The new PSP better look like this fan-made prototype

Do you want hard facts about the PSP 4000? Too bad, you’re not going to get them. As it stands right now, about the only thing we know for certain is that the PSP 4000 will be receiving a complete aesthetic overhaul.

I have, however, taken it upon myself to throw in some delicious speculation as to the specs, look and future of the PSP. Crystal ball reading after the jump.
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Platform games have always been around, from Super Mario Brothers, to Banjo-Kazooie, to Portal, to Mirror’s Edge.  These games are great and all, but those titles are adventure platforming, not just pure platforming (except for maybe Super Mario Brothers). Most titles that offer platforming only use it as a means to base gameplay, often offering similar challenges and repetitions. Well platformers now are not as popular, but throughout the last few years, there has been one title that resorted my faith in platforming games. That title? N, just N.

N is an indie computer game developed by Metanet Software. It’s 100% free, and for a free game, it packs a hell of a lot of content. The levels are each unique and challenging and what I truley love about this title is that it’s just pure platforming. No storyline, no background story, no cutscenes, no bullshit. Just pure running and jumping.

So you play a ninja, or ninja shaped man-person, and your goal is to get to the exit door. Sounds easy enough right? Well now throw in some switches and buttons and some frustrating enemies, and hey, you have N. The enemies are very well designed, and well suited for each level, and the challenge each enemy offers is unique and often times frustrating. You have: Automated Robots, Lock-on Robots, Lock-on Missiles, Targeting Lasers, Snipers, Steel Thwomps, and Sliding Rocks. All of these can kill you, and you can’t do a damn thing about it except dodge and run. That’s what makes N unique from other platforming games, in most games you have the option to eliminate enemies, in N you must run to survive. Oh yeah, don’t forget the landmines, sit there waiting for you to fall or jump into them.
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The magic of beat/rhythm/music games is strong. Nothing makes you feel good like playing your favorite song, rocking out and getting the highest score you can. Well, not everyone knows what good music games there are out there, so here’s something that might point you in the right direction. Get ready to boogie!

Elite Beat Agents/Ouendan

If you haven’t heard of EBA, you probably need to come out of your cave. This game is totally amazing. The song selection is a bit… Odd, yes, but solid. Every second of this game is hilarious. The EBA go around the world and cheer on people who are in tough situations. How this would help someone steal back plans for their business or help a cat save a baby from a construction zone is beyond me, but I won’t complain. The game gives you numbered circles, and you have to tap them in sequence and rhythm with the playing song. Easy, right? For a while, sure, but you’ll be crying when you fail at the last stretch of “Without a Fight”. This game is on the DS only, has an American version(EBA) and two Japanese versions with different characters, scenarios, music, but that same awesome gameplay. There’s even a custom song game with gameplay very much like it on the PC called “Osu!”, but unless you have a touch screen PC you’re gonna be mousin’ it.
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I sadly didn’t get my PS1 until a few years before the PS2 came out. That’s not to say I didn’t know what to play on it. As I got it I was just arriving on the RPG scene in my life, but those games are for another article… Not that one or two may pop up in here.

Anyway, I had a few, and have recently come across more. Here’s what I think  you should take a peek at.

Threads of Fate

Gonna be totally honest with you here. I have never really liked a lot of the games that Squaresoft/enix developed, but this (And Crystal Chronicles) are a few exceptions.

In this game, you can play as one of two characters: Rue, a young, mysterious boy (Who you can tell is a boy!) is found in a temple and cared for by a nice lady named Clair. Then, one night, the two of them are attacked by a strange man with a very large black handclaw thing. Rue wishes to find this called the to revive his dead housemate. His gameplay consists of playing as Rue himself with his giant pizza cutter, as well as several of the local monsters that he can transform into after defeating and collecting their tokens.

Mint, on the other hand, is a princess who wishes only to use the to take over the world after her sister kicks her out. She uses two rings to cast magic as her specialty. The game is interesting, you earn more HP by taking damage and healing, and it incorperates a fair amount of platforming elements. I dunno who scored this game, but whoever it is deserves a god damn medal.
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Most of us should have seen this coming. A recent Gamefly listing shows that a game based on the upcoming movie, Dragon Ball Z: Evolution, is set to be released not too far from now.

