Playing on the Go

Nothing all that earth shattering concerning the DS came about from the Nintendo show. However, there was plenty for the Wii to be had. Be sure to check out our sister site at 1pStart for that coverage. The only real news concerning the DS other than the fact that its selling more units that gallon jugs of milk was some specific control schemes for Phantom Hourglass and a few casual games that will be localized from Japan. No mention whatsoever of any redesign or “sequel” to the DS. And frankly, at this stage Nintendo doesn’t need to.

Now, on to Sony. That show starts at 11:30 Pacific, 2:30 Eastern. Mere minutes from now, actually. I’m sure there’s no need to remind you where to find coverage for the show, if you are reading this I’m certain you already have that taken care of.

nintendo, nintendods, sony, psp

As best as they may try to tame it, all of the lunacy that is E3 begins today with the highly anticipated pre show exhibitions. The handlers of the show may try to bring it down a few notches, but as long as game developers and publishers have overblown expense accounts to throw around it isn’t going to happen anytime soon. With the show beginning in earnest today, I thought it would be nice to provide you with a list of what can and can’t be expected.

Likely To Happen:

With all of the hoopla over new systems out of the way, the 2007 E3 should be mostly focused on second and third wave games for them. That includes handhelds as well. This should probably be the last show dealing with news for the DS and PSP, as it won’t be very shocking to see new handheld offerings announced next year. Look for both Nintendo and Sony to announce at least one or two AAA titles for each respective system that will give you a reason to stick with it for another year or two. Specifically, look for announcements from Sony in conjunction with Square Enix as well as one from Nintendo concerning another blockbuster game that actually isn’t Phantom Hourglass.

Possibly Could Happpen:

While relatively unlikely, it isn’t outside of the realm of possibility that Nintendo could announce a price cut for the DS. With Pokemon out of the way and Zelda to be here before you know it, sales of the system could potentially slow down with only one or two big titles on the horizon. A price cut to the magic $99 price point would completely undermine recent price cuts for the PSP and give the DS a big spike in sales. As it has been recently cut, and is already a big cost for Sony, don’t expect the same for the PSP. Also, new features or downloadable content for the PSP should probably be expected. On the same token, new periphials for the DS wouldn’t be a big shock either.

Could Come Way Out Of Left Field:

Mind you, these are very small possibilities. But both Nintendo and Sony have been rumored to have had upgraded versions of current systems in the works for a while now. The “DS Liter” as previously reported is highly unlikely, yet still possible given Nintendo’s track record for multiple handheld redesigns in the past. The same goes for the PSP, which still hasn’t wholly fulfilled the “hardware refresh” rumors of the past few months.

The show for this year is the first of the “in between” years in which new systems aren’t likely to be announced, providing for a mess of great games on all ends of the spectrum. Hopefully though, given that and the smaller size of the show, there should still be a few nice surprises. Be sure to stick with us throughout the week for what that may be for handheld gamers.

e3, nintendods, sonypsp

Okay, seriously. This one is a bit of a stretch. Despite the fact that nearly every major retail outlet no longer carries UMD movies, as well as the fact that the format is pretty much irrelevant aside from existing as a format for PSP games, they still hold to the claim that the Universal Media Disc is still the format of the future.

Apparently, it “possesses many strengths, from size to form factor to portability,” according to Sony Marketing Manager John Koller. Okay seriously, what are you guys smoking? The thing loads like an overbloated game on Windows 95. Should you ever get anything to load from the format, you’re lucky to have it stick around without bumping into the system. While the PSP has many strengths, the UMD is certainly not one of them. One reason the DS has taken off so much is because there are no load times. Carts may have gone away for consoles, but there’s a reason that they should stick around for handhelds.

Hear this, Sony. Any moving media for handhelds don’t work. Get over it.

[via joystiq]

No roman numerals, no sequel nonsense, no offshoot title, no nothing. Just Final Fantasy. The first one. The one that hit twenty years ago. Yeah, both we and the franchise together are getting old. If you’ve got a PSP and a bit of the nostalgia fever, you might want to look into picking this one up.

Be warned though, it isn’t as much of a revolutionary remake as the DS do-over of FFIII. It’s still pretty much the same top down graphical presentation, still the same story, the same charecters and all of that. The sprites and backgrounds used are certainly updated from the old school NES graphics, but that’s pretty much it. But it’s a title that’s pretty much some fan service, likely to hold the FF freaks out until the ‘08 release of the first PS3 FF game.

PSP fanboy has a great review, along with some showy screenshots that you can see here. And yeah, you gained one more wrinkle and/or grey hair within the time that you just read all this.

finalfantasy, psp

If current talk is to be believed, the PSP “refresh” previously hinted at by Sony officials could simply come by way of a firware upgrade. Which could be seen as bad news to those hoping for a PSP 2.0 / Lite, or good news to those who wouldn’t care to spend more money. Were I a rampant PSP fanboy, I’d go with the latter. But your mileage may vary.

