Gamernode: Latest Sony PSP News

Super $200 PSP bundle coming in October

Yes, there is actually news outside of E3! Sony revealed that it plans to launch a mega deal PSP bundle slated for release in October.

In this jammed packed bundle, Sony is offering a silver PSP, the game Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, a coupon to download Echochrome, a UMD movie and a 1GB memory stick for only $200.

It looks like Sony is out on the hunt to capture more of the handheld market with the lower price and added swag.

When the PSP first launched in 2005, it retailed for $249 and only came with the PSP, a small 32MB memory card and charging chord. The new price and sweet bundle just may generate some more PSP fans out there.

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Patapon 2 revealed in latest Famitsu

Scans from the latest issue of Famitsu confirm that Sony is planning to release a sequel to the fantastic Patapon. However, the game is right now only confirmed for Japan, and Sony has not yet commented on whether or not the game will see release in North America, or any other territory for that matter.

The scans, as you can see for yourself below, seem to show off plenty of the same beautiful art style that the original introduced earlier this year, and furthermore I can't imagine the game play could have been changed too radically. So if you liked the original, then there's most likely a lot to be excited about.

There do appear to be some new inclusions, though. For those of you who don't Nihongo o hanashimasu (speak Japanese) the Japanese word for flying is bolded on the right hand side o...

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Dissidia: Final Fantasy gameplay

What do you get when you mix some of the most popular characters across most of the Final Fantasy games and Super Smash Bros-like mayhem? A FF fanboy's wet dream called Dissidia: Final Fantasy. Gaze at what to expect from playing this game when it comes out on the PSP in the near future. Featuring multiple characters, free flying combat and crazy animations, it's definitely a game to keep on every Final Fantasy fans watch list.

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PSP firmware 4.00 adds Google search

Sony's beefing up the PSP's feature set once again with the upcoming version 4.00 firmware. This time around, Google search will be integrated into the XMB via a new, easily accessible menu button for anyone interested in surfing the internet from their handheld.

The new "Internet Search" button will be located in the Network section of the XMB, and will "deliver the same Google search results as when searching on www.google.com." Aiming to "make web searches easier and convenient," Sony will also be adding a history feature that will save up to 20 previous search strings for later use.

In addition to the search function, firmware 4.00 will allow PSP owners to adjust playback speed for videos stored on their Memory Sticks. "This allows you to watch a video quickly, or slow it down to listen ...

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Ready at Dawn says it's quits for the PSP

Ready at Dawn, the game developer of the highly acclaimed PSP title, God of War: Chains of Olympus, and the popular Daxter game says that it is calling it quits as far as making any more games for the PSP.

Ready at Dawn sent back all of its devkits to Sony and will be moving on to bigger and better projects.

On RaD's website, an announcement stated:

"With Chains of Olympus going Gold in Japan... we're now officially done with PSP development. So today we sent all our devkits back and seeing all these boxes ready to be picked up definitely marks the end of an era here at Ready At Dawn.

"Can't wait to show you guys what we have in store...."

Although the announcement was sudden, there may have been hints that RaD was thinking about leaving the PSP. Didier Malenfant, president of Ready at Dawn, s...

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FFVII: Crisis Core CE to hit Europe

Europe is preparing for their Collector's Edition of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core to hit shelves very soon.

This edition comes with a high-quality slipcase and "the art of Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII-" hardcover artwork book. A price has not yet been confirmed, however current estimates from various websites agree that the price should not exceed 200 Euros ($312 US).

More info will be released when the game is closer to its release date. For now though you can check the official UK webite and learn all you need to know about the game and it's promotions.

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Sony's attempt to remove portability from the PSP

Great Scott! Another peripheral for the PSP that completely ignores what the last P stands for. It's portable for those playing the home game. In Japan, the land of the rising amounts of tecno-stuff, Sony has released a special kind of cradle for the PSP.

It's the kind of cradle you can set on your desk so you can watch movies. No longer will you be hampered with holding the PSP while you watch that free UMD of Family Guy you got with your Daxter bundle, or Lords of Dogtown if you can even remember those dark times.

This cradle/docking station does more than just hold up your PSP, it also comes with a remote, allowing you to control the Cross Media Bar from a great distance. How great? Well, the screen on the PSP is only 3.5 inches, so really the remote doesn't even have to work at fart...

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Do you practice hack-fu? Sony wants to know

Sony is not coy. In a recently released survey Sony asked its public strait up if they hack their PSP's and why. That's kind of ballsy don't you think? The survey is part of "ongoing consumer research" into why PSP owners enjoy destroying all the hard work and effort Sony employees put into building the PSP. 

