Posted Aug 20th 2008 4:00PM by Alan Tsang Filed under: News
When it was a cell phone game, no one knew what it was about. Then it became a PSP game, and still no one knew any details about it. Finally, the project director of The 3rd Birthday, Hajime Tabata, has revealed some facts about the third game in the Parasite Eve franchise. Square is cooperating with another development studio on the game, but he refuses to divulge which studio.
Unlike its predecessors, The 3rd Birthday will be a "true third person shooter," but Tabata notes that it will not the same as Dirge (thank you!) of Cerberus: FFVII. Some sort of wireless gameplay may be implemented, but it was not specified whether it will be infrastructure or ad-hoc.
The game's scenario and design are currently almost complete. Our curvy heroine Aya Brea will utilize an ability called overdrive that allows her to "cross time." This power lets her to fight and eliminate the Twisted, who are the new antagonists of the game. No release date is set, but it sounds like we'll see the game over in Japan some time next year.
Posted Aug 20th 2008 12:55PM by Alan Tsang Filed under: News
Everyday Shooter has just been announced for the PSP. The original game debuted on PC and PS3, and was praised by critics for its innovative combination of music and shooting. No separate release date is available at this time, but it will be included in the PSP 4GB Memory Entertainment Pack, which will launch in November. The bundle will include a voucher which allows you to download the game from the PS Store.
To find out more about this innovative shooter, check out PS3 Fanboy's coverage.
Posted Aug 20th 2008 12:20PM by Alan Tsang Filed under: News
SCEA just announced the North American details concerning the PSP-3000. The previously announced Ratchet & Clank PSP Entertainment Pack will launch on October 14th for $199.99. It will now include the following:
Mystic Silver PSP-3000
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets UMD
echochrome PSN voucher
1GB Memory Stick PRO duo
A second entertainment pack has also been announced called the PSP 4GB Memory Entertainment Pack. The will launch in November for $199.99 as well. It includes:
Piano Black PSP-3000
4GB Memory Stick PRO duo
Everyday Shooter PSN voucher
The Piano Black PSP-3000 will be sold separately later this year as a PSP Core Pack, which includes only an AC adaptor and battery pack for $169.99.
Posted Aug 20th 2008 11:15AM by Andrew Yoon Filed under: News
Sony just announced at their Leipzig press conference the PSP-3000 series. It will look exactly the same as the current PSP-2000 (Slim & Light) model, but will add a built-in microphone and enhanced screen. Apparently, the screen will work better outdoors, being able to resist glare. The built-in microphone will be a huge plus for regular Skype users, and those that take their PSP online via Infrastructure.
Video-Out has also been enhanced, with the system now able to interlace for televisions that don't support a progressive output (that means non-HDTVs).
The PSP-3000 series will be available on October 15th in Europe and will retail for €199. There will be 8 bundles, each adding one game to the package.
Posted Aug 19th 2008 8:48PM by Andrew Yoon Filed under: News
Click for high resolution image.
Whoops, looks like our weekly release calendar for this week was wrong. Fading Shadows, a PSP-exclusive puzzle game, is sneaking into retail stores this week. The surprise announcement doesn't bode well for those that want to actually find and purchase the game -- expect this to be quite the niche title. Also, Gamestop's listing for the game calls it an "exclusive" for the chain, meaning you'll most likely be unable to find it anywhere other than Gamestop. Good luck trying to find it -- it's a charming game, but we wonder if you'll even be able to get your hands on it.
Posted Aug 18th 2008 2:30PM by Majed Athab Filed under: News
A reader of Capcom Unity, Capcom's official blog, posed a bold question to the crew during the blog's "Ask Capcom weekly roundup." He wanted to know why Capcom had 'forsaken the PSP.' He got the idea after listening to a silly rumor made by a friend and then further worried having seen Capcom's minimalist PSP release schedule. In response, Capcom strong arm Christian Svensson had this to say: "Absolutely 100% false ... We're still making new PSP games. We may be the most successful PSP publisher in the world with Monster Hunter Portable 2nd and 2ndG. It'd be a difficult decision to defend stopping development when we have such success on the platform."
While it is reassuring to hear Capcom stomp out such an unwarranted rumor, we're sure most of you are still wondering what sort of games Capcom must be working on. Truth be told, there isn't too much known at the moment; Fate/Tiger Colosseum Upper is the only Capcom PSP game announced for release in the remainder of the year. That's a Japan-only title. Then we're brought to Devil May Cry PSP, which as of right now is still only a rumor. Since Capcom haven't officially said what these "new PSP games" are, then we'll pose a question upon our readers. What do you think Capcom might be working on?
Posted Aug 15th 2008 5:38PM by Andrew Yoon Filed under: News
Wait, Sony. Didn't we come to an agreement? We'd stop buying UMD movies and you'd stop making them. We thought that the introduction of the PSP Video Store at E3 would signal the final "official" death of UMD -- but in a showcase of true unyielding corporate stubborness, Sony still plans on continuing its support for the failed proprietary movie format. According to a report by Video Business, Sony plans on releasing 5-7 movies from various studios each quarter. Each movie would be $10-15, a significantly lower price than when UMD movies first launched on the system years ago.
