Playing on the Go

Sony off-handedly made a statement last week that they would be making
a skype for the psp handheld gaming system. My response….nice
thinking sony, you just killed the only edge the mylo had over the
psp, the unpopular mylo costing around $200 compared to the psp’s $120
price tag.

In this move by Sony, they slapped mylo owners in the face and gave
the victory to the homebrew kiddies because they’re really the only
ones still using the, what was it called? PORTABLE GAMING System! When
it came out that was the intention I got no idea what mechanized
horror it has mutated into. Maybe I’m being harsh but it’s the harsh
truth.

I myself am a semi-proud owner of one of these purpose-confused
buggers and am still considering a downgrade to run homebrews. I
scoured the Internet to find a decent voip app but failed the hunt.
This news of SONY supported voip might actually drive me to dust off
my PSP now turned bookend and start chatting with some skype
buddies but don’t hold your breath….

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

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

Undoubtedly, the stir this week will be caused by the newest Metroid game for Wii. Which, by all accounts, unofficially starts the Holiday publishing rush that all consoles should be seeing the effects of within a short period of time. Hopefully, that wave should reach the handhelds soon, as there really isn’t all that much to report this week aside from yet another incarnation of Tiger Woods PGA Golf. Which, despite how good of a game it probably is, still tends to remind me of the 8 bit golf game that Bart Simpson got in place of the Mortal Kombat ripoff he really wanted. Oh well. All the new ones for the week lie below.

PSP:

* Brunswick Pro Bowling
* Naruto Ultimate Ninja Heroes
* NHRA Countdown to the Championship
* Dead Head Fred
* Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
* Monster Hunter Freedom 2

Nintendo DS:

* Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
* Garfield: Nightmares
* Turn it Around
* I Spy Funhouse
* Professional Fisherman’s Tour: Northern Hemisphere

newgames, tigerwoods, pga, golf, simpsons, nintendods, psp

Good Morning! That sun sure is bright, isn’t it? I haven’t seen you in three days! You rascal, you! Now, read what I have to say very closely. I want you to look through all of the games below. They are all coming out this week! And that includes Brain Age 2! Hoo Hoo Ha Ha!

Nintendo DS:

Brain Age 2
Operation Vietnam
The Settlers
I Spy Funhouse
Turn it Around

PSP:

Brunswick Pro Bowling
Ghost Recon 2: Advanced Warfighter
Dragoneer’s Aria
Jeanne D’ Arc

nintendods, psp, newgames, brainage

Joystiq illustrates it best this week with the above illustration, going to show you that Madden Football is soon to be available on every console known to man. It’s probably even available on things other than consoles. In fact, you can probably purchase Madden 08 for your refrigerator, should you choose to do so. Making the spectacle better is the fact that, apparently, Madden is actually really good this year. The PSP incarnation closely resembles that of its console elder brethren, but the DS version is actually worth a look as well. For instance, it includes a paper football mode. Seriously.

Beyond that, here follows the rest of the handheld releases for this fine week.

PSP:

* Dungeons & Dragons Tactics

Nintendo DS:

* Luminous Arc
* Rune Factory: Fantasy Harvest Moon
* Operation: Vietnam
* Heroes of Mana

We’ve previously discussed at length the indisputable evidence that shows how many PSP owners are easily classified as vampires. However, it would seem that there are other dark creatures who would play the system as well. This fact is evidenced by a petition currently circulating by fans who want to see a PSP version of Resident Evil. Be they eternally damned and undead, it doesn’t matter. They want this game on the hand held.

However, as the petition itself points out, this actually is possible via a PSN Network download of the original Resident Evil. However, they don’t seem to be satisfied with this due to the lack of and possibly price of the PS3. Plus, you know, they are zombies.

[image via pspfanboy]

residentevil, psp

In what could potentially be the first few flakes of an avalanche, Electronic Arts is beginning to cut off online support for comparatively recent PSP titles. Starting on September 1st, online support for the following games will no longer exist.

* FIFA Soccer 06
* FIFA World Cup 2006
* Fight Night Round 3
* Madden NFL 06
* NBA Live 06

It would seem that such a non-committal level from the coordinators of third party servers would go to support the rationale for servers existing on a first party basis such as with Nintendo’s WiFi Connection or the 360 iteration of XBox Live. Having third parties carry the slack seems to eventually lead to this scenario in which players dedicated to prior versions of their favorite franchises are left out in the cold when the server load is no longer profitable to said third parties. As Jerry Seinfeld would say, “…that’s a shame”.

Additionally, Need For Speed: Most Wanted will permanently go offline on November 1st. The cut off seems to apply to other older games on PS2 and Xbox as well, be sure to check the full post to see if one of your favorite games has been cut.

