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PSP

Sony, You Have It All Wrong

August 16, 2010 by Nat 1 Comment

Allow me to respond to this video. (If you don’t see it in your reader, come to the site.)

I will admit this video is funny with the whole texting grandma bit. However, this video does not logically make sense. First, some disclaimers:

  • I like my PSP. I pull it out once every three months and play it.
  • I love my iPod touch. I use it every day for email, surfing, checking weather, and an occasional game.

Sony’s major argument is that you can play high-quality games for only $9.99. I can play three maybe four games on the iPod for that amount.

Second, this doesn’t make sense because there’s hardly anything there for $9.99. Let’s see, I can get GTA: Chinatown Wars for $10 on the App Store or $20 on PSN. Sure.

Certainly the argument can be made that there is a lot of trash on the App Store. I agree, but usually amongst the trash there is a gem or two. Before PSP fanboys get up in arms, I do have some PSN games on it, but I only ever bought them on sale (God of War, Savage Moon, Thexder Neo, Pixel Junk Monsters Deluxe, and a few other unimpressive titles).

The PSPgo had so much potential to be awesome, but there was nothing available for it but full-retail priced titles and a few small games. If the thing had been “opened” up like the App Store they’d be swimming in cash, but no, they had to keep a lid on it and so it’s a loss–for everyone.

This video does not work for me. Curiously, who does it work for? The few 13-30 somethings that are not socially connected and know better?

Filed Under: Commentary, Videos Tagged With: Apple, iPhone, iPod, PSP, Sony

January Releases

January 4, 2010 by Tony 6 Comments

It’s the new year and what a year it’s going to be for gaming! The excitement starts this month and hopefully the momentum carries us through the year. Let’s get to the list:

Xbox 360 banner

Week of January 4th
Bayonetta– I’m torn on Bayonetta. On one hand, it looks beautiful and wicked stylish. On the other hand, I’ve never gotten into the stylized-action-game like Devil May Cry or God of War. Maybe it’s time to try.
Darksiders– In a month loaded with triple-A titles, I’m worried I’ll never get around to playing this, but I am definitely intrigued.
Divinity II: Ego Draconis– I didn’t even know there was a Divinity I. Anyone have any info on this game?

Week of January 11th
Vancouver 2010 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Winter Games– Gotta fit this game in somewhere I guess.
Army of Two: The 40th Day– Another one I’ll probably end up passing, but I wonder what I’ll be missing.

Week of January 18th
Dark Void

Week of January 25th
Mass Effect 2– There it is. This should do just fine to tide me over for quite some time. At least until February. I hope it doesn’t take me two years to finish this one.

Wii banner

Week of January 4th
My Fitness Coach 2 Workout and Nutrition

Week of January 11th
The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces
Crazy Chicken Tales
Walk It Out
Sleepover Party– Walk It Out? Sleepover Party? Have you Wii game makers have no shame?

Week of January 18th
Fast Food Panic
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection

Week of January 25th
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars

Nintendo DS banner

Week of January 4th
Fast Food Panic
Learn Chess

Week of January 11th
Daniel X
Sands of Destruction

Week of January 18th
Glory of Heracles– This looks like a solid DS strategy game. Tempting…
Bejeweled Twist– Haven’t you milked us enough already, Pop Cap?
KORG DS-10 Plus

Week of January 25th
Quad Kings
Personal Fitness Women
Legend of Kay

PC banner

Week of January 4th
Divinity II: Ego Draconis

Week of January 11th
The Sims 2: Fun with Pets Collection– Looks like the Sims 2 will not die.
Insecticide
Two Worlds

Week of January 18th
Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventure
Dark Void
The Tudors

Week of January 25th
Hotel Giant 2
Mass Effect 2
Alcatraz

PS3 banner

Week of January 4th
Bayonetta– See above.
Darksiders– Ditto.

Week of January 11th
Darksiders
Army of Two: The 40th Day

Week of January 18th
Dark Void

Week of January 25th
MAG

PSP banner

Week of January 11th
Army of Two: The 40th Day

Week of January 18th
Shepherd’s Crossing
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Week of January 25th
TNA: Cross The Line
Shadow of Destiny

Not a bad way to start the year off. While I think I’ll be grabbing Mass Effect 2, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy. What are you picking up?

