Crystal Defenders now on PSP go

Crystal Defenders has been released on PSP go this week via the PlayStation Network. The game from Square Enix is based on the job classes and locations from the popular Final Fantasy Tactics game and is being billed as a “defensive simulation.” Does that mean when someone say that it sucks that it somehow gets defensive and storms out of the room or something? I’m not really sure, but it is only $10.00 USD. More likely is that it is a tower defense style game. In it you deploy units to defend crystals of wave after wave of bad guys. The game is based on the WiiWare game of the same name released in Japan at the beginning of this year.

According to Square Enix the game is easy enough to understand: monsters an area in waves until they are defeated or reach an exit; if they make it that far, they steal some crystals. Players have to decide where to deploy various jobs such as Black Mages or Soldiers that will attempt to defend the party’s crystals. Factors such as map terrain, monster strengths and weaknesses, job attributes, and more will play a role in determining what actions a player should take.

Look for the game on the PSP go via PlayStation Network, right now.

PSP go off to a slow start

According to www.andriasang.com, citing sales figures from Enterbrain, the PSP go only moved around 28,750 units in Japan in its first weekend at retail space.

This is probably the magic number that Sony was hoping for.  Sony and other software makers released select titles for the launch including Persona 3 Portable, Dissidia Final Fantasy and titles like Disgaea Infinite and LocoRoco Midnight Carnival. If anything it proves that Sunday launched are not always a great idea for hardware debuts.

Anyway, hopefully Sony’s go “will go somewhere” by year’s end.

Adventures To Go got up and went

Natsume announced today that its all-new strategy RPG Adventures To Go for the PlayStation Portable is now available exclusively at GameStop. It retails for an MSRP of $29.99 and is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB. In this new RPG, players take control of Finn Courtland and his band of misfits in their quest for fame and riches. Along the way, they just might have to save the world from the evil Arbitus and his band of demons.

The game uses a grid-based combat system, offers unique skills and abilities the ability to shape the game’s dungeons and challenges your liking and scads of humor and light-hearted fun. Would we expect anything but that from Natsume, whose bread and butter is Harvest Moon? I think not.

Armored Core 3 Portable lands on PlayStation Network

FromSoftware’s Armored Core 3 Portable, the latest in its mecha action game series, is available for download in North American on PlayStation Network. In Armored Core 3 Portable, players battle as members of the mercenary organization known as Raven piloting customizable mecha Armored Core (AC) units. The ACs are customizable with different weapons and machine parts that can be reconfigured as necessary to complete a variety of missions.

AC3 Portable promises over 50 missions, an enhanced menu interface and better in-game visibility, a highly customizable AC unit at your command (like other AC games you can configure weapons, parts, armor color and emblems), over 200 parts to choose from (including parts from the previous games in the series) PSP Ad Hoc Network support for multiplayer with up to four friends using a wireless connection, support for Ad Hoc Party on PlayStation 3, a brand new opponent from the Japanese Armored Core novel, and the promise that your data and saves will be transferrable to future AC titles on the PSP.

Find out more by visiting http://www.fromsoftware.jp/en/ or check out the screens after the break.

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Mahjongg Artifacts: Chapter 2 now available for PSP

G5 Entertainment announced today that Mahjongg Artifacts: Chapter 2 is now available in North America for PlayStation Portable - and of course, for the PSP go as a digital download. Mahjongg Artifacts: Chapter 2 features a Quest Mode, where players embark on an adventure to find artifacts along the way. Classic Mode offers basic mahjongg gameplay in a wide selection of layouts, and Endless Mode challenges players with an ever-rising tower of game pieces. Quest mode offers 25 levels, while Classic mode offers 99 levels in total. Endless mode is apparently.. endless.

Mahjongg Artifacts: Chapter 2 can be found in the PSP Minis section of the PlayStation Network Store, and downloaded with the PlayStation 3, PSP or PSP go. The game can also be downloaded to PC with Media Go software and installed to the PSP. Find out more at www.g5e.com.

Video game hardware, software sales mostly flat in Sept.

While some might applaud the new batch of sales numbers for the month of Sept., they show that the sector, like many others in the world during this still shaky financial times, is feeling the bite just like everyone else. It is hard to imagine what hardware numbers might look like if Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft hadn’t slashed the prices on their respective home console systems. Even with those price cuts, NPD data for the month showed a meager 1 percent gain over the same period a year ago, with total videogame related sales in the U.S. of around $1.28. Again, if not for cuts, it would have been more downward trending for the sector. Still it’s hard to ignore that compared to August, sales were up considerably in Sept.

On the hardware front, the one relevant console that did not get a price cut, the DS (which includes the DSi and DS Lite), was at the top of the heap moving over half a million units in the month. The good news for Sony - if there really is any in a month that was mostly flat - is that it managed to beat out the Wii and Xbox 360 in the month with 491,000 units. The Wii was close by with almost 463,000 units and the Xbox 360 managed to move nearly 353,000 units. The PSP moved right around 190,000 units in Sept., - which we assume includes both the old model and the new PSP go. Finally, the PS2 managed to move 146,000 units.

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D3Publisher cuts prices for PSP Go launch

D3Publisher is offering a temporary price cut on its suite of downloadable games for the PSP - in support of the release of the PSP Go today. Beginning today through October 8th, D3Publisher is celebrating the launch of the brand new PSP by reducing the price on downloadable versions of its classic games for the PSP system by 50 percent Gamers can take advantage of saving on such games such as WTF: work time fun, Dead Head Fred, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords and more via download through the PlayStation Store.

WTF: work time fun is available for $4.99, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords is available for $7.99, Dead Head Fred is available for $7.99, PQ: Practical Intelligence Quotient is available for $4.99, PQ2: Practical Intelligence Quotient 2 is available for $7.99 and Cube is available for $4.99.