1P Start

The Playstation Portable has been something of a failure for Sony so far. In every single territory around the world, it has been roundly beaten by the cheaper and more innovative Nintendo DS, although Japan continues to be Sony’s strongest supporter. But the lack of success in managing to get a sizeable foothold in the hand-held market means there is a question mark hanging over the little console’s future.

According to Zeno Colaço, a VP for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, talking to Pocket Gamer recently, the console is still subject to the 10 year hardware strategy that Sony seems intent on sticking with. But while that has proved a viable strategy for the PS2, which continues to sell in huge numbers for such an outdated piece of hardware, I just can’t see the PSP having that much life left it in.

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When the PSP was first announced by Sony, all of the elements were there for it to be a huge success - brilliant graphics, a great games line-up, the Playstation brand etc. Unfortunately for Sony, sales never really managed to light up the world as they were expected to, and the Nintendo DS then came in and provided a cheaper, more casual alternative. The PSP has never really recovered, but is it now too late for a recovery?

GI.biz recently interviewed Ubisoft’s UK managing director Rob Cooper, and he had some not very pleasant things to say about the platform, and the direction, or lack of it, that Sony is heading in.

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Looking over this weeks releases, I noticed right away a few titles that need some love. Of course there is still some reoccurring franchises, such as Final Fantasy (PSP), Harvest Moon (DS), and even Ninja Gaiden (DS). Solid games in their own right, but they can wait, a new RPG is in town, Opoona (Wii), which has me curious as all hell how the game will play out with using only the nunchuck. Dark Sector is out on the big boy systems, having been announced way back in 2004, the game looks to bring some new elements to the third person action gunner genre, if anything, you can rest easy knowing they didn’t rush this title.

Onto the full list, as always, after the break:

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So what are you doing reading this? Is there no Toys R Us, Best Buy, Circuit City, Blockbuster, Wal Mart… ANY store open !? Because you better be just taking a 5 minute break from playing Smash Bros if you are browsing the net.

If you don’t have a Wii still (understandably), I will excuse you from not playing Super Smash Bros Brawl, however you can still own the game! In a smart move by everyone else, not much is on the other systems this week. Condemned 2 is out, that is a very solid title for those in the “next gen.” PES for your football (soccer) fanatics.

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This week brings us a not very spectacular week in gaming, but not the worst I have seen either. The big dog comes in the form of God of War: Chains of Olympus on the PSP, not only is it looking to be one of the top ten PSP games just upon its release (not a lot of compitition mind you), but it also brought with it the announcement of God of War III. On the other systems, Bully is out on 360 and Wii for those who did not get to enjoy this title on it’s PS2 release (like myself). If you are into baseball, this is definitly your week no matter what system you own. To finish things out, Homie Rollerz (DS) is finally out, I know you all had your copy on reserve for a while now, so time to head out to the store and pick it up. Now onto the full list:

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Taking away from the complete randomness that was EA’s offer to take Take-Two for two (billion dollars), a new news story has broken in the form of a press release which outlines the split between Phil Harrison and Sony (Note: I dare you to say the full previous sentence five times fast!)

To mourn the great loss of this proud warrior, let us remember some great quotes and ideas from this man:

“.…rumble was last gen and no longer needed.” - On PS3 controller debuting with no rumble. May 8th, 2006

“The PlayStation 3 is a computer. We do not need the PC.” - May 31st, 2006

What he hell, to help celebrate the life of Phil rather than his passing from SCE, I have a few more gems I have been wanting to post from other Sony greats, continue on after the break for classic stuff:

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This week in releases brings us a new Destroy All Humans, a not too shabby video game adaptation of the tv series Lost, and my favorite game early in the 360’s life cycle, Lost Planet. Though I have other games that grab my attention now, there is still a piece of my heart reserved for this series, I am glad now PS3 owners can share in the love. Though I will admit I am a bit jealous, as the PS3 version does include all the downloadable maps that I ended up having to pay for… AND.. it is only $40 right now (I guess there is also that free online play element to add to the jealous rage). Once you experience Lost Planet’s multiplayer maps, you will never look at any other shooting game’s maps the same again, I wish as much care went into other games as Capcom invested in this gem. Now onto the list!

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Well, every week can’t be full of winners, and this week proves that. If you are on the 360, I am sure you haven’t beat Lost Odyssey in just one week. Not an RPG fan? Perhaps then some Pimping of your Ride on the Wii or helping law abiding citizens with Apollo Justice on the DS is more suited for you (No DS? check out the Flash Demo of the game here, very cool). Check out the full list below, lots of GameFly queue material here:

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This week in new releases shows more variety then usual, it goes all the way from My Horse & Me (PC) to Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360). There is a game for every system and genre, as well as for the most part all new franchises that deserve a little of your love (Professor Layton on DS).

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Yes, Burnout Paradise is here with all its bad ass box artness. So you “next gen” gamers, get the demo if you haven’t already, see if it is your thing. For you who like to explore different sides of gaming.. well Nintendo has it all this week.

Endless Ocean, on top of being just an overall interesting seeming title, it is finally another Wii game to support the use of mp3’s off an SD card while I play (is it really that hard to do!?). Seriously though, that is the probably the last thing to worry about when checking out this game, it looks to be all about the innovation and possible new genre of game, plain ol’ “exploration.”

