Analysis: ‘Lite’r games help the DS

Everyone is out to get SONY. They want their money back. The PSP has not lived up to expectations. While a sleek, but expensive handheld, the PSP’s set of good games either involve shooting, racing, or fighting. While many people don’t care, the core of the non-gaming market is completely running to the DS Lite. With Nintendo being able to sell out at least 16 different DS color variants, there is a question that must loom in the mind of SONY execs: what did we do wrong?

Ratchet & Clank, Sonic:R Reviews, ChottoShot

IGN has an exclusive preview of Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters. The PSP game–previously a major PS2 hit–is coming to PSP, but the big news is Infrastructure on what we believe will be an E for Everyone rating. Hopefully this may be the game that puts the PSP on top. It doesn’t arrive until this Spring though, and it might be delayed so don’t hold your breath. You won’t last that long…either way, it’s a great preview and it showcases how the developers implemented multiplayer. The graphics don’t look that stellar from what we can see, but do any PSP screenies look that way?

Currently, Sonic Rivals has a 72 rating (decent) on Metacritic, which is okay. After IGN gave it a 7.4, Games Master UK followed up with a 7.9, GameSpy and GamesRadar followed with a 7.0, and Game Brink went with a 6.9. As much as the ratings disappoint after all the hype, I imagine this game will be really fun to play ad-hoc if you have a friend. GamesRadar notes the excellent multiplayer gameplay. This is obviously the game where you need to hook up with a friend who also has a PSP and play. I already have one whose a die-hard Sonic fan. 😀 :D.

Jlmmy posted a video of a person opening up his new ChottoShot camera imported from Japan. Enabled with the 3.00 firmware (which has since been “suspiciously upgraded” for a security exploit…), the camera looks really surprisingly good and it will do graphics as well. Maybe 1.3MP isn’t such a bad thing?!?

Don’t You Just Love Jennifer Aniston?

I do. Well, today we’ve received 35 views thanks to a picture we posted way back when we were little known by the masses. It’s not that our website is full of everything that isn’t LocoRoco or PSP related, it’s simply that this picture (originally found through a few easy clicks on Google) caught on to MSN, didn’t it? And those who needed Jennifer Aniston pictures (either to blow up and stick on their bulletin board or try to prove that they’re not a wuss) chose us. We thank you Jennifer.

Meanwhile, Jlmmy’s blog has a whole bunch of userlevels. 🙂 🙂 😀

MGS:PO- Exactly what the PSP needs?

Nope. It’s not a kid-friendly game.

But, it’s got everything the PSP needs to regain superiority in the handheld console race. It has beautiful graphics, badass Wi-Fi multiplayer, and a good name that’s sure to reach every PSP owner from Hiroshima to Moscow.  It is one of the first games that fully utilizes this handheld’s capabilities and it’s a sure winner. In anyone’s book. The recent previews have enstilled hunger in every PSP owner’s eyes, but further indication shows that Konami is already cooking up the bacon by refusing to make a PS2 version and readying a second one. If that isn’t enough, game sharing will be available to every PSP owner  who dares not to buy a copy. Love-ly!

Oh, and the LocoRoco Christmas demo arrives December 11th! Mark your calendars and get your stockings cleaned!

Need Some “Black Friday” Help?

For our American readers: Need some Black Friday help? Check out CNet’s “Holiday Helpdesk”. Each hour, they highlight a different portion of the technology sector. Call in and not only will you be entered to win a SONY PS3, but you can get answers to any tech-related questions you might have. Enjoy!

New Demos Ahead?

TCLCloud of PSP117 reveals that new demos are ahead:

There are some new demos on the way for PSP owners-

• Loco Roco Christmas demo
• Final Fantasy Crisis Core
• Outrun
• Worms
• Dungeon Siege
• MLB 2006
• Ultimate Ghosts and Goblins
• Lumines 2
• Every Extended Extra
• MX vs ATV
• Race Driver 2006
• Daxter

*BOLD indicates demos we previously knew about.*

MGS:PO Major Preview, Holiday Guide, Sonic:R Review

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is most definitely the biggest game of 2006 for PSP. Not only is it a new story, but it is a PSP exclusive. Which is exactly what the PSP needs. It utilizes the GPS feature and still manages to perfect graphics. 1Up, IGN, and GameSpot all have feature previews of the single and multiplayer modes, which are very interesting. Could this be the game that puts the PSP on top?

Meanwhile, 1Up has released their holiday guide for the game consoles and handhelds. Their PSP list, filled with Killzone, Lumines, MGS, and GTA also includes LocoRoco. Hope you enjoy! The blog’s holiday list will be coming soon.

IGN has reviewed Sonic Rivals, giving it a 7.4 (decent) rating. While they tout its graphics and the fact that it will attract to the 16-bit generation Sonic fans, they don’t appreciate some “obvious” problems with course design & audio tracks. Many people on the message boards have already begun complaining about the music, which they hate. Entirely.

Sonic Rivals updates the classic 16-bit formula for modern handhelds. It mixes snazzy visuals with a good sense of speed, so there’s little doubt hardcore Sonic fans will find a lot to like. Plus, it has a rewarding multiplayer mode and wager system, which only adds to the experience. Still, it has a few problems, namely in the areas of course design and control, but none of them completely destroy the experience.

