The gaming industry is almost always an exciting one, but let’s face it — it ebbs and flows, alternating between superb peaks of seemingly infinite gaming goodness and, well… early 2007. Lucky for us, the pendulum seems to be swinging in the other direction. Sure, the other guys saw a few heavy hitters land on shelves: Halo 3 and Mass Effect pushed units and no doubt provided for a few unplanned days off here and there. For Sony fans, however, the thrills were constantly on the horizon: Grand Theft Auto 4 was delayed, Home was delayed, LittleBigPlanet was delayed, and… well, you get the idea.

Many claimed that 2008 would be the year of the PlayStation — but it’s easy to dismiss such claims as wishful thinking, the delusional mantra of gamers grasping at straws. As we head in to the second quarter of the year, however, it seems as if such a claim may be coming to fruition. Grand Theft Auto 4 is coming out this month. Sure, Rockstar cozied up with Microsoft and the game is no longer a timed exclusive, but who cares? You’re not going to give a damn when you’re desperately looking for a way out of a 16 person firefight in downtown liberty city. You’ll be too busy thinking of things like, “where is the nearest weapon pick up?” and “what’s the easiest way to give my boss my 2 weeks notice (and then skip the ‘2 weeks’ part)?”. Shortly after GTA4 lands, guess what else is in the launch pipeline? I don’t have to tell you, you already know — Metal Gear Solid 4. For those that can’t hack the grueling wait, the Metal Gear Online beta will be going online in just over a week. Hell. Yes.

And what of Home? Okay, I’m not going to lie: no one has any idea what the heck is going on with this beast. One thing is certain though, development seems to be nearing completion as rumors swirl of a public beta “very soon” (cue collective eyerolling), and an increased advertising presence. Make no mistake: Sony wants to get this thing out just as much as we want to get our grubby hands on it. We won’t dare to make any precise predictions, but it’s pretty much guaranteed that we’ll be seeing Home sometime this year. And it doesn’t stop there, oh no. LittleBigPlanet and Killzone 2 both arrive in September. Wipeout HD? We’re told it’s on it’s way sometime this year. If you absolutely need a racing game, albeit one of an entirely different flavor, give Gran Turismo 5: Prologue a try. You can grab a copy on the (soon to be XMB-integrated) store, or pick it up at your retail store of choice later this month.

On the hardware front, European gamers will soon see a PS3/GTA4 bundle, while America and Japan will see a PS3/MGS4/Dual Shock 3 bundle. What’s that you say? The DualShock 3? Yes, indeed. It’s been out in Japan for a while now (isn’t that always the case), but Sony is finally phasing out the SIXAXIS (rest in peace) in favor of its heavier successor with the rumble that we’ve all come to know and love.

Developers continue to pump out titles for the PS2, and although it’s age is starting to show, there’s still over 100 million units sitting in people’s living rooms — that’s a huge chunk of gamers that companies will not be ignoring any time soon.

Things are really heating up this year, and there’s nowhere I’d rather be than stuck in the metaphorical kitchen.