that 8-hit combo and you see your character’s ribs get pulverized accompanied by tumultuous controller tremors. All fears are now alleviated this April in Metal Gear Solid 4, Devil May Cry 4 and more to be announced all in force feedback righteousness.

Now it would seem that the perfect videogame controller is within reach. My decision to purchase a PS3 over its competitors came down to a factor as simple as controller design. It had nothing to do with Sony fanboyism or Microsoft hatred. Neither of which I hold. It was simply a matter of a superior control pad. During every generation of videogame consoling, most developers take their controllers back to formula in effort to reinvent the wheel in futility. There’s a reason the Playstation controller has stayed essentially the same ever since generation 1. There’s not much room for improvement when it’s near perfection. Maybe make them black…with rumble…and wireless with a USB charge. I give you the Dualshock 3.