2009 is PSP year!

John Koller promised us year 2009 will be PSP year, and he is not joking. We have a list of Triple-A titles coming out on PSP in year 2009 (at least till Q3 of 2009/10). Rumors of PSP2and PSP Go! or something new-PSP related keep us excited till at least E3 (I personally would sure hope PSP2 is a real thing!).


So, set aside the rumor of new PSP hardware coming out or not, the library of PSP software certain has and will be expanded to an enticing degree! Even though not all the games are my pick, but I am still happy the beloved little piece of gadget has got so many love from first- and third-party game developers and publishers. Sony certainly has done a much better job compared to last year. Looking at these new hardware (yet to be confirmed) and software (yet to be exhaustive), I am confident year 2009 is really PSP year! I sure hope its big brother PS3 would get the same treat real soon!

Year 2009 of PSP for Versus!

Not Final Fantasy Versus XIII, mind you (albeit wouldn't it be cool to have that game on PSP -- dream on!) Neogaf has a very nice thread regarding PSP in 2009 listing a rich library of PSP in 2009. Among those several caught my attention. In addition to RPG genre (i.e., Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, .Hack//Link, Persona, Cardboard Senki, Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days, Undead Knights, Ushiro, Ys Seven, Final Fantasy Agito XIII, etc.), maybe because of Dissidia: Final Fantasy, I kinda draw to more alike RPG/Fighting game.

Yes, I have already got my Japanese import, and yes I have put in precious 90+ hours in the game, but, frankly I still love it! Love it! And, surprisingly (even to myself) I look forwards to the English version (coming out in this summer) hoping there will be some extra bonus stuff (as happened to some games before during the localization, some extra stuff is added). I am not kidding when I said I am going to get the English version as well! It is really a masterpiece, putting all Final Fantasy protagonists and antagonists fighting to each other till death, certainly is brilliant idea. And, the sale is certainly quite impressive -- As of February 1, 2009, Dissidia: Final Fantasy has sold 900,000 copies in Japan, making it the fourth best-selling game for the PSP in Japan. And, it has obtained quite good reviews from all sorts of critics -- Famitsu (36/40) and Dengeki (90/95/85/85).

Probably, that's why there are two games coming out that can fall into the similar genre. One is Koei's Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce. This game probably is a marriage of Monster Hunter Portable (that has been crazily popular in Japan) and Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Almost all the Dynasty Warriors will appear in the game, and the game features a mission-based multiplayer theme, as well as, versus mode for players to fight to each other (4-on-4!). From the gameplay, we can see the warriors now have the ability to fly (or more precisely float/glide) in the air. The graphic is certainly quite impressive (almost as good as Dissidia). That's why I really like to get my hand on this game. It (the English version) will be released end of this month. Time to pre-order it on Play-Asia!

Now long ago, Namco Bandai announced a new game Tales of VS for PSP. I personally welcome such announcement. According to the announcement made, the game will be released in Japan this coming summer (and hopefully soon in English-speaking land). From the scans, pictures, and even trailers, the game looks very promising. Tales of VS would utilize a Linear Motion Battle System or LMBS which is used in previous games in the series. Characters will be able to carry out normal attacks and use new intricate actions such as jumping off of walls. Characters are able to gain experience by collecting Grade Points from winning battles and use these Grade Points to upgrade the statistics of three character. Like previous games in the series characters are also able to customize their weapons. Battles can feature up to a total of 4 characters at a time. Basically, it looks a lot like Dissidia, and I believe I am going to love it!

2009 is certainly a year for PSP, and I am really happy for it! I have my PSP for almost 5 years now (damn! time flies), and I am not even a single bit tired of the system. Good job Sony. And, now that there is rumor going on for PSP2. I am not really an early adopter, but I will go and buy this PSP2 when it is out the first day!

Finally! It is here!!!

After more than 1 week of waiting, due to the stupid UPS service, it is here, in my hand. My beloved Dissidia: Final Fantasy is so lovely to look at. Yeah it is in Japanese, but luckily it has some English/Chinese instructions in the booklet inside the box. And, some Website has provided quite a comprehensive guides to play the game without knowing any Japanese.

My favorite: Onion Knight!

This is probably the 25th hour since I have started playing Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Out of 20 characters, I am particularly fond of Onion Knight, one of the protagonist from Final Fantasy III [Wiki]. Onion Knight actually is not the exact name of the protagonist, but it is the strongest job class in the game. And, that's why it makes sense it is the main representative of the game. So, why do I like him so much? Probably because he is small, the fastest in speed of all other characters, and he has very swift move. I somehow relate myself to him, in a way I always the shortest among my friends, and always hope I am very swift in moving. Anyway, it is fun playing him. I have been using him to do the dual fighting with the CPU, and will use him to fight with my colleague in the office soon! Yeah, I have recommended this game to one of my colleagues who has PSP, and we will play WiFi fight! Very looking forwards to it!

All the characters of Dissidia

These are from the scans of Chinese version of Famitsu, and I just exerted those about the characters from the magazine! Can't wait any longer for the game!

