Playing on the Go

As you may have noticed, posting to this site has been sporadic at best over the past few weeks. To simplify things for everyone, I will not be writing the content for this blog any longer. This is due in part because I have very little time to devote to the site. But also in part because there honestly is very little news on the handheld front to share these days. Within any type of journalism, one should hold stock in quality over quantity, and I did not see it fit to simply shove content down your collective throats when there simply isn’t enough for Momma Bird to give.

And let’s be truthful. Video game blogging isn’t anything special. Each site is a clone of the one before it, simply posting what already has been. There really isn’t a reason to go to events such as E3 anymore, as blogs and news sites basically can copy and paste what already has been delivered elsewhere. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t good sites out there, however. 1PStart on this very network is a good example. Joystiq is another fine case. And just because I will no longer be writing via this outlet doesn’t mean that we can’t continue to converse on news of the day, you can still reach me via my blog.

Thanks again to those of you who read, and those of you who commented! Though sometimes frustrating, this has indeed been a fun and rewarding experience and I thank you for coming along.

Word comes by way of PSP Fanboy and every other blogger on the web not being productive at work that the PSP is now at 3.70. Other than a numerical progression, the new update provides for a plethora of new options. Many of which aren’t just simply playing tag with the modders this time, which is always a plus.

PSP Fanboy does us the pleasure of laying down the law for us this go round.

* You can now set custom themes in [Theme Settings] under [Settings].
* Support has been added for assigning buttons in [Remote Play].
* A scene search feature has been added under [Video].
* Sequential playback is now supported under [Video].
* Simultaneous playback of content under [Music] and [Photo] is now supported.

Some of those are just fine, especialy considering the last one, whether or not they are truly useful or not. But truly cool is the custom themes option. A feature common to 360 users, but one certainly welcome to PSP owners. Namely those who bothered to pick up the recent redesign. Rare is the day that Sony pulls off something welcome, but friends, today may well be that day.

sony, psp, firmware

After the mind blowing and baby making release of the newly redesigned PSP, the system gets some huge megaton… Wait. No.

The marketing geniuses at Sony decided to give you absolutely nothing new and fanciful in return for purchasing that new PSP. You know, it may seem at times that I have a bias against Sony, but it’s not that. I wish them nothing more than the best. But I can’t simply sit here and give any praise to the company when there simply isn’t anything to give said praise to. Aside from God of War releasing for the PSP in around a year, there really isn’t much to say of the aging system. Honestly, GoW is mostly a “thank you” to those who have stuck around with the system more so than a game driven to upheave sales. It’s sadly disappointing.

The DS, however, gives us plenty of cheer this week…

* Jam Sessions
* Pet Luv Spa & Resort Tycoon
* Drawn to Life
* Spelling Challenges and More!
* Zoey 101: Field Trip Fiasco

Most of that may seem like kiddie fare, but Drawn to Life is an innovative and immensely fun title worth checking out. My hopes for Sony releasing a new similar game for PSP has not died. Yet.

sony, nintendo, nintendods, psp, newgames, drawntolife

While UK’s Official Nintendo Magazine may be now publishing the retraction, they aren’t fooling anyone. They just let the info slip much too early. The supposed information that should exist, which they claim that doesn’t, is simply this. Mario Kart on the Wii, in addition to hosting sixteen player at a time races, will also feature dramatic recreations of some of the awesomely wicked Mario Kart DS courses. The original article used the wording that “classic DS tracks will be recreated with Wii graphics.”

Considering the fact that some of the DS courses were some of the most creative of the series (think the Pinball stage), no one will be complaining.

mariokart, wii, ds

You too can receive the mysterious thing, once Adult Swim’s Harvey Birdman makes his first video gamish appearance. That man in the suit, that cat with the beak, Habeas Corpus, that sort of thing. You know. Honestly, if you’ve never seen the show, you won’t understand a bit of this and are probably better off finding something else. But if you have, oh boy, you’re probably in for a treat and a half. It’s basically a more adult (and funnier) version of Phoenix Wright. It’ll hit the PSP on November 13th and is only the beginning of Adult Swim themed offerings from Capcom. One based on Aqua Teen Hunger Force hits later.

Word to Capcom and Adult Swim, we’re still waiting on those Space Ghost and Sealab 2021 games.

adultswim, psp, harveybirdman

Not a lot to speak of at all this week. Hopefully we can just consider it the calm before the storm, with bigger and better days coming quickly over the horizon. Nay, there’s not much interest worthy, unless you are interested in picking up Worms or Garfield. That’s it. Although, there’s something to be said of the gross commercialization of what was once an awesome comic cat. Maybe Bill Watterson was really onto something when he refused to let Calvin and Hobbes appear in anything other than a daily comic strip. But that’s a topic for another day and another blog.

PSP
Worms: Open Warfare 2

DS
Worms: Open Warfare 2
Garfield: Nightmares

nintendods, sonypsp, garfield, worms