Want to give the upcoming PSP game, Infinite Loop, a try? Well, you can on your computer through a brand new Flash demo. Watch out! The game is primarily a text adventure game ... in Japanese. Unlike you're proficient in nihongo, you probably won't get much benefit from the demo. Give it a try here. (Note: There is no load screen. You will simply wait a very long time for the demo to download.)
For something everyone can enjoy, you can also download the new Infinite Loop theme for your PSP. It features cute anime girls and ... well, bread. Download it here and install it on your PSP in the folder PSP/THEME.
Phantasy Star Portable is a title that will be out in Japan at month's end. Gamers that want to try PSP out earlier than that can probably do so as it looks like a demo is on the way. Said to come two weeks earlier than the July 31 release date, a Japanese demo will allow players to tinker with the Story Mode and co-op ad hoc with Multi Mode. One last interesting bit involves the ability to transfer your character data from the demo to the full game, if you so choose to purchase the full game. There's still no word of a release outside Japan.
This is classified as a rumor, but it really makes too much sense for it to be false. A collection of four Star Soldier games will be released by Hudson under the banner of PC Engine Best Collection. The collection will include Star Star Soldier, Final Soldier, Soldier Blade and the never-before-released in the US Star Parodier. It will retail for the budget price of 2,940 yen (less than $30) which might translate to even lower if and when it is ever brought over to the US. Some of us here loved the Star Soldier series growing up and would love to relive those memories on the PSP.
This is all a bit bizarre. Game retailer Toranoana in Akihabara, Tokyo's destination for things electronic, has a display set up within its shop with a "porn pink" PSP. It's got stickers and designs all for promotion of the PC eroge title Dokodemo suki shite itsudemo suki shite ("Love me wherever, Love me whenever").
With a name like that, it is a wonder why this title isn't on the PSP. You know, love wherever ... whenever ... sounds befitting. Anyway, this game isn't really for the PSP -- it's only on there for display purposes. We guess it's cheaper and space-saving to run a demo on a PSP than a PC.
According to a NeoGAF posting, this month's Dengeki PlayStation reveals the very first PS1 games Square Enix will revive on the Japanese PSN. The titles will be available for 600 yen each, and will begin releasing in Japan today. There are twelve titles planned, starting with Xenogears. However, there are a number of other titles to be released today, such as Einhander, Astronoka, Rakugaki Showtime, Raystorm and Fighters Impact. While none of these titles feature the words "Final" or "Fantasy" in them, many are considered classics of the PS1 era. Titles like Xenogears can be pretty rare, so these re-releases are of great convenience to those that missed them at first. At only 600 yen each, this is an incredible bargain, especially when one considers the ability to play these downloadables on both the PS3 and on the go with the PSP.
Unfortunately, SCEA and Square Enix USA haven't announced any similar plans to release English language versions of these classics. We hope that they follow suit soon.
Macross Ace Frontier has been announced as a new mecha title for the PSP. Developed by Art Dink and published by Namco Bandai, the title is aiming for a Fall 2008 release in Japan. The game will include mechs from Macross, Macross Plus, and Macross 7.
Currently, the game is 60 percent complete; glad to hear Art Dink is going to work their butts off to pull off that remaining 40 percent in time for autumn. Unlike some other games and dev teams ... we're looking at you Dissidia! Anyway, check out what the game looks like over at Jeux-France.
More Dissidia: Final Fantasy news is coming in. Along with last week's look at Final Fantasy X representatives, Tidus and Jecht, comes this week's progress report. Tetsuya Nomura, revered fashion designer in the belts and zippers fetish industry and Dissidia producer, has stated in a new Famitsu mag that Dissidia is currently 50 percent done.
We're a bit disappointed to hear that the title is only half done; however, it doesn't come as a surprise. Only about half the cast has been revealed thus far (at least, half a list of protagonists/antagonists) and we suppose we'll be seeing the rest to trickle in within the rest of the year. Check out the magazine scans here for more pics of Tidus and his dad, and, if you can read Nihongo, then check out the interview with Nomura.
