A brand new poster has been revealed for Final Fantasy Agito XIII. The cropped version is above but you can view the full version here. It appears to be a cloaked CG version of the students from this older illustration.
Fresh out of TGS, a trailer has also been leaked. According to the poster, this is a truncated version of a trailer shown last year, so this was created before the PSP version was announced. It still looks pretty cool, so we've got it for you right after the break.
Polyphony Digital boss Kazunori Yamauchi confirmed this back in July, but If you needed further confirmation that Gran Turismo PSP is actually in development, we've got you covered. Speaking at TGS, the head of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida stated that Polyphony Digital is "working on" a Gran Turismo PSP.
Yoshida attributes the long delay to other titles Polyphohy Digital have been working on, namely Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and Gran Turismo 5 for PS3. He was also unable to provide a timeframe for when the game will be released. Yamauchi believes the game won't be out until after Gran Turismo 5 makes its debut, which means PSP owners will have to wait another two years. Sigh.
Posted Oct 13th 2008 11:20AM by Andrew Yoon Filed under: News
While firmware 5.00 was confirmed for Japanese release this week, it appears that America will also follow suit. The big update in 5.00 is the ability to access the PSN and PLAYSTATION Store directly from the PSP. The PC-based Store will be temporarily down in the interim.
While this is great for our Mac-owning friends that weren't able to purchase games in the past, this deal will be far more enticing if it ensured that our weekly PSN updates were slightly more robust than wallpaper downloads. Let's hope that the US can have a downloadable lineup as great as Japan's.
Ah, the Square Enix Mega Theater. It's always something to look forward to at every TGS. We took the time to check out the theater and see what's cooking behind those big, black walls. Square Enix showed off trailers for nine games and a film in the Mega Theater, including two PS3 titles, the Advent Children Complete movie, and four PSP titles. Grab the full scoop on each title in our Square Enix Closed Theater impressions.
Strangely, only one thing we reported on at Tokyo Game Show this year was under embargo. And that was this LocoRoco 2 trailer. Why? We don't know. If you read our hands-on impressions, you'll know that we're absolutely in love with this rather substantial sequel. Take a watch and see if you can find all the new gameplay features and enemies.
The Kingdom Hearts series was first born on the PlayStation 2; however, it has gone and spread its wings into other realms since then and now it carries a new bundle of joy in the form of portable PSP title Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. While the title radically takes the story aspect of the game farther away from the original setting with Sora and friends, this new game will focus on the three (slightly) new faces pictured above (from left: Aqua, Ventus and Tera).
Birth by Sleep was indeed playable on the show floor at TGS and we sunk in some time with the title. The playable build that was available let us try out both Ventus and Tera in battle. We decided to just go with trying out Tera's abilities and then go straight into the action. Tera's level starts off in a forest area which gets you into a fight right away. Kingdom Hearts vets will notice that the controls are incredibly familiar; they're nearly identical to the original console games from the past, though with slight differences due to the change in input interface (ie, shoulder buttons once again control the camera since there are no dual analog nubs).
"Sorry it took so long," LocoRoco designer Tsutomu Kouno told me. In spite of the original's high-profile and well-received launch on the PSP, it's been over two years since we saw these lovable blubbers hit Sony's handheld. The silence around the long-rumored sequel is a bit baffling, as getting our hands on with the upcoming PSP title revealed a disarming amount of new content for the sequel.
It's undeniable that the original LocoRoco charmed hardcore gamers, thanks to its lovable style and rather unique design. However, it couldn't keep the attention of these gamers, as it was perhaps a bit too simplistic. While children and casual gamers were enchanted, hardcore gamers needed substance beyond tilting left and right.
So perhaps LocoRoco 2 is Kouno's attempt at bridging the gap between hardcore and casual audiences. The upcoming PSP-exclusive sequel maintains all the saccharin sweetness of the original, but adds new gameplay features that add a tremendous amount of depth to the experience. The sheer amount of content found in this UMD/downloadable game is staggering.
