NGP Will Not Only Play PSP Games, It Will Make Them Play Better

I'll continue to state that my love for the PSP doesn't come without its flaws. For instance there have been some incredibly good Ratchet & Clank PSP games I'd have loved to play, but I just couldn't do so with that one analog stick. Well it looks like I (and a lot of other people) are in luck. Eurogamer is reporting that not only will the NGP play PSP games, it will give them special perks.

In addition to running PSP games via software emulation, the NGP gives the added bonus of allowing them access to use the second analog stick. This is a blessing in disguise for games like Ratchet & Clank, God of War, or Resistance: Retribution (which made you control the camera with the buttons). The NGP will also upscale PSP games visuals which means they could even look better.

With this announcement and the PSP Remaster series it seems that Sony isn't giving up on the PSP so much as they're giving a bunch of different ways for gamers to play them.

Playstation Store Is Not Returning Today

So much for that huh? With many DLC and demos on hold since the Playstation Network & Playstation Store outage, there's still no light for the troubled online network, even though things look like they're well underway. Even though, allegedly, there was a memo sent to developers and publishers that the Playstation Store would return, it doesn't look like it will happen today, unfortunately.

Over at the official Playstaiton Blog, the online network is scheduled for maintenance, starting at 8:00AM until 5:00PM Pacific Time. Jeff Rubenstein, the Social Media Manager also states the following.

During this time, registration and Account Management will be inaccessible, including the password reset process.

While some users may experience difficulty signing in to PSN, the majority of consumers will be able to play online as well as sign in to external sites that require PSN authentication (like this one).

For those asking about the PlayStation Store, we’re still targeting restoration of all services by the end of this month. Contrary to reports, the Store will not be publishing today.

Stay tuned to the PlayStation Twitter feed for updates and a notice when maintenance has concluded.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

All hope isn't lost just yet, the Playstatin Store will be up soon!

PSP Games To Get PS3 HD Remasters

I love my PSP, more than most people do from what I can gauge. Even so, I'd really love to play some of these games (*cough Peace Walker*) on the big screen with a controller in hand. Well Sony is now making this a reality thanks to their "PSP Remaster" series. These are basically HD versions of older PSP games released for the PlayStation 3. They'll also support 3D, if you're into that sort of thing.

The Remasters are starting off in the Japanese market, but according to the press release which states that it's "starting in the Japanese market" it sounds like these games will be rolled out worldwide eventually.

Sony has partnered with Capcom right from the get go to make Monster Hunter 3rd HD Version the first of these games.

What may be the best part of these Remasters is that you can move between PSP and PS3 with little effort; saves will be compatible with each other.

We can expect to hear more at E3, which is right around the corner.

PSP Go Not So Dead...Yet

Turns out that the PSP Go isn't officially dead just yet. IGN has spoken to a Sony representative after the confirmation about Japan not doing anymore shipments for the 'failure at launch' handheld.

"We are continuing production of PSP Go for North America," says the Sony Computer Entertainment of America representative. Don't know what's going on to be honest, but hey, if more of them are still being manufactured, I guess, apparently, there's a small fanbase, heh!

Goodbye, PSP Go

According to an employee blog post from Sony's Japanese Sony Style site, shipments of PSP Go systems have ceased. The very underappreciated handheld system finally stopped being manufactured in favor of the current PSP-3000 and the upcoming NGP, which is said to be as powerful as the PS3.

Unfortunately, the PSP Go had not sold very well, in my opinion, due to the fact that it had it's "download only" games set-up. For me at least, if you bought a game digitially, didn't like it, there goes your money - that was such a total bummer. The other PSP on the other hand, you could possibly borrow a UMD game from a buddy of yours, see if you like it and not take up that much space on your memory stick, which the PSP Go had internally - 16GB. Even with the amount of space, it was a very unsatifactory way of getting games sold, especially with handhelds.

Either way, with things shaping up for the NGP, Sony gets credit for handheld gaming with the PSP.