The advantage of being asked to, or taking the initiative to, create a launch title is that not only do you have that opportunity to come to terms with a console's potential (despite, of course, the time pressure to make it to launch), you also have a product to show for it.

For Yoshiki Okamoto and Game Republic, it's Genji: Days of the Blade. And, reflecting on their experiences in making a PS3 launch title, Okamoto tells Pro-G that the team's next game will use even more of the PS3's latent power.

"If Genji shows what we can achieve with a launch title then think what we will be able to do in the years to come, when we are harnessing the true power of PlayStation 3," he says. This next title should see signs of life next year and use Genji's engine. It won't be a sequel to Days of the Blade, though - Days of the Blade is the last Genji game. No word on whether it'll spin off from the Genji plot (starting a new continuity in the same universe) or feature an all-new universe together.