If you’re wondering about PS3’s rival to the 360’s Marketplace or the Wii’s Virtual Console, then look no further than here, as there are several new games on their way, starting with fl0w, which we mentioned a while back: the flagship downloadable game for PS3. The game has now been dated, and it won’t be long until you get to try it out, as the game is launching in two weeks. The developers have also been signed by Sony to produce three more downloadable games. News also broke of two new games currently in development for the PS3 store, and Factor 5, of Rougue Squadron fame on the N64 and GameCube, and currently developing Lair for the PS3, are the developers behind it.

fl0w, (in case you have no idea) puts you in control of an aquatic organism, where you must eat other organisms, evolve and eventually reach the abyss. Yes, it still sounds confusing, but also makes you think “how the hell do you play that? Best check it out”. Well, actually you can, since the game is on the developer’s website (thatgamecompany). And are you wondering about the name? Well, the following excerpt provides some sort of an explanation:

As part of Jenova Chen’s thesis research, flOw inherits an embedded design of active DDA (dynamic difficulty adjustment), players with differing skill levels can intuitively customize their experiences in the zone and enjoy the game at their own pace. “Addicting” is the most common word its fans use to describe it.

Eating the red things makes you go deeper under water, whilst the blue ones take you closer to the surface

Whilst pricing for the game has yet to be disclosed, PS3 gamers will get the chance to download it in High Definition glory on the 19th of December. But will you buy it when you can play it on the net for free? Your choice; it depends whether you like SIXAXIS as a controller or not.

As if thatgamecompany couldn’t receive any more good news, Sony have also struck a deal that will see the developers er, developing three more games for the PS3 download market.

The three-game deal has the former University of California students move in to Sony’s Santa Monica headquarters, an event that USC Dean M Daley called “a watershed moment in the history of the school”.

“It builds on our tradition of expanding relationships with the professional community, and opens the door for our students and graduates to showcase their creative talents in an incredibly dynamic market.”

So if you are at the University of California and into developing, this could be the break your career needs. Even if your not, it can only be a good thing for the PS3, as it looks better than retro crap on offer from Microsoft.

Eat those other weird things and make your organism (note the “ni”) grow bigger and evolve

As if that wasn’t enough PS3 downloadable games news, Factor 5 have announced they will be producing two new games for the PS3, releasing in 2007. Factor 5 are responsible for Rogue Squadron, released for the N64 and the sequel on the GameCube, as previously mentioned. It was a lovely game to look at, and bodes well for their future games. Currently they are wrapping up Lair, a dragon combat game, which will see release early next year (Joystiq have a nice preview worth reading about the game too). In an interview with Gamasutra, the President of Factor 5 was pretty excited about 2007 and what it holds:

“Actually I’m really looking forward to 2007, because we’re going to finish Lair, which is my biggest concern right now, but also, I’m really looking forward to working on a couple of smaller projects [for PlayStation 3], with the so-called EDI [E-Distribution Initiative] from Sony, which I think has huge potential, and personally as a director, I think it’s one of these things that we in the creative community need a little bit.”

[…]

“That’s the biggest thing I’m looking forward to in 2007, which is also going to be a challenge, because of course we were there about 15-20 years ago doing these small titles, so suddenly you’ve got these production challenges with working on something really, really small.”

Bearing in mind they have a cap of 500MB, that is a lot of space to get really creative, and if Factor 5’s history is anything to go by, you can expect their games to be looking mighty sexy, and will probably be better than some of the launch offerings currently available. Sadly you might have to wait a while in 2007, since designing and producing two games takes some time. Hopefully both games will be on the PS3 Store by Christmas of next year, with a reasonable price tag to boot.

Look at the gorgeous shot from Lair, it’s beautiful!

It’s all pretty exciting news right now, and hopefully the PS3 Store will really begin to take off, offering great small games at great small prices. Whilst there is still some way to go before it has the same size catalog as the Wii and 360, if it has better games on offer, then there will be no comparison. After all, quality over quantity is the winning formula.