Finally, they are gathered.

PSPHyper has some great pictures (scans) of all the heroes (and villains) gathered in Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Only one month to go! I certainly am extremely excited of that! Certainly will get a piece of this, even though it is in Japanese!

Finally a PSP Bleach game that I really enjoy!

There are already bunch of Bleach games released on multi-platforms. However, most of them are fighting games, which I have no love for. Basically because I suck at fighting games (seriously, I can never beat a character in Street Fighter). So, when I know that Sony is releasing Bleach: The Soul Carnival, I am so happy! And, after trying the game, I am sure this would be one of the PSP games that I love. What makes it more fantastic is that it has a Chinese version of the game (i.e., the dialogs, control, etc. are in Chinese even though the voice over is in Japanese).

Unlike those 1-on-1 fighting games, this game is a side-scrolling action game. The characters are presented in a "chibi" or super-deformed style, which actually worked quite nicely. The game-play even though is not innovative per se, but fit perfectly well on PSP. In fact, it runs smooth, and honestly it could be quite addictive to for instance collect all the playable or supporting characters, train new skills, etc. I really enjoy its fast-pace, colourful fighting sequences, and not to mention its intuitive game control. Even though the sales in Japan is not as good as those fighting games, I still think this game is a very high-quality game. I really suggest you go ahead and have a trial with it, than you will know I am right.

More leaked trailers from TGS 08 Square-Enix

New poster for Final Fantasy Agito XIII

Man, I love the style!

OMG: Final Fantasy Agito XIII for PSP

Look at the trailer. Even though it is taken using cam, but you could tell this game is going to be fantastic! At this moment, we have to wait till 2009 before we could see this game. But, luckily we have Dissidia coming in this year.

All the characters are revealed for Dissidia

Tokyo Game Show (TGS) of 2008!

Tokyo Game Show (TGS) is always a huge event for gamers throughout the whole world. All the gaming giants including Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Square-Enix, Konami, Capcom, EA, etc. would take this chance to do just about anything in order to steal the hearts of the gamers. So, starting from tomorrow till 10 October (Friday), we will see waves of news from TGS over the Internet. Hopefully some of which will rock our world. I personally hope to see some great news for Playstation 3 (PS3) considering its late track record of bad or no good news and Playstation Portable (PSP) considering its loosing support from 3rd party game developers. PSPHyper has listed the complete PSP lineup to be shown in TGS, some of which certainly are my focus such as Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Apparently, we will see the remainder characters from Final Fantasy V (most probably Bartz and Exdeath) , VI (most probably Terra), and VII (of course everyone hopes is Cloud) appear in the game. So, lets get excited together in the following 3 days (despite my busy work work work...)

More information and scans for Dissidia

Frankly, I check for the information about "Dissidia: Final Fantasy" first thing every morning when I turn on my computer. Sadly, there are not much news everyday. The game won't be released till December (and it is in Japanese version). I am seriously thinking of importing the game. Anyway, today I got two new pieces of scans. One is about "Final Fantasy IV" showcasing Cecil (Dark and Paladin version) and Golbez. Still impressive! But, the other scan actually got me hoping. Apparently, each character in the game is given a function to change costume. Cool! But, wouldn't it be cooler if each of these characters is actually given a "power" to "invite" another close character to join the fight, even for temporarily, for instance Tidus can call for Yuna!

Dissidia of DKΣ3713

I am becoming an addictive monster hunter

Never in a million year I would think I could be addicted to this game. Monster Hunter portable franchise has been a huge success in Japan, considering the top 5 best-selling PSP games in Japan all time, 3 of which are no other than Monster Hunter Portable series (namely Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G - 1st place, Monster Hunter Portable 2 - 2nd place, and Monster Hunter Portable - 4th place). Considering the huge success in Japan, I actually tried Monster Hunter Portable, and... I wasn't exactly enjoying it at all. Probably because of all the shortcomings that have been mentioned in a lot of game critics, including bad camera, no storyline, etc. That actually made me overlook the fun part (also the strong part) of the game, including in-depth and ultra-freedom customization, great graphics, tons of interesting monsters, and more importantly the strategy and strength required to hunt down all those monsters.
After almost 24 hours of playing the game in total, surprisingly I haven't really enjoyed most parts of the game. In fact, the skill, weapon, armor I am currently having are only capable of hunt down monsters of level 2-star, considering there are like 6-star... Certainly needs a lot of time and attention to really upgrade the skill, weapon and armor because those couldn't be acquired merely with money, but with stuff that you could find during missions. Sometimes I could be very frustrated because of that, but I guess, it is OK, cause I don't have to play it through in one day. I enjoy playing it once I am free in the subway or maybe after lunch break in the office.
Moreover, I actually have played this game in an ad-hoc mode with a colleague of mine. It was really fun to hunt down a huge monster together. The satisfaction of hunting down a utmost challenging monster could be quite addicting. Again, I really didn't expect I would be enjoying this game so much! Probably much more than RPG...

