Tag: psp go

PSP Go Owners Have (Kingdom) Hearts Broken

The much criticized PSP Go has just given the naysayers another piece of ammunition against it with the news from Square Enix that the surprisingly normal sounding Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep will only be released on UMD and not the Playstation Network’s PSP Store. This means, of course, that owners of the PSP Go won’t be able to play this blockbuster game at all.

The PSP Go was Sony’s reaction to the rampant piracy that plagued and still plagues the original PSP, thanks to relative ease of ripping information off UMDs. Now, Square Enix is the one who “currently has no plans” to launch a digital release of the game, but it stands to reason that Sony would want to work with them to ensure all of their customers get a chance to play this game.

What do you think about this? Should Sony step in? Do you own a PSP Go and will this affect you at all?

Source: 1Up

More Like PSP No! Retailers Boycott the Hand-held.

pspno
I should be hung for that title, but I couldn’t resist. It seems that the gaming industry is trying on its big-boy pants lately, what with all the high falutin boycotts going on. Usually we see consumers getting up in arms about the alleged unfairness of some crazy rip-off or another, but this time around we’ve got actual stores joining in on the fun.

The PSP go, a recently announced upgrade for Sony’s base portable model, is being met with a hostile reception by several retailers in Eruope, with the Australian branch of EB Games being rumored as a potential party. Dutch game shop chain Nedgame alleges that the portable is too expensive to bother stocking in addition to being miffed about the lack of UMD support on the gizmo. According to the store’s official statement, the lack of actual discs for sale robs the chain of its main source of profit on game sales: the mark-up on prices. The PSP go uses media which is exclusively available from the PlayStation Network, so I’d imagine that being the middle-man in this exchange would rankle a bit.

One small chain of stores refusing to stock a product is one thing, but once a big company joins the party it’s a whole different kettle of fish. What do you guys think? Is this the first step in stores really lashing back at downloadable content? Where can this go from here, and do you think that the stores are taking the right approach with this?

Source: Kotaku

Sony E3 Presentation Highlights

playstationAfter Microsoft’s Shock and Awe campaign yesterday, I think we were all anxious to see if Sony would even show up for their 2-hour presentation today. Here are the highlights:

  • Sony dude Jack Tretton opened with a joke about how nobody in the industry can keep secrets, a total reference to the leak of the PSP Go from the other day. I think it’s pretty classy that they can make fun of themselves like that.
  • 364 new games coming to Sony systems this year, 35 of which are exclusive. Considering the dearth of PS3 games for a while, this is welcome news.
  • Uncharted 2 Multiplayer beta goes live tonight. Single-player looks very impressive. Really seem to have meshed the shooting and platforming elements. Also, the graphics are incredible.
  • Gameplay footage of MAG. 256 players in one battle. For so many players, it looked kind of lonely. Would have liked to have seen more action.
  • Hannah Montana lilac colored PSP announcement for this Fall is met with cheers. I don’t know if that’s funny or scary.
  • PSP Go! announced officially. Will not replace UMD or other PSPs. 16MB of memory. Can download from PSN with built in Wi-Fi. 50% smaller and 40% lighter than original PSP. The price will be $249.99, available on 10/01/09. Too rich for my blood.
  • Gran Turismo for the PSP. Over 800 cars and 35 tracks. You can trade cars with your friends. Cool, but where is the PS3 version???
  • Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker for the PSP. Kojima announced it himself. Set in the Seventies, 10 years after MGS 3. Might show the origin of Outer Heaven. Looks like a full on MGS game, with the possibility of 4 player co-op in the form of Snake clones.
  • New Resident Evil for the PSP. Also, LittleBigPlanet, Monster Hunter, Motorstorm, Soul Caliber, Fat Princess, Guitar Hero and Star Wars: Battlefront.
  • Final Fantasy VII on PSN TODAY! Also, over 50 PS1 classics by the end of the year.
  • More content coming to Home. Meh.
  • Video of various games, including DC Universe Online, an MMO and also a PS3 exclusive.
  • Rockstar PS3 exclusive: Agent. Spies and assassins in the late 1970s. They claim this will have the same must-have value that GTA did. No footage shown.
  • Assassin’s Creed 2 footage. Looks pretty cool, might have solved the problems of the first game. Out before Christmas along with the PSP version. PS3 version will have 6 exclusive weapons.
  • More Final Fantasy XIII footage. Gorgeous, just like you would expect.
  • Final Fantasy 14 in 2010 for PS3 ONLY! It’s an online game! Awesome footage! This is the megaton announcement!
  • Motion control time: True 1:1 tracking. All of it was a tech demo, looks cool. Coming in 2010.
  • LittleBigPlanet is getting Disney themes. That is kinda awesome.
  • Mod Nation Racers announced. Part of the Play Create Share theme that Nintendo ripped off earlier. Drivers can be customized like in LittleBigPlanet. Think Mario Kart meets Sackboy. Custom tracks! That is pretty neat. Better than making Wario Ware games! The track builder seems easy to use as well, they built one on stage in just a few minutes.
  • The new Team Ico game is called The Last Guardian. The trailer from last week was indeed leaked, but it doesn’t change that this game looks incredible. Interestingly enough, the leaked footage is about a year old apparently, and this stuff looks way better.
  • God of War 3 will be the last game in the series, and it’s going to have some crazy brutal quick time kills. The ones on the centaur and the chimera are stinking insane. Creatures are going to get owned, for sure. The game drops March 2010.

Overall, a pretty solid showing with really no wtf moments to speak of. Not a whole lot of new stuff coming, but when you have this many exclusives coming over the next year, why do you need to drop a lot of new information?

What do you guys think? What’s the most exciting piece of Sony news?