Maybe it's just the Japanese translation but the survey (pictured below) has some hilarious wording. Things like "Hacking a PSP makes me feel like a rebel" and "It's my PSP, I can do whatever I want" are almost too good to come from official channels.

I'm not quite sure what Sony is hoping to gain from this kind of research. Are they just trying to get an estimation of how many PSP's are hacked? Would that change anything if they knew?

I mean even if half, no, ninety percent of PS...

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PSP has a 10 year plan. Sony will keep modding it

Sony's PSP, whether it be the original "phat" version or the newer slim version; the machines have been flying off the shelves in the past 6 months in the three major regions (Japan, NA, Europe).

With such popular games like FFVII: Crisis Core, God of War: Chains of Olympus and Monster Hunter G, the PSP is appealing to more and more players across the world.

With the celebration of the three year aniversary of the PSP, IGN recently interviewed Senior Marketing Manager of the PSP, John Koller, and asked him about how long he believed the life cycle of the PSP might be.

Koller replied saying, “We’ve talked about the PSP being a 10 year product, but a 10 year product in the continued… how can I put this… in the continued lifecycle, so we obviously had the 1000, we h...

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Blu-Ray Portable Copy should be done "later this y...

Just before the latest PS3 firmware update, rumors about the inclusion of Portable Copy -- which would allow PS3 owners to copy their Blu-Ray movies in standard def to their PSP for portable viewing -- swirled around the Internet like excrement in a toilet. Unfortunately (and not surprisingly) it wasn't included. (Or, to keep the metaphor going, the toilet was unsurprisingly clogged.)

The good news is, it's still on the plate for a future PS3 update "later this year." After reaching someone to speak with at Sony about Portable Copy and asking if it would even exist, they said that it's still in the works, and should be available before the year is done as the first Blu-Ray discs with portable copy included will hit the market by year's end. (Should being the key word, I assume.)

At this po...

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No more God of War from Ready at Dawn Studios

Did you like God of War: Chains of Olympus as much as Brendon did? If so, you might be disappointed to find out that Ready At Dawn Studios, the team responsible for the game, have made it clear that Chains of Olympus will be the last God of War game they will work on. That means no more PSP games; it means no port to the PlayStation 2, either.

"Moving forward, we can confirm that Chains of Olympus will be our last PSP game as we're moving on to other projects and other ideas on other consoles. We can also confirm that this will be our first and last God of War game as, just like Daxter before it, there will NOT be a PS2 port of the game. We like our games PSP exclusives :)"

I'm glad they like their PSP exclusives, but I know that this news is going to break plenty of gamers' hearts. I won...

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New Bronze PSP Bundle for Japan

Everyone loves color, therefore it is only smart for a game company to release their console in many different colors. Nothing about the console that changes; same hardware but all of a sudden it seems a lot more appealing.

Sony knows that changing colors sell, as can bee seen by the multiple different PSP bundles they offer to consumers in Japan and the U.S. 

You've got the regular black PSP, the silver Daxter bundle, the white Star Wars bundle, the upcoming red God of War bundle, the grey Final Fantasy Crisis Core bundle etc...Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has announced a new PSP bundle featuring a bronze-colored system.

According to Gamasutra, the PSP "Matte Bronze Value Pack" will become available for a limited time on April 24th for ¥23,800 ($228), and will include a “Matte Br...

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New Red PSP with God of War bundle

On top of the recently announced MGS4 release date and bundle information from Destination Playstation (that's fun to say), new info has arisen about a God of War: Chains of Olympus and PSP bundle from Sony.

SCEA has confirmed that the 'limited-edition' God of War Entertainment Pack will include a 'Deep Red' PSP with Kratos 'silk-screened' on the back, a copy of the game, Superbad UMD, and a PSN voucher to download Syphon Filter: Combat Ops from the PlayStation Store. The bundle will be available in June for $199.99.

This would be Sony's third PSP bundle in the US, following the Daxter and Star Wars Battlefront sets. I must say it does look slick and sexy just like Kratos--I mean, strong and brutish!

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God of War: Chains of Olympus gone gold

It's not so often that a really big-time PSP game is released, so the fact that Ready At Dawn has announced the completion of God of War: Chains of Olympus is certainly newsworthy. The game is ready to be slapped onto UMD and will be arriving in stores in just under three weeks.