[via kotaku]

A recent posting at a message board that I frequent begs the question. Can and will the newly redesigned PSP bring about new sales for the quickly fading system? Further investigation on the same message board thread would go to show that the majority of users say yes. But by looking deeper into said thread, that majority seems to be infatuated with the system by way of homebrew. Which would seemingly go to show that perhaps the system is popular, but in ways that Sony doesn’t primarily intend.

My hypothesis is that there are two main audiences that Sony should focus on. Whether they have already or not is up to debate, but these are the groups that are actually pushing sales of the PSP at a modest pace, despite the fact that game sales and publications are slow. The first are the comparably uneducated when it comes to consumer technology. These are the parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents who will buy their kid the latest and greatest technology simply because of that. The actual technical specifications or products available for the system are irrelevant, simply because little Johnny across the street has one and their brat kid doesn’t. The second group are the tech elite. These are the guys who buy a PSP for a few Final Fantasy games, but then spend the rest of their time with the system experimenting with homebrew.

Now, Sony has done the smart thing to do when it comes to business and has forced the issue on the first group. However, they’ve severely neglected the second. Anti-homebrew measures via firmware upgrades have caused annoyances for the homebrew community, but it stops there. Further attempts at blocking this sort of modification simply creates challenge for the community that does little more than tempt them into doing what Sony claims is impossible. Why not embrace this? Why does Sony continually intend to shoot themselves in the foot by playing a game of tag that they can never win? Despite the fact that they continue to try to bar this activity, promises of homebrew push sales. More so than a redesign does.

The redesign will ultimately give PSP sales at least a slight push. Consumers are infatuated with sexy technology. Why do you think so many people buy a new iPod each year, regardless of the fact that what they have is fine? The new PSP is sexy, which will do just that. For a time. Should Sony intend to truly drive sales in the long term, they would do well to focus more on the tech elite crowd and pleasing them instead of pushing and pulling on a game of tug of war that gets them nowhere.

psp, redesign, pspslim, playstation, sony

Yes, you can actually own what quite possibly is the greatest hardware mod ever achieved. That sucker is on eBay, and as of this writing, still has a few days to go before the auction is over. As of now it’s going for a cool $1,200, but expect that amount to go much higher. Much higher.

The seller and modder goes on about the project…

“The PSP console itself was airbrushed with a deep metallic bronze in an 18-step process and then strategically tarnished to create a battle-worn armor look (like the chest plate worn in the game!). The hand-sculpted war dogs and omega symbol that grace the back were copper leafed, antiqued, and heavily clear-coated.

The real chains and edge trim that surround the system were also copper leafed and aged. The face buttons were custom-made after-market copper replacements and are TOP quality. Finally, truly one-of-a-kind crystal-clear RED shoulder buttons specifically made for this project flank each corner.”

That’s a lot of love for one PSP. Just like the lot of love that Kratos is uniquely famous for.

ebay, psp, godofwar

[via ebay]

It’s a proven scientific fact. People who are devoted enough to Sony to own both a PS3 and PSP are vampires. And as such, also enjoy games about vampires. A study from CNN and Dr. Sanjay Gupta backs this up with clearly unambiguous data.

Those vampires interesting in playing what happens to be a sweet ass vampire game should check out the Playstation Network. On it, those creatures of the night can download Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for ten bucks. The game can be played both the PS3 and PSP, which happen to be appropriately enough, black. That CNN report also frees it of any garlic aftertase, so you’re good on that count.

sonypsp, psp, castelvania, ps3, psn

[image and link via joystiq]

As you select few are waiting for your demo UMD for Chains of Olympus to arrive in your greedy little paws, you may want to check out the hands on provided by PSP Fanboy direct from last weeks E3 festivities. According to the guys checking the game out, this game could possibly be the best example of a PS2 game shrunken down for the little PSP.

From how it looks and plays, you’d probably not be able to tell the difference if it actually were a PS2 disc.

godofwar, psp, sony

We all knew it was coming, and here she is.

It doesn’t look all that different at first glance, but official specs tell otherwise. The new version is 33% lighter and 19% slimmer than the original. Which doesn’t really slim down the system to DS Lite proportions, but given the limitations influenced by the mightier hardware, Sony has honestly done a good job to bring the system down to this smaller size. If you’d like a more detailed comparison of how the new system stacks up to the old, PSP Crazy has done a good job of comparing the two.

The newer PSP will feature a brighter screen, and a video-out port which allows for stored videos to be played on an external screen along with the same gameplay as on your portable system. Sony also purports that the system will also feature faster load times, but we’ll just have to wait and see about that. The new system will drop in September at the tag of $200. However, that slightly increased price will also pick you up a game in different packages. The most notable is a Star Wars package which includes a white PSP with Vader’s mug on the back and a copy of Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron.