Assassin's Creed, LittleBigPlanet Coming To PSP

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Assassin's Creed, LittleBigPlanet Coming To PSP

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday February 24, 2009 @10:57PM from the good-things-come-in-small-packages dept.

Sony unveiled their PSP lineup for 2009 today, and it contains a number of major games and franchies. Assassin's Creed is on the way, as is a portable version of LittleBigPlanet , which will still allow players to share their levels with the community. A Motorstorm game set in Alaska is also coming, and Rock Band: Unplugged is in development as well. "There will not be a peripheral attachment available... Instead, all input is handled by the 'Left,' 'Up,' 'Triangle,' and 'Circle' buttons. The player can switch between guitar, drums, bass, and "vocals" (although he won't physically be singing, merely tapping buttons) using the L and R shoulder buttons. ... The player can actually choose to switch instruments at anytime, but switching prematurely will cause him to lose his multiplier."

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motorstorm trailer by Dreen · 2009-02-24 23:18 · Score: 1

http://kotaku.com/5159508/first-trailer-and-screens-for-motorstorm-arctic-edge
looks fairly alright, im actually thinking about buying PSP recently, which would be the first gaming console i owed since Amiga CDTV
1. Re:motorstorm trailer by Anonymous Coward · 2009-02-25 00:12 · Score: 0
  
  To play a game that's "fairly alright"?
2. Re:motorstorm trailer by Anonymous Coward · 2009-02-25 00:34 · Score: 0
  
  pfft, thats got to be the intro movie only. The motorstorm team are known for releasing pre rendered stuff as a trailer. I can't see the psp handling those graphics, as good as it is.
3. Re:motorstorm trailer by ObsessiveMathsFreak · 2009-02-25 00:48 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Don't.
  The PSP would be a fine console, if it did not have a shoddy control scheme. I mean really shoddy. It is literally physically painful to play certain PSP games for any period of time, which is a terrible pity as many would make fine PS2 titles. Instead they have been relegated to a device that sacrifices ergonomics for a few more millimeters of screen size.
  I have never really understood portable gaming consoles. Playing a video game is not a passive experience like listening to music. It's something that is quite deeply engrossing and which does not fit into bus journeys, lunch breaks, or just before bedtime sessions. An average video game session probably clocks in at about two to three hours. A bit like reading a book.
  And good video games, like good books, simply cannot be read in bits an pieces. You cannot finish War and Peace by five years of reading it over your ham sandwiches during lunch. If you do that you're missing the point. The same holds for Chains of Olympus or the like. Something like "Brain Training", sure, but that is not a title worth buying a console over.
  
  --
  May the Maths Be with you!
4. Re:motorstorm trailer by kevn · 2009-02-25 01:27 · Score: 1
  
  Don't.
  The PSP would be a fine console, if it did not have a shoddy control scheme. I mean really shoddy. It is literally physically painful to play certain PSP games for any period of time, which is a terrible pity as many would make fine PS2 titles. Instead they have been relegated to a device that sacrifices ergonomics for a few more millimeters of screen size.
  I have never really understood portable gaming consoles. Playing a video game is not a passive experience like listening to music. It's something that is quite deeply engrossing and which does not fit into bus journeys, lunch breaks, or just before bedtime sessions. An average video game session probably clocks in at about two to three hours. A bit like reading a book.
  And good video games, like good books, simply cannot be read in bits an pieces. You cannot finish War and Peace by five years of reading it over your ham sandwiches during lunch. If you do that you're missing the point. The same holds for Chains of Olympus or the like. Something like "Brain Training", sure, but that is not a title worth buying a console over.
  it depends on the game. You should try a DS LITE. There are many "pick up and play" games for that system. I know it might seem underpowered from the specs but I have one and I find it infinitely more fun than the PSP. There are 20 or 30 times more fun games for the DS. It's because the DS is designed as a handheld not a mini console.
5. Re:motorstorm trailer by elrous0 · 2009-02-25 02:04 · Score: 1
  
  Are you kidding, the last console the guy owned was made in 1990. To him, the control scheme of the PSP will seem revolutionary. ;-)
  
  --
  SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
6. Re:motorstorm trailer by cthellis · 2009-02-25 03:10 · Score: 1
  
  It's only really painful if you use the analog. Which, of course, makes it frustrating, since HAVING the analog stick was supposed to separate it from the pack, but it's nigh-unusable. People still complain about it not having "dual analog controls," and that just makes me boggle. Don't they have to actually fix the one they have first? ;-)
  
  I never understood why they or other parties didn't figure out a way to attach it to a Dual Shock or DS-like controller housing. Considering most people play their "portable" games at home anyway, it wouldn't be obnoxious from a size standpoint, and having the option available from the beginning would have given it common support, and mitigated some of the control woes. Certainly it would actually make FPSes and some other games actually PLAYABLE, instead of sucking on the handhelds.
  
