PSP News on PSP Games

Archive for April, 2008

In a recent PSU interview with Capcom, producer Ben Judd said that a PlayStation Portable port of Bionic Commando Rearmed (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC) is “near impossible.” Judd explains that Grin’s own Diesel engine, which is responsible for the 2D side-scroller game’s 3D lighting and texture, makes it unfit for the Sony PSP.

However, don’t let that spoil the fun for you. We’ve reported before that Bionic Commando Rearmed can still be playable on your PSP thanks to PS3′s Remote Play. So all is still good. As the game nears its May release, Judd gives more things to expect for the remake of the 1988 NES game.

Asked how many levels Bionic Commando Rearmed will have, Judd responded by recapping the original version’s 12 “action-heavy” levels and 7 neutral zones. He then said that we will all be “in for a surprise.” Judd did confirm that there will be more weapons and a lot of unlockables.

As for co-op gameplay, Judd mentions that it will only be locally available. In-game scores can be tracked online though via the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live.

For more of Judd’s insights on why Bionic Commando Rearmed was revived and why it is not getting kid-friendly ratings, read the entire interview over at the via link.

April 14, 2008 – Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. (SCEA) announced today the North American release of Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2, available exclusively for PSP PlayStation Portable). Developed by Clap Hanz, in conjunction with Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, Santa Monica Studio, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 takes the multi-million unit-selling Hot Shots Golf franchise and prepares to deliver another stellar portable golf experience to PSP.

Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 features beautiful new courses and wacky characters, along with hundreds of customization options including clothes, accessories, and equipment. Additionally, the game brings a wide range of exciting multiplayer options including 16-player online tournaments and ad hoc capability for one-on-one or Stroke Mode challenges.

“The Hot Shots Golf franchise has been a perennial winner over the years for PlayStation, and we are very excited to bring the game’s quirky golf experience back to PSP,” said Jeff Reese, director, software marketing, SCEA. “With greater online capabilities, challenging new courses, and a variety of gameplay modes, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 is a stimulating portable experience that delivers all the charm and fun the Hot Shots Golf series has to offer.”

In addition to brilliant graphics, colorful characters, dramatic camera angles, and realistic golf physics that fans of the series have come to love, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2 features a variety of gameplay modes to satisfy even the most hardcore golfer. Players will have the opportunity to golf on 12 breathtaking courses across tropical islands, vast desert plains, snow-capped mountains, and oceanfront views.

Internet play is available to allow players the opportunity to challenge other Hot Shots across the globe in tournaments of up to 16 players. Additionally, players can tee-off locally with up to eight others via Match Play or go head-to-head in Ad Hoc mode. In single player, fans can engage in Stroke Play mode, offering traditional golf on any available course, as well as Challenge Mode, giving players the opportunity to compete in a regular season filled with tournaments and the ability to unlock various characters and items throughout the game. To improve individual skills, players can access a Training mode to perfect every drive, pitch, and putt before the real challenge. Additionally, a fun and challenging Hole-in-One mini-game is available to test each player’s shot-making prowess and enhance their character’s overall accuracy.

Character customization includes more than 320 options to personalize characters with a variety of items including clothing, hairstyles, clubs, accessories, and more. Players can also utilize special combinations of clothing and accessories to provide a unique boost to character attributes as well as overall fashion style. Successfully conquering challenges in the game will allow players to further upgrade equipment, allowing for more accurate shots, longer drives, and impeccable control.

About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation and PS one game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, the PSP (PlayStation Portable) handheld entertainment system, the ground-breaking PlayStation 3 (PS3) computer entertainment system, and its online and network services the PlayStation Network and PlayStation Store.

Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets, and distributes software for the PS one game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, the PSP system and the PS3 system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif. Sony Computer Entertainment America, Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Set seven years prior to the events of the first FINAL FANTASY VII, the Shinra Company is rapidly increasing its influence through its monopoly on mako energy and military might. With the burgeoning city of Midgar as its base and symbol of prosperity, Shinra is on the verge of establishing absolute dominance over the world.

SOLDIER is a group of skilled combat operatives within Shinra. The elite within the group — those strong enough to be deemed SOLDIER 1st Class — are respected and idolized by the citizenry. Zack is a young SOLDIER 2nd Class who aspires to become a 1st. He spends his days carrying out assignments under the guidance of his 1st Class mentor, Angeal. During an operation in Wutai, a large number of SOLDIER member, led by 1st Class operative Genesis, go missing. The severity of the situation prompts Shinra executives to deploy even more SOLDIER operatives in hopes of bringing an end to the war with Wutai—and conducting an investigation into the mass desertion. The ones assigned to the mission are Zack, Angeal, and the 1st Class hero who is known the world over as Sephiroth…

What truths lie behind Genesis’s disappearance? What secrets bind the three SOLDIER 1st Class operatives? For Zack, a cruel and fateful struggle awaits…

In Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, players can experience the D.M.W (Digital Mind Wave) system, which enhances the real-time battle system, allowing players to unleash special attacks or call upon various Final Fantasy summons. Players can also witness graphics and CG cutscenes coupled with voice acting in a 16:9 widescreen presentation, made possible by the PSP system hardware.

