via ign

The shockwaves felt from the announcement of Sony Computer Entertainment's impending online community Home are still rippling through the industry. So far, of course, that impact has put all the focus on PlayStation 3, but in the future, SCE may be able to use re-direct some of the Home movement towards its other "Game 3.0' system, the PlayStation Portable.

In a Home technical FAQ on Sony Computer Entertainment's DevNet service, the company addressed the question of whether Home will be accessible outside of your PlayStation 3. The company confirmed that aspects of Home are being considered for use on PlayStation Portable and possibly cellphones. Sony did not answer directly what its intentions might be with a mobile version of Home or give a timeline of when to expect further answers on these possibilities. The full quote about how Home relates to PSP is as follows:

Q: Is Home a PS3 specific service? Will users be able to access Home through other devices? Initially Home will only be accessible via that PLAYSTATION®3, although over time our intention is to enable users to interface certain Home features and services via other networked devices such as PlayStation®Portable (PSP®) and mobile phones.

IGN regular DarthBrian calls this "Virtual PSP" in Home a tease.
We're hoping that instead, it's a hint...

However it might be that Sony could "enable users to interface certain Home features" with PSP would be welcome -- this system is dying for a community network service of some type. However, PSP owners might want to temper expectations of a portable Home until we see what Sony actually does with it. It could well be that while the communication aspects of Home might come to PSP, it would be in the form of a more standard communication service -- text chat, VOIP exchanges, AIM-style Friend Lists, etc. -- than a full-fledged 3D version of home on the portable. Although Home is an amazing application capable of 3D gaming and other forms of interactivity, its underlying principle technology is simply standard communication methods (in fact, users can skip Home's virtual world entirely and just message or chat with each other on the standard PS3 XMB menu.) So, while your friends are exploring a 3D world of people and conversations, PSP home users might simply see a chat log and a Lobby List.

Even that, however, would be a huge service for the PlayStation Portable, which currently has no means of communicating with the PlayStation Network userbase and no community service of its own (unless you count the online crowd gathered for SOCOM and Syphon Filter battles.) Whether the PSP does or does not have a virtual world version of Home (and we're not saying it won't -- we're just saying that Home services might be quite different from what we're all excited about on PS3), that still means you would have Friend Lists and email access and the ability to challenging gamers before booting your favorite PSP game to see if anybody is online to play it. Plus, this would give PlayStation gamers a portable means of checking out what's going on at Home when they're not at home to check in on PS3.

Home is a major part of the future of PlayStation, and we'll be following its developments to see how Home expands and (hopefully) where else gamers can call Home. ...

via ign

The PSP GPS adapter hasn't seen too much support since its release late last year, but that's about to change. In Japan, the latest issue of Famitsu is home to a final release date for Sony's highly anticipated GPS update to Minna no Golf (known as Hot Shots Golf internationally).

Minna no Golf Ba Vol.1, as the game is being called, will hit Japan on 5/31 at a slightly pricey 5,980 yen. This is about 1,000 yen higher than most standard PSP games, and it doesn't even include the GPS unit. Sony will also offer a GPS unit bundle, at a cost of 9,980 yen.

The inclusion of a "Vol.1" in the title suggests that there will be future installments in the series. Sadly, Sony has yet to comment on the new addition to the name. ...

via ign

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII has a habit of making a brief appearance and then disappearing without a trace for months. The last sighting was at the Japanese Jump Festa event last December, where Square Enix unveiled a playable version that blew us away with its visuals and production values. Then, all went silent.

The game has resurfaced again, this time on the pages of Famitsu. The magazine has a four page update on the title, with new story and gameplay details, and some hints on when we can expect another look (following what we presume will be a period of complete radio silence).

We now have complete details on two characters who seem to have the biggest roles in the game's story. First off is Zack, who made a brief appearance in the classic FFVII title and is the main character in Crisis Core. Famitsu reveals his last name: Fair.

Joining Zack Fair is a first class solider named Angeal Hewley. He travels with Zack heavily, and the two have developed a strong trust, with Angeal acting as the teacher and Zack the pupil. He's also apparently well connected to the Sephiroth and Genesis characters. An image in Famitsu shows Angeal, Sephiroth and Genesis in a face off in the city of Junon.

Proucer Tetsuya Nomura shared some comments with the magazine on the two characters. He pointed out that Zack's last name, Fair, contrasts with Cloud, the hero of Final Fantasy VII. Hewley is a Greek term.

The Famitsu story also clears up a few points about the battle system, which we got to experience at the Jump event. In our hands-on writeup, we mentioned a mysterious three-slotted roulette that appeared at the top-left of the screen. This is known as the Digital Mind Wave. The DMW spins around on its own and automatically stops. Based on the number on which it stops, your character earns a variety of status upgrades, including increased HP and a full MP meter. Once you've gotten your rewards, the roulette automatically begins spinning again.

The DMW is the key to getting special Limit Break attacks during battle. The roulette has character images in addition to numbers. If all three slots stop on the same image, you get a powerful attack or recovery move, depending on the image.

