'PlayStation3' Category

Loco Roco is one of those games that you will remember very well and very long, it’s such a wonderful game, I gave it to my wife who never really play any game before and she finished it before I did. Although it didn’t sell as well, most of the people who bought it enjoy everything about the game. At the ongoing GDC 2007, the father of those cute little yellow blobs, director Tsutomo Kouno, share his development process and even drops some hints about the next version during his “A LocoRoco Postmortem: Making Happiness into Gameplay” talk.

Determined to create a game that is easy and fun, Kouno concept for the game started with a sketch on his PDA, and he collects ideas for it while taking the commuter trains to work. And we have his PDA to thank for as tilting the PDA to sketch gave him the ideas of how to control the LocoRocos. And since the PDA has the same size as PSP, the platform for the game was decided there and then. A PC demo prepared in one week finally convinced his bosses to give the game a go ahead. Kouno went on to explains the process behind the level design, characters and the music. The game, while simple, is clearly not easy to make.

And the next version of Loco Roco was discussed as well. Kouno is planning for more advance technology to draw the characters in-game, improved artificial intelligence (A.I.), better the already impressive music, more visual effects and interestingly, a new way of playing the game. As for the question that everyone is asking, the platform for this next version, Kouno said that he will not betray our expectations and we can expect great things. I just have a strong feeling that both PSP and PS3 will get it.

More pictures after the jump. Via Famitsu, ITmedia & GameSpot.

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That’s how I (and PSP Fanboy) feel as I read and scan through the avalanche of reports on Sony’s next big plan unveiled during the ongoing Game Developers Conference 2007, the PlayStation Home. Apart from appearing briefly as “Virtual PSP” that serves only as navigation tool for the Home environment (and I have to say it currently looks ugly), there seems to be no further part for our favorite consoles, or perhaps not now. Perhaps one of the more obvious role for PSP in PlayStation Home could be as a secondary tool, where smaller tasks that don’t require a complete 3D environment can be done remotely. I never try it out but World Soccer Winning Eleven 9 on the PSP do have a feature that allows you to train your players on the go for use on the PlayStation 2 version, so let’s hope Sony have a more creative way to explore that kind of connection. The GDC 2007 is in full swing now and I am waiting for more game announcements for the PSP and PS3.

As of today, Famitsu reported that Capcom’s Monster Hunter Portable 2nd has sold more than a million copies in Japan alone, making it the fastest selling PSP games ever in Japan. The previous version, which was the best selling psp games in Japan, took months before reaching the one million mark, so this is obviously a great news for Capcom and the PSP.

It will be interesting to see how the game fare in its second week in Japan, which also see the release of the highly anticipated Gundam Musou for the PS3, Gpara has the latest data and although MPH 2nd is still strong at the 2nd spot, it can’t beat the power of Gundam Musou, who debuts at the top spot.

Japanese PS3 owners can get a taste of everybody’s favorite golf game, Minna no Golf 5 (Hot Shots Golf 5 in the US) this March 21st. The actual game is set for a July release in Japan and it will be the series 20th anniversary since its first game on July 17, 1997. The game focus on the fun part of golf, so instead of the hyper realistic players featured in the likes of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, you get cartoonish characters with over-the-top expression. The demo will be free of charge and more delicious screenshots after the jump. Via Gpara, ITMedia.

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There’s a lot of things going on at AOU2007, the annual showcase for all things arcade in Japan. One of the bigger announcements is Namco’s Tekken 6 AC, the first piece of news on Namco’s answers to Sega Virtua Fighter 5. Two new characters were introduced, Leo and Zafina, and it will be the first arcade game to base on PS3’s tech, which means it’s likely that the PS3 will get the same game. The game is set to come out this year although there is still no news on the PS3 version. The official website was launched at the same time and there are already plenty of screenshots and a gameplay video for download. For PSP owners, seeing how well Tekken: Dark Resurrection has done, there is a chance that we might get a game for this as well. In the meantime, here’s three PSP-formatted wallpapers for download.

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According to JeuxFrance, the developers behind Ico and Shadow of the Colossus will reveal their next project in an upcoming issue of Famitsu, with PlayStation 3 obviously the platform. While it’s not unusual that a Sony in-house team is working on a PS3 project, acclaimed director Fumito Ueda’s next game will certainly create a lot of much needed publicity for Sony. Both Ico and Shadow of the Colossus have received numerous awards and both are widely perceived as one of the best games on the PS2. JeuxFrance has a scan of what it says a column where the team is looking for new hires on a PS3 project. Via JeuxFrance.

I am hardly a baseball fanatic, but the Japanese love their baseball, and baseball games alway do well in the country. PlayStation 3 owners in the US already played Major League Baseball 2K7, but the Japanese have to wait until this April to finally played a next-gen baseball game. Pro Yakyuu Spirits 4 is the latest in the popular series from Konami, and the official Japanese website has released the game’s first screenshots and I think they look pretty, aren’t they?

Click here for more images or visit the official Japanese website for the images in larger resolution.

On the other hand, the PSP owners will get an update to Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu Portable, the wildly popular baseball series is from Konami as well and is a full feature baseball sim with cute looking characters. Here’s the first screens.

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A product listing from online game retailers GameStop and Rakuten suggest that Square Enix mega project Final Fantasy XIII will be in stores this December 1st. While this is not entirely impossible, Square had just recently told everyone that while a playable version might be available for E3 and Tokyo Game Show 2007, it’s almost certain that the game will only come out in 2008. However, it’s interesting that both US and Japanese online stores listed the same release date.

Kojima Productions will be showing the Metal Gear Solid 4 version of Snake action figure for the first time ever in the upcoming Toy Fair New York 2007 which will be held from Feb 11 to Feb 14. Made by Medicom Toy and being supervised by Hideo Kojima himself, the model looks extremely detailed and lifelike. More images after the jump.

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Koei and Namco Bandai’s Gundam Musou almost single handedly keeping the PlayStation 3 visible during these painfully slow months for Japanese PS3 owners. The game let players enjoy the fun of the Dynasty Warriors series with Mobile Suits instead of historical figures. It is based on the earlier part of Universal Century and among the animes featured are Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ.

The official website is now updated with the game official trailer and the first of planned three movies that will focus on a Mobile Suit each with one of the earliest MS, the RX-78-2 in action for the first one. Also in the movie are the various modes in action, Official Mode retold some of the famous scenes from the world famous series while Original Mode features brand new stories told in a different setting from the series. Click here to check out the official website now.