4. God of War 3, Santa Monica Studio, Sony - 2009.

After a fairly slow start in terms of sales, Sony's God of War has become one of the leading video game franchises, wowing gamers the world over. After two brilliant outings on the PlayStation 2 and a stunning debut on the PSP, fans are desperate to see what Sony can do with the series on the far more powerful PlayStation 3. Absolutely nothing is known about God of War 3, other than it's coming, but given the supremely high quality the previous three games have achieved we don't expect anything less than a next-gen masterpiece. If Sony Computer Entertainment's Santa Monica Studio's magnificent efforts on the PS2 are anything to go by, God of War 3 could potentially be the most visually stunning game we've ever seen.

3. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Kojima Productions, Konami - 12 June 2008.

If there was ever a game series that has the power to shift consoles all by itself, it's Metal Gear Solid. And by all accounts, that's a view held by publisher Konami. Earlier in the month Konami president Fumiaki Tanaka told Japan's Nikkei BP website that many gamers are waiting for Metal Gear Solid 4 before buying a PlayStation 3. And recently we've heard and seen some amazing things about legendary Japanese developer Hideo Kojima's fourth MGS game. Kojima himself has said that the PS3's Blu-ray disc isn't big enough to house Metal Gear Solid 4 as he intended. However, this won't prevent millions of gamers praying MGS4 is everything they hope it will be. Soon enough we'll find out.