(Note: As always, all Amazon.com links have our affiliate code embedded in them. If you purchase something through our link, we get a little commission. It’s appreciated.)

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Monthly Releases, Nintendo DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, xbox 360

FGotY 2009 [Playstation Portable]

January 3, 2010 by Tony 5 Comments

Rounding up the Fun Portable Games of the Year for 2009 is the Sony Playstation Portable.

Nat – Half-Minute Hero was the only new PSP title I purchased this year. By default it wins. However, if I had purchased some others I still think this title would have one. It was a blast to play and over and over again. The only problem? It was too short. The 30-second timer mechanic in all the games created a nervous sensation throughout. Think the timer going out in the original Super Mario Bros—only through the entire game. Sony really confused their customers this year with the release of the PSPgo. I did acquire some used games, but I purchase only one title from their online store. they’ve got to compete with retail (and themselves) if they want my to continue purchasing and playing new titles.

Brock – I’d agree with Nat. Half-Minute Hero is probably the most enjoyable new PSP game that I played this year. It’s not the only new PSP title that I played, but easily the most fun. I’d disagree that it’s too short though. [edit by Nat: Click] I’ve put in a substantial amount of time (for a game that is ostensibly broken down into 30 second chunks) and am only just beginning the 4th game mode (Knight30).

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: FGotY 2009, Playstation Portable, PSP

July Releases

July 1, 2008 by Tony 1 Comment

It’s that time again. What does the month of July hold?

Xbox 360 banner
Week of July 2nd
Gears of War (2-Disc Edition) – If you happen to one of the seven people who don’t own Gears of War, here’s your chance.

Week of July 9th
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution – If you want to fry your 360 from overuse, do it in a Civilized manner.
Unreal Tournament III – Just when July was looking bad, UT3 comes along.
Beijing Olympics 2008 – I never “got” track and field games. Probably never will.
Mobile Ops One Year War for Xbox 360

Week of July 16th
NCAA Football 09 – Ugh. I have faithfully purchased EA’s NCAA since 2003. Every year I say I’m done with them, every year I pick it up anyway. Will it happen again this year?
World In Conflict
Space Chimps

Week of July 30th
Soul Calibur IV – I used to be a HUGE fighting game fan. I played a lot of the original Soul Calibur in the arcade, but haven’t played much since then. Maybe it’s time to go back to the franchise.
Spectral Force 3
Summer Athletics The Ultimate Challenge

Wii banner

Week of July 2nd
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon – Milking the FF Franchise, one platform at a time.
Purr Pals

Week of July 9th
WonderWorld Amusement Park

Week of July 16th
Rock Band Track Pack: Vol. 1
NCAA Football 09 – EA abandoned Nintendo with the NCAA line near the end of the console cycle, so it’s nice to see NCAA back in the Nintendo library.
We Love Golf! – Golf games are right in the Wii’s wheelhouse.
Space Chimps
Ford Racing Off Road

Week of July 23th
Chess Crusade
SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1 – Haven’t we suffered enough with these Arcade Compilations? The Wii is 100% backwards compatible. Go to Gamestop and find the Gamecube versions of these compilations. Save yourself some money.
Order Up!

Week of July 30th
MLB Power Pros 2008
Sam & Max: Season One
Freddi Fish: Kelp Seed Mystery
Puzzler Collection
Summer Athletics The Ultimate Challenge
Red Star

Nintendo DS banner

Week of July 2nd
Trauma Center Under The Knife 2 – I started out really liking the first Trauma Center. Then I started hating myself for liking Trauma Center. Then I just hated Trauma Center. I’m not worthy of its hardcoreness.
Amf Bowling Pinbusters
1 Vs. 100
Ducati Moto
Journey to the Center of the Earth

Week of July 9th
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution – Seems like the DS is perfect for a Civ game. I wonder what they had to give up, game-play wise, to fit it on a DS cartridge.
Carnival Games
Pony Luv – The DS and its game titles are single-handedly wrecking the spelling skills of our poor children.

Week of July 16th
Wordmaster
Nancy Drew 2: Clue Bender Society
Space Chimps
Mister Slime

Week of July 23th
Final Fantasy IV – That’s more like it. This is probably my only must-buy this month.
Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns – This game wins “Title of the Month.” Unemployed Ninja. Is that even possible?
Chess Crusade
Suzuki Super-Bikes II: Riding Challenge
International Track And Field

Week of July 30th
Puzzler Collection
Puchi Puchi Virus – “Puchi Puchi certainly sounds like a virus.

