2007: The Year in Games

Join us as we take a look back at all the big stories that made 2007 one of the most exciting yet for games.

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October

October was supposed to host the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV, undoubtedly one of the biggest games of the year, but instead Rockstar delayed the game into 2008. Another high profile delay was also revealed in October when Konami confirmed that Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, probably the highest profile remaining PS3-exclusive, would be skipping over the winter.

Another massive PS3-only game is Gran Turismo 5, and though Sony wasn't able to get its taster of the game out in Europe before the end of the year, it did announce in October that there would be some familiar faces on board. Hit driving show Top Gear was confirmed to be part of the online offerings in the game, with Clarkson and company providing video segments for download.

But even while companies were pushing back games, others were announcing some of the new ones we can expect over the next year or so. Included in that pack were three of especial interest: Dark Void, the new game from Crimson Skies creator FASA Studios; Street Fighter IV, a pseudo-2D brawler that brings a new take on the classic fighting franchise; and Brütal Legend, Psychonauts developer Double Blind's new game starring Jack Black.

Thanks to the increasing cost of game development, consolidation is becoming more popular among those who make games. Probably the biggest deal of the year came in October, when mega-publisher EA announced that it was bringing Pandemic (creator of Full Spectrum Warrior and Mercenaries) and RPG powerhouse BioWare on board.

BioWare, incidentally, made news for other reasons too in October. Before the EA deal was announced, the company said it had signed a new deal with LucasArts to make a new online RPG. This fanned the flames of speculation already burning that said the company was working on a new massively multiplayer online game based in the Star Wars universe - good news, as anyone who played Star Wars: Knight of the Old Republic would tell you.

As 2007 started to draw to a close, several publications and organizations began looking over the last year to choose their top games for the year. At the Golden Joysticks, Gears of War turned out to be the big winner while BAFTA showered its praise on Wii Sports, Crackdown and BioShock. Will Wright was also singled out for accolades by BAFTA who gave the Sims creator a lifetime achievement award, in honour of his many contributions to the industry.

No month in 2007 could go by without some hardware news and so it was that Sony took the spotlight. After weeks of saying it wouldn't, the company announced a price drop in the UK for the 60 GB model of the PS3 and introduced the 40 GB one too. This later model was controversial because it completed dropped all support of PlayStation 2 games, something Sony had played up during the build up to the console's launch.

Nevertheless, sales of the PlayStation 3 shot up, more than tripling as the price cut took effect. Later analysis would show that it was the 60 GB model that was enjoying the bulk of the attention, and not the newly introduced cheaper model.

Also in October, the DS crossed a major milestone. Nintendo's handheld crossed the 4 million sold mark, taking worldwide sales to more than 53 million. In Japan, the portable was within striking distance of a major achievement, surpassing the lifetime sales of the PlayStation 2.

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