Usually these summer months between big conventions are slow and tedious for us newsy types. But apparently SOE wants to make sure almost single-handedly that we have plenty to talk about. Though the folks at Sony have been hit with some rough patches of PR lately, what better place than their own Fan Faire to turn the ship around? And while we'll all have to wait and see how the game plays, there's a whole lot of reason to be excited for the official unveiling of Planetside 2.

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The original was one of the first MMOFPS to capture the imagination of gamers, and while it was never a major success myself and the rest of the game's fans always thought of it as a title well ahead of its time.  Then the shooter became the front-running genre of gaming, and WoW brought mainstream attention to the MMO space and we were all left wondering... when are we going to see Planetside get some love?  Now's the time!

There were talks of "revitalizing" the game.  But it seemed SOE was more focused on new properties than rehashing a niche title with a cult-following.  Then we hear there was going to be "Planetside Next" but we knew so very prescious little about the real direction.  Finally, in the wake of layoffs, the company announced that full-support was being put behind the next installment of Planetside and that it was going to be a true sequel, and a truly massive MMOFPS. 

At Vegas this year, we were not disappointed.

Thousands of players sharing one open, seamless world.  Three-faction warfare with each group wrestling over prescious resources.  Vehicular combat galore, switching class roles on the fly, a brand new next-generation engine that makes the original's visuals look like a turd covered in baby food.  Sure there's plenty of unknowns left on Planetside 2, and the naysayers are already talking about SOE's track record and how they'll screw it up.  But all I know is that the game looks pretty, it sounds like the MMOFPS I've been craving, and I can't wait to get in and get fragged repeatedly because I suck... but I'll be loving every minute of it.

What about you lot, though?  Is Planetside 2 news something worth cheering about, or were you hoping for something more out of Fan Faire?  Let us know in the comments!