Like Pocket Monsters that live in a PSP instead of a capsule, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd continues to be immensely popular in Japan. The sales charts for last week show that Capcom's Monster killer has gone on to sell another 64,368 units bringing it's total sales up to 1,000,599 units. If ever there was a game that was obviously in line to get a sequel, this is it. Luckily for US gamers, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd will be coming to the US, so you only have to add to the Japanese sales if you're impatient.

[Via The Magic Box]

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War may just be an upgraded port, but I can't help but get excited by it whenever I see new screens. In particular I love the addition of cinemas and the sketchy look of them. Though the battle scenes do look better than the PS1 original. If you love tactics games like me, check out the rest of the new screenshots.

More screens after the jump ...

The latest Japanese console hardware sales Feb 5 - 11 2007:

1. DS Lite - 201,177 (1,103,588) units

2. Wii - 78,550 (603,378) units

3 PSP - 32,175 (303,113) units

4 PS3 - 23,431 (178,734) units

5 PS2 - 16,033 (149,437) units

Great to see that while the PSP isn't the best selling system in Japan, it's certainly not selling as badly as some would like to believe. Nearly every console is having a problem combating the Wii and DS in Japan, so for PSP right behind them in sales is impressive indeed. I'm sure the release of Monster Hunter Portable 2nd will help sell a few more of Sony's system.

[Via The Magic Box]

The Magic Box has reported that Namco Bandai's Mobile Suit Gundam Seed: Rengou vs Z.A.F.T. Portable (that's a mouthful of a game title) will be hitting Japan on April 5th of this year for 5040 yen. The series was originally on the PS2, but its PSP version will have 2 on 2 team battle that can be played by a single player or 2-4 players via Ad-Hoc. The mech action game is based around the world from Mobile Suit Gundam Seed, one of the most loved versions in all of the Gundam series. Feel free to import the game when it's released if you're a Gundam fan since the PSP has no region lock.

Rezel Cross is another original RPG for the PSP to be released by Sony. The game has character designs by Eiji Kandeda who also did character designs for Aquarion and a script written by the team who wrote Arc the Lad III & IV. It is currently planned to be released in Japan this spring.

The story revolves around five protagonists who have received the super natural power Rezel because of some comet that returns every thousand years. Meanwhile, numerous wild animals have transformed into crazed beasts. While the heroes set out to stop the beasts, they discover an evil force that wants to use the Rezel power to take over the empire.

The game is split into 20 chapters and the heroes gain the powers of teleport, time pause, psycho kenesis, transformation and x-ray vision as they progress. In addition, the battles are in full 3D with an XMB like interface and the heroes get skill points to unlock new abilities and Rezel Arts as well as Hyper Rezels.

[Via The MagicBox]

Dragon Ball Z Shin Budokai: Another Road was just announced last week, but screens have already come out. The Magic Box just put some screens up and the game is looking quite similar to the last PSP DBZ title. You don't have to believe me though, view the screens for yourself! Just remember, looks aren't everything.

Screens after the jump ...

It should come as no surprise that the new cutscenes in Final Fantasy Tactics are impressive. However, how does the gameplay compare? The Magic Box has tons of screenshots for you to gaze over. Are the widescreen PS1 quality graphics winning you over? Or, do you wish that Square Enix put a little bit more effort into this?

See also:
FFI & FFII on PSP = most beautiful NES game EVER!

They are monsters you can put in your pocket, but not Pocket Monsters. The Magic Box is reporting that there are over 400,000 just in pre-orders for the 2nd incarnation of Monster Hunter. That makes it easily the larges pre-order quantity for a PSP game ever in Japan.

Monster Hunter Portable 2nd comes out February 22nd.... in Japan. No word yet if it will be heading elsewhere.

The Magic Box is reporting that Gamestop listed EA Replay 2 and Dragon Ball Z: Shin Budokai Another Road coming out soon for PSP. The EA Replay 2 had a release date of February 19th for $29.99, but when I checked the Gamestop site the listing was no longer there. The release for Dragon Ball Z is listed as March 20th for $39.99 and that page is still up.

While Gamestop often lists incorrect release dates for games, they don't typically list games that don't end up eventually hitting store shelves. So there's a good chance PSP owners will get more time with EA and Goku soon. Until then, we'll just have to wait for someone to collect all the Dragon Balls and wish these games into existence.