PC banner

Week of July 2nd
Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze
Turbo Subs
Fighter Pilot 2
Piglet’s Big Game

Week of July 9th
Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice
Devil May Cry 4
Painkiller Universe
Insecticide

Week of July 16th
Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm – I can’t figure this one out. How is this a game, basically a job simulator, fun? I can’t watch the show for more than five minutes.
Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel
Hot Dish – “A Spicy Time Management Cooking Adventure”. I’ll pass.
1701: Gold
Space Chimps
Let’s Ride: Riding Star
Hunting Unlimited 2009

Week of July 23th
Big City Adventure – Sydney
Slingo Quest Hawaii
Fate: Undiscovered Realms – Fate is a great game, wish I had time to play more of it.
Game of Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition
Enchanted Fairy Friends: Secret of the Fairy Queen

Week of July 30th
Flatout: Ultimate Carnage
Beijing Olympics 2008
Legend Hand of God
Outcry
Avatar the Last Air Bender: Path of Zuko
Etch a Sketch – The words, they fail me.

PS3 banner

Week of July 9th
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution
Beijing Olympics 2008
Monster Madness: Grave Danger

Week of July 16th
NCAA Football 09

Week of July 30th
Soul Calibur IV

PSP banner

Week of July 9th
Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity

Week of July 16th
NCAA Football 09
B-Boy
Ford Racing Off Road

A few solid offerings, a few venerable franchises and Final Fantasy IV.

Are you planning on picking anything up this month?

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Monthly Releases, Nintendo DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, xbox 360

[2 Minute Review] Space Invaders Extreme (PSP)

June 30, 2008 by Nat 9 Comments

Can a thirty year old game that uses old gameplay be updated for the sound bite generation?

The fine folks at Taito (now a Square Enix company) have taken a classic formula—and made it extreme—with a few surprises.

DO: Uh, it’s Space Invaders. Invaders have come from space in tight formations and your ship moves left and right and pew! pews! the enemy.

TYPE: Classic arcade (from the late 1970s). In this day it’s called casual.

PLATFORM: PSP (reviewed here) and DS

PRICE: $19.99

MEAT: Quite possibly, Space Invaders was the first videogame I ever played. I could not pass up nostalgia. Taito has taken the old formula and improved it quite a bit—while keeping that same, familiar 30-year-old play. What’s new? Shooting different colored invaders in chains can net you bonus weapons. (The laser is a nice touch.) The catch is that the bonus weapons have a time limit. However, you can “lock” them in place by holding down a shoulder button. Your ship then fires its normal bullets. Let go of the lock and it’s back to the bonus weapon. The game has various levels and some challenging bosses. Yes, bosses.

PERKS: refreshing update to old gameplay; trippy, Lumines-like visuals and music; strategic bosses; bonus weapons; bonus levels; ability to shoot the invaders missiles; DS version has wi-fi play and rankings

SCREAMS: to be on Xbox Live like Pacman C.E.; to have online leaderboards; Uh…PSP online play? WTH? It’s not that complex.

VERDICT: Buy. Own it on PSP for shiny visuals or the DS for bragging rights. Young gamers should give it a try.

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: DS, PSP, Space Invaders Extreme, square-enix, Taito

June Releases

June 1, 2008 by Tony 11 Comments

Once again, I missed a month of new releases. What better way to make it up than to get out June’s releases a day early!

Xbox 360 banner
Week of June 3rd
Ninja Gaiden II – Man, I’m torn on this one. I’ve heard mixed reviews so far and I’m not really one for punishingly hard games, so this may be a rental for me.
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy – The report from the brother-in-law on the Bourne demo was a meh, so I doubt I’ll get this one.
GRID – This one looks amazing but unfortunately will probably never make it to my 360. It’s a shame.
Incredible Hulk – I’ll see the movie, but I’ll probably pass on the game.
Kung Fu Panda – Ditto.

Week of June 10th
Deadiest Catch: Alaskan Storm – Seriously? A show about catching crabs? I don’t see how this can be a game, let alone a fun one.
Dragonball Z: Burst Limit
NASCAR 09
Don King Presents: Prize Fighter – I smell a GTA IV/Don King Boxing crossover here!