Nomura wouldn't give a final release date to the magazine, but he did reveal that the latest version of the game will be available for play at May's Japan-only Square Enix Party.

At the very least, Japan can expect this game in 2007 now, as the official release date in Famitsu was recently changed from TBA to TBA 2007. ...

New game from hewenxie:


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via dsfanboy

Oishinbo is a manga about cooking that is apparently well-known for featuring delicious food. And now it's a DS game that features, well, pretty much everything. Usually licensed games aren't renowned for their innovation, but this thing looks nothing short of amazing.

Oishinbo Recipe Shuu features recipes, of course, keyword-searchable with handwriting input, and browsable images. It also has a quiz game (about food), manga-style tutorials of cooking techniques, and-- here's where it gets pretty impressive-- Oishinbo manga with links to the recipes shown in the manga. We love it! Well done, Bandai Namco. You've gotten us interested in a cooking game! ...

via siliconera

Back in the mists of time 6 AA batteries could only buy you 4 hours of handheld dogfighting in a pseudo-3D 16-colored environment of a game heavily inspired from Sega’s Afterburner arcade. The game was Blue Lightning and ran on Atari’s now-forgotten Lynx. Apparently 15 whole years ago. Funny thing is Jet Impulse, an import game for the Nintendo DS, immediately reminded me of said game. Then my Nitnendo DS died a particularly gruesome death and I got myself a nice (and rather used) replacement unit.

Still, arcadey flight sims are too much of a childhood favorite to allow me to fret over such minor disturbances, especially when they come all the way from Japan (uhm, the flight sims, not the disturbances, that is), feature a distinctly manga/anime storyline, 19 missions usually broken down in 2 to 3 stages and engrossing gameplay. You see, Jet Impulse is the product of one of those rare moments Nintendo comes up with a new franchise and thus is extremely polished, highly enjoyable and quite addictive. It also is another game designed especially for handhelds, which mean it’s perfect for a quick 10 minutes long bus-ride, what with its non-existent loading times and short but frantic levels.

The game, in essence a pure 3D shmup, plays rather traditionally for a DS title. The top screen is where the main action takes place, while the touch-screen serves mainly as a zoomable radar and a handy way to alternate between missile types. The d-pad controls the plane’s movement, R+L buttons its throttle and you got one button for selecting targets, one for shooting missiles and one for the machine guns. Nothing fancy really, but a tried and tested control method that feels intuitive enough to overcome the games’ Japanese manual and instructions.

In-game updates, objectives and mission descriptions in Japanese, on the other hand, do pose quite a bit of a problem. I for one spent hours chasing a certain red plane I should have simply ignored. I did hone my flying skills mind you, but the futile chase and pointless waste of enough tons of ammunition to take down a moderately sized army got incredibly boring and frustrating. Then, I just discovered the damn thing wasn’t supposed to go down. I was supposed to merely avoid it and run away. Moral of the story? Either learn Japanese or use a walkthrough.

Speaking of stories, well, the story of the game, lavishly as it might be narrated, is equally incomprehensible to objectives written in Japanese. Then again, it’s probably a tacky near-future superpower vs superpower affair.

It’s moments like speeding with a jet-fighter through heavy rain, climbing above cloud level and enjoying a serene silence only marginally spoiled by two enemy bombers, that are eloquent beyond the barriers of language and show off the sheer class of Jet Impulse. Same thing goes for huge naval battles, stealthy night missions and most of the set pieces the game has to offer. Actually, baring a few lengthy cutscenes and the odd incomprehensible objective, the language is more of an atmosphere enhancer than a problem. Especially considering that the English version of the game (to be released at some undefined point in the future) will be shockingly called DS Air. Don’t believe me? There’s a whole website to prove the truth of my words, even though there’s only this humble article to tell the western world how great a game Jet Impulse is. Not innovative, neither ground breaking or visually impressive, just great.

As for the online element of Jet Impulse utilizing the DS’s WiFi capabilities, well, it seems pretty darn impressive, giving access to downloadable game content (via the official Japanese website) and the ability to go head-to-head against players over the Internet. Problem is my wireless connection has been generally non-existent for the past weeks, which means I’ll be covering online play at some other day, provided I don’t first microwave my router. Oh, and there’s a 1-4 players wireless multiplayer mode, too. ...

via evil dragon

Dr_Ian released River Crossing, a game in Game & Watch-Style.

Your sad man must cross a seemingly infinite sequence of rivers. How? With good timing and skills. Unfortunately the rivers are extremely dangerous and he is very likely to die many times.

Download: River Crossing
Homepage: http://www.paintindy.com/ ...

The Nes Emulator for the Xbox 360 made with XNA has been updated, heres whats new:


More Info ...

Eke-Eke has released a new version of the Master System Emulator for the Gamecube and Nintendo Wii (gamecube slot)

This is a sourcecode only release, info below:


Heres more info:

Notes:

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