Not much is known about the game at this time, except for it obviously being based on the movie, which is loosely based on the anime (and I mean very loosely, if you’ve seen the trailers). The game is slated to be released on April 9, around the same time the movie itself opens in theaters. Namco is set to publish it, and it will be on the PSP only.

Judging from screenshots, it seems more like another Tekken copycat (and a poor looking one at that) instead of the high flying, beam tossing action in the anime games. Then again, Namco is responsible for the Tekken series itself, plus the Soul Calibur line of games, so they may have better chances at making the game seem more attractive at least.

Is anyone else getting flashbacks of the Street Fighter live action movie?

Won’t somebody please think of the CHILDREN?

That’s essentially the rallying cry of the watchdog group Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, or CCFC. The name may ring a bell to those who follow the gaming news; those who don’t, well, really didn’t miss much. 

Once again the CCFC’s antics don’t fail to deliver on the entertainment value, and this time the object of their (pointless) ire is Lego Batman: The Videogame. Why, you ask? I don’t know either. 

Let’s try to rationalize the two basic components of Lego Batman: The Videogame:

• Lego = good, educational, mindless fun.
• Batman = awesome story revolving around the concept of justice and about how crime doesn’t pay. 

I certainly don’t see any problem with it; it looks like a winning formula when looked at from any angle. But of course, CCFC being a watchdog group that dedicates itself to the unneeded, unwanted, and unnecessary cause of taking commercialism away from childhood, they condemned Lego Batman as a virtual spawn of commercial Satan, including it in their list of Toys Oppressive and Destructive to Young Children. Check out their write-up:
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My entire life I’ve played at least one RPG among my conglomerate. Everyone’s played one once, I’m sure. It’s hard to say you’re a gamer without trying one of at least every kind of game in my opinion. I’ve played quite a few in my time, and I’m gonna tell you one thing right now. Most of them are damn good.

Diablo(2)

These games redefined RPG for a lot of people. Diablo has been a staple for any real RPG player since the original. The first one was made on the PC, and ported to the Playstation by EA. I like the PC version better, but both are good. In Diablo, you pick a class and are thrown into a world where demons are messing shit up and you are the only one (wo)man enough to kick their sorry asses. The interface is probably why this game is such a winner.

See that monster? Click it. Oh, you hit it!

You’re a mage, you say? Well, right click it!

Oh, it burst into flames and died! Awright!

Of course, as you play it, the game gets harder, the enemies come at you more, you find unique and boss monsters and you get better equipment. Thank god this game has online play, because with friends (Or total strangers), the game only gets more exciting. It’s even got a decent story, to boot! Can’t wait for Diablo 3!

Matt Uelmen is one of the best composers I have ever EVER heard. EVER.

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2008 is forever going to go down in history as one of the greatest years for the gaming industry. No matter which platform or genre you follow religiously, there was something for everyone. To the casual gamer to the hardcore, there is something that will appeal to you. This is just one person’s modest opinion of what stood out in 2008.
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More updates about Sony feeling the economic crunch: it seems the entertainment electronics giant is expected to post its first ever loss in 14 years, and the second ever since the company itself was established in 1958. Just how much money is Sony expected to report losing? Around ¥100 billion – or US$1.1 billion.

That, my friends, is a pretty high number, and one that might be even double that, if the guys at Nikkei are to be believed – the reasoning for this estimate coming from the massive job cuts (around 16,000) that Sony itself has deemed essential. Huge shame, then, since the company had originally predicted a 200 billion yen profit for the year of 2007-2008.

Meanwhile the magnificent bastards over at Nintendo were spotted to be celebrating still, bathing in the showers of their money-printing machines.

Sony, come on. Get your act together.

That’s right it’s time for another installment of LocoRoco, one of the most insane games on a hand held since, well I’m not quite sure. I for one, am incredibly excited.

In LocoRoco you take the roll of an incredibly happy go lucky…well blob, for lack of a better term. Via some very innovative controls, (using the L an R keys on your PSP you ’tilt’ the screen to enable yourself to roll around, across and over obstacles.) By chowing down on food scattered through the levels you grow in size and accumulate a form of points.

It’s puzzle platforming done right, though I use the term platforming loosely.

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