Those of you who own a PSP, get ready to tell your grandma that you're not coming down for dinner, because this game looks to be one of the best the handheld has to offer. If you don't have a PSP (and I could hardly blame you if that's the case), then you might find it nice to know that the game is rumored to be headed to the PlayStation 2 somewhere down the road. Either way, we all win - unless of course you don't have a PS2, either. (shame on you)

You can bet I'll be grabbing this game right around its March 4t...

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PSP Echochrome costs 55% more than PS3 version

The unique puzzle game, Echochrome, will land in Japan on March 19th. It will be available both as a PlayStation Network download for the PS3 and in UMD form.

Last month, GamerNode speculated that the PSP version would cost slightly more at retail than in digital form, but now that the price points have been divulged, "slightly" has turned into "significantly." The PSP version of the game will cost JPY 3980 ($37) - 55% more than the JPY 1800 ($17) download.

North American pricing structure has not been solidified as of yet, so there may be some changes in store for our side of the world. As for differences between the two versions of the game, none have been mentioned.

If the prices don't change, and you have both a PS3 and PSP, I'd recommend playing on the Foreman Grill.

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PSP dev kit: Now 50% off!

SN Systems, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, announced yesterday that the development tools required to create PlayStation Portable software have been reduced in price by a very hefty 50 percent. Manufacturer support fees will also be halved.

The goal of this move is obviously to get more developers on board producing games for the handheld, which has already enjoyed quite a bit of sales growth over the last few months. Sony expects to have sold over 13 million PSP units by the end of the fiscal year in March.

The company has also reduced the price of development tools for the Playstation 3, which means that maybe they are finally understanding that it is software, not impressive specs or sleek design that ultimately sells hardware. Let's just hope that this doesn't mean a huge library of...

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Patapon priced at $20, pushed back 2 weeks

Remember that really unique and interesting game I posted a video of a few weeks ago? Yeah, the one nobody had anything to say about. Well it has now been announced that the game in question, Patapon, will launch with a price tag of just $19.99 - that's half the price of a typical new release on the PSP.

Patapon has also been pushed back from its original February 12th release date. It is now scheduled to hit store shelves on February 26th.

The announcement was made via the Playstation Blog by SCEA software marketing director Jeff Reese, who spoke of the cost of innovation in a market-driven gaming world:

"'Innovation'" is a double-edged sword; the gaming landscape is littered with cult-favorites that buck the trends and try a completely different approach, but have trouble finding a broad...

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More for the PSP - GPS inbound for the U.S.

Sony is on a roll with the PSP, which is quickly becoming the Swiss Army Knife of the handheld market.

Hot on the heels of their Skype announcement, Sony revealed that GPS navigation will also be available on North American PSP units sometime in the near future (Japan has been enjoying this feature for some time now).

At this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the official PSP GPS software was shown off, with a UMD providing the map information necessary to navigate. This is also how the final form of the PSP GPS is expected to work.

"Your PSP will provide 2D/3D locations, driving directions, POI's, and even downloadable city guides. With an easy search feature feature and customizable settings, GPS on PSP is the easiest way to navigate new areas and new cities."

There is no official ...

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Skype coming to PSP...Slim

The PSP has always been much more than a handheld gaming machine, and as time goes on, that statement becomes more and more true.

Sony has announced that as early as "late January," PSP users will be able to make use of a version of Skype designed specifically for the portable unit. This will allow the PSP to make voice calls to other PSPs, PCs, landline phones, and cell phones.

Like the PC version of the program, there will be a fee associated with PSP-to-telephone calls, but talking to PSP and PSP users will be free. Acquiring a dedicated phone number for your PSP will also tap the old coffers a bit. These fees have yet to be detailed.

The Skype program will be an integrated feature when it arrives as part of a regular firmware update, and will make use of the newly announced PSP micr...

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Sony unleashes new 16GB memory stick

The Sony PSP isn't going away anytime soon. Sony is dedicated to giving its sibling as much life as possible with connectability to the PS3, and its overall capabilities of being a powerful, multi-functional handheld system.

So if you didn't know, the PSP is capable of many other things besides gaming, including listening to music, viewing videos, etc.

Sony recently announced their 16GB memory stick. It is a Memory Stick Pro Duo and it can go in your PSP. The only downside is that it will retail for $300 upon release, a hefty price for something so small.

But think what you can do with 16GB! You can store hundreds of hundreds of pictures, and hundreds of songs right onto your PSP, making it a more acceptable alternative for a music player. Problem is, a $300 dollar MP3 player can hold more ...

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