I love this time of year spring has sprung, the grass is getting green, the chill in the air is beginning to subside, E3 is just around the corner, and we have once again been hit with an avalanche of video game rumors. This year the stakes are higher than ever, usually at this point in a console generation’s life cycle a gaming machine has clearly established itself as the industry’s premier hardware platform; I suppose you could argue that the Wii has done that already. However, the Wii’s focus on the casual gamer have made this hardware generation’s console war the most confusing one yet. With Sony reporting their first loss since 1995 today much of the rumor attention seems to be on their systems. I thought that I would give you a rundown on the rumor’s I’m hearing the loudest, as well as my prediction on how likely they are to come true.

Rumor: Kingdom Hearts 3 Announced: I have a tough time believing that we will get through E3 without hearing that Square-Enix is bringing the Kingdom Hearts franchise to the PS3. Kingdom Hearts is one of the most beloved franchises Square-Enix has, you know they must have some developmental irons in the fire, so to speak. So I think that we’ll see our first glimpse of Kingdom Hearts 3. The only way I could see this not happening would be if the good folks at Square don’t want anything taking the spotlight off of Final Fantasy XIII. Likelihood: 8/10

Rumor:New Twisted Metal Announced: My logic is the same here as in the previous rumor. It doesn’t make sense that there hasn’t been a Twisted Metal game this generation and E3 is where an announcement would be made if there is a Twisted Metal game in development….and everybody is pretty sure David Jaffe is working on one. Not to mention Sony won’t have to worry about stealing thunder from another game. Likelihood:9/10

Rumor: Gran Turismo 5 Out in Time for Christmas 09:This one got some steam last year when series creator Kazunori Yamauchi told fans that the game would “be coming sooner than you think”. Now before you go getting too excited don’t forget that this game isn’t on any of the lists of games being shown at the show. But if they are saving it as a blockbuster announcement to make at their press conference, it will be bigger than anything they gave us last year. Likelihood: 5/10

Rumor:Team ICO Will Show Shadow of the Colossus Sequel:While it’s no secret that Team ICO is working on a super top secret project, I’m going to go out on a limb and say I hope it’s not a sequel to Shadow. As much as I loved the game, I don’t think it needs a sequel. I also believe that Team ICO has shown that they are more than capable of producing great games that are closer to being works of art than video games. So why impose parameters on them, let them do whatever they want. Unless of course what they want to do is a Shadow of the Colossus sequel, to which I would say “No, do something original dummy”. Of course that’s just me. The smart money’s still on Shadow 2 being unveiled. Likelihood:7/10

Rumor:New PSP Unveiled:I don’t know what it will be, but I’ve got a feeling that we’ll be seeing a new iteration of the PSP this year. I’m making no predictions with regards to whether it will be a new platform or a hardware refresh. I don’t know if it will have a touch screen(I hope it has a touch screen; I like touch screens.). But I do think that Sony will be showing off some new PSP hardware come E3, and I’d also lay down some pesos that this new hardware won’t have a UMD drive, cuz UMD is DUM. It might even mean that the whole PSP catalog will be available via digital distribution. That would be cool Likelihood:7.5/10

Rumor:PS3 Price Drop:This is the big one. The announcement that we’ve all been waiting for. The knockout blow in the fight with Microsoft. A price cut. Well don’t hold your breath. Sony just finished their fiscal year and announced an operating loss of $2.38 Billion. I know that a drop in price would spark an increase in demand, but given the economic tough times, I’m going to guess that Sony plays it conservatively and holds the PS3 price. I think that if this is what you are hoping to come away from E3 with you’re going to be feeling the way I felt after X-Men Origins: Wolverine; sad, hurt, disappointed, and hating Hugh Jackman. Well you might not hate Hugh Jackman, but you get the idea.Likelihood:3/10

Rumor:Sleek Shiny PS3 Redesign:If you’ve seen the pictures making their way across the internet showing a sleek, sexy, redesigned PS3 and think that they are legit, I’ve got some beautiful beachfront property in Nebraska I’d like to sell you. Those pictures look more shady than Feringi collecting donations for breast cancer research. They’re not real…but if I’m wrong my last prediction is probably off too. So cross your fingers but don’t bet your life savings on it. There’s no slimline PS3 around the corner. Actually there probably is one around a corner somewhere, just not this corner. Likelihood:1/10

Well that’s my PS3 Rumor Roundup. If any major rumors surface between now and E3 I will be sure to update the post. If I missed anything you’d like to weigh in on, we’d love to hear from you in the comments.