The State of Gaming: Nintendo
E3 went down a few weeks ago and while there were no real earth shattering announcements (thanks to the ever persistance subculture of everything getting leaked), all in all it was a pretty good show. The rest of the year is looking pretty good indeed, with some of the smaller titles like Child Of Eden
First up: Nintendo.
PSP Go Stopped (in Japan)
Looks like the ill-fated PSP Go is about to be gone. A Japanese tech blog update (translated by Andriasang via Joystiq) reports that Sony has ceased shipments of the download-only handheld gaming platform to Japanese retailers, which parallels similar developments in other markets worldwide. Amazon's product page says the PSP Go has been "discontinued by the manufacturer." Sony has adopted a neither-confirm-nor-deny stance regarding future shipments and whether or not manufacturing has been halted altogether.
This news isn't exactly a shocker, but it's always noteworthy when another system that seemed forward-thinking turns out to be fatally flawed and goes the way of the N-Gage. I actually can't think of anyone I know personally (UPDATE) know one person personally who bought one. I have no doubt that download-only systems will be the norm in years to come, but the PSP Go was just too pricey for the features offered in order for it to see much commercial success. If the Next Generation Portable, scheduled for late 2011, is any indication, Sony has decided against going back to the download-only model for now. So pour one out for another gaming system headed to the annals of history before its 2nd birthday. If you've got any PSP Go memories to share, I'd love to see them below.
UPDATE: Sony Computer Entertainment of Japan has confirmed to Industry Gamers (via VG247) that production of the PSP Go has ceased in the land of the rising sun, but SCEA says it will still be headed to stateside shelves. SCEE has yet to comment on the device's future in European markets, but at least one UK retailer reports that when "current PSPgo stock is sold we will not be receiving replenishments." SCEJ has indicated that their focus in that market is on the Next Generation Portable.
Fun Fact: Queen and the Ogre
The Tactics Ogre series was heavily influenced by the music of Queen. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
In other news, series director Yasumi Matsuno has freaking awesome taste in music.
Prinny 2: The Fine Line Between Hard and Unfair
Nippon Ichi has gotten a lot of mileage out of the Disgaea engine and art assets. First, they made over a half dozen tactical RPGs. Second, they made a clever, unique dungeon crawler in the form of Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman
Dissidia 012[duodecim]: Final Fantasy Japanese Release Shows a Hopeful Trend
Normally, we don't report on Japanese release dates here at Aggrogate, because, hey, we're not in Japan. That being said, it's worth noting the release of Dissidia 012[duodecim]:Final Fantasy because of one interesting fact. Siliconera reports that the sequel to the PSP only game will be launching Japan on March 3rd and will be coupled with a typical Japanese limited edition PSP; this particular one will come with images of Chaos and Cosmos on it, though no pictures have been released yet. What's most interesting about this is the price: the PSP game will cost 6,090¥ (~$72) in stores, but will only cost 4,980¥ (~$60) on PSN. To my knowledge, most games on PSP have parity for the retail and the digital release and, on occasion, the digital release lags behind the retail, though this occurrence has lessened since the PSN moved to Tuesday releases. As a fan of the digital revolution and a rare lover of the PSPgo, I find this wholly encouraging.
Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded trailers – Gameplay Montage and Story
KH13 (via Heartstation) has posted a couple of videos of the next title in American shores. Kingdom Hearts: RE:coded is a remake of previous Japan exclusive game Kingdom Hearts: coded. This title is the first title to move the timeline in the series forward since Kingdom Hearts II; PSP title Birth by Sleep takes place 10 years before the first game, and the DS title 358/2 days mainly takes place in the year gap between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II. The above trailer is a plot while a gameplay trailer is embedded after the break. Coded is thus far the only game in the series I've not played, not having a Japanese cell phone to play it on, so as the superfan we all know I am, this has me super excited. Kingdom Hearts: RE:coded comes out January 11, next year.
How Big Will 3DS Games Be?
According to an article over at GoNintendo (via Nintendo Life), the 3DS cart will have a capacity of 1GB and can go up to a whopping 8GB. For comparison's sake, the current DS card holds only 512MB, and the PSP's dual layer UMDs can only hold 1.8 GBs of data. Of course it's doubtful that the developers will actually use all that space. But it's good to know that Hideo Kojima won't have to sacrifice his uncompressed audio to port Metal Gear Solid 3 to the 3DS. Of course these could be a great chance to start a new wave retro revival; I, for one, would love to see the PS1 and maybe even PS2 Final Fantasys make their way over to the 3DS. I think there's room for a 3D remake scene to go alone the HD remakes that we're getting.
Dissidia Sequel Gameplay Clips
So far they've announced 5 new characters in the sequel to Dissidia: Final Fantasy. We've got video showcasing of four of those characters in combat. Above is most recently announced Laguna Loire of Final Fantasy VIII taking on the protagonist of the latest game, Lightning Farron. Embedded after the break is a clip of Final Fantasy XII's Vaan taking on Tifa Lockheart of the Final Fantasy VII series. The sequel to the PSP exclusive is scheduled to hit sometime early next year.
(via Andriasang)
Z.H.P.: Unlosing Ranger Vs. Darkdeath Evilman: Great, The Title’s So Long Now There’s No Room For A Headline
NIS America is climbing out of its Disgaea rut with the bizarrely-named Z.H.P. Unlosing Ranger Vs. Darkdeath Evilman
While Z.H.P. uses the same engine as Disgaea, it's not a turn-based strategy game. In fact, you only control one character, the titular Unlosing Ranger. No, Z.H.P. is a Roguelike game in Disgaea's clothing, a turn-based dungeon crawler in the tradition of Nethack, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Shiren the Wanderer, and Izuna the Unemployed Ninja. Instead of raising an army of different soldiers and monsters, you have to run nearly solo through almost bottomless dungeons, relying on stat grinding, strategy, and blind luck to survive.
JRPG Win! Here Comes Persona 2: Innocent Sin!
Thank you, gods of JRPGs! Shin Megami Tensei fans are well aware that much like many RPG's in past years, there is one chapter of the Persona series that never made it out of Japan. Persona 2 was actually two games: Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment. Unfortunately, only the second game came out in America, which made the game maddening to play due to the direct references back to the previous game in the series. To make things worse, Atlus remade Persona and Persona 3 on the PSP, completely skipping Persona 2.
I had given up hope of ever legally playing though Persona 2, but Atlus just came though! Siliconera just broke news that Persona 2 is not only coming back, it's going to be a full on remake with new content! With Atlus's track record, it's almost certain this is westward bound.
Navigation
Recent Posts
- SMBC Covers Internet Policy Better Than Me
- The Humble Bundle is Back Again, and Now For Android
- Happy Quinceanera, Final Fantasy 7
- Panning Silver: The Wrongo Superman (Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #114)
- Bronycon: Bronies and Q Hit the Meadowlands This Summer
Recent Comments
- Doubleself on The Top 5 Sandbox Games
- I_TBAG_U87 on Anatomy of the Rage Quit
- Hosting forums on Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Yes, Deadpool Can Shoryuken (And Why This Is Awesome)
- TheShufflingSkeleton on Get a LittleBigPlanet 2 Beta Key Here!
- Brian on Is Sony Screwing Up the PS Vita? Not Yet. Maybe. Sort of.