Week of June 17th
Supreme Commander – I thought this game already came out. Or maybe it has just been marketed like crazy or something. Not really sure.

Week of June 24th
Battlefield: Bad Company – I’ll be giving this one a try soon, thanks to Josh.
Guitar Hero Aerosmith – Where’s Guitar Hero Joe Satriani?
Top Spin 3
Alone in the Dark
Operation Darkness
Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath
Hellboy: The Science of Evil – I’m a huge fan of Hellboy. I like science, a lot, too. I will not, however being seeing how the two mix.
Wall-E – Again: movie, yes. Game, not so much.
Hail to the Chimp – No comment.
Hei$t

Wii banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Kung Fu Panda
Incredible Hulk
Cabela’s Trophy Bucks

Week of June 10th
Backyard Baseball 2009
Blast Works: Build, Trade & Destroy

Week of June 17th
Rock Band
Wacky Races: Crash and Dash

Week of June 24th
Guitar Hero Aerosmith
Top Spin 3
Big Beach Sports
Alone in the Dark
WonderWorld Amusement Park
Wall-E
Monster Lab
Cocoto Kart Racer – My brain read “Coconut Racing”. I assume that would have been more exciting
Purr Pals – Kute Kittens! At least they didn’t spell it Purr Palz.

Nintendo DS banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Summon Night Twin Age
Kung Fu Panda
Incredible Hulk
Paws & Claws Pet Vet 2 – 2?! How did I miss the first one?

Week of June 10th
Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles
AMF Bowling Pinbusters – I’ve played a lot of bowling in my days, and I’ve never seen a pin bust. Those suckers are hard!
My Fashion Studio – Pre-ordered!
Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor

Week of June 17th
Guitar Hero: On Tour – This just really seems like a poorly thought-out idea. It does not look fun to play. At all.
Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard
Imagine Rock Star
Space Invaders Extreme – This one has been getting a lot of rave reviews. For 20 bucks, it seems like a good pick up.
Arkanoid – Same here. Seems like a lot of people are high on Arkanoid.
1 vs 100 – Words fail me.
Pocket Pets (Dogs, Cats, Hamsters more)
Tamagotchi Cornershop 3 – 3?! I missed the first Vet game, and now I learn I’ve missed the first two Cornershop games? I am ashamed.
Wacky Races: Crash and Dash
Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled
Petz Dogz Fashion – TOO MANY ZEES! Whatever you do, do not look at the box art for this game. It’s like staring into the portal leading to The Nothing.
Suzuki Super-bikes II: Riding Challenge
Pony Luv – Must… not… snark…

Week of June 24th
My Weight Loss Coach – We already have Wii Fit. Why do we need another Nintendo product to tell us what we already know — that we’re a bunch of fatty-fat-fats?
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 – Finally, a game that doesn’t make me ashamed to own a DS. I will most likely get this one to pass some lonely nights while I’m on business travel this summer.
Cake Mania 2 – I’m getting mixed signals. Should I be trying to lose weight or gorge on cake?
Mega Man Star Force 2 Zerker X Ninja – Can anyone keep these Mega Mans (Men?) straight?
Midnight Play Pack
Mega Man Star Force 2 Zerker X Saurian – I give up.
Wall-E
Gourmet Chef – Again, with the fattening cooking games. Where is the “South Beach Diet DS” game?
Top Spin 3
Monster Lab
Shining Stars: Super Starcade

PC banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
GRID
Alice Greenfingers – Hey, it’s compatible with Windows 98. That’s gotta count for something, right?
Game of Life – Path to Success
Club Vegas Casino – Windows
Immortals of Terra – Windows DVD

Week of June 10th
Backyard Baseball 2009
Crazy Machines 2
Belief & Betrayal
Solitaire 1,000,000 – AKA Microsoft Windows ever since 3.1
Belle’s Beauty Boutique
Puzzle City
Bubble Burst
Purrfect Pet Shop
Strike Force Red Cell
Teddy Factory

Week of June 17th
Spore Creature Creator – Try as I might, I can’t get excited about Spore.
Supreme Ruler
Incredible Hulk
Hawaiian Explorer Lost Island
History Channel: Monster Quest – I can’t even imagine…
My Electric Guitar

Week of June 24th
Dungeon Runners – Here’s another one I thought came out months ago.
The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff
The SimCity Box
Alone in the Dark
Wall-E
Elements
Hei$t

