Posts by Majed Athab at PSP Fanboy

Majed Athab
New York, NY - http://www.pspfanboy.com

Majed Athab is a long-time gamer and a seasoned games journalist working primarily for the Joystiq Network's PS Fanboy blog. He also contributes to the various other blogs on the network, including Joystiq itself.

He got his first break in the industry writing for the RPGamer website shortly after graduating from the University of Portsmouth in the UK. As of right now, he's joyously writing from his Manhattan home and virtual office.

PSP Fanboy hands-on: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

Posted Oct 10th 2008 12:00PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Previews

The Kingdom Hearts series was first born on the PlayStation 2; however, it has gone and spread its wings into other realms since then and now it carries a new bundle of joy in the form of portable PSP title Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. While the title radically takes the story aspect of the game farther away from the original setting with Sora and friends, this new game will focus on the three (slightly) new faces pictured above (from left: Aqua, Ventus and Tera).

Birth by Sleep was indeed playable on the show floor at TGS and we sunk in some time with the title. The playable build that was available let us try out both Ventus and Tera in battle. We decided to just go with trying out Tera's abilities and then go straight into the action. Tera's level starts off in a forest area which gets you into a fight right away. Kingdom Hearts vets will notice that the controls are incredibly familiar; they're nearly identical to the original console games from the past, though with slight differences due to the change in input interface (ie, shoulder buttons once again control the camera since there are no dual analog nubs).

Gallery: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

Continue reading PSP Fanboy hands-on: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep

TGS 08: This is the special Dissidia PSP

Posted Oct 9th 2008 12:00PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Final Fantasy, Imports

Click for high-res image

You probably can't see the embossed Dissidia images on that shiny PSP Brite in this picture. The glittery surface is way too distracting. If you can't really make it out, we'll let you know that the Amano-esque logo characters Cosmos and Chaos are featured on the left and right side of the PSP respectively. It's a well detailed design, so you might want to have a closer look at the high-res version.

It's a shame that those who've imported and spent huge wads of cash on that Crisis Core PSP a year ago will probably be killing themselves for impulsively buying this one too. Resist it! It's pretty, but if you've already got a special ed PSP, one of that kind should be enough.

PSP Fanboy hands-on: Dissidia: Final Fantasy

Posted Oct 9th 2008 11:15AM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Final Fantasy, Previews

Dissidia: Final Fantasy has been a title we've been keeping an eye on a lot lately, and hence, it's one of the first games we decided to see out on the Tokyo Game Show floor. We moseyed on over to Sony's booth to get in a quick session before going at it again and taking in another short round over at Square Enix proper. Five characters were available to play: Firionel, Tidus, Squall, Warrior of Light, and Zidane. We decided to try out different characters for each play session and tested out the skills of Squall and Tidus.

The overall battle system is rather easy to pick up; attacking with the square button deals the amount of damage currently in your "Brave" gauge while attacking with the circle button drains your enemy's Brave, replenishing your own and then eventually putting enemies into a "Break" state as you can see here in these videos. Now while the general concept of the game's battle system is easy to grasp, mastering the play style of the individual characters is another story. After having played as both Squall and Tidus for a solid amount of time, we noticed that neither character played like the other. Even though their special moves use the same button inputs, they move and attack completely different.

Gallery: Final Fantasy Dissidia

Continue reading PSP Fanboy hands-on: Dissidia: Final Fantasy

TGS 08: Terra and Cloud confirmed for Dissidia, roster now complete

Posted Oct 9th 2008 9:20AM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Final Fantasy

After having watched a Dissidia: Final Fantasy trailer in Square Enix's Closed Mega Theater, the final two characters (heroes for Final Fantasies VI and VII) are confirmed to be Terra and Cloud. Gameplay footage was seen for both characters dueling against their respective arch nemesis. Cloud retains his classic look, while Terra dons a more child-like face and better resembles her original Amano design (blonde hair).

With Bartz and Ex-Death confirmed recently, that makes the entire 20 heroes and villains roster complete. Check back with us later, we'll have some more on Dissidia including full hands-on here at PSP Fanboy and full Square Enix Closed Theater impressions over on Joystiq. So keep an eye on both.

