The burdens of being the king weighed heavy on Sony during the second half of 2008, as we watched the industry leader for the previous two hardware generations become seemingly complacent with a third place spot.

But not all is lost--not by a long shot. PlayStation brand recognition remains strong, and there are many people out there today that may be twiddling their thumbs with a PS2, Xbox 360 or Wii who are simply waiting for a lower price and a greater abundance of software before they ultimately dive into the PS3 fray.

Finding 10 PS3 games to watch in 2009 was an easy task; it was narrowing the list down that proved somewhat painful. Sony has an internal development powerhouse in its World Wide Studios division, with about three times as many owned studios as Microsoft. In 2009, high-profile PS3 exclusives abound without the need to broker third-party deals.

The following are 10 games (with a focus on exclusives) that will act as muses intended to draw in more game consumers. The question is, will gamers heed the call?

As always, release dates are subject to change.

As part of our Year Ahead features, see also:
Most Anticipated PC games.
Most anticipated 360 games.
Most anticipated Wii games.
Colin Campbell’s A-Z of 2009.