Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble available now

Atlus U.S.A.’s Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble for PSP is now available in stores on UMD format and as a digital download on PlayStation Network. Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble is a beat ‘em up featuring a young man on a quest to become the toughest delinquent in his high-school, preferably through the use of his fists, feet and a sharp tongue. Players must take control of Sakamoto and guide him through the city to about learn about life, love, and laser eyes (really).

Players have 7 days to wander through the city of Kyouto and discover all it has to offer and every minute counts; you’ll travel, interact with the population, pick fights with virtually anyone, and face the consequences — and the cops. The game also offers a two-player co-op ad hoc mode that lets you run around with a friend to gain additional experience. Night Out mode lets you sneak out of the hotel after curfew to challenge Yakuza roaming about the town.

Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble is now available in stores and on PlayStation Network with an MSRP of $39.99. Find out more www.atlus.com/bancho.

No UMD for Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman

NIS America announced awhile ago that it wanted to release a UMD version of Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!? for retail.

But in order to do so it put a condition on doing it: the company asked fans that were interested in it to help them hit the 1,000 unit pre-order mark.

Almost a month later the company came to the conclusion that this would not happen after all. Why? Because not enough people pre-ordered the game. The company made the following statement in its most recent newsletter to fans:

Unfortunately, due to not meeting our demand of 1,000 units of Preorder, we will not be able to create the UMD version for ?Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!? What Did I Do to Deserve This??. We truly understand your disappointment in not having this item. In the future, we are considering to have the Badman 2 release on UMD. We truly would appreciate your patience and your understanding. Again, we truly apologize for the many inconveniences to all of our valuable fans. Thank you for your continuous support.

So much for a hard copy, right? Fans who wanted it on UMD but didn’t bother to pre-order have only themselves to blame. At least you can still get via PlayStation Netowkr as a digital download.

Who wants Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! on UMD?

NIS America has started a pre-order for the UMD version of Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! at RosenQueen.com. After recieving tons of mail from fans and running a poll at the company’s official web site, NIS America came to the conclusion that lots of people are still interested in Badman UMD. So it decided to support it, with a catch; people have to prove they want it by pre-ordering it.

“If we get 1,000 orders we will go ahead and manufacture the UMD version of Badman, the company said in a recent mailout to fans. “We are also trying to get support from retailers. If they support us, we’ll create the UMD even if the preorder doesn’t reach 1,000.”

If you are interested in the UMD version, visit the pre-order page and pledge your support.

Take a Half Minute to save the world

XSEED Games has released Half-Minute Hero for PSP in North America - the game will also be available shortly for digital download on the PlayStation Network Store for those of you that hate UMDs or own a PSP go. Half-Minute Hero is a unique is a fast and loose game that combines role-playing, shooter action and even a little RTS in a story where you literally have right around 30 seconds to save the world from utter destruction. Ain’t that a bitch?

Players choose between four modes of accelerated game-play totaling over 100 unique stages. Among the modes are the quick level-grinding RPG flavor of Hero Mode, the rapid-fire shooting of Princess Mode, Evil Lord mode where you control units to save the day and Knight mode where you serve as protector. No matter what you choose you’ll have 30 seconds to save the world with a story filled with scads of Western pop culture referenced humor and an 8-bit graphical style.

Half Minute Hero is available at retail now and the PlayStation Network Store will be available for download starting October 22nd. Both the UMD and digital download version have a suggested retail price of $29.99. For More information, visit halfminutehero.com.

$250 later: PSP Go in stores

IT’s UMD free whether you like it or not, but don’t be coy with me - you secretly love it right? Sony’s reimagining of the PlayStation Portable, PSP go, is in stores today and, according to Sony, there are approximately 100 games ready to be purchased and downloaded via PlayStation Network.

Retailing for more than the Nintendo Wii - $250, the PSP go offers 16GB flash memory, a smaller size, a sliding control panel and access to Gran Turismo, downloadable PSP games from Sony and third-party developers, and a light selection of some of the first PSP Minis titles (at right around $10 each).

Games in the store include Gran Turismo PSP, God of War: Chains of Olympus, Daxter, Resistance Retribution, MLB 09 The Show, and that’s just half of SCEA’s titles.

Read the rest of this entry »

Undead Knights in stores

Tecmo’s hack-n-slash zombie action game Undead Knights is now available in North America and today, with a digital download release via PlayStation Network coming shortly. Undead Knights is the first title from Tecmo to be released on both a UMD and digital download for the PSP Go.

Playing as an anti-hero, gamers rage through a world filled with fearless enemies to build a true army of darkness using Zombies as your foot soldiers. You do this by defeating as many enemies as you can using ten different combo attacks to transform them into your own personal zombie soldiers. The game also supports versus Ad-Hoc Multiplayer and co-op and features a heavy metal soundtrack.

For more information, check out www.undeadknights.com. Undead Knights is rated “M” (Mature) by the ESRB and carries a suggested retail price of US $39.99.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona released

Atlus U.S.A. announced that Shin Megami Tensei: Persona for PSP, the remake of the first chapter in the Persona role-playing game series, is now available at retailers across North America. The UMD version of the game is a Collector’s Edition boxed set that includes the game’s full 2-disc musical score at participating retailers. A digital PlayStation Network version of the game is also planned, currently scheduled for release on October 1st.

More than the same old JRPG, Persona is dark, philosophical, and complex. Persona is set in a modern day Japan that has gone into chaos. Demons run free, and you and your team must navigate an alternate version of your world to bring your reality back into order.
The remake boasts a fully relocalized script, revamped user interface, faster battles, expanded soundtrack, new in-game movies with voice work added just for the North American release and the familiar gameplay of the original.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona has been rated “T” for Teen by the ESRB.