Gran Turismo 5's A Bigger Deal Than Any Exclusive Shooter Franchise Sony Could Have Offered This Fall.

In fact, it's probably the strongest the PlayStation 3 has ever had. It's been a banner year for the system, with games such as Heavy Rain and God Of War III all being massive success stories for the brand. It's telling of the industry's state that people should choose to criticise the line-up — MAG aside, there's not been a banner exclusive shooter in Sony's 2010 line-up; and with SOCOM 4 delayed people are now beginning to question the strength of Sony's holiday offering. It's a criticism that's going nowhere.

Sony has two big games in their fall line-up this year: LittleBigPlanet 2 and Gran Turismo 5. Correct, neither of the games are shooters. But the latter just so happens to be bigger than any shooter Sony could possibly put out — forget Killzone, Uncharted, SOCOM and inFamous; Gran Turismo 5 is likely to be the biggest PlayStation 3 release this hardware generation, and it's important for numerous reasons.

It's true that I'm not the biggest car fanatic, nor am I the biggest Gran Turismo fan. But I can enjoy and appreciate it for what it is - a stunningly well realised, lovingly crafted racing simulator. But for Sony, and indeed the PlayStation 3, it's more than that. Gran Turismo sells consoles.

It's an importance that I feel people are over-looking about this year's line-up. Uncharted 2 was a stunning title that enhanced the PlayStation's catalogue, but alone it did not sell consoles. The same can be said about Killzone, SOCOM, LittleBigPlanet, inFamous and Modnation. Together they make for an enticing line-up, and it's the collective ethos of all these titles thrown together that sells consoles. But alone, there's only one franchise that Sony can release which will guarantee console sales: that's Gran Turismo.

It's hard for me to imagine how a line-up including the latest iteration of said franchise could ever be considered disappointing. And when you couple that with the sequel to 2008's game of the year, I'm struggling to find a better case for this year's line-up. LittleBigPlanet 2's almost certain to be the most ambitious game of 2010 - purely from a conceptual stance that's certain to be the case. "A game where you make games". I see a lot of scepticism for LittleBigPlanet 2 - "it'll take hours to create something decent". What a sorry outlook — people are disappointed they have to spend time making something good? Perhaps Media Molecule should throw in a "Create An Amazing Level" button that does all the hard work for you?

I think people's problem with Sony fall line-up is telling of the state of the industry. People claim they are tired of most games involving shooting elements, but if you look at PlayStation exclusives this year, there's barely been any shooting. Sure there was MAG very early in the year, but aside from Move title The Shoot, that's your lot. It becomes apparent to me that you can't have a "big game" unless it involves shooting. They're the barometer for success just now, despite the industry continuously craving diversity. Sony's offering that. They're offering you two big games this fall that involve platforming and racing; both are iterative, but unique.

Sony's line-up this year has been packed with diversity. You want shooters? They're going to give you shooters next year - SOCOM 4, Killzone 3, Resistance 3 and so forth. If you're using shooters as the definition of a strong line-up, then Sony's going to have everyone quaking in 2011. But shooters aren't the key to a strong line-up — enjoyable experiences are. And I'd hazard Sony's offered more of those than any other publisher this year. Just open your eyes and look past the guns. This fall is going to be an incredible end to a brilliantly diverse year for PlayStation 3.

“Twiggy” is an anonymous PushSquare columnist who has been spotted in three major cities across the globe. It’s rumoured he’s on the run from the British monarchy who accused him of treason.