Dissidia: Final Fantasy, arguably the most anticipated PSP game ever, with its PSP exclusive status and being a project of which dreams (of fanatic geeko RPGamers, in particular) are made of, the culmination and therefore celebration of two decades of fantasy, Final Fantasy, that is, finally has an confirmed release date in North Amercia.

25th August 2009, will be the game's release date in North America, debatedly an overtly prolonged date since the game was first released in Japan last December, and sold to a remarkable figure of 900,000 copies, making it the fourth best-selling game for the PSP as of February 1, 2009,and the 12th best-selling game in Japan in 2008, selling 660,262 copies.

What seemed like a typical crossover game in the likes of Wii's Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the usual Capcom VS. series might just be much more than the superficial. As Fighting Game genre goes, the standard M.O. would be to depletethe opponent's life meter. With elements heavily rooted from the core Final Fantasy source, elements ranged from "HP Attack" to "EX Gauge" are essential to the gameplay, adding to its wild and freeflow gameplay.

As with all post-VII Final Fantasy installments, gamers can expect kickass cutscenes with this as well, despite the fact of it running on a significantly less powerful game engine being the portable PSP.

The cover to the US release comes with the reversal feature, providing both covers featuring both the heroes and their respective nemesis. Nifty as it is, it somehow still pales in comparison to the commissioned poster art from the V Jump Magazine scan back in November 2008, before the release of the game in Japan last December. Which is just simply gorgeous.

Rest assured that no heart will be broken when the (at-long-last) announced latest installment of the soul-searching all Fighting Gamer must indulge on an almost annual basis on the best weapons action fighting game series has finally arrived on PSP, Soul Calibur Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny.



Because God is coming. Kratos, who made a bitch out of Ares (and every other Greek Gods, not excluding Zeus, on a regular basis), the original God Of War, ever since the first installment back in 2005 is entering the ring with his Badass Chain Blades at hand. Releasing on September 30th, 2009, the first portable Soul Calibur expectedly omitted the Star Wars characters featured in the PS3 installment but being Namco, they just can't be thinking smaller scale in any sense. Not ever when it is just in the palm of yours.

Do check out Gamespot's hands-on preview.

Namco Bandai's long-in-the-making fighter finally given release date on Xbox 360, PS3; preorder incentives include Hori wireless fight stick, Penny Arcade DLC.

Pop quiz: When was Tekken 6 announced? Those who correctly stated that Namco Bandai's fighter was first debuted alongside Sony's PlayStation 3 at the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo win a prize: confirmation of the game's release date. Today, Namco Bandai said that the long-in-development Tekken 6 will see release on the Xbox 360 and PS3 in North America on October 27, with editions for Europe, Japan, and the rest of Asia to follow in close proximity.

Along with dating the game, Namco Bandai announced two preorder incentives for Tekken 6. Those looking to pick up a new fight stick can opt in to the Tekken 6 Wireless Fight Stick Bundle, which will be available for both the Xbox 360 and PS3 at participating retailers for $149.99. In addition to the game, the bundle includes a Hori wireless fight stick, as well as a Tekken 6-themed art book.

The second preorder pack is available for no additional charge exclusively at GameStop, and includes the downloadable Penny Arcade Samurai Pack. The DLC opens up the Cardboard Tube Samurai costume for the blade-wielding Yoshimitsu, as well as unlocks the limited-edition Samurai Battle Banners that can be applied to each of the game's 40 fighters. The preorder incentive also includes a Tekken 6-themed 2009-2010 calendar.

In April, Namco Bandai said that Tekken 6 will also be coming to the PSP this fall, and the publisher did not provide a narrowed release window as part of today's announcement. For more on the console editions, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Tekken 6.

Enhanced edition of Rockstar Leeds' top-rated gangster actioner coming to Sony's portable on UMD, via download for the PSP Go.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars received effusive critical praise when it debuted on the Nintendo DS in March. However, high marks from critics didn't translate to equally high sales, with the M-for-Mature-rated top-down shooter/minigame compilation selling just 90,000 units in the US during its opening month, according to the NPD Group. That figure is an extraordinarily low one, considering the DS's massive installed base and the strength of the franchise.

A commonly floated theory for Chinatown Wars' lackluster start is that mature games simply don't sell well on Nintendo's platforms. That theory may soon be tested, as Rockstar Games today said that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be available for Sony's PSP this fall. The game will see release via traditional retail discs, as well as a digital download through the PlayStation Network for Sony's newly unveiled UMD-less PSP Go, which will be available in the US on October 1.

As with the DS installment, Rockstar Leeds is leading development on the PSP edition of Chinatown Wars. Rockstar notes that the PSP game won't just be a port of its DS counterpart, with the publisher promising enhanced widescreen graphics, as well as improved lighting and animations. Chinatown Wars on the PSP also offers new story missions, though up-and-coming Triad gangster Huang Lee remains the portable title's protagonist.

