Japan Gaming Guide

Japan’s most popular Xbox 360 title is heading to the PSP later this year. There are a whole load of idolmaster pics over at Famitsu.

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The PSP is getting Phantasy Star Portable at the end of next month. Set in the world of Phanasy Star Universe the Sonic Team deeloped game will introduce us to new characters Vivienne and Helga. We’ll also get a character editor and local multiplayer.

Click through for more screens.

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God of War: Chains of Olympus is finally coming out in Japan next month. The game is the highest rated PSP title on both Metacritic and Gamerankings so is definitely worth a look come July 10th. The hack and slash action features some of the best graphics seen on the PSP to date.

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As the season of goodwill draws to a close it’s time to stop worrying about loving your neighbour as thyself, and get back to doing everything you can to ridicule and humiliate your friends and neighbours. In most years that would require a degree of effort and creativity, but this year you can satiate your darker urges with this electrified PSP. Just hand it to your enemy of choice and watch with glee as a ‘strong but harmless shock’ is sent coursing through their body.

We’re in the process of drawing up a long list of people to try this on over next year – Jack Thompson just made our Christmas list for starters.

[Read, via PSP Fanboy]

Capcom have officially announced that Monster Hunter Freedom 2G will be coming to the PSP in March. The last Monster Hunter game sold over a million copies in Japan, and is the most successful PSP title to date. The new edition will feature network play, and will enable you to carry over your character data from the older version. We’re promised new monsters and stages. The game is described as a sequel to Monster Hunter Freedom 2. Its being called ‘2G’ rather than ‘3’ which leads us to wonder just how new the game will be. We’ll bring you more details as they emerge.

Castlevania Dracula X is due out tomorrow in North America, with other versions following in November. Famitsu just posted a load of information about the new game. It’s a PSP remake of an old Japan only PC-Engine title with upgraded graphics and a load of extras thrown in – including a port of Symphony of the Night. However the remake turns out – and it’s looking very good – Symphony of the Night is worth a purchase by itself, so this package is nothing short of a pulsing jugular vein of temptation if you ask us.

The wireless co-op mode looks pretty cool as well – you can team up with a friend to take on the bosses. There are also a lot of goodies available on Konami’s site including an original soundtrack CD and a wrist strap.

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Wireless devices, including the Nintendo DS and the PSP are now banned on Japanese airlines. This means you’ll now have to content yourself with watching the array of inflight movies and enjoying the wide selection of beverages available to make your journey a pleasant one. Just switch that DS off!

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The Final Fantasy VII themed PSP slim went on sale on Thursday. The limited edition handheld has generated a lot of interest, and may mark a turning point in Sony’s fortunes here in Japan. Gamers, and several homeless people braved snake-like queues to get their hands on the cute little object of desire, which sold for Y25,000, but is sure to go for a lot more than that now that the limited run of 77,777 units is sold out. Wired’s Chris Kohler braved the queues, and got his hands on the new edition console.

[Read, via PSP Fanboy]

Looking forward to the new PSP? We can’t wait to get our hands on the new system. The PSP has never really set our hearts fluttering, but there’s something about this new design that has captured our attention. It’s on our shopping list, especially if we can get hold of one of these.

Famitsu just published a side by side comparison of the two systems. We’ve got some scans for you to look at. They’ve got all angle shots of both systems side by side. We can see the various changes, the re-arranged ports, the size reduction and the TV out feature, which we’re looking forward to testing out.

Not only is is smaller, it’s also 33% lighter, good news for those extended sessions, plus there’s a revamped d-pad, more RAM and faster loading times. Might the DS at last have a fight on it’s hands when the system is launched in September?

Good news for Final Fantasy fans. A special Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core version of the Playstation Portable will be released in Japan. Final Fantasy VII is 10 years old this year and this is part of the celebrations.

The special edition model is based on the new Slim/Lite version of the PSP. As you can see, it’s silver and includes the FFVII anniversary logo and a picture featuring Cloud, Zack and Sephiroth. Each unit will feature a unique serial number, and come with a Buster Sword wrist strap.

We reckon there’ll be a lot of people holding off buying a PSP until it gets some must-have games. A few of them might well be tempted by this. They’ll have to be fast. The September 13th release date is a full week ahead of the release of the regular PSP Slim, and only 77,777 units are available.

[Read, via PSP Fanboy]