More HD Famitsu scans of Dissidia

Captured Gameplay from DKΣ3713

We have seen a lot of game play scans from Famitsu on Dissidia Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts : Birth by Sleep. Frankly those are very nice scan pictures, to feed my hunger for more information on these games. But, they are not enough. So, I captured some nice screen shots on the IGN video of the game play!


Dissidia Final Fantasy is certainly the game I look forwards the most, and it won't come out until end of this year. Even though only 4 months away, yet it feels so long (considering the localized English version is not yet on the horizon). GameSpot has a nice hands-on review on this game, and boy after reading that, I really want to get hold of this game (even though I am not really a big fan of fighting genre).


Frankly, even though I have seen a lot of scans or images of Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. I have not seen yet a game play footage, and thanks to IGN, finally I can see and feel how the game play looks like. And, Square-Enix again doesn't disappoint me. Both games graphics are top-notch, and the game play is perfectly smooth. Year 2009 will be a great year, I really believe so!

DKΣ3713 Game Scoop Video

This is a cool short video footage showing the private event of Square-Enix from IGN. Here, you could see the fantastic game play footage (albeit short) of Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP), Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days (NDS), and Dissidia Final Fantasy (PSP). After seeing the footage, I must say my expectation towards all these games just raise higher, much higher! And, I am more certain that these games won't disappoint me. See it for yourself.

Phantasy Star Portable is in a good start!

According to PSPHyper, Phantasy Star Portable (PSP) is off with a good start in Japan. I am really happy to see that cause some PSP games do deserve a good sale for their quality. After watching some trailers and gameplays of PSP, I must say I want this game more than the Monster Hunter franchise. I guess the main reason is that it appeals to me more with the Japanese anime style, and it seems more fast-paced than the MH franchise.

Even though I really want to play this game, the language barrier is always the hurdle. I guess, I just need to wait a while (probably a long while) before this game hit the Western shore with some localization. Sometimes, I really have the urge to learn the Japanese, but my laziness always overcomes me. It is the one of the aging process I guess. Let's wait and see then. At the time being, I guess I can still play the MH franchise. At least trying to really see the attractions, and let the attractions come to me. I guess I am trying to get myself hooked up with this legendary game.

PSP has a lot of love from Square-Enix

DKΣ3713 Private Party 2008 is over in Japan, and a lot of news, great news have been released. Apparently, after Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, Square-Enix definitely has shown a lot of love towards this wonderful piece of machine. I guess it makes sense, since the Nomura team has mastered the development of such machine with Crisis Core, and they should really further exploit such skills. Now, lets have a look what we can expect in the near future (till end of Q2 2009 at least I think) for our PSP.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep was playable in the event, which is a surprise to me because Square-Enix has already mentioned that the game won't be ready until 2009. According to a number of hand-ons (IGN and 1UP), the game definitely will become one of the masterpiece for PSP. Honestly, I really look forwards to it, and I definitely hope to see the trailer in the closed-theater of the event. Hopefully there will be a leaked footage, but I doubt it would happen due to the high security (man!).

Dissidia: Final Fantasy is another game that really gets my blood boiling. I am not really a fan of Street-Fighter-kinda games, mainly because I am very clumsy. Luckily according to 1UP and IGN hands on, it is not entirely Street-Fighter, there are some RPG elements in it. Moreover, the graphics and gameplay are unique and fantastic. I really think this game certainly is a representation of 20th anniversary of FF franchise, with all the representative characters from I to X. It is coming out in Japan end of December 2008, and I am going to save money for that! So far the confirmed characters include Warrior of Light and Garland (I), Firion and Emperor Mateus Palamecia (II), Onion Knight and Cloud of Darkness (III), Kefka Palazzo (VI), Sephiroth (VII), Squall Leonhart and Ultimecia, (VIII), Zidane Tribal and Kuja (IX), Tidus and Jecht (X).

Final Fantasy Agito XIII will be released on PSP, which probably is the biggest announcement in the private event. This game still remains a mystery for me. According to 1UP and IGN impression on the trailer, this game would be like Crisis Core, which is an Action RPG and it might have multiplayer feature! This game was supposed to be only for mobile phone (Japan only). I guess due to the increasing popularity of PSP worldwide and the success of Crisis Core, Square-Enix has decided to make such move (which certainly is a great decision from my point of view). The release date of this game is still in the midst, so, I guess I will have to wait a little longer to see this game.

Parasite Eve The 3rd Birthday is definitely a game that I know nothing about. Apparently, the sequels (The 3rd Birthday is actually a prequel for the Parasite Eve series) have gained quite a fanbase in Playstation One. Similar to Agito XIII, this game was supposed to be on mobile phone (Japan only). I guess Square-Enix really starts showing love towards PSP, and decided to move it to PSP (not sure if the mobile phone development has been terminated). A trailer is shown in the private event, but from IGN and Yahoo, the trailer has shown a number of CG cutscenes but no real-time footage of gameplay. So, I have no idea what this game is about. Anyway, who cares, it is a good thing there will be another game to look forwards to for PSP!