  At any rate, there's a reason most of the games are made to play on either the analog nub or the D-pad.
7. Re:motorstorm trailer by feepness · 2009-02-25 04:14 · Score: 1
  
  So he's supposed to take advice from someone who says they never understood portable gaming consoles?
  
  I have a PSP. I really enjoy it and play it for an hour or more at a stretch sometimes despite my intentions otherwise (damn you Pirates!)
8. Re:motorstorm trailer by pizzach · 2009-02-25 04:25 · Score: 1
  it depends on the game. You should try a DS LITE. There are many "pick up and play" games for that system. I know it might seem underpowered from the specs but I have one and I find it infinitely more fun than the PSP. There are 20 or 30 times more fun games for the DS. It's because the DS is designed as a handheld not a mini console.
  I think you hit the nail on the head. There are also few oddities that he said that got me.
  
  Games that can be played in 5 minute intervals don't necessarily have to be focused on the evil casual type of game. Tetris anyone? Also a lot of the multiplayer can be played is small jaunts in these games.
  As a gamer, you need to be smart enough to choose the right type of game for the right situation. You don't read War and Peace in small jaunts, but you do that with a comic book or newspaper.
  
  When a game session cannot be complete in a small amount of time, you close the lid on your DS to put it to sleep (say your 5 minute car ride ends). You then go inside after finishing the social formalities, open the lid, and then carry on where you left off. I don't know if the PSP has this kind of feature?
  --
  Once you start despising the jerks, you become one.
9. Re:motorstorm trailer by ucblockhead · 2009-02-25 05:07 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  Um...I read Will Durant's 10 volume "Story of Civilization" primarily while having my breakfasts in the morning and on my lunch hour. It took about a year. It's ten times the length of War and Peace.
  (I read War and Peace itself on a Palm Pilot mostly on my commute on the train. It took about a month and a half)
  Most portable games are more tailored to shorter gaming sessions. Chains of Olympus, I finished partly on a business trip and partly on my train commute. I specifically keep the PSP around precisely *because* it is engrossing. When I've had a crap day and don't want to face the commute, a good game came make the time just fly by.
  
  --
  The cake is a pie
10. Re:motorstorm trailer by pecosdave · 2009-02-25 10:02 · Score: 1
  
  I have never really understood portable gaming consoles.
  You've obviously never had two jobs, long commutes, and lots of hurry up and wait.
  I chose my types of games based on the play windows I have. I play a lot of RPG's, because I can get back into the mind set of playing them within a minute of two of picking them up, they tend to have good progress save features, and they usually don't have the demands of twitch reflex play and you don't necessarily have to hear them to play them well. Zelda, Final Fantasy, Brave Story, Broken Sword have all proven to be great on the go games for me. Right now I'm playing Crush on my PSP, it's more of a puzzle game with some platforming aspects (but not overwhelmingly so). It is also proving to be a great portable game.
  
  --
  The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
11. Re:motorstorm trailer by ucblockhead · 2009-02-25 11:12 · Score: 1
  
  I was in that spot. I was mostly a PC gamer. The PSP was the first "console" I ever had (except for an old gameboy that I won at a raffle and sold a few weeks later.) I never had a problem with the controls.
  
  --
  The cake is a pie
Great by GreenTech11 · 2009-02-24 23:26 · Score: 1

Now we can get high quality games on a small screen console, with reduced controls. YIPEE!

--
Laughter is the best medicine, except if you have a broken rib.
1. Re:Great by Anonymous Coward · 2009-02-25 01:34 · Score: 0
  
  On top of that, this port of Assassin's Creed just shows how crappy the game really is. Strip out the voice and graphics and the game is small enough to be ported over to a hand held. Assassin's Creed is horribly repetitive(perfect for handhelds I suppose?) and boring.
2. Re:Great by cthellis · 2009-02-25 03:11 · Score: 1
  
  You have just described... most games.
A good day to be a PSP fan by Goffee71 · 2009-02-24 23:36 · Score: 2, Interesting

After seemingly a year or longer of negative vibes towards Sony's little console, today was a big day for the PSP. Announced at Sony's Destination PlayStation retail event were:

Motorstorm (Arctic Edge)
Rock Band
Little Big Planet
Assassin's Creed
Tiger Woods '10
Madden '10 (With PS3 connectivity)
DiRT 2 (Codemasters)

To make the PSP more female friendly comes: Hannah Montana in a purple PSP bundle The Petz range (Ubisoft)

So, no original IP announced (as promised by Sony a while back) and there will be a big struggle to can these monster franchises into the diddy hardware. However, assuming they can pull it off, then you have lots of potential for new sales, great bundles and lots of existing PSP owners dusting down their machines.

