39. ICO becomes king of the castle
Castles have a special place in games. Bowser had one, Castlevania featured a couple, and you can't move in a Final Fantasy game without bumping into one. But ICO raised the bar so high you'll need a rocket to find it. After hours of thoughtful puzzle-solving and demon-whacking, you and your pal Yorda finally scale the huge tower he's been imprisoned in, bursts outside and your jaw thumps the desk as you see the full scale of the fortress. The biggest and most spectacular castle we've ever seen sends a shock to the system.
40. MGS is thrown to the wolves
Yet another touch of genius from a game that gave so much. At one point Snake has to negotiate a tunnel, populated by hungry wolves. If you have one in your inventory, you can jump into a cardboard box. You can creep forward under the cardboard, and the wolves nuzzle against you.
41. Turning Point's vision of Nazi New York
We loved the premise. The idea that the Nazis conquered Europe by 1945, developed superior weapons and invaded New York was great. Then we played it and were horrified to discover an uninspiring, bug filled shooter that looked like a dodgy PS2 game.
42. Sony tries to sell the PS3 and freaks everyone out
Sony's infamous 'crying doll' US advert made no sense - a plastic doll in a padded room, sits opposite a PS3. Slowly the doll comes alive, cries blood in reverse and the PS3 levitates. It's like Sony doesn't want to sell any consoles.
43. Forbidden Siren's deadly song
A remote mountain village is rocked by an earthquake. Soon after, blood rains from the sky as the villagers are turned into the undead. Without a radar of any kind, the only way you can tell you are about to be attacked is to use your power to look through the eyes of the undead. A dark and tense experience.
44. Standing in the Shadow Of The Colossus for the first time
These beasts are truly the mightiest, earth-stomping bosses we've ever seen. Working out how to take these giants down is one of the most thrilling and satisfying experiences on PlayStation, and although each encounter out-wows the last, you'll never quite get over your first gasp.
45. Sony toss out the Boomerang
Transcription taken from PS3 Peripheral Design Team meeting: "Now for the controller. Any thoughts?" "Yeah. No need for any thought at all. Our existing PS2 controller is perfect." "Excellent. Well, if that's all, then."
A clown bursts into the room: "Gentlemen! Look at this! It's a new controller! It looks like a boomerang." "But, what about - "
The clown hurls the controller. It travels in a wide arc, knocking out everyone in the room. The clown catches it and exits.
46. Heavenly Sword is a real looker
It's all in the moment you sit back and laugh. Nothing can look this good and run this well. While some may argue the merits of the sword-slashing gameplay, nobody failed to be awed by how beautifully presented Heavenly Sword was. It showed the world what the PS3 can do. Never before had walking through a game world been so impressive, while the acting was second to none.
47. BioShock causes moral panic
We all knew it was heading to PS3 eventually, despite the tedious denials from publisher 2K Games and developer Irrational. The most shocking moment in BioShock is actually down to you: do you kill or rescure the Little Sisters (cute, big-eyed girls)? If you save them you get a special reward at the end of the game. If you kill them The Sun puts you on its front page. Or you get ADAM energy to feed your Plasmids. Moral choices shock us.
48. MGS3's black parade
Making your way down the Sorrow River in MGS3: Snake Eater is a unique and unnerving game experience. As you wade through the water, the ghosts of all the enemies you've killed in the game so far float past you. As the number of ghosts goes up and up a sense of guilt comes to the player.