No More Heroes, for all you Killer7 lovers (and I know you are out there), the team has built a new engine, yet features that very specific art style that only Suda can make, and hopefully the Wiimote will give the game a bigger audience that it deserves since very few I know enjoyed or even heard of Killer7 (it is also noteworthy that the game did not so well in Japan, and though I want this game huge success, I am not sure if it is going to happen unless you guys spread the word).

Finally, Advance Wars. I need not say more. This week is all Nintendo if your games require more than just holding a button down to drive (okay, that was a knock at Burnout… but I don’t really mean it, I actually enjoy the Burnout series, but there is just so much more out this week that you should give a try). As always, full list after the break:
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There were rumours that it had been cancelled, and pre-orders with deposits were being refunded at the back end of last year, but it seems Oblivion is indeed coming to the PSP, and sooner rather than later. The give away? Those nice folks at Amazon, who have a listing up on the site for the new PSP version of the game.

The listing on Amazon.com states:

“Oblivion comes to the PSP with all your favorite free-form gameplay, unprecedented graphics, cutting edge AI, character voices by acting legends Patrick Stewart, Sean Bean, Terrance Stamp, and Lynda Carter along with its award-winning soundtrack.

Gamers can choose to unravel Oblivion’s epic narrative at their own pace or explore the vast world in search of their own unique challenges. After the mysterious and untimely death of the Emperor, the throne of Tamriel lies empty. With the Empire ready to crumble, the gates of Oblivion open and demons march upon the land laying waste to everything in their path.

To turn the tide of darkness, you must find the lost heir to the throne and unravel the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel.”

You can pre-order the game now, although I’d personally wait until we get confirmation of the release from those nice guys at Bethesda.

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Ladies and Gents it pains me to say my farewells to 1PStart. I’ve been here only a short time, though I’ve been at Xbox 360 Rally (another 451 site) for just under a year. I will miss you guys, though you’re probably throwing a party, chanting “he’s leaving! Huzzah! Huzzah!”. If you do miss me, though, you can find me at my new home BingeGamer.net.

It’s been fun, and I hope to see y’all around.

P.S.: Qbix — E-mail me, dude. I’m still gonna get your GTA IV to ya.

Have you ever sat there and thought to yourself “You know, while I love the high definition quality of Blu-Ray on my 52” LCD widescreen TV, nothing would make me happier than to be able to watch my Blu-Ray films from my PSP”? …yeah, me neither. In fact, I’ve been strongly anti-UMD for a long time. Regardless, if you are one of the literally dozens of people who are clamoring to watch their entire Blu-Ray library on the palm-sized PSP screen, you’re in luck as Sony is about to make that very thing possible.

How, you ask? Well, it’s actually very simplistic. You just buy a Blu-Ray movie, pop it into your PS3 and download it to your PSP’s flash memory. It’s really that easy!

…though it’s still unclear as to why the image used to demo this new service is of Howard the Duck…

Sony, PlayStation 3, PSP

I have to admit that when I think of the PSP, “internet telephone” doesn’t come to mind. However somebody at Sony apparently thinks differently as it appears that Skype will soon be coming to the PSP.

Yes, Skype. I don’t know why, but it’s apparently coming.

While Sony hasn’t made it official yet, on the official Sony CES 2008 promotional website one of the listed PSP System Features includes, I quote:

Call friends, trash talk to fellow gamers or catch up with acquaintances via Skype for PSP system.

Now I may not be the smartest fellow on the planet, but I would have to think that such a feature being listed on Sony’s official website for CES would be pretty good confirmation. Then again, maybe I’m old-fashioned.

[Sony CES 2008] (click the controller, then PSP, then scroll down on the features sidebar)

Sony, PSP, CES, Skype

I’m going to get a bit technical on you for a moment. I hope you can forgive me if you get lost… who am I kidding, I got lost, too. Here’s the story: Once Sony released the new PSP update 3.80, some hackers got into the coding and found some interesting little things that could hint that Sony is gearing up for yet another SKU of the PSP hardware.

Yes, that’s right: Another PSP.

“While working on the future 3.80M33, we found a VERY interesting string in the IPL’s playload: “/kd/pspbtcnf_03g.bin”

For those who do not understand here is a bit of history:

since 2.71 and especially in 2.80, we could see a string refering to pspbtcnf_02g which suggested the support of a new hardware or at least of a new operative mode. Later with the slim release we found out that the slim’s codename was this infamous 02g (proably standing for second generation) and that it used the _02g modules as well as pspbtcnf_02g
.bin. It means that they worked on slim firmware/kernel for months before the actual hardware was announced/released.

We believe it is the same with the 3rd generation hardware which they are now preparing for sure. Will it be yet another lighter (and pandora proof) psp or will it be the new psp phone? Time will tell”

My bet is on the PSPhone that everyone has been clammering about. While it’s possible Sony may be working on yet… another… PSP handheld, I have a hard time believing they’d be in development of one SO soon after the Slim’s release. But alas, only time will tell.

[lan.st forums]

Sony, PSP, PSPhone