G-News

Following a supremely lackluster update to the store last week, PSP owners can browse over to the PlayStation Store for PC and find two new downloadable games – flOw ($7.99) and Ape Escape: On the Loose ($14.99). Not too shabby, although the price of flOw seems several dollars too much when you take certain things into account.

Downloadable Games

• flOw ($7.99)
• Ape Escape: On the Loose ($14.99)

Game Videos (free)

• God of War Chains of Olympus Trailer
• Ape Escape On the Loose behind the scenes #1
• Ape Escape On the Loose behind the scenes #2

PSP Wallpaper (free)

• Ape Escape On the Loose wallpaper
• Warriors Orochi Wallpaper (x6)

Seven years ago Banpresto developed Super Robot Taisen Advance, which brought mecha from Nadesico and Gundam together for the first time. On June 19th, the Game Boy Advance game is getting a facelift when it becomes a PlayStation Portable title.

This is the second port of Super Robot Taisen Advance. The first port was a mobile phone game. Neither the original nor the first remake came to North America because of licensing issues.

Check out the comparison screenshots of the original and remake versions at Siliconera.

Videogamer reports that Sony has confirmed release dates for a host of upcoming PlayStation Store titles, both for PS3 and PSP via the PC PlayStation Store.

Coming to the PS3 store this month is Pain, followed by Elefunk in April and the wonderful looking echochrome in May. Pain was released on the US PlayStation Store late in 2007 and we’re not entirely sure why it has taken so long to get a European release. Those that do pick the game up this month can also look forward to a bunch of new character packs.

Coming to PSP this spring are flOw and Ape Quest. flOw, a PS3 PSN launch period title, will be available for PSP this month and sees players guiding a luminous creature, hunting and eating other creatures in order to evolve. It’s peaceful, calming entertainment and certainly worth a look later this month.

A surprise gift of games consoles lit up the eyes of four brothers who have all battled through a rare, life-threatening, genetic condition. Romsey’s Hartley brothers were each presented with a Sony PSP by Southampton company D&E Office Solutions. The company hopes the consoles will help the boys through the final stage of their rocky road to recovery.

Major League Baseball 2K8, has gone gold and is now ready for production for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION 3 computer entertainment system, PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, PSP (PlayStation Portable) system, and Wii home video game system.

Guess what gamers, now you can keep in touch with your buddies via Go!Messenger, the new wireless communication package for PSP. Best of all it is free and you can use it via any wireless broadband internet connection. Go!Messenger allows gamers to video, voice and instant message each other from anywhere in the world and when connected to a Go!Cam, the attachable video camera and microphone for the PSP, users also have the ability to make video calls to their friends and leave fun video and voice messages or irate ones, whichever you prefer.Go!Messenger has been developed in partnership with BT, allowing users to connect to wireless broadband at over 2,500 BT Openzone hotspots and in and around city centers. Users will have the freedom of a mobile phone except that through Go! Messenger all calls to other users are free.

“With Go!Messenger, the PSP is pushing new boundaries, adding unique communication features to all the existing multimedia experiences,” said Stephane Hareau, PSP European Marketing Manager. “Enabling more than 8.5 Million PSP users across the SCEE region to communicate with each other, through Video or Voice chat, truly confirms the always evolving nature and potential of PSP.”

Warren Buckley, BT Group Director Mobility & Convergence said, “By working with PlayStation, BT is helping to consolidate PSP as a communications and entertainment device that will sit at the heart of a PSP user’s digital lifestyle. For the first time, the PSP community can stay constantly connected through voice and video chat and instant messaging both in and out of the home. We believe that this exciting development will only help SCEE to attract even more customers for the PSP.”

How cool is that? When you are playing with a buddy on your PSPs and they frag you into oblivion, you can always sent a video of you flipping them the bird afterwards.

CHAMONIX, France (Reuters) - A start-up co-founded by famed Norwegian hacker “DVD Jon” is on Tuesday introducing a service that enables users to copy and use copy-protected Apple Inc(AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) iTunes songs on many popular non-Apple devices.

The San Francisco-based company, doubleTwist, is releasing a service that makes it easy for consumers to share both user-generated and professionally created audio, photos and video clips via computers, certain mobile phones or PSP game players.

Unlike the PlayStation 3’s PlayStation Store update, there’s plenty of new interactive content on the PlayStation Store for PC. Twisted Metal: Head On, the PSP launch game is now available through the store for $14.99. Chances are you could find it for cheaper, but the convenience of having it on a memory stick might be worth the price of admission.

There are also two new demos on the Store – Patapon (which I posted about recently) and MLB 08 The Show. There are also two Twisted Metal Videos, and a wallpaper to boot.

MLB 07 didn’t leave my PSP for a long stretch last year, and I’m expecting MLB 08 to be as solid as last year’s iteration was.

The full list of content is available after the break.

Hudson Entertainment’s classic RPG franchise Dungeon Explorer has returned for an all new experience for not only the Nintendo DS but the PSP as well, and each version of Warriors of Ancient Arts will have two different gameplay experiences and stories by offering players and updated version of the classic series with all-new stories.

On the PSP system, players find themselves on a quest to uncover the fate of a legendary kingdom. Along the way, heroes will engage in battles and fight against demonic and monstrous creatures, armed with their own arsenal of assorted weapons. There are hundreds of variations between weapons, armor and equipment for players to choose from, all of which can be reworked as they progress through the adventure. Also on the PSP system, players have the ability to choose their warfare style with more than 150 different kinds of fighting arts, one of them being “Big Bang Arts”. Big Bang Arts is unique to the PSP version and allows three players to team up to triple their destructive power in Ad-Hoc Multiplayer mode. Big Bang Arts harnesses the power of all three characters at once to unleash a devastating attack on the enemy. Timing will be crucial, as the game is action-oriented, and must be calculated precisely in order to be successful.

The Nintendo DS version places gamers in a land beleaguered by a legion of undead, monstrous soldiers. The story takes place long fter the events of the PSP system, as a legend foretells of a hero who will rise to face the growing threat. Gamers must rediscover the lost “Ancient Fighting Arts” to restore peace to the Kingdom of Westria. With more than 60 different fighting arts across 8 lost Ancient Fighting Art schools, players can become skilled warriors in order to successfully wage battle against their enemies. Armories of weapons, armor and equipment are available to players, along with three hero races and three character job classes. Players can also play in a group, as 3 players can join forces to battle the “Demon God’s” minions via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Nothing keeps the PSP going like homebrew applications and games. Some of you may have heard a few things here and there about a homebrew game called ‘Awaker’ that was being developed for the PSP and PC format. The wait is finally over and the game is ready for your downloading pleasure.

…it’s essentially a 2D racing game set on a psychedelic backdrop of neon lines and lights. The funky background isn’t just for show, though. If you happen to move while the “static fields” emitted by the towers go live, then you have to start all over again.