Sony: Downloadable PSP Titles Will Average Around 700MB

As PlayStation Portable morphs into the all-digital PSP Go system, many consumers might be wondering just how much space they will need to set aside for each future downloadable title. Sony representative Al de Leon spoke to Joystiq recently at an event in NYC about the storage issue, saying most titles will average around “600-800MB in size.” This means, de Leon further added, that the PSP Go’s 16GB capacity — without any additional memory unit — could hold up to an “average of 17-18 games.” Considering the Go can handle an extra 16GB of M2 storage, the number of games could easily be doubled.

Although 700MB is the point we should be expecting most games to gravitate towards, there will still be other titles that will be far below this mark or even way above it. Smaller scale titles like Patapon 2 (which is less than 400MB) for example, could take as little as half the average footprint. Others, like the recently released PSOne classic Final Fantasy VII (takes up 1.3GB), could be nearly double this number.

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Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars breaking out on PSP this fall

Rockstar has announced that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, the latest portable offering in the open-ended crime series, will be making the jump from DS to PSP. The game will be available in both UMD and digital download format when it’s released in the US and Europe this autumn. Featuring enhanced widescreen graphics, improved lighting and animation and additional story missions, this version of Chinatown Wars “will take full advantage of the power of the PSP system.”

No new assets have been released for the PSP version — in fact, the official website still says it’s exclusive to the DS — but we should see more of this new addition to the ever-growing 2009 PSP lineup soon.

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Multi-shape Cobra PSP stand wraps around everything

Oh, Brando — how your works continue to amaze us. As if the outfit’s litany of bizarre USB-powered peripherals weren’t enough to keep you smiling through tough times, there’s… this. The PSP 2K/3K Multi-shape Cobra Stand Bundle Kit is pretty much the best PSP stand of all time, enabling users to wrap their handheld around their forearm, waist, left leg or cranium.

The bundle even includes a traditional vacuum hook stand for those who dress in plastic, and the whole package will only set you back 23 bones. ESPIRIT Rowing shirt sold separately.

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Macross Ace Frontier To Ship In Japan On PSP This Fall

Macross Ace Frontier, a multi-player 3D action game that will include characters and transformable fighters from 25 years and six different science-fiction anime works of Macross, will ship on the Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) game console in Japan this fall. One to four players (via the PSP’s built-in ad-hoc network feature) will assume the roles of U.N. Forces pilots in three-mode variable fighters in space, air, and land combat. Artdink, the team responsible for the successful Gundam Battle franchise, is 60% finished with the game’s development with Gundam Battle’s engine.

Although the producers emphasize that the game will not be a romance simulation or a music rhythm game, the story will reference Macross anime’s signature love triangles and music. They say the game will have fast gameplay and the anime’s trademark corkscrewing missile plumes. Players can adjust seven parameters of their pilot characters’ skill levels and eight additional parameters for their mecha (hit points, anti-cannon defenses, close-combat defenses, speed, instantaneous boost, balancer system, maneuverability, and radar). To emulate how anime characters quickly transform their fighters by angling a joystick, player will use the PSP’s analog pad to transform.

So far, players can use the all-purpose VF-1 Valkyrie (with or without the Strike Pack upgrade) from the first Macross series and film, the advanced YF-19 prototype from Macross Plus, the unorthodox VF-19 Custom Excalibur from Macross 7, and the VF-25 Messiah, the newest variable fighter from the currently airing Macross Frontier. Players can also pilot enemy mecha such as the Zentradi battlepods, Macross Zero‘s Anti-U.N. SV-51, and the Varauta Fz-109 Elgerzorene fighter. Other mecha such as the Q. Rau powered armor, the Destroid ground robots, and the VF-22 Sturmvogel II special operations fighter also appear in the game’s pre-release images. In all, the game will have over 40 different mecha units and over 30 pilots in over 80 missions.

Bandai Namco’s Yoshitaka Got? and Kei Hirono are the game’s general producer and assistant, respectively. Artdink’s Masanori Yagi is a producer in the game’s development. Macross co-creator and director Shoji Kawamori devised the title of the game. Due to a copyright dispute involving Harmony Gold USA, with its partner Tatsunoko Production, and the creators of Macross, no Japanese Macross game has been officially released in English in recent years.

Source: Anime News Network