NIS America has announced (8 hours ago!) that it is re-releasing some of their PSP titles in conjunction with the launch of the PSPgo! And the PSP titles they are re-releasing will be 50% off for the whole of the next week!

The discount will only be for one week starting tomorrow (October 1st).  Price will range from$4.99 to $9.99 - so its a great deal. The PSP games on offer are:

• Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light
• Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
• Dragoneer’s Aria
• Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This?
• Mana Khemia: Student Alliance
• Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero?

You can get them at the PlayStation Store tomorrow!

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Bitfood recently did a preview post on the Beaterator - a soon-to-be released game for the PSP.

Well, it hit the US stands today, and according to Rockstar Games (co-producers):

Beaterator for PSP system .. puts a world-class mixer at your fingertips - enabling easy, powerful and innovative creation. Featuring original music and a sound-kit which includes thousands of loops and sounds produced by Rockstar and multi-platinum producer and entertainer Timbaland exclusively for Beaterator.

Beaterator for PSP system will also be arriving on shelves on October 2nd, 2009 in Europe.

Timberland seems to pretty pleased with himself for producing this game for PSP:

Or maybe you just wanna see what the game looks like? Well, here is the Rockstar full length trailer:

The Bitfood team all agree with Timberland - this is a cool game dude!

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In a recent post we talked about the new PSP Minis that Sony are releasing on October 1st. There we previewed the PSP mini games that Icon will be releasing.

Today we have a quick update on the PSP Minis taken from the pre-Tokyo Games Show, earlier today - with some short demos for you to take a look at as well:

These are the Mini PSP games that EA will be showcasing at the Tokyo Games Show: Tetris and Sudoku.

I am a Tetrus fan so was keen to see the demo on show. Looks super cool.

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The Game Developers Conference (2009) is currently being held in Austin.

Why should we PSP players care? Well, this conference has a big section about careers in game development. The seminar has been set up for students or anyone interested in learning how to build a career in the video game industry. The seminar will be held tomorrow - Friday, September 18 - at 9:30am-5:30pm.

If you live in Texas, and think you have a future in game development, then definitely get yourself along to the seminar.For the game developers among you that can’t get to the day long seminar, check out the website for the event.

Some of the topics being covered include:

  * step by step, how to effectively market yourself to game companies (by the  hiring manager for Obsidian Entertainment). 

* How to grow once you have your foot in the game industry door (by Cecelia Harris (Rainbow Studios), Michael Nichols (THQ/Vigil Games), Lindsey McQueeney (38 Studios and Big Huge Games)

How to start out: Do you need to work for a big corporation? Or even a small indie studio? Or can you go it on your own? by Matt Scibilia (Critical Mass Interactive Inc)

The fact is that many passionate game players end up wanting to be part of the gaming industry. This conference is all about showing  how we can do that!

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Sony announced the introduction of Minis at their Gamescom press conference a couple of weeks ago.  What we were told was that there would be fifteen games initially, across a variety of genres including arcade-style games, racers, and parlor games — with more than 50 games by the end of the year. But we were left to guess: will they just be iPhone-style Tower Defense and Bejeweled re-runs?

Well, we need wonder no more - at least about four of them.

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Icon Games has announced four Mini games it will be releasing soon for PSPs: Arcade Pool & Snooker; Arcade Airhockey & Bowling; Arcade Darts and Stunt Cars.

While the first three of these look like the usual style of addictive arcade games the Stunt car just might be a step above.

Icon Games describe it as:

High-speed competitive stunt racing over fast paced track circuits. With 24 challenging tracks, and Race, Time Trial, Championship & Challenge game modes.

Here is a mini image of the game as it will look on the new PSPgo

Notice something else about these images (all courtesy of Icon)? There is a distinct iPhone-icon look about them!

This may be a sign of things to come from Sony. The App store has bee such a humungous success that it would not be surprising if Sony developed an Apps store rip-off . With all the freebies that iPhone owners get - especially for games (there are hundreds of free games - though most are mini minis!) - this could be a good development for PSP owners.

Sony has made no mention of the price of the minis, but, if they want to set up an App Store clone, it will have to price these minis at a similar price to the games there. Games on the App Store with a price tag, can range from 99 cents to $9.99, and there are thousands available.

BTW, these new “minis” will be available on the 1st of October in Europe and North America as they have been timed to coincide with the launch of PSPgo.

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Now that’s what we’re talkin about! Majesco Entertainment has partnered with Zumba Fitness to develop a dance/fitness video game!. Here is the news as posted on Majesco’s site:

This one-of-a-kind exercise program pairs Latin rhythms with red-hot international dance steps so you can have a blast as you party your way into shape. The first Zumba^® game will release holiday 2010. 

Zumba dance/fitness is hot, hot hot. Just check it out:

Now, the real question is - will Majesco develop the game for PSP?

Just looking at the past history of games they have developed, the chances are not good.  Their last PSP game was Blokus Portable: Steambot Championship and that was 18 months ago. All up they have only ever developed four PSP games. On the other hand they have developed 25 Wii games and dozens of DS games.

And the Wii platform is obviously compatible with a game so suited to interactive play.

But, but, but….

Firstly, Sony is obviously trying to bring girls on board as PSP fans. Their efforts so far have been pretty weak, so the Majesco/Zumba deal could be a marriage made in heaven for the PSP. What’s more, they  can offer cross-over play options with the PS3 to really maximize the interactive possibilities of such a game! They have done this with other games, and a dance game would be a great opportunity to do that again. (Against that, Majesco have not so far developed a game for the PS3).

The first game will not be released for another 12 months. We say, let Majesco know you want the game on PSP!!

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