Two new Dissidia vids teach us how to fight

Posted Oct 6th 2008 1:00PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Final Fantasy, Video

Two new vids teach us a thing or two on how Dissidia: Final Fantasy's dramatic progressive battle system works, so pay close attention children. In the first one, keep watch over the big numbers that hover over the character HUD. This is the "Brave" stat. These numbers determine your attack power. If you attack while this number is at zero, then you do no damage. Also, did you notice that some attacks didn't damage HP, but instead started screwing around with the Brave numbers? Yeah, you'll want to watch the second vid (after the break) to fully understand that.

What's going on there is that some attacks drain an opponent's Brave and adds onto yours. This adds a bit of strategy as you can take an enemy down to zero and he'll go into a "Break" status. It's some sort of temporarily vulnerable state. It's a new take on the usual beat em' genre. We can't wait to see more of this game at TGS.

Continue reading Two new Dissidia vids teach us how to fight

Worldwide PSP releases for the week of October 5

Posted Oct 5th 2008 8:00AM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Software

Four straight weeks with games all across the board -- it looks like that summer drought is officially over. The fall season is packed and it seems everyone wants to get in on the holiday shopping spree. Phew! We were a little worried there for a moment.

NA Games:

EU Games:

Asian Games:

Vitality has been pumped back into the PSP, we can officially say.

Tenchu 4 to hit PSP, not Wii exclusive after all?

Posted Oct 4th 2008 12:00PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: News

There isn't enough ninja on PSP. There aren't enough pirates either, but Tenchu 4 can't solve that. It can, however, save us from a current lack of stealth kills and rooftop trespasses. Speaking to a Tenchu 4 rep, Siliconera got word that the famed neck-snapper would be going to PSP.

Later, they found out that the game was also listed on the OFLC (Australia) as a multiplatform release. Is this all just coincidence or an early leak? We guess the one place to find out would be at TGS starting next week.

Star Ocean for Europe out October 24

Posted Oct 3rd 2008 2:10PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Star Ocean

Star Ocean: First Departure was first announced for Europe in late August, though a specific date was yet to be determined. However now, we now know that the tri-Ace space voyager will be releasing in Europe on October 24 -- three days behind the North American date.

That's good to know for all you RPG fanatics that live over yonder. In celebration of this news, we've got ten new screenshots in our gallery for you to enjoy.

[Via press release]

Gallery: Star Ocean: The First Departure

Enkaku Sousa and Diamond Gunshot websites open

Posted Oct 3rd 2008 10:35AM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Imports

Yup, those two modern day, Dick Tracy-like games now have official sites. Now that the print mags have let the cat out of the bag on Sony's first party PSP games to be shown at TGS, the internet is getting a treat. If you're interested in getting a better look at either of these titles, you can check out the Enkaku Sousa website here or the Diamond and the Sound of a Gunshot one right here.

This blogger recommends checking out the Enkaku Sousa website purely to listen to the background music. That, and the fact that there's some footage on the game you can watch. Diamond Gunshot's website on the other hand, has less to offer, but drop by if you're interested.

Two out of three SCEI TGS games revealed, Irem brings Disaster Report to PSP

Posted Oct 2nd 2008 2:30PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: News

Here's another three new titles set to be shown at this year's Tokyo Game Show. Let's start first with two out of the three unannounced SCEI games, shall we? Both games are adventure, investigation-type games according to PSPHyper. They're called Enkaku Sousa and Diamond and the Sound of a Gun Shot. The third mystery Sony title is apparently Resistance: Retribution, which is something we've known about since E3. Not really much mystery there.

The last title we'll mention in this article is Irem's Disaster Report game for PSP. The company is bringing the series of survival adventure games over to the PSP with Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 3. The series has come over Stateside before, so this one might turn out to be a title that could make its way over here.

