chaotic.signal
whatever Phil it's just random crap
LittleBigPlanet PSP
Nov 18th
LittleBigPlanet is a game I never really understood on the PS3, I thought it seemed a little too simplistic for a full on home console game. The game is very basically a platformer, there are some nice fun elements but at it’s heart it is a run of the mill platformer. The main selling point of the game though is the ability to create and share your own levels, create your own puzzles and generally be all round creative. When I saw it was coming to the PSP I was impressed by the graphics and thought that LBP would be the perfect game to be ported to the PSP. A bright, colourful and creative platformer is just what I could see myself enjoying, I had no idea…
Littlebigplanet PSP Gameplay
Nov 17th
PSP Tetris (Minis)
Oct 5th
Tetris get!
Finally the PSP gets a version of the classic Tetris, it has been a long time coming but by god it’s actually worth it. Tetris is available via PSN only (for a measly £3.99) and is labelled as one of the new PSP “minis”. From the moment I clapped eyes on it I was in love, the graphics are sharp and colourful, the music is great too, kind of techno remixes of the old Tetris songs. and of course the original mode will still gives you enjoyment but with this version the “variants” are where it’s at.
Each variant is a twist on the original formula, some that I’ve played before (like gravity where dissociated blocks drop down in the spaces below) and some variants I’ve never played, some are more challenging than others but the game will make you play them in order to unlock more. In every variant game you have only to score 40 lines and after that it’s over, but you get more points for finishing quickly and more points for the more “Tetrises” you get. So play your cards right and you can get some nice times and/or scores. My favourite variant is “Treadmill”. every time you drop a piece the whole screen moves to the right by one block and pops onto the left hand side, it’s confusing but fun. The hardest I think is “Split” where the playing field is split down the middle and each side is independent except for when scoring lines.
There are a few extras in the game too like the master replays, which will show you some fantastic times and scores and lets you watch their entire game as they played it. There’s also a glossary if you’re a nub or like me didn’t have a clue what a “T-Spin” was. That’s about it really, I would have to say that personally I think it’s the best Tetris game I’ve ever played 
Oh and here’s a quick video (music is not from the actual game):
Also available on Youtube
Gripshift
Jul 14th
It’s not a new game and it’s now available on PS3 and XBLA, but I’m hooked on the PSP version at the moment, I love getting all the stars and bouncing around the track to find the best speed and to grab the bonuses. I’ve only really completed the beginner stages so far but from what I’ve played it’s dam good.
If you haven’t seen it before; the courses are a little like Monkeyball courses but you’re driving a car and there are 4 main objectives on each course: Finish, get all stars, get the bonus token and get a gold qualifying speed, you don’t have to do them all on the same run either. The challenge is what makes it great, working out which way to go to complete each objective and then trying it out and losing vast chunks of your day
The curious case of the PSP Go
Jun 30th
I’ve been an on and off fan of the PSP for some time, I was one of the first people in the UK to get one from Lik-Sang (check it out I still have the photo from when it came), a company now shut down for doing exactly that, selling Japanese PSPs to the rest of the world. Originally though there were very few games out for the system and I lost interest for a while and sold it. I’ve had another two after that and I love the improvements in the Slim & Lite version.
Anyway, Sony are now launching their PSP Go which is a nice little slimmed down version of the console, buttons have been moved to a slide down panel and the UMD drive has been removed completely, meaning that all of your PSP Go games will come from the Playstation Store.
This causes problems for more than one reason, firstly the Playstation Store carries only a small selection of PSP games, there are many fantastic games that people will want to play that may even never be on the Playstation Store. Secondly, it cuts retailers out of the loop, once games stores have sold you your PSP Go you’ll never pop in for a game and if people take up the PSP Go en masse then less and less people will be buying UMDs, shops will stock less and UMDs will be harder to come by.
The PSP “Go get a loan”
The other major problem with the PSP Go is it’s price tag here in the UK it will ship at £230. The price alone makes the PSP Go stand out as another testament to how badly Sony is judging the market these days. For the price of a PSP GO you could buy 2 PSP 2000/3000, hell I could buy 2 Xbox 360s for that price.
As an aside on the price us tea drinkers get shafted yet again by Sony, a PSP 2003 in the UK is about £100, in the US it’s around $160, which is bang on exchange rate wise. Yet the PSP Go clocks in at £229 in the UK which would equate to a whopping $380 yet the PSP Go is only $249, go figure, sucks to be us right?
So the PSP GO makes you pay a massive premium by taking out the UMD drive, adding bluetooth support and 16GB of flash memory. Thanks Sony, but no thanks. Chips and Grainger Games, two “indie” franchise chains in the UK have already said they have taken zero pre-orders for the PSP Go and are considering not stocking it at all, mainly due to the lack of software.
I’m sure people will buy it, more likely in the US than the UK though, i feel maybe though that it’s kind of a death spiral for the PSP and Sony’s game department in general. Due to weak sales of the PS3 they are getting less and less exclusives, Activision have already said that if something doesn’t change at Sony they may no longer be developing games for the PS3 or PSP. They have the highest prices consoles in the handheld and home console market, they seem to be sorely misjudging the competition lately and it’s killing them.
Sony even had a poor show at E3 this year, watching SCEA CEO Jack Tretton reel off numbers, spit out hyperbole and play excruciatingly long promo videos. The icing on the cake was Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid creator), who earlier on had spoken English for the Microsoft conference needed a translator for his needlessly long speech.
Loco Roco 2 (Flash)
Jan 6th
I was a huuuuge fan of Loco Roco on the PSP, have been toying with the idea of getting another one (would be my third). In the meantime though I found this lovely minigame based on Loco Roco, the music brings back the memories!
The 'Wall' RSS Feed