It's the big one people - Heavenly Sword is out this week!

And even if you're not the swords and sandals type, you'll find something worthwhile in DiRT, the latest incarnation of the Colin McRae rally series.

If you're not sure about either of these titles, go play the demos from the PS Store first, but I'd say this is the first of a number of important weeks for our beloved black monolith.

US Games

• Heavenly Sword
• DiRT
• NHL 08
• NHL 2K8

European Games

• Heavenly Sword
• DiRT

Asian Games

• Megazone 23: Aoi Garland
• Megazone 23: Aoi Garland Limited Edition

Labels: DiRT, Heavenly Sword, news, PS3

In an attempt to add to the general level of joy that has been created by this week's GRAW 2 release, I thought it would be a good idea to get the latest release dates for the PS3 AAA titles I listed recently to help show how much we've got coming along in the next few months.

I got these by comparing the GAME UK and Amazon UK dates and picking the most pessimistic of the two dates. I've purposefully not gone to the rumour-mill or other news sites to pick up the latest 'guaranteed' dates (which rarely prove to be right, including my own past predictions!).

I'm also not saying these are the final dates for any of these releases. In any case, I still think this list is pretty close to the truth and will help you work out how much overtime you need to clock up to afford your favourite titles!

And in case you're not up to speed on these titles, you'll find video links against all of them - just click the [vid] link. Enjoy!

Army of Two	16 November 2007 [vid]
Assassin's Creed	16 November 2007 [vid]
Call of Duty 4	30 November 2007 [vid]
DiRT	21 September 2007 [vid]
Eye of Judgement (and the PS Eye in general)	30 November 2007 [vid]
GRAW 2	24 August 2007 [vid]
Haze	23 November 2007 [vid]
Heavenly Sword	14 September 2007 [vid]
Jericho	26 October 2007 [vid]
Juiced 2	25 January 2008 [vid]
Kane & Lynch	16 November 2007 [vid]
Lair	26 October 2007 [vid]
Ratchet and Clank Future	30 November 2007 [vid]
Skate	12 October 2007 [vid]
Stranglehold	28 September 2007 [vid]
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune	23 November 2007 [vid]
Unreal Tournament 3	30 November 2007 [vid]
Warhawk*	14 September 2007 [vid]

*Warhawk listing is the retail version - we already covered the supposed date for the download version of Warhawk

Labels: Army of Two, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, DiRT, GRAW 2, Guitar Hero, Haze, Heavenly Sword, Lair, news, PS Eye, PS3, Ratchet and Clank, Skate, UT III, video, Warhawk

To help illustrate just how much there is to look forward to I thought I'd dig around and pull out some of the forthcoming joyfulness that will hit the PS3 before the end of the year (in alphabetical order):

Army of Two
Assassin's Creed
Call of Duty 4
DiRT
Eye of Judgement (and the PS Eye in general)
GRAW 2
Guitar Hero III
Haze
Heavenly Sword
Jericho
Juiced 2
Kane & Lynch
Lair
PlayStation Home
Ratchet and Clank Future
Rock Band
SingStar
Skate
Stranglehold
Tiger Woods, Madden and FIFA 08
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune
Unreal Tournament 3
Warhawk

Kind of makes the delayed GTA: IV seem like a bit more of a non-issue, don't you think?

Labels: Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, DiRT, FPS, GRAW 2, GTA, Guitar Hero, Haze, Heavenly Sword, Lair, news, opinion, PS Eye, PS3, Ratchet and Clank, Rock Band, Skate, UT III

It's been announced that along with two world premieres (Rise of The Argonauts and Turning Point) the Edinburgh Interactive Festival 2007 will see the European premiere of Guitar Hero III.

Taking place during the 13th and 14th August, the Edinburgh Interactive Festival is focussing heavily on the gaming industry and has a full programme of events. The 'screenings' which take place at the Odeon on Lothian Road will also include showings of Unreal Tournament III, DiRT, Haze and Assassin's Creed.

Unfortunately the ticket price to get in to the festival is extortionate. Considering the companies that are shwing up at the event you'd expect that they would have subsidised the cost to make it easier for people to get involved. Because much of the content is geared up for the gaming industry, I'm sure they can cover the cost on their expenses report...

Labels: Assassin's Creed, DiRT, Guitar Hero, Haze, news, PS3, UT III

Whilst the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Colin McRae: DiRT are already in the wild, the PS3 version is getting some additional spit and polish.

To prove how far forward they are with their detailed and impressive damage system, Codemasters have released a new DiRT video today that gives you a complete run through of the system.

They also announced a September launch date for the PS3 version, so not long to wait for all you rally car fans out there.

Labels: DiRT, news, PS3, video