Newsbits 9/1: Game sites, DOT.TUNES, Wrapstar, FF7 case

August 31, 2007 on 6:56 pm | In Uncategorized | Comments Off

SCEJ has opened up two official game sites today, one for Patapon and the other for echochrome. Patapon's genre is apparently "Command Carnival", whatever the hell that means. According to the site, players assume the role of God and play 4 different drums to command an army of eyeball creatures into battle. Yeah, guess we'll have to wait and see on that one. The other site is for echochrome, a result of Sony's Yarouze project. It appears to be a M.C. Escher-inspired puzzle game that requires players to rotate the map to solve the puzzles. Marvelous Entertainment also put up a site for a new mysterious game to be announced at the Tokyo Game Show. But the company's TGS page makes no mention of a PSP game on display, so I guess we really will have to wait. In the continuing saga of Manhunt 2, it seems the Dutch will be getting the uncensored version. I doubt Rockstar will go through all the trouble of releasing a separate version (that is, separate from the rest of Europe) for the PSP, so if you want the uncensored one, you may have to pick up the PC version. Several new videos abound today at GameTrailers, such as the GC 2007 trailers for Freak Out and Sonic Rivals 2, as well as trailers for Worms: Open Warfare 2, Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, and Dead Head Fred. IGN got some hands-on time with Medal of Honor Heroes 2. Seems to be more of the same, for those of you that enjoy the Medal of Honor play style. Gamespot also drooled all over Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow. There's a new product launching called DOT.TUNES that is allegedly attempting to bridge the gap between iTunes and your PSP. The software itself will be free, but the PSP plugin will be $10. There are competing (completely free) solutions such as MyTunesRSS that also bridge the gap, but this is one area that could use some more development. kypes333 put up a nice time-lapse video of himself modding his PSP. Then there's the result. Also launching is a new series of PSP skins from Wrapstar. They have some decent designs, for those of you interested in non-permanent non-warranty destroying ways to drastically change your PSP's appearance. Over course, given the upcoming launch of the PSP-2000, this may not be a good time to get a PSP skin if you'll be purchasing a new unit. SCEJ is evidently continuing their collaboration with Porter for the PS Pictogram line of cases, the newest of which is a Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII version. It runs for 9,975 yen (~$86 USD, 43 GBP). Better join the pre-order lottery though; only 95 will ever be made.

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PSP-2000 gets dissected

August 31, 2007 on 5:09 pm | In Uncategorized | Comments Off

Chinese site TGBUS.com appears to be the first on the internet to dissect a PSP-2000 and post the pictures on the internet. As you'd expect, there are a lot of differences between the new PSP and the old PSP. I'm not such an expert that I can immediately tell you what hardware changes have taken place, nor can I read Chinese. But for those of you into this sort of thing, click away; there are 9 pages worth of pictures, including several pictures comparing the new PSP hardware to the old PSP hardware. It's worth noting that the motherboard appears to be a TA-085, though I have no idea how/if this will impact the PSP-2000's ability to be downgraded or use homebrew.

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Playstation Store gets updates; Japan hits 100

August 31, 2007 on 3:11 am | In Uncategorized | Comments Off

Lots of content flowing across the Playstation Network, via the Playstation Store. For all you PS3 possessors, you can now take Tekken 5 online (add-on), and play with some Tiger Woods 2008, All-Pro Football 2K8, and NASCAR 08 demos. Several trailers have also been made available for viewing. Oh, and don't forget to download Warhawk, as zmcnulty is now addicted, and you should be too. Yes, yes, yes. The PSP did get some benefits from this glorious day of updates. While you're still "forced" to download PSOne games from your Playstation 3 (Warhawk! OMG!), a few more titles have been added. Wipeout and Crash Bandicoot 2 are now available for download via the Playstation Network, as well as some miscellaneous Japanese titles. Congratulations to Sony's Japanese store, which has now reached 100 downloadable games. Hopefully Sony will continue this update frenzy, and bring more games/demos to the other Stores. Happy downloading!

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Newsbits 8/29: Slims arrive, Crisis Core trailer (subtitles), Dead Head Fred Interview, etc.

August 29, 2007 on 4:03 pm | In Uncategorized | Comments Off

Kudos to the jerks lucky few who got their hands on the new PSP-2000 model. Until we get ours (please Sony!), you can check out IGN's hands-on, and Kotaku's video walkthrough. Gamespot also has their hands-on which provides some nifty charts about the decreased load times and some nice comparison pictures. Only two more weeks! For those of you who don't speak Japanese, a generous user by the name of ev3n has subtitled the extensive Crisis Core Trailer. Our good pal zmcnulty has confirmed that the subtitles are indeed accurate. Check it out. Looks like Square Enix has no plans for a portable Kingdom Hearts, as they currently have their hands full with Crisis Core. I guess you're stuck with the old console and TV solution. John C. McGinley provides the voice for the Dead Head Fred himself, and if you're a fan of the TV show Scrubs (like myself), you'll appreciate his personality. MTV spoke with McGinley about his role in the game, and how he came to be the lead character. Video game composer, Nobuo Uematsu is developing a unique game, titled "Anata wo Yurusanai" (translated as "I Won't Forgive You"). "Players will hold the PSP unit vertically and use the analog nub to search, take photos, tail a suspicious person and perform surveillance", says 1UP.

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Review Crazy Taxi Fare Wars

August 28, 2007 on 8:33 pm | In Games | Comments Off

Greetings ladies and gentlemen gamers all a like. I would like to take the time to thank Gameflavor for keeping me on during my absence and I know some of you have missed my great reviews and some might not,... [Click through for full story]

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Newsbits 8/29: A LOT of media, Playstation Phone, Manhunt is on again, etc.

August 28, 2007 on 5:43 pm | In Uncategorized | Comments Off

If I had a dollar for every time we posted a link to screenshots or videos on other websites, PSP-Vault might be a conundrum! You should have seen the look on JustEaton's face tonight when I told him how many new screenshots and videos there are of PSP games. Gamespot let it flow with screens of SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Tactical Strike and

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