61 Frames Per Second

Browse by Tags

(RSS)

Getting Medieval (and Evil) on PSP: Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!

Well, Sony, it’s about time. You publish two versions of Yuusha no Kuse Ni Namaikida for PSP in as many years and you don’t release either outside Japan? Come on, man! What could it hurt? Patapon and LocoRoco are weird, original PSP games and they’ve done okay. American nerds love RPGs and retro style. Where’s the love? WHERE IS IT?!

Ah, there it is.

It’s understandable if you missed Yuusha no Kuse Ni Namaikida (You’re Pretty Cheeky For a Hero, if you prefer) when it came out back in 2007. Even amongst import gamers, it was still pretty obscure. Here’s the score: you play as the evil, world-menacing bad-guy-demon-lord from Ye Olde JRPG. You build a large maze-dungeon on a 2D plain, fill it with monsters, and then hide in it. Eventually a hero will show up to try and kill you. You, naturally, aim to avoid him. Think Tecmo’s Deception meets Dragon Quest. Here’s a trailer to get your mind rolling.

How Sony Can Save the PSP in 2009

Over the holidays, I planned on digging deep (figuratively and literally, since the game is mostly about making caves) into Dungeon Maker II: The Hidden War. This did not happen on account of my PSP battery committing ritual suicide sometime between December 24th and the March release of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. I don’t really hold this against the battery, because it’s not like it had anything better to do. But it did get me angry, and thinking about what’s wrong with the PSP, and predicting that unless Sony can figure out what it’s really trying to get out of the handheld these days, it might be better off just letting it die.

In my predictions I mentioned that there were a few things Sony could do to save the system and brand. To be completely honest, it’s not actually very unlikely that Sony can do anything to increase market share or keep the PSP alive for more than another year or two. But it can “save” the PSP by going out with a bang, creating enough goodwill and momentum to give the PSP2 a fighting shot when it comes out, should such a system come out at all. Here’s what I think the handheld team at the company should do:

Bolster current PSP owners with cheap add-ons: The PSP is not a system aimed at soccer moms and old-age homes, so how is it possible that a “core” game-loving maniac like me has to wipe months of dust off the system every time I want to use it? It would not take much for someone like me to put the system into my primary rotation. Frequent PSOne releases on the Network Store alone would enough. Firmware updates that would provide nice bonuses, like caching UMD games to memory card or more robust video playback, would be simple value-adds that would make current owners more happy with their system. The worst part is, everything I’ve mentioned here are things that many PSPs can already do—if said PSP has hacked firmware. Which brings me to my next point:

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.