Irem's upcoming Bumpy Trot game on PSP looks rather ... bumpy. And we don't mean that in a good way. This robot battling arcade game looks a lot like the DS Custom Robo, even graphically. We know visuals don't make or break a game, but we just wish this looked a bit better.
Coverage of Phantasy Star Portable is picking up in Japan as the game draws closer to its July 31 release. There's a good collection of screenshots over at Gpara, and Famitsu has a new trailer to watch. The trailer takes some footage we've seen before and mixes that in with some more details highlighting the game's features. The ad hoc multiplayer mode looks like a lot of fun; it's a good time to tout such a feature since all those Monster Hunter fans may want a nice, new alternative co-op game this summer.
Japan is getting more PS1 classics added to the PSN. Among the new titles are: Jade Cocoon, an RPG; CrashTeam Racing, obviously it's Crash Bandicoot plus go-karts; and lastly, Acid which is ... er, we don't know. It's said to be an action title -- if that helps. There are also three slot machine games at ¥300. That's half price off the normal ¥600 the other games are going for.
News of six new PS1 games for Japan is quite a huge contrast to North America's ... zero. While it would certainly be ideal to have more vintage games on our side of the earth, we still need to remember that a tangled web of legalities are what's keeping things from moving further. Rights and ownership to digital content ... is there any program that can be implemented to speed up such processes?
Way of the Samurai was originally released on PS2 back in 2002. Now, eight years later, it's getting revamped on the PSP. Set in 19th century Japan, the player takes control of a ronin that takes part in a Choose Your Own Adventure-style story, where every decision can radically alter the outcome of the story.
This port of the PS2 original will be enhanced with new Ad-Hoc multiplayer features, and will also include characters from the upcoming PS3 Way of the Samurai 3. Undoubtedly, more will be revealed about this game as time passes.
They say sex sells. Well, Marvelous is going to put that to the test in this upcoming PSP fighter, Ikki Tousen, where the female fighters will have their clothes explode when they're hit. We don't think we'd be too comfortable playing a game like this on a crowded subway ...
The slightly NSFW video is placed after the break. With such a fear of sex in the States, it's unlikely this game will ever successfully cross the pond.
It has been awhile back since we last hear anything related to Dissidia: Final Fantasy. We even broke up the long silence with our "Top 20 Final Fantasy characters that should be in Dissidia" feature. In that feature, we listed Jecht as one of our top draws. Looks like we need not worry.
The Final Fantasy X father and son duo are both heading into the mixed cameo fighting game as revealed by this week's issue of Famitsu. Very cool stuff. We wonder who's next, and, will it be another six months again before we hear anything else?
If you've been out of the loop for Japanese game releases, Irem Software has Bumpy Trot: Vehicle Battle Tournament set for sometime in July. The game is a spiritual successor, of sorts, to the PS2 game Steambot Chronicles. It hit shores outside of Japan, so this one might, too. Well, if you're an import-friendly type of person and want to jump on this with a pre-order, you'll get this really nifty PSP pouch as a bonus. Enjoy!
Konami's Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable 3, a baseball title, has topped Japan's weekly software charts this week. With a staggering 117,000 units sold, the game has sold double the amount of units over last week's top spot Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou! (another baseball game) for the Nintendo DS.
Other PSP games are doing well. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G is still in the charts since its release back in March. It has, however, dropped down from second place to fifth with 45,000 units sold this week. Valhalla Knights 2 pops up on the chart at number eight with 32,000 units sold. While all these third party titles are doing well in Japan, seeing such strength and support in Western markets is going to be harder to find.
Konami's Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable 3, a baseball title, has topped Japan's weekly software charts this week. With a staggering 117,000 units sold, the game has sold double the amount of units over last week's top spot Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou! (another baseball game) for the Nintendo DS.
