And for the record, graphics are that important if you're trying to tell a story in a game. Believe it or not but some scenes do lose their impact through gratuitous use of chibi characters flailing their manimal paws. Why RPG enthusiasts have such a hard time conceding this to be true in their own genre while accepting it in others will forever perplex me.

I've actually found the opposite to be true. Sites like RPG Fan have often posted reviews for which the term "bitchy" is a pale euphemism. Handheld RPGs specifically seem to catch the most flak.

It's both funny and sad that (J)RPG fans and FPS fans so often place themselves at odds with each other...as both genres seem to suffer equally from reviewers who expect the wheel to be reinvented with each and every outing.

In either case a major third-party which had largely abandoned PSP development is now bringing one of its next-gen franchises to the system. That's pretty huge. And it speaks to what developers may be seeing as a "second chance" with a handheld market nearing saturation on the Nintendo side of things.

I do believe that if Sony committed themselves to dropping the price of the unit into the sub-$150 range and threw a bit more advertising revenue behind it in North America we could potentially see worldwide numbers push past the 50 million mark by the end of its life.

Still, as long as it stays this strong in Japan the likelihood of seeing more "Western-friendly" titles produced (and most importantly: localized) becomes much greater. Who knows? We may yet see Devil May Cry or Resident Evil on the system. DKS3713 and TGS '08 should reveal quite a bit about where the system is heading in Japan. (Which is really all that matters to me since Japan is still the Mecca for handheld development.)

And when I try to move her to a tiled or concrete floor before the show starts? She just makes a b-line to an upholstered chair, shelf, or carpet...gagging all the way.

Little shit.

(And concerning the latter the PSP and DS individually decimate all three combined.)

I mean, wasn't Kotaku even itself even backing some pretty wildly off base "credible speculation" on what the PSP 2000 hardware specs would entail?

All I'm going to venture is that the next iteration of PSP is either going to be a massive overhaul or extremely minimal...I don't think it will occupy the middle ground a la PSP 2000.

And while I realize Sony has dug a lot of their own holes this gen, Square (and Capcom...and Namco) must know that they do play a significant role in the relative success or failure of any console...and that contrary to Square's overtures about equal support, their actions seem to be saying they'd prefer Sony take it in the ass this gen.

All I gotta say is that if a Final Fantasy 7 remake/spin-off/sequel is announced for any other platform but PSP/PlayStation 3 at DKS3713 or TGS '08, my sense of aesthetics may take a permanent vacation. (I'll admit my game shelf speaks to a malady that goes a bit beyond OCD).

*sigh*

On topic, hoping someone in my neck of the woods breaks street date in a major way this week...

Anyone in the downtown Los Angeles area have any luck?

/End snarky reply ;)

Furthermore, gamers are frequently so damn fickle and bitchy that getting them to care is an uphill battle unto itself.

Truly, complaining about games seems to have upstaged the games themselves in this last half-decade. Genuine enthusiasm has become a commodity in all corners of the industry - from player to professional.

Apologies for any other typos...I find I really have to hammer on my keyboard to get every single letter to appear.

There's no denying that the structure as it currently stands is broken (primarily for the reason above), but I fear little can be done about it until games wholly filter out into the mainstream and every publication that normally features literary, film, performance, or music reviews offers opinions on gaming as well.

Related to the issue of reviews catering to the hardcores fetishes is the idea of "fair weather" reviewing. We've all seen it happen...a less popular console plays host to an excellent game which loses a few points because of its platform. Though I feel it's become more pronounced in recent years (Uncharted, anyone?), the practice is still as old as game reviews themselves.

Movies aren't faulted for the studio that produces them, likewise games shouldn't be judged based on their intended destination. But until games have moved entirely into the sphere of mainstream consumption this type of pandering (or exercising of personal bias) will continue.

A) I was worried that navigating with the bionic arm in 3D would be hard as fuck based on the early trailers...looks like I may be right.

B) This game is like the prize that comes in my Bionic Commando: Rearmed Cereal. It's a welcome bonus if its good, but no deal breaker if its bad...as I'm still in it for the sugary-sweet Rearmed goodness.

Side note: Even in a world of nerd-porn, the female protagonist's outfit is completely ridiculous...and this is coming from someone who, as a general rule, prefers slutty, trashy women.

Regarding Mad World, its definitely one of several recently announced titles that's tipping the scales in favor of purchasing a Wii. I still think I;m going to wait and see what this year's TGS holds...since that seems to be where all the new software announcements I care about happen anyway.

It's part of the reason why I'm largely withdrawing from any type of "gamer community" once again...my opinions/tastes/etc. just seem to be in direct opposition to the mainstream nine times out of ten. And you can only preemptively see "You're wrong. You're wrong. You're wrong." so many times before the thoughts and editorializing of others holds no value whatsoever...even as entertainment.

But I digress...I think you're correct to have apprehensions, particularly about an FPS (for lack of a better category). Titles in this genre more than most seem to have an unfortunate habit of turning out bad or just completely dull. Kind of like platformers in the 8- and 16-bit eras.

Sony needs to start somewhere guys. Sorry if anything short of a finger snap won't do the trick for you. In the meantime I think they're growth in terms online experience is impressive...the new PSN video service (for example) is pretty damn slick.

(Though there are a few franchises/wishlist items I would pick up another console solely to play. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes was pretty much the only reason why I bought a Gamecube.)

PSP would be ideal just because awesome game + portability = extra awesome game.

Though I wouldn't begrudge seeing it appear on home consoles either. Considering that Sega has remade, ported, or done a direct sequel to virtually every title that appeared on the Dreamcast except Shenmue it makes me think they really do want to abandon the franchise and never look back.

It just reminds me on the one hand of how much I love the PSP (I do think it's the best handheld to date) and on the other how maddening it was to watch Sony completely mismanage it at every turn for the first two years of its life.

I've likened it to watching a retarded child trying to solve a puzzle behind several inches of sound proof glass...no matter how much you yell and scream and gesture that square peg is still going into a round hole.

Even now there's a lot of room for improvement in Sony's PSP strategy, but it's still worlds better than the way they've phoned it in for the last couple of years.

The only real high point for me was seeing Sony roll out the new PSP titles which at least means the system is safe from what I worried might be an impending demise.

It's a shame development costs are so high these days as I'd love to see more developers put their serious characters in gag games.