Though Chinatown Wars was the first installment of Rockstar's acclaimed franchise to release on Nintendo's portable, the GTA series is no stranger to the PSP. In 2005, Rockstar released the well-received GTA: Liberty City Stories, which returned players to the New York-inspired scene seen in GTAIII. The following year, Rockstar brought GTA: Vice City Stories to the PSP, a well-regarded title that took place in the same humid Miami-mimicked streets of the original GTA: Vice City.

The PSP Go was only officially announced today, but Sony is wasting no time in letting this year's E3 attendees get their hands on it. Sprinkled liberally throughout the dozens of PSP stations at Sony's sizable E3 booth are a number of stations at which the PSP Go (which we found surprisingly comfortable, even when using the oddly positioned analog nub) is being used to showcase upcoming games. One of those games, which we had an opportunity to check out, is Little Big Planet.

The E3 demo version of LBP features only two levels: a story-style offering titled Gift of the Grab and a surfing minigame. Gift of the Grab, which may or may not be featured in LBP's all-new story mode, has a distinctly antipodean theme, sporting kangaroos with pouches that you can jump into, koalas that climb trees when you grab them, and boomerangs that spin around really quickly so that you can use them to launch into the air. The level didn't really look any different than those on the PS3, and areas where you're supposed to place stickers (as well as the usual selection of switches, levers, and the like) were clearly visible, even on the PSP Go's relatively small screen.

Sticking with the "down under" theme, the surfing minigame saw Sackboy stepping onto a surfboard that rocked on a pivot as he moved between the front and back. Staying on the board was easy, because although there were waves in the foreground and background, none of them appeared to be having any effect on the board. Even the giant shark giving chase didn't appear to pose a genuine threat, though its appearance certainly added a sense of urgency. The goal in the level was to collect point-scoring orbs, arranged in wave patterns throughout the level in such a way that you have to jump up and down to reach them. If you fall off your board, or fail to collect enough orbs while staying on it, it's game over.

It's unclear at this time exactly how level creation and sharing will work in the PSP version of Little Big Planet, but the impression we were given is that it will be as close to the PS3 experience as possible. With that said, the demo version on show here is plagued with some pretty excruciating load times, which appeared to be even worse on the original PSP systems than on the Go. It's still early days though, so we're hopeful that those will improve when LBP--which doesn't currently have a release date--arrives in stores and online.

Warriors Orochi 2 (Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin in Japan) is the PlayStation Portable follow-up to the poorly received handheld version of Warriors Orochi. The game marries Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors and expands on its predecessor with a few new tricks up its sleeves. We got our hands on the game at this year's E3 and had a chance to tool around with the new character roster and single-player modes.

As a brief recap for the uninitiated, the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series of games are third-person hack-and-slash action adventure games with a focus on battling and destroying huge armies in expansive open-world spaces. Warriors Orochi maintains this sense of scale and gives you direct control over three characters, only one of whom you'll actively control at any given time. Swapping out characters can be done on the fly by simply tapping on the D pad with the direction corresponding to the avatar you wish to send into battle. You'll steer your selected character around with the PSP's analog nub and use the square and triangle buttons to perform light and heavy attacks. Pressing and holding buttons charges an attack (though you can be struck while powering up), while the right bumper is used to unleash special moves. These special attacks perform flashy moves where they can--depending on which character you're using at the time--take on the form of rushing slash moves, spinning swords, or multiple rifle shots. Many of these include area-of-effect damage to several nearby targets when used and are useful when you find yourself swarmed by a group of attackers.

Action still revolves around killing waves of grunt-level fodder guards before taking on minibosses and more powerful adversaries with larger health bars, better armor, and their own special attacks. Our demo introduced us to the playable character San Zang, who had us searching for Sun Wukong. We were told that Sun Wukong had been imprisoned for "mischief." On the way to finding Sun Wukong, we passed the 100 soldiers kill counter, unlocking a new strategy that our team could use as we progressed onward.

Warriors Orochi 2 features several new modes, including Dream, Versus, and Survival. Dream mode allows you to select three characters from the 92-name roster (including new character Benkei for the western release) and play scenarios based on your choice of team members. Versus uses the same three-character team in a two-player head-to-head mode where you'll play across four different scenarios. Survival mode is a two-player mode that works identically to the Versus mode but includes infinite enemy spawning.

The game looks reasonable on the PSP's widescreen LCD and showed off fluid character animations and a solid frame rate, though environmental textures appeared quite muddy. Game audio (though repetitive) sounded quite good and did a good job of capturing the feel of the oriental setting--when you're not listening to the sound of swords hitting bodies. The game builds on the PlayStation 2 version of the game, and Warriors Orochi fans who are after a portable fix of their favorite hack-and-slash game will no doubt follow this with interest ahead of the game's as yet unconfirmed 2009 launch.

The Tekken 6 Vengeance Trailer, in my view, the best trailers for this sixth installment of the best Fighting Game Series ever, which in itself a reference material for all Fighting Game Trailer wannabe...




More of the other cool trailers available at the official Tekken 6 site...

The conclusion of incidentally, the most critical missing link of the entire Metal Gear Solid Saga...
...Rub your eyes, is exclusively on PSP!