Happy Thanksgiving.

My Wii Experience

I didn’t snag any “exclusive” photos or “revealing” insight. I simply sat down with a few friends today and played the Wii. I’ve expressed my feelings that the PS3 is simply out of my price range and that the games don’t seem abundant enough to suit what I’m looking for (fun, in-and-out games such as LocoRoco). The Wii, on the other hand, fits both categories in what I’m looking for. So, I’ll be getting one. Maybe as soon as January? March? September 2009?

Anyways, my Wii experience was very enjoyable. The Wii, at first glance is just how I imagined it: thin, small, and very iPod-like. The white finish is really nice and the docking station is a nice way to keep your Wii standing upright. The CD slot is sleek, as well, and the hidden compartments (for SD cards, GameCube controllers and memory) prevent any of the slots from getting damaged and also continue the clean design without revealing too many buttons or ports.

New PSP Commercial, PSP Spots in N. America Soon, More

SONY announced that they were taking a different direction in their advertisements (besides the dustballs and squirrels who made sick/stupid humor jokes that were flavorless and a complete waste of time) back in October. They’re finally following through, but with a lame-duck commercial that doesn’t showcase what the PSP is meant for: games. Why can’t SONY just release a LocoRoco or Killzone commercial showcasing a few secs of gameplay and another few secs of a PSP doing a 360?

After SONY graced Japan and then the U.K. with lovely Playstation Spots that featured downloads from in game stores, they were sure to leave out North America just like they did with the multi-color releases, right? Not this time. SONY is readying at least 6,000 Playstation Spots with special download content from very popular games by January 2007. Impressive.

Firmware v3.00 is bringing the ability for PS3 and PSP owners to transfer games purchased from the PS3’s nice Playstation Network to the PSP. But, not just yet. There are no current games that allow for PS3-PSP downloads. Japan will not have to wait much longer. Tomorrow (11/22), they will be receiving a good amount of PS3-PSP games on the Playstation Network for download. They will cost $5 or less and their space on the PSP will range from 100-500MB. Just another reason to up your memory stick to 2 or 4GB, aye?

Finally, The Age, an Australian newspaper, released some suggestions on how to resurrect the PSP. One of those suggestions includes to further tout more unique games instead of the usual ports (we know). But they do say LocoRoco is one of the must-have PSP games, which is enough for us:

Claims that the PSP’s library lacks must-have titles are spurious considering titles like Loco Roco, Lumines, Wipeout Pure, Daxter, Ridge Racer, Tekken Dark Resurrection, Syphon Filter Dark Mirror, Killzone Liberation, Field Commander, Ultimate Ghosts ‘n Goblins and the GTA games, but few have sold in huge numbers like many of the DS big hitters.

[v3.00]- Firmware Overviews, Reviews, Impressions….

Firmware [v3.00] has finally arrived!

The firmware includes:

• PLAYSTATION Network titles are now supported under [Game].
• [Remote Play] has been added as a feature under [Network].
• [Online Instruction Manuals] has been added as a feature under [Network].
• Timed recording has been added as a feature under [RSS Channel].
• A visual player has been added as a feature under [Music].
• 3-speed fast forward and fast reverse has been added as a feature under [Music].
• [Camera] has been added as a feature under [Photo].
• [UMD Auto-Start] has been added as a feature in [System Settings] under [Settings].

Here’s my overview of features that currently work with my PSP:

• The visual player: this feature allows for you to view several different background moving images while playing music or any type of audio. This includes an equalizer, a wave, and other WMP-esque designs. This is a handy feature for anyone who gets tired of their background or anyone who gets bored. Hopefully, this will open up to further customization by where people will be able to play small videos in the background (Lumines II-esque) 9.6/10
• RSS Timed Recording: this feature enables podcast-hungry PSP owners to receive updates every day at a certain time. This will ensure that no matter what the case, the latest episode of…our podcast, for example…is never missed. Because it is always downloaded. Unfortunately, there is no day-week system which would enable for updates to be checked every Sunday for our podcast. It’ll simply check everyday. Not so good for a weekly podcast. It must get annoying. 6.9/10
• UMD-Auto Start: This feature is perhaps the best fix coming to the PSP. After nearly a year of seeing my UMD game (for instance, LocoRoco) starting before I really wanted it to, there is finally a feature that can switch it on and off. This further allows for customization of PSP settings & gives us annoyed PSP owners a break. 10/10
• Remote Play: I don’t have a PS3–I never will (because I am getting a Wii)–but even so, this is a good and attractive feature for the few PS3 owners who want to take advantage of the multimedia capabilities of the system. Remote Play enables for access to the XMB (a.k.a. the menu for the PS3) to replay videos and music/view photos on the PSP. Here’s two one vids: here and here. N/R (no rating)
  
• Online Instruction Manuals: coming soon
• Camera: Just simply a link to something that hasn’t arrived as yet for non-Japanese PSP owners.
• Fast-forwarding: Instead of doing the quite slow 2 speed fast forwarding, you can finally do 3 speed! Yipee! Nuff said. 9.9/10
• Playstation Network Titles: NOT released yet and I don’t have a PS3 😛

More beautiful updates ahead!