Every day, the price and pro duo memory sticks keeps dropping and dropping. If you know where to look, you can even buy a 4gb stick for $40 bucks. Hell, when I first brought the PSP, not too long after it first came out, I think I spent something close to $100. For a 1gb stick…

Anyways, there is now a new adaptor in the Japan market that works with micro sd(hc) cards, and converts to a pro duo card. This could potentially be very good news to consumers, as micro sd cards are generally cheaper than pro duo cards, and (in my personal opinion) more accessories these days take micro sd as their memory format anyways, such as cell phones.

This adapter, which has a selling price of about $10 on the Japanese Amazon, will work on all PSP models and supports up to 8gb on a micro sdhc.

We’ll keep you updated on when this kind of adapter becomes on sale in other regions of the world.

Last week, the PSP was able to dominate the sales charts, selling more units than every other console (PS3, PS2, X360, Wii, DSL), combined. So, was the PSP able to do the same this week?

If you do the math, it turns out that the PSP sold JUST under half of the total consoles, accounting for 49.59%, meaning that the PSP no longer outsold all of the other consoles combines, as the sales have leveled out, just enough to balance the sales out a little. Still, the numbers are nothing to laugh at, as the PSP still outsold the DS Lite by a ratio of about 2.5 : 1.

Again, a lot of the sales and momentum can most likely be credited to the recent Japanese release of Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, which, mind you, has sold over 1.5 million copies as a franchise on the Playstation Portable.

As a side note, the PS3 also gained a little more ground, pushing a few more consoles off the store shelves and into customer’s hands.

Here are the official numbers:

• PSP – 120,964
• Nintendo DS – 55,190
• Wii – 44,618
• PlayStation 3 – 11,303
• PlayStation 2 – 10,423
• Xbox 360 – 1,452

total = 243,950

April 7, 2008 – Eric Lempel, Director of PlayStation Network Operations, posted on the official PlayStation Blog detailing the upcoming PSP firmware update, version 3.95. Although nothing overly dramatic is listed in the post, Lempel does note two particular features.

First, you will be able to customize button assignments when playing PSone games on your PSP. Also, you will have the ability to deactivate Remote Play and either leave your PS3 running or turn it off. Lempel continues on to state that this feature will be helpful if you want to set up a download and disconnect from your PS3 without turning off the console.

Square-Enix has announced that a custom PSP XMB Theme is now available for download. The new theme customizes PSP owners’ interface with icons of the main characters from the PSP action-RPG. It can be downloaded for free from http://store.playstation.com.

About Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

The land of mako reactors and materia is again in crisis–a crisis that extends to the very core of the planet. Featuring an all-new story that revolves around Zack, a soul who had already returned to the Lifestream before the events of FINAL FANTASY VII, players will witness the secrets behind Shinra and the company’s efforts to line its pockets at the expense of the planet. Take part in an exhilarating adventure filled with grandeur, excitement, and state-of-the-art visuals, while discovering new secrets hidden within the world of FINAL FANTASY VII.

Looks like the new Monster Hunter 2nd G expansion is already a prime target for downloadable content! Capcom has revealed that a new downloadable quest will be made available tomorrow. The quest takes place in the desert fighting three new terrifying monsters! No word on how it will be released. With PSN’s current makeover no new files will be added to the database until the process is done. We will update you tomorrow when the file goes live and tell you where the file will be made available.

So really, when was the last time you’ve seen a console, which only sometimes outsells it’s toughest direct competitor, totally blow the other away in terms of sales for a week? Not a common sight, right?

Alright, so get this.

When was the last time you’ve seen a console outsell every other console in terms of sales in a week, COMBINED?

Yes, you heard right. More specifically, the PSP outsold the DS in Japan last week, almost with a ratio of 2.5 : 1. Hell, even if the DS got the sales numbers from every other console on the market, including the Wii, PS3, PS2, and Xbox 360, the PSP still outsold the other consoles by more than 7,000 units… That’s a lot…

So what really caused this to happen? Well, it would be a safe assumption to say that Monster Hunter Portable, 2nd G has a large say in persuading Japanese consumers to snap up PSP’s, as it is one of the best-selling game series on the PSP, with over 6.3 million units sold worldwide. Unfortunately, North America and Europe have yet to see this game on store shelves, so in the meantime, it seems that we will have to wait.

Here are the vgchartz figures:

1. PSP : about 139k
2. DSL : about 57k
3. Wii : about 49k
4. PS3 : about 13k
5. PS2 : about 9.8k
6. 360 : about 2.8k

Capcom boasted that it has shipped more than one million copies for Monster Hunter Portable 2G in Japan after just six days on sale.

The latest PSP instalment in the series was released over there on 27th March along with a special Slim & Lite hardware bundle.

Its success makes the Monster Hunter franchise pile bulge to a meaty 6.3 million units sold around the world. Naturally Capcom plans to expand on the series by offering it on multiple platforms in the future, although the next proper instalment was surprisingly revealed as a Wii-exclusive last October.

So far the series has only been released on Sony platforms, although neither Monster Hunter on PS3, nor Monster Hunter Freedom (the European name for the Portable series) and Monster Hunter Freedom 2 on PSP have met similar levels of success in the West.

Monster Hunter Portable 2G is yet to be confirmed for Europe.