Source 1 - PSP Hyper
Source 2 - PSP Hyper

Tecmo unveils new PSP title: Undead Knights

Posted Oct 1st 2008 10:00AM by Majed Athab
Filed under: News

Good morning fellow PSP gamers, there's a new game to read about this morning. It comes from Tecmo -- who haven't released a game on PSP since Tokobot in 2005. The company's new title is called Undead Knights, as revealed in this week's issue of Famitsu. Scheduled for release next year, this survival horror title will focus on fighting "hordes of zombies" and -- like most developers working on new PSP titles -- it will include 4-player ad hoc.

[Via GameKyo]

Job listing reveals more on LittleBigPlanet PSP rumor

Posted Oct 1st 2008 8:00AM by Majed Athab
Filed under: News

Back in April we've heard rumors that the huge PS3 title out in the latter half of this month, LittleBigPlanet, would be getting its very own PSP title. Today, reader libertine pointed us to a SCEE job listing which refers to a position for "PSP game engine lead" whose job is to oversee "LittleBigPlanet projects." Whatever could this mean? Can we expect a handheld version of the dream-creation sim or can we expect to see some sort of LBP PS3-to-PSP integration?

[Thanks libertine!]

Update: Eurogamer had a chat with Media Molecule's Mark Healy where-in the MM co-founder legitimizes the possibility of LBP on PSP: "There's definitely scope for a PSP version. We've had discussions and talks, [but] nothing concrete at the moment."

Rumor: Firmware 5.0 = PS Store, new RSS, screen capture

Posted Sep 30th 2008 6:30PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Downloads

It wasn't too long ago that firmware 4.0 (and higher) dropped on our laps, and we're already hearing about the next major revision to hit the handheld: the big five-o. The word on the street (and by street we mean French website PSPGen) is that firmware 5.0 is currently in the hands of an unknown French dev studio and it will include several key features such as that direct-to-PS Store functionality we've heard so much about.

Other features like a revamped RSS reader would (*gasp*) be able to read text files. The inclusion of a screen capture tool echoes another rumor which is also said to be available in the upcoming PS3 Firmware 2.5. Regarding this, parallel development for screen grabs does seem to make a whole lot of sense.

[Via PSPWorld]

Namco's TGS line-up includes six PSP titles

Posted Sep 30th 2008 4:30PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: News

If you regularly read this blog, then the following Namco line-up shouldn't be all that new. Namco is bringing six titles to show; these are namely: Idolmaster SP Perfect Sun, Idolmaster SP Wandering Star, Idolmaster SP Missing Moon, Macross Ace Frontier, Mobile Suit Gundam vs. Gundam and last but not least Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2.

See what we mean? You've probably heard about all these before in the past few months. There doesn't seem to be any new announcements on the table -- which, we must say, is just fine. Though, it would've been way more exciting if there was some mysterious project being worked on ... something like this morning's unannounced Sony games.

PSP Fanboy hands-on: Prinny: Is It Okay If I am the Main Character?

Posted Sep 29th 2008 3:30PM by Majed Athab
Filed under: Disgaea, Store, Previews

Disgaea fans probably jumped in excitement upon hearing the news that Prinnies would be getting their own game for PSP. Prinny: Is It Okay If I Am The Main Character? is the aptly cute pseudo-2D side-scroller which is also being released in North America. While fans may be squealing in delight over that, here's one more tidbit that's going to make your day: you can play the game now off a demo on the Japanese PS Store. If you can't download it or just plain old stuck at work and can't get to it until you're at home, then we're providing our very own impressions for your convenience.

Getting right into it, the demo was a short, one-level adventure taking us through scenery we've seen in screenshots previously (namely the one posted above). As you can see, the environmental objects are 3D models and there will be times when certain actions will cause the camera to shift into this 3D perspective; however, the game is mostly in the 2D perspective, side-scrolling from left to right. Before you start the level you'll be given two optional difficulties: either a "one-hit you're dead" game or a "three-hit chance." The number of hits you can take will be displayed by icons placed in the upper left corner of the screen. If you die, you'll use up a life point which are all displayed in the bottom left.

Gallery: Prinny: Is It Okay If I Am The Main Character?

Continue reading PSP Fanboy hands-on: Prinny: Is It Okay If I am the Main Character?

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