PS3 banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
GRID
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy
Kung Fu Panda
Incredible Hulk

Week of June 10th
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots – The first game that makes me wish I had a PS3.
Dragonball Z: Burst Limit
NASCAR 09

Week of June 24th
Battlefield: Bad Company
Top Spin 3
Guitar Hero Aerosmith
Overlord: Raising Hell
Wall-E
Hellboy: The Science of Evil
Hail to the Chimp
Hei$t

PSP banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2

Week of June 17th
Secret Agent Clank
Space Invaders Extreme
Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity

Week of June 24th
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress
Hellboy: The Science of Evil
Wall-E
Pipemania

Looks like another pretty decent month. I’m not sure what I’ll pick up, outside of Final Fantasy Tactics A2 but there look to be a few solid offerings.

Are you planning on picking anything up this month?

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Monthly Releases, Nintendo DS, PS3, PSP, Wii, xbox 360

In [Nat’s] Hands: FFVII:Crisis Core and Okami

April 23, 2008 by Nat 5 Comments

I am torn. As hard as I try, I cannot play two games at once.

I’ve only played one Final Fantasy game all the way through. In fact, I played it to almost 100% completion. That’s not entirely true. In college, my PSOne was powered on for a single semester. It played one game the entire time: Final Fantasy VII. There were six of us who would play off the same saved game file. We did everything. Everything. It’s probably one of the fondest gaming memories I’ll ever have. Sometimes, we’ll still chat about it through email.

I’m not a big Final Fantasy fan. I’ve played the aforementioned title and I’ve played FFIX. See, it’s never really a final fantasy. They just keep making more. Actually, I’m more of a chrono-guy.

That’s my setup. Here’s my reveal.

On a whim (I allow myself two “whims” a year) I picked up FFVII: Crisis Core for the PSP. Simply put, this title is currently my PSP Game of the Year. I cannot get enough of it. It’s one of those titles that just hooks you and you never really know why. Maybe it’s the excellent story and presentation, maybe it’s the best cinematic cutscenes of any game I’ve seen, or maybe it’s all the great references to the original game? (Better yet, this game is a prequel and it still has future references).

FFVII:Crisis Core

This game has enveloped me so deep that I want Zack to be Cloud in the FFVII game. The character progression and growth is written in such a way that you don’t even realize it’s happening until you go remember back to where you started.

Now there is a fault. I hate, HATE, HATE the DMW. It’s basically a slot machine that you have no control over that interrupts combat sequences. It’ll occasionally level your character up and toss some bonuses your way. It’ll constantly break the flow of excitement during battle. Necessary? No.

If I was to rate this game, I’d give it a 10. The DMW (I keep wanting to say DMV) makes it an 8. Harsh? Yes. However, Square Enix have been making excellent games for almost 20 years. They should know better.

Okami

A week ago I picked up Okami for the Wii. Roger Ebert knows nothing when it comes to games—maybe even art. This game is art in motion, a moving picture worth ten thousand words, a watercolor that doesn’t fade, a…well, you get the idea. Be ready to read as well. A lot. However, it’s all excellent.

I’m only one hour in to the game and it’s been the most unique hour of gaming I’ve ever experienced. How do I describe it? You’re a goddess who has been reincarnated as a white wolf. You mist rid the land of darkness and bring it back to life. Your weapon: a brush.

Yep. You solve problems, rejuvenate nature, experience combat, and paint the town red with your trusty brush. It’s wonderful. This game was made for the Wiimote. The execs at Capcom must be prophets considering the game was made in 2006.

I’m told this game could net a person 40 hours of playtime. Excellent. This may be a game where I do it all. I really don’t have the patience for RPGs, but this may be my exception.

I just find it interesting that the only two games I’m playing right now are RPGs.

Oh, and Ikaruga.

Filed Under: Gaming, Sports Tagged With: Art, Capcom, crisis core, final fantasy, okami, PSP, square-enix, Wii

In [Nat’s] Hands: Wipeout Pulse

February 29, 2008 by Nat 5 Comments

Wipeout PulseAs many of you know, I’ve been going on and on the last couple of days (or is it weeks) about Patapon. Yes, it is a PSP must buy, and yes, it is a challenge to play. However, this post is not about that game. I actually ended up with something unexpected on top of Patapon.

