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Rafael Espiritu
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When not quietly dealing with the occasional bout of triskadekophobia, Raffy likes to write about video games, movies, Internet curiosities, and anything else that doesn't make him scream like a little girl. His high school years were highlighted by the discovery of creative writing and daily showers, while college resulted in an excess of film studies and alternate forms of pornography, more specifically of the goose down and eclair variety. He soon discovered the joy of mass consumerism and the almighty dollar, and for years slaved away in local television and as a video editing peon for transsexual account executives and inept directors with shoddy shot lists. He's now back to his first love, writing, and is even more deliriously happy writing about gaming for Weblogs, Inc. And he was just kidding about being phobic and perverted.

Rafael Espiritu
-

When not quietly dealing with the occasional bout of triskadekophobia, Raffy likes to write about video games, movies, Internet curiosities, and anything else that doesn't make him scream like a little girl. His high school years were highlighted by the discovery of creative writing and daily showers, while college resulted in an excess of film studies and alternate forms of pornography, more specifically of the goose down and eclair variety. He soon discovered the joy of mass consumerism and the almighty dollar, and for years slaved away in local television and as a video editing peon for transsexual account executives and inept directors with shoddy shot lists. He's now back to his first love, writing, and is even more deliriously happy writing about gaming for Weblogs, Inc. And he was just kidding about being phobic and perverted.

Namco's looking for a few good Katamari cosplayers

Did you fly that geek flag of yours proudly the last time Halloween was on by dressing up as the Prince of All Cosmos? Was it even Halloween? Wait, don’t answer that. Namco has no problem befriending all you diehard Katamari Damacy followers, however. From today until June 30, Katamari cosplayers can submit their "favorite Katamari-inspired apparel" for a chance to have it posted within the official site’s new cosplay gallery. Think of it, all those hours you spent crafting that elongated green headdress and matching skirt could be on display for posterity on the Me & My Katamari website. And your parents told you crafting costumes of video game characters would never get you anywhere!

Prizes like Prince puppets, t-shirts, and autographed copies of the soundtrack will be waiting for those who can come up with the best Katamari-related costumes or apparel (as judged by the brains at Namco Bandai America). Get rolling!

WTF?! Baito Hell 2000 renamed for US

For those individuals who think sailors don't live up to their reputation enough, "WTF" is about as common in their vocabulary as "the". Our less profane readers, however, will find that WTF is finally about as easy to pronounce as "Golly shucks, Grandma! Can I have another piece of apple pie? I love them ever so much!" The mini-game centric title Baito Hell 2000, a game that had originally gotten some flak for looking like a knock-off of WarioWare but evolved into something far more demented, will get a name change when it hits the US this year. Now called Work Time Fun, IGN's preview reveals that the game will feature, in addition to the core set of mini-games, a collection of "tools" (ramen timer, anyone?), more than 40 additional unlockable mini-games, and ad-hoc multiplayer.

The challenge we forsee will be in how the game will be localized to make it palatable to non-Japanese gamers. Then again, it's not like we really care so long as we have a blast, right?

New Bomberman for PSP this July

Hudson has announced that a new addition the Bomberman franchise, Bomberman Portable, will be making its way to a PSP near you this July 20. That is, if you live in Japan. This edition will offer a more traditional (if 3D) form of Bomberman action than more recent titles as well as a Classic Mode which will be based on the original Bomberman game for NES. Four-player wireless (we're guessing ad-hoc) play will also be implemented. Another title, Bubble Bobble Evolution, was announced for Europe and Japan, albeit under the more esoteric name Bubble Bobble Magical Tower Daisakusen. There's no information whether the games will make it to the US, but we're going to go out on a limb and guess that they will.

Firmware 2.7 and Loco Roco in action


Many (including us) have been a bit hesitant about upping our PSP firmware to 2.7 because it would render our homebrew unusable. In addition, Sony also decided to craftily release a demo of the impossibly cute game Loco Roco as a free download, playable so long as you have this latest version. But if you can stand to watch either unfold instead of actually fiddling with the updates or the demo, then check out the video above. The 8-minute or so feature runs through a few of the upgrades included in firmware 2.7 and shows off the Loco Roco demo about halfway.

Take note that the entire thing is done on a Japanese language-enabled PSP, which means that unless you're especially familiar with the PSP's menu layout you probably won't know what's going on right away. It's not difficult at all to follow along however, but you may just want to skip to the middle to get right on the demo since watching someone navigate a menu system is really about as engaging to watch as Tom Cruise demonstrate for the umpteenth time why he'll never be normal in our eyes again.

[Thanks to everyone who sent the demo link in!]

Buena Vista takes over publishing for Lumines 2

A press release issued this morning revealed that Buena Vista Games (which, considering its connections, could possibly be referred to as The Happiest Game Publisher on Earth™) will act as publisher for the upcoming puzzle game Lumines 2. The first Lumines title, created by Tetsuya Mizuguchi and developed by Q Entertainment, was published by Ubisoft and Bandai. BVG will take over the reins for the sequel as well as three other titles from the developer: Every Extend Extra (PSP), Lumines Plus (PS2), and Meteos: Disney Edition (DS). The titles are due to land softly (but will still carry big sticks) on store shelves this Fall.

[Thanks John]

Oblivion due on the PSP? Fortify Luck!


Thanks to a leaked release list (shyeah, right), word's gotten out that Bethesda, makers of the fine Elder Scrolls RPG for fans of open-ended exploration, is planning to release a version of their mega-popular Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion title on the PS3 and PSP. A portable version of the hardware-hogging game is targeted for release this November 6, 2006.

The air is already atwitter with speculation of whether Oblivion will be Sony's flagship platform to push their PlayStation Network Platform service. It very well could be since the Xbox Live Marketplace has been a hotbed of downloading lust since Oblivion hit the Xbox 360 last month, and it only stands to reason that Sony will want to test out their shiny new online service with a proven test subject. Also, will both the PS2 and the PSP version of the game allow for intregration like Nintendo did with the Gamecube and the Game Boy SP? Chances are we'll find out more when E3 comes around, so feel free to make wild, outrageous guesses in our comments section until then.

[Via Gamer Andy]

UPDATE: Bethesda says "nuh uh". We never did check if the word "gullible" really wasn't in the dictionary.

Firmware update 2.70 now available

Looks like another upgrade is upon us. Sony today released their latest firmware upgrade for PSPs, which knocks the firmware version up a smidgen to 2.7. The update adds several new features, the most appealing of which is the ability to play Flash content on the device's built-in Internet browser and save RSS feed content to your Memory Stick. Other enhancements include an option to disable the L/R shoulder buttons during UMD playback, an additional file extension to playable AAC formats, and a handful of menu improvements.

There's a good chance that a fix for the GTA hack for Firmware 2.6 is included with the update, so unless you want to be stuck without all your beloved homebrew apps, we'd suggest holding off until someone out there figures out how to make 2.7 do our bidding.

[Via oreillynet; thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

GameSpot manhandles Loco Roco, but in a good way

Gaming know-it-alls (we mean that nicely, of course) GameSpot got their hands on Loco Roco at a Sony's Pre-E3 press event and they liked what they saw. They've got high hopes for the title given its originality, appealing visuals, and accessible control scheme. A potential snag could be whether a game like this can hold our attention for several hours. Again, and as expected, we won't really know anything until E3, but we're crossing our fingers that this may be the game that'll let us stick it to all those people who told us the PSP had no original games on it. If not, I'll be in my room weeping at what could have been.

UPDATE: You can download a trial version of the game here. Keep in mind that you'll have to upgrade to Firmware version 2.7 for it to work. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Arstechnica pooh-poohs Portable TV


Tech site Arstechnica took a long hard look at Sony's Portable TV service in Japan and appears to have walked away with a slight case of pinkeye. In their assessment, they didn't warm up to the site's "rather draconian digital rights management scheme" that only let users rent video clips and hold on to them for a set period of time. In addition, the site's offering of clips from genres like drama, sports, comedy, and anime is somewhat limited with prices for videos pegged at somewhere around $1 to $2 (although some are made available for free), but Arstechnica thinks that the meager selection is the least of the service's problems.

Portable TV has shades of Sony's barely-there Connect music download service, which so far has not even come close to competing with services like iTunes. We liked the idea of getting video downloads for our PSPs when we first heard about Portable TV, but we'd rather Sony streamline their system before they start thinking about giving the US or Europe the same offering.

Read up on other reviews of Portable TV here.

[Via 1UP]

PlayStation Spot may appear at Sony's presscon in May

Joystiq reports an interesting tidbit they came across while registering for Sony's Pre-E3 press conference in Culver City, California this May. In the invite, attendees were encouraged to bring along their PSPs "for access to downloadable content". While not explicity said, our fellow bloggers surmise that this will likely happen via a PlayStation Spot kiosk (the very same ones that have already come out in Japan) considering its appearance at this year's Game Developers Conference. This news, of course, means nothing to Joe Everyman unless he or she can score an invite to this exclusive event. Here's hoping Sony decides to have Christmas early by declaring these kioks US-bound.

Tekken Dark Resurrection video bonanza


It appears Tekken Dark Resurrection is looking pretty sweet. Sort of early PS2-ish, we'd say.

And no, we're not going to launch into a "looks good for a PSP game" tirade, mostly because it appears the PSP has had a pretty good run so far in the graphics department with titles like Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and Fight Night Round 3. More eye candy! Yay!

Ace Combat X: SOD to take flight this Fall

A press release sent out today from Namco Bandai revealed a veritable motherlode of details for their upcoming Ace Combat game for the PSP. Referred to under the working title Ace Combat X: Skies of Deception, the flight sim-ish game will feature wireless ad-hoc multiplayer hookups, an all-new storyline, strategic AI (your actions determine your objectives), and the ability to tune your own planes with parts unlocked during Campaign mode. Aircraft nerds can rejoice in the knowledge that licensed planes like the F-14D and the Tornado F3 will make an appearance in the game when it lands on store shelves this Fall 2006. Check out our brief coverage of the game here.

Continue reading Ace Combat X: SOD to take flight this Fall

Homebrew IRC app in test phase

Until our fantasy of VoIP for the PSP are realized, owners of Sony's portable whatchamacallit can always turn to the industrious homebrew community for solutions. In this case, Gary13579 has cooked up an IRC client that can be accessed via the PSP's browser feature. According to PSP Hacks, which broke the news today, the app is still demo, which means that only one channel is open at the moment and that bugs could be prevalent. While we're still warming up our thumbs to the idea of chatting using the PSP's cumbersome text input interface, this will at least be free for download and use when development is completed. Then all we have to do is wait for Sony to finally get off their duffs and release a keyboard.

[Update: Grammatical corrections implemented. Blogger made to listen to Barbra Streisand while playing Kabuki Warriors for Xbox as punishment for oversight.]

Ubisoft's little, white, Splinter Cell advertisement lie

Everyone knows advertising is biased. If the whole point of creating an advert for a product is to drum up hype (and therefore sales), then chances are companies will try their darndest to make sure their baby’s put in the best light possible. There are laws that protect consumers from outright fabrication, but what if the ad is only sort of telling a fib?

Case in point: Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell Essentials ad. The advert was called to 1UP’s attention, and things at first glance do look dubious indeed. The statement “One of the best games on the PSP” made by GameSpy was culled, they discovered, from a preview the gaming website did months before the game was released. While said preview was indeed hopeful of the game’s kick-assery, it instead was given a swift kick in the ass by their later review.

The article states that no response has yet been received from either Ubisoft or GameSpy about the ad. We’re guessing this’ll be one of those “oops” things; someone’ll get smacked on the wrist and the ad will disappear with reputation and advertising relationship intact. What’s your take on this? Do you think Ubisoft’s gone too far, or do you think what they did is justifiable?

Loco Roco director rolls out the details

1UP sat down with Loco Roco's director Tsutomu Kuono to chat about the behind-the-scenes action of the game and how a perky yellow blob gets cast as the star of a buzz-worthy title. One of the most interesting bits of the video involves Kuono's quick explanation for the game's title, which apparently was inspired by the two primary buttons used in the game, the Left and Right triggers. Like all strange and potentially gimmicky ideas, Kuono initially had a hard time convincing anyone Loco Roco was worth making. Fortunately, this was all a part of the refinement process, and now the game is on the verge of raising everyone's Seratonin levels.

"I wanted to make a crazy, stupid game!" Said Kuono. Dang, that makes me want this game even more.

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