Peter Griffin: Sony feels the Xbox heat

I didn't make it to Los Angeles this year, to the seething cauldron of hype and buzz that is the massive E3 video games expo.

But even from this distance I could feel the heat that is on Sony to deliver a flawless launch of the PlayStation 3, which goes on sale here in November for a hefty $999 - or $1199 with all the bells and whistles.

Not only will Sony end up releasing the PS3 a full year after Microsoft's Xbox 360, it's adding a hefty premium for the inclusion of the Blu-ray disk drive that will play high-definition movies.

By that stage, Microsoft will have an equivalent drive available as an add-on to the Xbox 360.

While the traditional gaming king, Sony, will deliver some nice new touches, like a centralised online gaming platform that will be free, and PlayStation credit cards for buying additional services, Ethernet slot and built-in wi-fi, it's not enough to justify the price tag.

Sony has been seriously wounded in having to push out the timeline for the launch of the PS3 and is facing the fact that Microsoft may have as many as 10 million Xbox 360s in the market by the time the PS3 arrives.

I really can't see Sony clawing back the advantage now. The PS3's graphics are of a similar level to the Xbox 360 and while I was pretty annoyed that Microsoft didn't bundle the HD-DVD drive into the Xbox 360 at launch, Sony's inclusion of Blu-ray gave it an edge that has now been frittered away.

While some interesting new games debuted at E3, the games industry seems to be stuck in remake hell, outdoing even the film industry in its determination to resurrect old titles and churn out sequels.

Yes I'm excited about next year's arrival of Microsoft's Halo 3 and I'm already itching for a play of Grand Theft Auto IV which will be released on the Xbox 360 in October. But they're the cream of the crop.

A scan down the list of upcoming releases reveals little that's really, truly new.

What happened to the genre-busters? Civilization was one when it was first released. So was Gran Turismo. The problem is, good games cost millions to make and the games industry is also incredibly wary of taking risks. I did see one potential genre-buster at last year's E3 show. It's called Spore and it's from Will Wright, the creator of the Sim City franchise.

In Spore you play God, starting out with a single molecule and helping steer the path of evolution. Eventually, your creatures become intelligent and even explore the galaxy. That's when it gets interesting because Spore will be online enabled.

Wright showcased Spore again at this year's E3. Hopefully he gets around to releasing it soon. If I see another World War II shooter I'm going to take up arms myself.