Gamernode: Latest Sony PSP News

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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Patapon video

This is exactly what I need...maybe. Patapon is a rhythm/action game for the PSP, where timed button presses rally troops, mount attacks, and set defenses for the highly stylish Patapon army. It looks like chains of well-timed responses to the on-screen prompts lead to more effective actions on the part of these diminutive warriors.

As a gamer who always seeks some sort of motivation in order to perform the tasks set forth for me, I feel like Patapon may have the ability to draw a new crowd to the rhythm genre. Look for this game on February 12th in the States, and on store shelves right now in Japan. Check it out:

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A solar-charged PSP battery? That'd be nice

If you're anything like me, you hate the fact that batteries, at some point, will go dead. It is a hard fact of life that we all must deal with, especially if we use portable gaming systems. Maybe there's hope, though.

Over at DealExtreme, they are now selling an interesting little gadget, eloquently named the "1800mAh Self-Recharging Solar Battery USB Charger for PSP 1000/2000." It costs $28.76, and appears to be larger than the PSP itself.

While being able to charge my PSP battery while on the beach or climbing a mountain sounds awesome, I still can't help but wonder how exactly this thing is meant to work. It appears to just sit alongside the PSP and connect via the power port. Also, what the heck is that strange monacle-looking arm for, and why on earth is the acronym "USB" in the...

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Crisis Core heads to the U.S. in March

Alright, I know some of you may be thinking that Square-Enix overdid themselves with all of these Final Fantasy VII spinoffs. I'll be on the wagon with you and say that some games just didn't appeal to me, it was an uneccessary expansion of the story. Crisis Core however, is a game that would make me buy a PSP, hoping that I have enough money for one at the time of release.

That's right ravenous Final Fantasy fans, Crisis Core was finally announced to travel stateside come March 25th. So what makes this game stand out from all of the other spinoffs? Well for starters, it is a prequel to the original story of Final Fantasy VII. We follow the story of a SOLDIER named Zach who was in the same "company" as Cloud.

We are introduced to new characters, and characters that we have seen in the orig...

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Super-charged PSP offers better performance

Wired is reporting that Sony has taken off the wraps of its PSP and is allowing developers to overclock the handheld gaming console from 222mhz to 333mhz.

So far, it looks like there are improvements in the graphics and overall performance.

A test case was put together using next year's big title for the PSP, God of War: Chains of Olympus and the developer, Ready at Dawn, had its lead programming director explain the changes and differences while running the game at the old processor speed and the faster 333mhz clock rate.

The idea of a more powerful PSP will up the ante as far as giving developers more options in improving game play and graphics, but as it is with overclocking PCs, doing so means using more energy.

For the PC user, this is a negligible issue, but for the PSP user that is a...

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PSN store on the go?

The PSN store has always seemed slightly inefficient when it comes to downloading PSP content. Users have to use a Playstation 3 as a sort of electronic middleman in order to access the store, even if all they want is PSP stuff. For those gamers who prefer to wait for the PS3 library to grow before investing in Sony's big machine, this could pose a bit of a problem.

Now, though, they seem to be wising up to this issue, and Playstation network operations director Eric Lempel has confirmed that the company plans to make the store available directly from the PSP sometime in the future.

"With the capability of the PSP it’s something that should be possible, so it’s definitely something we’re thinking about. It’s just a matter of priorities and some technology that we...

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New PSP batteries promise more gaming time

Do you have the PSP battery pack blues? Do your DS friends kick sand in your face because you can barely squeeze out a few hours of game time on your Sony handheld while they complain that they only can get 15 hours on their DS Lites?

Sony to the rescue; they will be releasing a new battery that will be compatible with the PSP and new slim and lite models. This monster will clock in at 2200mAh and will give you an extra 20% of playing time on the old models and 80% more on the newer versions of the PSP.

But with all this power comes a slightly larger battery. On the thinner PSPs, it will slightly bulge out, so new covers for your machine will be available.

[via psponly]

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