PSP - Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

The Ultimate Version of Tactics Ogre coming to PSP

Director Hiroshi Minagawa, character designer Akihiko Yoshida, game designer Yasumi Matsuno, and composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata have all returned to "revitalize their masterpiece for a new format and era – created with the simple idea – how TACTICS OGRE would be if it was developed and played now."

And with that final straw, a million gamer backs cracked at once with the realization of one terrible, soul-crushing truth: "I now need a PSP."

PSP Lunar Silver Star Story [chat]

LUNAR IS COMING TO PSP! To put this into perspective I must use the words of MA17: "If you don't own a Sega CD, Saturn, PlayStation, or GBA, but DO own a PSP, then you will finally get to play Lunar sometime this year or next."

Screenshots

FUCK. YES.

Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles

I've been kind of having this running boredom with Castlevania lately, where they give me some new IGA directed Metrovania, and I kind of look back over the last ten years and try to imagine why it is that I should be excited about that. Not that I've missed a beat, I mean, I've played every non N64 Castlevania since Symphony of the Night, and I have something of a love for SotN and Circle of the Moon and Aria of Sorrow and even Portrait of Ruin, but for the love of god, these are all essentially the same games but with some different particulars and new game+'s. Curse of Darkness is in there, too, but it's a 3D Castlevania, so it's hard to make it appear in lists with 2D games.

All that to say, Dracula X Chronicles has rekindled the love because it's a remake of Rondo of Blood (one of the Castlevanias that never came to the US) that includes ports of Symphony of the Night and the original Rondo of Blood. The remake is, like the game it's based on, awesome as hell. I realize that's not exactly an unbiased opinion, but Rondo is essentially the missing link between the classic Castlevania and the modern Castlevania, and it's a critical link for people who give a shit about the series. This is the game to refer to when lamenting that modern Castlevanias don't pay any attention to platforming or that the RPG elements make the game too easy. Rondo has the branching structure and freedom to revisit previously explored areas that exist in later Castlevanias, but it does so without bloated level design found in those games, with their big areas populated by only a few weak enemies. Rondo emphasizes smaller levels where each encounter is important rather than one gigantic area where only bosses even slightly matter.

And I love the old-style Castlevania boss battles. They're designed to be played by a player with a set power-level (variable through his choice of sub-weapons) rather than designed for a general range of player level also taking into consideration his inventory of healing items and such. The old bosses require the player to recognize the pattern to win, rather than recognize the need to be level 99 and have a full inventory of healing items.

In short, absolutely play Dracula X Chronicles if you care about Castlevania and for some reason have a PSP.

Best handheld games of 2007

As another year comes to an end we enter that delightful period during which the "best of" list thrives. MSNBC has provided a list of the Best Handheld Games of 2007. Let's take a look:

Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Jeanne d'Arc
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
Crush

DS: 2
PSP: 6

If we removed the retarded picks from the list (Syphon Filter, Ratched & Clank, Crush) we are left with three strategy RPGs for the PSP and two DS games.

Thoughts?

Apple : Sony :: iPhone : PSP

So this pissed me off.

Before the iPhone came out Apple played up the ability to write 3rd party applications for the iPhone. Remember that Press Release in which they said, "Third-party applications created using Web 2.0 standards can extend iPhone’s capabilities without compromising its reliability or security."

Yeah.

Apparently 3rd Party Apps void the iPhone Warranty (2nd Source).

Because when you make a product and laud it's ability to do X it's often best to later state that doing X voids the warranty. And when, exactly, did Apple become Sony? Who thought that was a good idea?

Disgaea for PSP

Here is the Official Site for Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness.

Maybe the PSP will have been a good buy after all.

Rant: Pretty Substandard Platform

Sony is releasing a new, slimmer version of the PSP so that it can "compete with Nintendo's DS". The features of this new model?

- Slimmer design due to a new LCD screen
- Increased battery life due to the new LCD screen
- "faster load times"
- 8GB of Internal Flash Memory
- New Buttons

So, when presented with the opportunity to revamp the PSP and fix the problems the guys at Sony decided that the biggest problem was the size and screen, probably because those were the things fixed by Nintendo in the DS Lite. Unfortunately for Sony the PSP and DS do not have the same problems.

The PSP's main problem is that it exemplifies John Stewart's critique of camera phones, "You just get a crappy camera and a crappy phone." Sure, the PSP can play games, play mp3s, play video, and allow the user to browse the internet. The problem is that it doesn't do any of these things WELL. It can't replace your DS for gameplay, it can't replace your iPod for mp3s or movies, and it can't replace your handheld for web browsing purposes. It's a hodgepodge of half-assed technology encased in a super-smudgeable shell.

That is the PSP’s problem; the problem they did not fix. It’s not the size or the screen or the buttons. The problem is that it’s trying to do too many contradictory things. One can make a portable MP3 player, a portable movie player, a portable gaming platform, and a portable web browser. But the requirements for all of these things are not harmonious. A portable web browser requires a keyboard. Let’s just dismiss any notion to the contrary right now. One cannot enjoyably browse the internet with an analog stick and an X button. A portable mp3 player requires storage and some means by which it can play continually with minimal user input. A portable movie player requires good speakers, a good screen, and some form of media which can hold the movies. And a portable gaming platform needs to do what the DS does. What the PSP attempts to do is balance out the needs of each individual system and it fails. An iPod is a better MP3 player and video player. A smart phone is a better web browser. A DS is a better portable gaming platform.

All of these problems are compounded, I think, by the numerous products that do what they promise. Blackberries function. iPhones and iPods function. The DS does what it says it will do. So when there exist products like iPhones within the same realm in which Sony says, “We’ll make the PSP slimmer!” this, I think, is an admission of defeat and incompetence by Sony.

They obviously do not know what they are doing and it would be best if they just stopped.

PSP Gets Smaller, Video Out, Still sucks

link

To bad it still uses a proprietary format an has to compete with DVD players, DVRs AppleTV, MythTV...and...well....TV.

if it wasnt for those things (plus the lack of good games), the PSP might not suck as much.