Sony has once again seen fit to update the American PC Store, while the Euro store goes without, yet again. Not a bad update, either. Two full games and an echochrome expansion, plus a smattering of themes and vids. If you haven't grabbed Logan's Shadow yet, this is a perfect opportunity. We did name it PSP game of the year 2007, after all. Here's the full release list:
Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow full PSP game ($24.99)
It may seem like Sony's PSP is dying, but Tecmo suggests that is actually undying. They recently unveiled Undead Knights -- and now, there's a trailer. The game will mix action, strategy and ... zombies. Starring as an anti-hero, you'll have to add a legion of zombies under your control. With the stinking stench of the undead at your disposal, you'll be able to conquer your enemies.
Four player ad-hoc multiplayer (including co-op) is planned. But, don't expect this too soon -- this one is definitely a late 2009 release.
One of the reasons (or the reason) the PSP is doing so well in Japan is due in no small part to Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G. As we predicted, the game is being brought over stateside as Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. The Monster Hunter titles certainly haven't done as well in the States as they have in Japan. Will Unite change all of that? We doubt it, but we'll find out come Spring 2009, which is when the game is expected to be released in the US.
In addition to the newly announced PSP Plus, Sony unveiled yet another way for your PSP and PS3 to interact with each other. All you have to do is connect a PSP running Resistance: Retribution with a PS3 running Resistance 2. Under R2's option screen, select "Infect your PSP!" and your PSP will enter "Infection mode."
This "Infection mode" will cause your character in Retribution, former British Marine James Grayson, to become infected with an alternate mutated form of the Chimera virus Nathan Hale is infected with. You gain a new uniform, R2 weaponry, additional abilities, access to new Chimera areas, and more. Even the story will be slightly altered -- characters in the story will be aware of your Chimerian infection which will alter their behavior accordingly. For more details, Andrew has written a hands-on over at Joystiq that you can access right here.
The PLAYSTATION Network is coming to the PSP next week -- at least in Japan. Firmware 5.00 will be available on October 15th and will add the built-in PlayStation Store under the new XMB category.
Japan will then get a regular release of downloadable titles through the rest of the holiday season. Games include:
Yuusha no Kuze ni Namaikida or2 (10/16)
Bleach Soul Carnival (10/23)
Secret Agent Clank (11/20)
Patapon 2 (11/27)
LocoRoco 2 (12/4)
Resistance Retribution
Notice how every SCE first-party title is downloadable, including Resistance Retribution? It looks like Sony is finally ready to give up on UMD ... or at least give consumers a viable alternative.
You probably can't see the embossed Dissidia images on that shiny PSP Brite in this picture. The glittery surface is way too distracting. If you can't really make it out, we'll let you know that the Amano-esque logo characters Cosmos and Chaos are featured on the left and right side of the PSP respectively. It's a well detailed design, so you might want to have a closer look at the high-res version.
It's a shame that those who've imported and spent huge wads of cash on that Crisis Core PSP a year ago will probably be killing themselves for impulsively buying this one too. Resist it! It's pretty, but if you've already got a special ed PSP, one of that kind should be enough.
Dissidia: Final Fantasy has been a title we've been keeping an eye on a lot lately, and hence, it's one of the first games we decided to see out on the Tokyo Game Show floor. We moseyed on over to Sony's booth to get in a quick session before going at it again and taking in another short round over at Square Enix proper. Five characters were available to play: Firionel, Tidus, Squall, Warrior of Light, and Zidane. We decided to try out different characters for each play session and tested out the skills of Squall and Tidus.
The overall battle system is rather easy to pick up; attacking with the square button deals the amount of damage currently in your "Brave" gauge while attacking with the circle button drains your enemy's Brave, replenishing your own and then eventually putting enemies into a "Break" state as you can see here in these videos. Now while the general concept of the game's battle system is easy to grasp, mastering the play style of the individual characters is another story. After having played as both Squall and Tidus for a solid amount of time, we noticed that neither character played like the other. Even though their special moves use the same button inputs, they move and attack completely different.
PSP releases keep on coming. It's soccer and cake this month for North Americans. It's quite an odd combo, isn't it?
