Most Recent: PSP

PlayStation Store back online with 17 new games; “Welcome Back” details coming

Posted on June 2, 2011 by John Scalzo

It missed Sony’s “end of May” promise by one day, but as of late last night, the PlayStation Store is now back online! However, there’s still no word on the “Welcome Back” offers and Sony would only say that more details would be coming soon.

The consolemaker plans to push out multiple updates a week to get the store back up to speed and today’s update is rather huge (though quite lacking in anything really noteworthy):

Downloadable PS3 Games

  • Alien Crush ($5.99)
  • Bonk’s Adventure ($5.99)
  • Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls ($14.99)
  • Sega Rally Online Arcade ($9.99)
  • Star Raiders ($9.99)
  • Red Johnson’s Chronicles ($12.99)
  • Under Siege ($19.99)
  • Back To The Future: The Game – Episode 3 (Free With Season Pass)
  • Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp ($9.99)
  • Bomberman ’94 ($5.99)
  • Learning With The Pooyoos: Episode 1 ($8.99)

PSone Classics

  • Missile Command ($5.99)

Downloadable PSP Games

  • Lego Pirates Of The Caribbean ($29.99)
  • Alien Crush ($5.99)
  • Bonk’s Adventure ($5.99)
  • Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars ($29.99)
  • Bomberman ’94 ($5.99)

More information on all of this week’s new games, demos, add-ons, themes and videos can be found at the PlayStation.Blog. The next PlayStation Store update will occur on Friday, June 3. Sony also has special E3-themed updates planned for next week.

Posted in News, PS3, PSP | Tagged ,

PlayStation Store to return by week’s end

Posted on May 31, 2011 by John Scalzo

It has taken over a month, but the ApocalyPS3 2011 appears to be over.

Sony has announced that a full restoration of PlayStation Network services, including the PlayStation Store and Qriocity, will be in place by the end of the week. According to Sony, the almost worldwide restoration of services applies to the Americas, Europe/PAL territories and Asia. However, PlayStation Store services will remain down for PSN users in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea.

For those of us outside those three areas, the following PSN services will be back online by Sunday, June 6:

  • Full functionality on PlayStation Store
  • In-game commerce
  • Ability to redeem vouchers and codes
  • Full functionality on Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3, PSP and PC
  • Full functionality on Media Go

This also means that the games in the “Welcome Back” program will be available to download soon.

Posted in News, PS3, PSP | Tagged

New Releases: Hunted, Sims 3 Generations, BlazBlue Continuum Shift II, More

Posted on May 28, 2011 by John Scalzo

The month of May didn’t start with many big releases and it comes to an end in much the same way.

There’s Bethesda’s co-op action-adventure Hunted: The Demon’s Forge for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360; the latest Sims 3 expansion, The Sims 3: Generations; and the 3DS/PSP conversion of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II. That’s pretty much it. See you in June.

Check out the full list of the rest of this week’s new releases after the break. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Leaked Final Fantasy Type-0 trailer reveals nearly 20 minutes of gameplay

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

It’s been a while since we heard any news on Final Fantasy Type-0, since it was renamed from Final Fantasy Agito XIII with a very brief debut trailer. The scarcity of knowledge about what it will actually look like can end now, with nearly twenty minutes of in-game footage shown in the above video. Menus, town exploration, and combat are all seen, as well as some developer commentary, if you understand Japanese. It looks a lot like the action gameplay of Tetsuya Nomura’s Kingdom Hearts and Dissidia games, but hopefully this will bring more RPG flavor to original PSP Final Fantasy titles.

Posted in News, PSP | Tagged

NIS’ PlayStation 3 lineup is off the charts

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Own a PlayStation 3? Love NIS games? This is a great time to be you, as NIS’ PlayStation 3/PSP exclusives are ridiculous.

First, there’s Bleach: Soul Resurreccion, a hack-and-slasher that closely follows the anime and manga. Second up is the latest in the Atelier series, Atelier Totori: The Adventurer of Arland, which takes place a few years after Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland. Third will make fans of ClaDun: This is an RPG! rejoice: it’s ClaDun x2, a new game in the series for the PSP. And finally… the moment you’ve been waiting for… a shiny and absolutely hilarious trailer for Disgaea 4:

“Take a dump on the face of common sense!” Yeah, I am in love with this lineup right now.

Check out more NIS America news, including a trailer for Bleach: Soul Resurreccion, at the PlayStation.Blog.

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Persona 2: Innocent Sin finally coming to America on PSP this fall

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

The Persona series has built a strong cult following in the West over the last several years, and its fans will finally get a chance to play the one chapter that never made it to the United States. Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2: Innocent Sin will be releasing on the PSP in North America this coming fall. Over 12 years in the making, Innocent Sin aims to have all the features of a great PSP remake – enhanced visuals, 16:9 widescreen, new interface, original sidequests, and an optional remastered soundtrack. No word yet on the typically awesome special editions Atlus is famous for, but we’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Persona 2 is credited as where the franchise found its own identity and distinguished itself from its parent meta series. Although the second part of the installment, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, was quickly localized after its Japanese release, this first chapter unfortunately never made it.

Posted in News, PSP | Tagged

Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection Review: The Rose Tint is (Slowly) Fading

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Final Fantasy IV is probably going for a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for most ports and iterations. After debuting on the Super Nintendo, it’s been ported to the PlayStation, updated for the Game Boy Advance, remade for the Nintendo DS, and now bundled with Final Fantasy IV: The After Years alongside a new Interlude to form Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection. A tour de force in nostalgia as well as a series of fun episodes, The Complete Collection is a great item for collectors and FF fans, but not necessarily a “must-have” PSP title. (more…)

Posted in PSP, Reviews, Top Story | Tagged

Sony announces PSP Remaster series for PS3

Posted on May 22, 2011 by John Scalzo

When we made our 11 Predictions For E3 11, we speculated that Hideo Kojima would finally announce the PS3/PSP hybrid game that he’s been talking about for a while now. Instead, it looks like Sony has beat him to the punch with the announcement of the PSP Remaster series.

Initially scheduled for release in Japan, titles in the PSP Remaster series will be released for the PS3 on a Blu-ray disc packed with special features. While specific special features will be decided on a game-by-game basis, Sony expects to include new add-on content and stereoscopic 3D support in many of the PSP re-releases. The PS3 versions will also use the same save data as their PSP brethren, so it’ll be possible to start a game at home on your PS3, transfer the save to your PSP, and then pick up right where you left off on the portable. Too awesome!

The first game available in the PSP Remaster series will be Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 3rd, which will be released on the PS3 as Monster Hunter Portable 3rd HD Version. The upscaled PS3 version will include “gorgeous and vibrant” high definition graphics perfect for large-screened TVs. However, no release date has been announced.

More titles in the PSP Remaster series will be announced soon and hopefully we’ll learn more about Sony’s North American plans for the games at this year’s E3 Expo.

Posted in News, PS3, PSP |