While getting another game for my brother’s birthday (the greatest console game of all time, in my opinion) and trading in a bunch of games (a LOT, but not all, and if you’ve been following my little project here that may gave you a hint of another upcoming post), I was able to score Wipeout Pulse for $5 with a trade promotion and still keep a lot of my credit.

I’m not a big fan of the Wipeout games, but some people are diehard fanatics. Insane people. However, I have owned every Wipeout game on the PSP (there’s been only one) . At $5, how could I not pass it up. (I broke my “no new games” rule. I’ll confess later).

Anyway, this title is probably has the best presentation I’ve ever seen in a handheld game. Name any recent feature found in games and Wipeout Pulse has it: achievements, wifi play, major stat tracking, nostalgia play, minor rpg elements, a great soundtrack, custom soundtracks using your own MP3s, JPG screenshots you can save to the memory stick, and the list goes on. There’s even a browser link in game that let’s you get more vehicles, tracks, and other such goodies from a PSP formatted website. Oh, and there’s 8 person online play. That feature alone makes it that there is no excuse for any racing game on the PSP to not have online play.

In some respects this game appears to be a giant homage to the diehard fans. However, the game does appear to be getting favorable reviews from mainstream outlets. Their only complaint seems to be that the races really offer nothing new and that the endgame can be difficult. I find that to be ironic that most reviews mention that because the Wipeout games have never really changed all that much as far as gameplay is concerned.

According to my profile’s stat page, I’ve only played 2 minutes and 33 seconds on one race. (I finished 7th out of 8 slots), but I figure I’ll probably pick this game up from time to time for some fast-paced filler.

Oh, did I mention that you can create custom decals to share online for your racers? The only downside is that it appears that add-on content for some of the items will cost some moolah. That’s kind of a bummer because the previous game offered downloadable content for FREE. We can probably thank Xbox Live for that.

It’s Final Fantasy Tactics, and I need more parenthetical references (maybe?).

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: in nat's hands, PSP, wipeout pulse

Pata Pata Pata Pon

February 23, 2008 by Nat 3 Comments

Patapon Screenie

I am predicting that particular phrase will become a part of 2008 video game vernacular. Having just finished only the demo, I’m predicting this will (1) either be PSP game of the year or (2) be a good year for the PSP.

Patapon may be a little hard to describe but it’s essentially a rhythm RPG game. I use the term RPG lightly because it’s in experience only. You have these little creatures that look like eyeballs that basically worship you. They’ll perform actions for you in a four beat rhythm. Along the way, they build experience, gain new weapons and armor, and a couple of new skills. You can also do minor formations to your little armies. Screenshots of this game really don’t do it justice. Many a times I was distracted (initially) on playing by just listening to these little guys and laughing at their animations.

A demo has been out for about a week or two and if you have a PSP you should snag it. I guarantee you’ll play it straight through. Plus, at the end of the demo, the game lets you perform a special save that provides you with a unique weapon to use with the retail game. I’ve had this game pre-purchased for over two months and I’ve raved about it before. (Go there for some old gameplay video). At $20 it is a PSP must buy. Come this Tuesday, I’ll be throwing my army into the rhythmic fray.

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Patapon, PSP

Making the PSP Better

January 9, 2008 by Nat 3 Comments

While checking my daily online gaming news with attitude, I came across an interesting announcement made by Sony at this year’s CES: download movie to your PSP using a PS3 and Blu-ray discs. With the advent of Warner Brothers moving exclusively to Blu-ray (bummer, I just bought an HD-DVD player) and this new download ability, Sony seems to be making some right moves for a change. However, could this mean that Sony is looking at the UMD format as a failure?

Predictions (or what Sony should do):

  1. Redesign the PSP once again and remove the UMD all together, and release games on memory sticks. The memory stick could even be used to save game progress. Sell the PSP at the Nintendo DS price point.
  2. Not charge for this service of copying Blu-ray to PSP (some how I think there’s going to be a money making scheme somewhere).
  3. Release more PSOne games on the PlayStation Network – two a week. (Beats is fun for $5, but it’s pretty much all there is.)

If #1 became a possibility, I’d be all over it like ugly on an ape.

If you want to already copy movies to your PSP (or any device for that matter), check out Handbrake.

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Blu-ray, Handbrake, PS3, PSP, Sony, UMD

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