So it goes like this. Previously, all PSP games only used the hardware at a lower level than possible. Specifically they’ve been restricted to roughly 80% of the power of the console at 266 MHz. Should the current talks prove true, Firmware 3.50 would allow to system to run at Ludicrous Speed at 333 MHz. So what does this mean? Presumably, smoother frame rates and higher polygon counts. But probably more in the hands of developers that haven’t totally given up on the system yet. But of course, that higher usage rate would drain the battery. Something a firmware upgrade can’t really help. Hopefully, Sony will release an upgraded battery should this all go down.

Of course, this is all still rumor at this point. We’ll know by the next firmware release if it’s at all true, of course.

psp, psp2, firmware, redesign, spaceballs

With all of the new announcements and speculation concerning the show, the demise of E3 may have been greatly … wait. No. Nevermind. It’s still a much more secluded affair. But that doesn’t mean that will not be some interesting news to be had. Thanks to IGN, here’s some games added by some developers that we can expect to get news of from the show floor. Some are interesting, some are kiddie crap. I’ll leave it up to you to make that distinction.

EA Sports
Need for Speed ProStreet (DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360)
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (DS, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, X360)

Gamecock
Dementium: The Ward (DS)
Insecticide (DS, PC)
Mushroom Men (DS, Wii)

Majesco Entertainment
Fish Tycoon (DS)
Holly Hobbie & Friends (DS)
Nancy Drew and the Deadly Secret of Olde World Park (DS)
Operation: Vietnam (DS)
Turn it Around (DS)
The Wild West (DS)

Also of note, DS Fanboy is currently speculating that there might possibly be an appearance of a redesigned DS Lite. Which they unofficially dub the “DS Liter”. Personally, I find it to be vauge hit and miss speculation only. But with Nintendo, you can never really know. Considering Apple continues to release a new iPod every year with Apple fanboys eager to snatch them all up, it wouldn’t be shocking at all to see Nintendo continuing to follow the Steve Jobs way of business.

e3, mini3, psp, nintendods

When it comes to Jackass, the segmentation is pretty simple. You either absolutely love it or just can’t stand it. If you are part of the first half and own a PSP, you’ll be even more happy in just a few months. Jackass: The Game will hit the system sooner rather than later. The game is complete with both voices and motion capture from all of the Jackass crew, both in Los Angeles and in Westchester, representing Knoxville’s and Bam’s respective posses.

An interesting revelation about the game is that it will include downloadable episodes and user created content. Which, considering some of the incredibly insane stuff pulled in Jackass Number Two, is really scary. I personally am in the camp that loves the show and their movies. But I do have to say, some of the gross stuff that they pulled in the sequel really made me squirm and turn away from the screen. No indication yet of whether they will tone it down for the game, but it is probably a safe bet that scenes like the “puppet” or the leeches wouldn’t get past the ratings board without the fabled “AO” rating.

psp, jackass, johnnyknoxville

[via pspfanboy]

PSP Fanboy is currently running a feature detailing what they say will be sixty reasons to own a PSP. The funny thing is that so far they’ve only been able to come up with five. The first part of their feature claims that one of the biggest reasons to own the system is the games. Unfortunately, most of the games listed are PS2 rehashes or ports. It also currently mentions homebrew and online flash games, but it doesn’t necessarily mention that such things are also “doable” on the DS (now thanks to the DS browser).

While the editorial does include a picture of Loco Roco, it fails to make mention of it. This is one of the great games worth playing on the system, and is one of the very few that “got it” when it comes to what works and what doesn’t on the system. It plays like nothing else on a traditional console and works great on the PSP screen thanks to the higher res visuals. Sure, it could be done on the DS, but it probably wouldn’t look as nice. Were I to recommend any one game out of the PSP library, this would be it. It goes to prove that games on the PSP can be original, exclusive, and actually fun.

psp, locoroco

Well, that pretty much says it all doesn’t it? While Sony may have teased PSP owners with a game worthy of powering the system on for, it’s going to be a long while before we even see the promised demo. If you were lucky enough to get your name in the hat to actually have the demo UMD sent your way, you should be seeing it on or around September 7th.

Which in all reality isn’t that far away. Exactly three months from today. But please for the love of everything good in the world, don’t waste that time. That’s your entire summer.

psp, godofwar, chainsofolympus, umd, demo

Just like European’s views of the U.S., E3 fell hard last year. Like, really hard. Booth babes and floor monkeys are out of work. The Staples Center will seem just a little sad over that normally sacred weekend. But aside from the lack of grandeur and overspent budgets, the show goes on in micro form and games will still be shown in one form or another to a select invited few. Here’s what has been announced so far that we’ll be seeing…

Capcom Entertainment
Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law (PS2, PSP)
Mega Man Star Force: Dragon (DS)
Mega Man Star Force: Leo (DS)
Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus (DS)
Mega Man ZX Advent (DS)
Monster Hunter Freedom 2 (PSP)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trials and Tribulations (DS)