"We want to provide a legal offering from the studios, ... and it's an easier conversation to have with them now," said John Koller, director of hardware marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment America. According to Koller, "there's a lot of positive momentum with the PSP." But, will plans to continue UMD really meet any success? Only time will tell.
Posted Aug 15th 2008 12:00PM by Andrew Yoon Filed under: News
All great things must come to an end. The PSP, which seemed like an unstoppable hardware selling juggernaut, finally came down from its lofty highs ... down to second place in Japan. In its place? Well, it's the DS ... Seems like the handheld console wars are back! Hold on, while we get some popcorn ...
Nintendo DS - 60,434 PSP - 58,501 Wii - 38,506 Xbox 360 - 24,962 PlayStation 3 - 9,673 PlayStation 2 - 8,503
Also shaking up the charts this week: the Xbox 360 outsells the PS3. Did something contaminate the Japanese water supply? There's so much drama this week!
Posted Aug 15th 2008 9:10AM by Andrew Yoon Filed under: News
The first Dungeon Maker game didn't make too big a splash here in the States, but that's not stopping UFO Interactive from releasing its sequel here in the States. As always, this sequel is bigger, better and more badass with over 700 items, 90 quests, and 150 different monsters.
The Dungeon Maker series is rather unique as it has players create their own dungeons ... and then fight in them. This time around, you can even swap dungeons with a friend. However, we're more curious about the story: will it be as ridiculous as the first iteration's?
Posted Aug 14th 2008 2:45AM by Andrew Yoon Filed under: News
The PSP-3001 is real, folks. The next generation follow-up to the current PSP-2000 series system was discovered on the FCC website. Problem? We don't see anything particularly new about it ... yet. Unfortunately, many of the more interesting details about the system are still unavailable for public access. Expect to see more info coming out of Sony about this next PSP revision in the coming weeks.
Posted Aug 13th 2008 12:15PM by Majed Athab Filed under: News
Listen up folks, another new game has been announced. This time it's a turn-based strategy game called Mytran Wars. It's exclusive to the PSP and is a creation of Budapest-based devs, Stormregion. These guys are the makers of PC games such as: Rush for Berlin, S.W.I.N.E., and Codename: Panzers. They really love their war games, huh?
Mytran Wars is a stark contrast from Stormregion's other works, primarily because the setting is in space and not their usual choice of WWII or the Cold War era. As for the actual story, the long-short of it goes: It's the 23rd century, and humans and aliens are at war over resources.
The game will feature a multiplayer mode. No other details were mentioned after that. So a price and date will remain in the far reaches of space for now.
Most of us know that there are so few PS One titles on the North American PS Store and we're all wondering when the next wave of PS One games would be coming. While this isn't particularly a 'wave' per se (insert Hadouken jokes here), it is quite a powerful title with a lot of influence in the fighting-genre arena. We're talking about Street Fighter Alpha -- the first one. It was a title that prequeled the main Street Fighter series, fleshing out some of the world warriors' back stories.
If you missed it back in the day, then your chance to give the classic a try is coming. This Thursday, during the weekly scheduled PS Store update, Street Fighter Alpha will be available for download onto your PSP or your PS3. Capcom hasn't officially revealed the price yet, but we imagine it shouldn't be much different from other PS One classics.
Having sold 217,000 copies on the very first day, the new Japanese chart-topper Phantasy Star Portable went on to ship 500,000 copies in the first week. Though it won't beat out reigning champion Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G's figures of 880,000, it did beat out another very popular PSP game with a larger fanbase: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. The Square Enix game managed to ship 480,000 copies in its debut week.
We are unofficially in Bizarro World territory when a Sega game outperforms a Square Enix game. The bigger question is, when is the rest of the world going to get a taste of this?
Why are so many PSPs being stolen? It seems commonplace to read stories of PSP systems being stolen from hapless individuals. This time, a sick child waiting for a heart transplant had his PSP stolen. Dominic Villanueba (pictured, right) is accused of stealing Juan Martinez's PSP by tricking the boy into handing over the PSP to him by asking how the game worked. Thankfully, the culprit was caught.
Although by the time Villanueba was caught, the system had been displaced. Thankfully, the story has a cheerful end: the sheriffs of Adams County pooled some money together and bought the child a replacement system. "He's just a little kid. I don't like bullies," Robbins said. "That's what it seemed like to me, one older kid picking on a little kid ... We couldn't let the bad guys win."
Posted Aug 8th 2008 5:20PM by Alan Tsang Filed under: News
The PlayStation Portable and Phantasy Star Portable are both on top of their game this week in Japan; the portable gaming device managed to sell 61,181 units, which is down from6,271 units from last week. The DS comes dangerously close to beating the PSP this week though, with 57,398 units sold.
Software-wise, Phantasy Star Portable set a record for the fourth biggest debut for a PSP game with 341,700 copies of the game sold, according to PSPHyper. Hardware numbers are below, with software numbers after the jump: Hardware and software sales for the week of July 28th - August 3rd:
