Every Saturday you can count on coming to PSP Fanboy to get new backgrounds for your PSP. Usually I create the backgrounds myself out of official game art, but this week one of our readers sent in his PSP backgrounds and wanted us to put them up. So with that in mind, I present PSP backgrounds by Brad Hodson.
Backgrounds after the jump ...
Continue reading Saturday PSP background explosion: fan edition [Update 1]
Do you want to share your PSP-related fan art? Send us an e-mail. A new piece of fan art will be shared every Friday.
It's Friday and that means another night of Russian Roulette with my friends and that it's Fan Art Friday. This week we have a Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops art piece that depicts Null fighting Big Boss. It's brought to us from Edward. The look on Snake's face as he narrowly dodged that lunge is as frightened as that time I saw that site with the girl in the tub. Great work Edward, way to bring back those nightmares. No seriously, glad to have the fan art and good taste in games. I'm totally gay for Metal Gear. Leave your feedback on this art in the comments, check out Edward's deviant art account and see us back here next Friday!
Gallery: Fan Art Fridays
The DS sells more than most consoles. The PSP has some games that look better than many PS2 games. Despite this, there are few magazines or websites devoted to portables. When the web or a mag do focus on a portable, it always seems to be to a lesser degree. If you need any proof, just look at the number of portable games that go un-reviewed compared to consoles. But when the sales are up as is the quality of the games, why do handhelds still get shafted?
They're a substitute
It seems as though some gamers and press view portable games as a substitute for "real" gaming. Just something to pass the time when you're somewhere unpleasant and unable to play a console game. While it is true that the very nature of a portable game is to give you gaming on the go, it doesn't necessarily mean it isn't as fun or as valuable of a gaming experience as console games. Anyone who's gotten sucked into Lumines or Vice City Stories for hours can attest to that.
Kid Stuff
While it's true that many games aimed for children have been released for portables through the years, there's no shortage of great games for any age. Especially this generation of portables, it seems more and more portables are aiming their sights for older gamers. Brain Age, Metal Gear and GTA are proof enough that in no way are portables just for the playground.
Less vocal fan community
One thing that hurts the portable gaming community is that despite the great sales for systems and games, the fan community is far less vocal than the typical console fan base. Of course part of this seems to be self perpetuating since if there aren't many online or print sources for portable gaming, there are obviously less places for those fans to express their feelings.
Not as many huge titles
Some would say that the portables lack blockbuster titles and that is why they garner less attention. This hardly seems like a good excuse though since at this point nearly every blockbuster franchise has a version on handhelds. From Metal Gear to Mario, if there is a big game on a console there is typically a counterpart on the portable. Not only that, but some portable games consistently sell better than most console games.
So while there may be no good reason portables get overlooked, it does seem like they're on there way to reversing this fate. With the increased importance of blogs and forums in the gaming world, it seems like only a matter of time before portable games do get the equal respect they deserve. Until then, the average gamer may just be too busy playing their PSP to even care.
My mom always said "Good things come to those who wait" and my dad always said "You just wait around for good things to happen to you". Well because of Konami, I'm now going to ignore everything my dad ever said to me. IGN is reporting that PAL territories will be getting Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops content that neither Japan or the US got.
The original game's content will be joined with twelve new characters, new maps and new missions. That's not all though, there will also be a Boss Battle mode which the point of should be fairly obvious. I only hope that at some point this content is made available as a download for current owners of Metal Gear. Check IGN for the more details.
I love my Xbox 360 and I also love custom backgrounds. I don't love paying for them though. Luckily PSP users don't have to pay to have a custom background (that's coming in PSP2). Because of this and to help spice up our reader's PSPs, we will be showcasing new backgrounds every Saturday for you to marvel at.Continue reading Saturday PSP background explosion [Update 1]
Back in November there was an IGN interview with Kojima Studios Ryan Payton in which he stated "If the response to MPO is as good as we're expecting, you can look forward to new chapters in the Big Boss legacy on PSP." Well, Ryan is at it again, this time on PSM's podcast saying "If it's successful on the retail level there will definitely be a sequel. ...that's something I really, really want to do."
If the Japanese sales are any indication, Snake may be on another PSP sneaking mission very soon. Just to make sure, go out and buy five copies at your local retailer today to appease the Konami gods. The way I feel about it is, the PSP game library is like a bachelorette party; the more Snake the better.
[Update 1: Fixed links.]
Tara Strong, voice of Final Fantasy X's Rikku, joins a surprisingly strong voice acting cast for the upcoming PSP RPG Gurumin. Other VAs include Amber Hood (Psychonauts), Dee Bradley (Viewtiful Joe), Kim Mai Guest (Metal Gear Solid), Robin Atkin Downes (Prince of Persia), and more. The voice acting will be directed by Kris Zimmerman, the voice director of all the Metal Gear Solid games (all of which feature excellent voice acting).
It's great to see a PSP RPG finally get some solid voice acting. We've had way too many quests with minimal voice acting-- hopefully, publisher Mastiff sets a standard for all PSP RPGs to come. We'll have more on the ultra-cute Gurumin in the future.
[Via GameDaily]
While the DS has been killing just about everything in Japan, it doesn't appear to be as dominant according to NPD's August sales chart. And with news that the PSP's Tales of Phantasia Full Voice Edition taking the top spot in Japan, could the tide of war be changing?
Continue reading PSP Fanboy Review: Killzone: Liberation demo
Continue reading Price and more revealed for PSP camera, GPS addon [Update 1]
There aren't too many high-profile games that use Sony's upcoming GPS peripheral. Off the top of my head, I can only think of two: Hot Shots Golf and Homestar. Well, Konami has added one incredibly huge title to the list of GPS-compatible games: Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops. It shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, considernig how the last Metal Gear game on our system came with another crazy peripheral: the Solid Eye. Konami hasn't revealed how the game will support the device, but what kind of crazy ideas can you think of?
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