D3 Publisher
Dead Head Fred (PSP)
Naruto: Path of the Ninja (DS)

LucasArts
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (DS, PS3, Wii, X360)
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, X360)
Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (PSP)

Sony Computer Entertainment
God of War: Chains of Olympus (PSP)
Jeanne d’Arc (PSP)
LittleBigPlanet (PS3)
NBA ‘08 (PS3, PSP)
Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice (PSP)
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike (PSP)
Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow (PSP)

E3 starts on July 11th this year, when video game journalists will mostly cover the event in front of their computer screen instead of on the floor.

e3, psp, nintendods

[via ign]

Speaking of things that the PSP can do that the DS can’t, here’s another.

The latest firmware for your PSP is available as soon as you fire up Old Fattie and connect her to the innerweb. The update doesn’t add a whole lot, but the main upgrade that it does consist of is pretty sweet. 3.50 allows for “remote play”, which in a nutshell allows for you to remotely connect to your PS3 from anywhere with a WiFi access point. So no matter where you are, you can access your PS3 files. Whatever they may happen to be. The update also expands some RSS features, but is still reportedly nowhere near as cool as the remote play feature.

Yeah. I wish the DS could do that.

psp, firmware

[via pspfanboy]

To think of it, the PSP had every factor on its side. It’s obviously a much more powerful system, has arguably cooler functionality, is capable of playing all sorts of multimedia and so on. But yet the Nintendo DS has laid it on its lap and gave it the whippin’ of its life. What could have happened? In such a tech obsessed society where we are out of place without a bluetooth device crammed in our ear or an iPod under 2 GB, how could a superior tech device be so beaten out by a less capable and quirkier competitor?

I think there are a number of reasons, of which I’ll go over what I feel are the most important. The most important of which is the “intimidation and acceptance” factor. When I use the term “acceptance” in this context, it applies to both gamers and non-gamers. For instance, it is much easier for a Sony fan to accept the PSP on face value, and vice versa for the Nintendo fan. That’s a given. But what about for the non-gamer? For the tech-challenged, the PSP may seem intimidating. It has a ton of features and sort of a confusing interface. The DS less so. It’s very straightforward. The intimidation factor is much less. The device itself is very friendly looking and offers only a few features, of which it does very well.

The other is the “newness” factor. In relation, the PSP really doesn’t offer anything new. All of its cool functionality is available on higher end cell phones, and of course the PS2, which of course millions of families already have in their homes. On the other hand, the DS offers an entirely new way of play, which interests and compels people. Plus. the much cheaper price point doesn’t hurt in satisfying this curiosity.

There are many factors other than these, of which of course we’ll cover here in the future. Even after the PSP practically could have already raised the white flag, it’s still incredibly interesting to see how much The Little System That Could has fared so well in the market.

psp

Like I said the other day, it seems as if there’s no end to the Final Fantasy. Even on handhelds. Two new installments will soon be on the PSP. One, a “sequel” of sorts within the Final Fantasty VII world, and another new one entitled Final Fantasy Dissidia. No, I’m not really sure what that means either. Screenshots from Famitsu are below if you wanna check it out.

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core | Final Fantasy Dissidia

finalfantasy, psp, ffvii

It’s got more horsepower to work with, but Chains of Olympus admittedly outshines the Ninja Gaiden video posted previously.

The upcoming game supposedly is a prequel, predating both of the God of War games already available for PS2. Speaking of PS2, the visuals here arguably look as good as for that system. While no launch date has been announced, I’d be shocked if it didn’t arrive prior to the Holiday rush this Fall / Winter.

godofwar, psp

Your PSP can’t repel firepower of that magnitude!

Oh. Um. Maybe it can. Just when we all thought that the Battlefront series was over with until another developer picks it up down the line, Lucas Arts makes a surprise announcement.

Starwars.com offers us the following details:

“Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron is the previously untold story of a ragtag ensemble of battle-hardened rogues and scoundrels assembled by Han Solo. Gathered to execute some of the most secretive operations in the Rebel Alliance’s war against the Galactic Empire, the Renegade Squadron participates in battles spanning the galaxy. From the Valley of the Sith on Korriban to a dogfight in space through the remains of Alderaan, Solo directs the team on missions of sabotage, rescue and retrieval.”

So pretty much, what Liberty City Stories is to GTA, this is to Battlefront. Nevertheless, it’s great to see the franchise alive in some shape or form. Personally, I enjoy the Battlefront series more so that it’s blueprint counterpart in the Battlefield series. If you’d like to know more about the game, there’s a pretty cool teaser site already up.

On a related note, Star Wars Celebration IV takes place in Los Angeles over the next weekend. If there are any new announcements to be made concerning the rest of the Star Wars universe, whether it be in the form of a game or the upcoming television series, it’s likely to be made there.

starwars, psp