This will be the last Friday Debate for a little while as SCEE HQ shuts down for Christmas and I take a holiday to recharge my blog batteries for the new year.

What do you want for Christmas?

We recently asked a bunch of games industry figures the same thing and here’s what they came back with. On 27 December and 3 January respectively, hit up eu.playstation.com to see which games the guys enjoyed most in 2010 and what they think is going to set 2011 on fire.

“It will be later than Christmas, but I’d love Santa to make an additional January trip and bring me LittleBigPlanet 2, please?” (Andrew House, president, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe)

“I already own most of the great PlayStation games and services, so I would wish for a 52 inch Bravia 3D TV from Santa.” (Shuhei Yoshida, president, SCE Worldwide Studios)

“I want a 100TB external hard drive for my PS3 TV tuner, Torne. I address that wish to Santa because recording anime every week has filled my hard drive to the brim!” (Hiroshi Matsuyama, president, CyberConnect2)

“I’m most looking forward to spending time with my family with a break from the meetings and spreadsheets, and plenty of time to settle down and play the games we’ve been working so hard on over the last 12 months. Would a copy of GT5 and a brand new 3D TV be too much to ask for as well?” (Michael Denny, senior vice president, SCE Worldwide Studios, Europe)

“I would request a BRAVIA 3D TV to play WipEout HD.” (Mie Kumagai, director, Virtua Tennis 4)

“Since racing has had more titles than I could possibly keep up with, I’ve not yet played Gran Turismo 5. I’ve purposely not even had a look at it being played in the office as I want to be able to give it a few days in a row – and Christmas seems a perfect time for me, if not for my family!” (Jason Ried, producer, Split/Second: Velocity)

“Without a doubt, The Sly Trilogy. I may not even wait for Santa to bring it.” (Greg Goodrich, executive producer, Medal of Honor)

“Never mind Santa, I want Hugo from our PR office to send me another three Move controllers and Navigators.” (Matt Southern, game director, Evolution Studios)

“I think I may spend some time over the festive season blasting the undead hordes in Dead Nation. I was lucky enough to be on the Beta trial and this PSN game is so atmospheric and fun to play. A little bit scary with the surround sound speakers on too… Then what better way to work off the post Christmas excess than with a few rounds on The Fight. Move gaming has never been so tiring!” (John McLaughlin)” (John McLaughlin, producer, XDev Studio Liverpool)

“I hope that Gran Turismo 5 or Demon’s Souls will be waiting for me!” (Jean Francois Dugas, game director, Eidos Montreal)

“Santa, please give me all of the PlayStation Move compatible games and PlayStation Move controller! They would always give me new experiences to play with my child next year.” (Norihiro Nishimura, producer, Time Crisis : Razing Storm)

“Gran Turismo 5 is the title I’ll be playing on Christmas morning! It could be the closest I ever get to driving a Ferrari, and hopefully the closest I get to crashing one.” (Travis Steiner, lead designer, Zipper Interactive)

“Gran Turismo 5 – Unfortunately I haven’t had time to get this yet as we are incredibly busy on the production side. But I really want to check out the graphics and I hope that this is a title that Santa brings me!” (Ryota Niitsuma, producer, Marvel vs Capcom)

“Santa Claus is too slow… I already bought my BRAVIA 3D TV and GT5!” (Kazutoki Kono, producer, Ace Combat: Assault Horizon)

“Some more Move controllers and a large case of wine please.” (Simon “Barlos” Barlow, associate game director, Evolution Studios)

“I’m looking forward to some Christmas goodies for my PlayStation Home avatar, maybe a new Personal Space? I’ve also filled up my PSN wallet ready for the family Christmas SingStar Dance session. It has been such a busy year I’ve not had the chance to pick up a copy of COD: Black Ops and Red Dead Redemption and with zombies in both of these games, I’ve left major hints that they should make their way into my Christmas stocking.” (Mike Rouse, senior producer, SingStar)

“I’ve probably got all the games I need. But my kids are secretly hoping for Move – and that should be entertaining.” (David Rutter, producer, FIFA 11)

“My number 1 wish was a Fender Stratocaster 6-string guitar controller… Since they’ve postponed that until March, I guess I’m hoping for a gift certificate now!” (Brian Fleming, co-founder, Sucker Punch)

“I love watching independent and foreign films, so a MUBI subscription just before the holidays would be much appreciated.” (Hermen Hulst, managing director, Guerrilla)

“It goes without saying that Gran Turismo 5 is on my Christmas list this year, it seems like only yesterday that the original was bundled with my first PlayStation – in actual fact it was 13 years ago! Suffice to say it’s a title that’s close to my heart and the epitome of the racing simulation genre.” (Karl Reader, UK product & community manager, CAPCOM)

“Hopefully, as I have been a good boy this year, Santa will drop Assassins Creed Brotherhood, Call of Duty Black Ops or Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit down my chimney.” (Paul Rustchynsky, senior designer, Evolution Studios)

“If Santa can bring me a couple of days where I can just sit down and play Gran Turismo 5, I will be very, very happy!” (Miles Jacobson, studio director, Sports Interactive)

Just in case I don’t get chance to say this before the 25th, Merry Christmas and thanks for reading and commenting on PlayStation.Blog in 2010.

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As you might have seen on PlayStation.Blog earlier in the week, I tried out Killzone 3 using the PlayStation Move Sharp Shooter.

What I’m here to ask today is what you think of gaming peripherals. Sometimes they’re compulsory, such as SingStar Mics or Buzz! Buzzers, while sometimes they provide an immersive alternative to a regular controller, like a steering wheel for Gran Turismo. Which genres benefit most from these devices?

(Thanks to @EnterTheHorizon and @SpectralKnight on Twitter for the idea).

Speak your brains in the comments — who knows, maybe Santa will be reading…

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“Eureka!” is an exclamation attributed to Greek mathematician Archimedes, when he discovered during a bath that the level to which the water rose was directly related to how much of his body was submerged. Pretty simple really, compared with crafting an interactive world or an intuitive matchmaking system.

The word is now generally used to describe those moments when something dead good sprouts from your brain, and seeing how this blog is supposed to be about games and that, this is today’s question: have you ever had a good idea for a game?

Share your solid gold ideas in the comments and, who knows, if you’re lucky then some developer might steal your idea and make millions. Just remember what Einstein said: “If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it.”

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With the launch of Gran Turismo dominating the news on Wednesday, you may not have noticed that 24 November 2010 was also the tenth anniversary of PlayStation 2 launching in Europe. The wonder-console that went on to sell 147.6 million units (at the time of writing) was introduced with an oblique advertising campaign that was occasionally dark, ambiguous and racy, but always stylish, inventive and fearless.

Of course, PS2 will be remembered for its unrivalled array of quality games, of which 1.5 billion copies have been sold since launch. And yet whenever I go to a party and mention that I work at PlayStation, many people still remember the girl with the alien eyes or the duck wearing a suit, even if that person has never had any interest in games.

Here are six of my favourite PlayStation TV ads from here in the UK. Watch them and choose your favourite in the poll.

Happy birthday PS2!

I’ll be checking out the comments this evening so please share your fondest memories of a console that is still going strong in its second decade.

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Ah, video games. Where a librarian can be a sniper, an investment banker can blow up aircraft carriers and a professional footballer can be a more aggressive professional footballer. The most placid of adults can enjoy blood and/or guts from time to time and I’m sure we can all agree that playing violent games does not turn a sane, civilized person into Patrick Bateman.

What I’d like to know is:

Have you ever been shocked at a particular title or moment, or is your nerve as steely as a ball-bearing?

Share your views in the comments and please, keep it civilized!

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