Joystick has recently posted a new mock-up created by of there reader Mat Brady. This combination of a PSP, IPhone and a Mobile Keypad looks to be one of the most compressed and crammed mockups we’ve seen yet that just could work. With the original PSP controls to play games, the lovely full keyboard to chat to friends and the Iphone interface to interact with, this could be one the most featured filled devices we’ve seen yet!
Three more PS1 Games on PSN
With the new PSN store online now, Sony Japan are back to growing there ever so lasting PS1 list on PSN. This week three new titles will be available via PSN. The three new titles are Athena no Kateiban: Family Game, Magical Drop F and, Spyro 2 Ripto’s Rage. I myself have only heard of one of these titles, but I’m sure there are Japanese gamers out there familiar with the other two.
Japan PSP sales of last week: Still good?
Two weeks ago, the PSP utterly destroyed every other console in terms of sales by selling more units than every other console (PS3, PS2, X360, Wii, DSL), combined. Just last week, the PSP just missed the bar of continuing the double sales, with the PSP taking 49.59% of the market by selling 121k units.
So, did a similar selling trend occur for another week?
Well, the answer is no. The PSP is still the number #1 selling console on the market overseas, but did nowhere near as well as it has the past few weeks, selling 85,721 units ( about 35k less), but still claiming 43.87% of all consoles sold.
Also, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, the title mostly responsible for the burst in PSP sales in Japan, has dropped to become the number #2 game, outsold by Mario Kart Wii, selling over 1/2 a million in its first week out. The Wii, however, did not see a real boost in console sales.
Here are your official numbers:
- PSP: 85,721
- DS Lite: 47,158
- Wii: 46,296
- PS3: 8,232
- PS2 6,834
- Xbox 360: 1,147
total = 195,388
Flooze Will Flow with the Return of Pipemania Across a Multitude of Gaming Platforms
The Popular Puzzle Game is Sure to Please New and Seasoned Gamers Alike
With a new twist to classic favorite, Empire Interactive will heat up the puzzle game jenre with the summer release of Pipemania for the Nintendo DS, Wii, PSP, PlayStation 2 and PC. As they race against time, puzzle game fans of all ages and experience will be able to enjoy hours of brain-teasing fun in this frantic series of quests and puzzles that uses updated gameplay mechanics to build on one of the most poplar franchises of all time.
“The current generation of gaming platforms presented a great opportunity to re-create Pipemania with all-new features that are sure to challenge players of all ages and skill-level,” said Karim Farghaly, vice president of sales, Empire Interactive. “We are certain new and old fans alike will find it hard to put down the mayhem packed into the new installation of Pipemania.”
Pipemania is a fast-paced puzzle game in which players lay down a pre-ordained set of pipes on a tiled grid in order to keep the Flooze, a constant flowing substance that speeds up with progression, moving through the pipes as long as possible without overflowing. Players will need to be fast with their fingers and utilize quick and forward thinking, precise coordination, and keen awareness if they plan to survive the time constraints, pressure and accuracy needed to navigate through the game. There is no chance for players to let their guard down, as complication increases with new elements as players progress through the game.
Pipemania tests players’ skills in five different game modes - world, arcade, bonus, multiplayer, classic, and best of the all - the original Pipemania game. Players will navigate through more than 70 levels with seven different themes in order to build their Island World. The frantic puzzle game offers hours of entertainment with enhanced visuals, new play mechanics, multiple attacks and damages, various Floozes, and an army of characters for players to help and hinder along the way. The entire game can be played in single player or in co-op for competitive play between two players.
The original version of Pipemania was released in 1989 and followed by Pipe Dreams in 1991. It has been ranked as one of the most popular games of all time and delivered exceptional sales with more than 4 million units worldwide, making it one of the most successful puzzle games in history.
March NPD figures: PSP sales up 18%
According to NPD sales in February, the PSP has continued to show a strong continuation of sales. More specifically, the PSP sales jumped 18% compared to last March, selling 297,000 units worldwide. Sure, the 18% jump may be a little modest, and it’s nowhere near as astounding as sales figures in Japan have been the past few weeks or so, but they numbers are still respectable, beating out the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Playstation 2 in sales.
Another piece of news to note is that PSP software, yes, software, secured two spots on the top 10 selling games of the month, something that hasen’t really been seen up to this point. It would be safe to say already that Final Fantasy 7 - Crisis Core and God of War - Chains of Olympus will outsell every other PSP game released last year.
in other news, the Wii and DS blew away all other consoles, and the Playstation 3 took a backseat last month to the Xbox 360, but only by 5,000 units.
Here are the NPD sales figures for the month of March:
US VIDEO GAMES INDUSTRY - MARCH 2008
Software: $945.6m (+63%)
Hardware: $551.3m (+46%)
Accessories: $220m (+58%)
Total Games: $1.7 billion (+57%)
TOP-SELLING HARDWARE - MARCH 2008
Wii–721,000
Nintendo DS–698,000
PlayStation Portable–297,000
Xbox 360–262,000
PlayStation 3–257,000
PlayStation 2–216,000
TOP-SELLING SOFTWARE - MARCH 2008
Title / Publisher / Release Date / Units
1) Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) / Nintendo / March 2008 / 2.7M
2) Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2* (360) / Ubisoft / March 2008 / 752.3K
3) Army of Two (360) / Electronic Arts / March 2008 / 606.1K
4) Wii Play w/ Remote (Wii) / Nintendo / Feb. 2007 / 409.8K
5) God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP) / Sony / March 2008 / 340.5K
6) Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) / Square Enix / March 2008 / 301.6K
7) Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) / Activision / Oct. 2007 / 264.1K
MLB 2K8 (360) / Take-Two Interactive / March 2008 / 237.1K
9) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare* (360) / Activision / Nov. 2007 / 237K
10) Army of Two (PS3) / Electronic Arts / March 2008 / 224.9K
*Includes Collector’s, Limited, Legendary, Bundles (Guitars) Editions
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
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.
Micro SD to Pro Duo adaptor soon to be availible
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.
PSP Firmware Update Coming Soon
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.
Monster Hunter 2nd G DLC!
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.
Japan likes Monster Hunter 2G a lot
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.