On the other hand, all it will take is two or three of these to get middling review scores and fail to ship in numbers and you can pretty much stick a knife in the PSP in its current form. Even if the vaunted 4000 model does arrive, it won't be enough without a HD display, massive internal storage (8GB min) and a powerful hardware upgrade to revive the fortunes of the console. more on me blog - http://goffee-freelance.blogspot.com/2009/02/good-time-to-be-psp-owner.html

--
If he's the Walrus then can I be a penguin please?
1. Re:A good day to be a PSP fan by Anonymous Coward · 2009-02-24 23:42 · Score: 0
  
  I was going to post something that would add to the conversation, but then you posted a link whoring out your stupid blog so I just decided to be a troll and whore out my web-sight as well. Enjoy!
2. Re:A good day to be a PSP fan by Anonymous Coward · 2009-02-25 00:01 · Score: 0
  
  Not to mention that his /. post is a direct copy/paste of his blog post with one paragraph cut out, which is as follows:
  
  Also, there's nothing in that list with killer online play, that's what has saved the PSP in Japan with Monster Hunter, Phantasy Star and now Multi Raid. Find a game that has that kind of impact on the western audience and Sony will make a big step to boosting western sales of the PSP.
  Intense stuff, I'm glad I clicked through and read the rest of his post. That small paragraph of unenlightening speculative bullshit made the ad mongering worth it.
3. Re:A good day to be a PSP fan by Goffee71 · 2009-02-25 00:16 · Score: 1
  
  Obviously, if you could edit /. posts, I'd remove the link but its out there now, like a festering sore to ruin your day. So sorry.
  
  --
  If he's the Walrus then can I be a penguin please?
4. Re:A good day to be a PSP fan by rokknroll · 2009-02-25 02:41 · Score: 1
  
  Obviously, if you could edit /. posts, I'd remove the link but its out there now, like a festering sore to ruin your day. So sorry.
  As well you should be. For Shame!
  
  --
  billy pilgrim *has* become unstuck in time!
5. Re:A good day to be a PSP fan by Yosho · 2009-02-25 02:48 · Score: 1
  
  To make the PSP more female friendly comes: Hannah Montana in a purple PSP bundle The Petz range (Ubisoft)
  For the record, the attitude that this is what you have to do to make something "female friendly" is why it's not female friendly.
  
  --
  Karma: Terrifying (mostly affected by atrocities you've committed)
6. Re:A good day to be a PSP fan by Anonymous Coward · 2009-02-26 07:06 · Score: 0
  
  actually the bundle will include a lavender psp..
Oh Shut Up by Anonymous Coward · 2009-02-24 23:47 · Score: 0

"After seemingly a year or longer of negative vibes towards Sony's little console"
"On the other hand, all it will take is two or three of these to get middling review scores and fail to ship in numbers and you can pretty much stick a knife in the PSP in its current form."
You dumbfuck, these are just a tiny number of new PSP titles.
The PSP is over 50 million sales worldwide already and the number of new IPs and new versions of existing IPs for the PSP for 2009 is massive.
Hell, Sony hasn't even begun to ship PS3/PSP bundles yet.
1. Re:Oh Shut Up by Goffee71 · 2009-02-25 00:09 · Score: 1
  
  these are just a tiny number of new PSP titles.
  Yep, but 5% of games make up 60%-ish of all sales and these big hitters are going to be in that 5%. If they fail (to sell in the shops, but perceptually fail with low review scores), then the PSP will suffer.
  
  I hope the PSP has a fab year, but my point still stands!
  
  --
  If he's the Walrus then can I be a penguin please?
2. Re:Oh Shut Up by geminidomino · 2009-02-25 07:18 · Score: 1
  
  Same. I can count on 1 hand the number of PSP games I've enjoyed over the past three years since I got one.
  On the other hand, using CFW, I can also play (many of) my PSX games on it. That made it a worthy purchase.
3. Re:Oh Shut Up by Trent+Hawkins · 2009-02-25 07:21 · Score: 1
  
  You'd play Warhammer 40k while there's a perfectly good X-Com port on the PSP? You make me sick!
  also, Tyrian
Re:An Introduction to Anal Masturbation by Anonymous Coward · 2009-02-25 00:09 · Score: 0

Why the hell is there a "Read the rest of this comment..." link when it already displays the whole 85-line troll?
Rock Band: Unplugged? by iainl · 2009-02-25 00:17 · Score: 3, Insightful

That sounds almost exactly like Harmonix have gone back to their roots and given us a Frequency sequel, just using the Rock Band name to get the casuals interested.
If so, I thoroughly approve.

--
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
1. Re:Rock Band: Unplugged? by Tetsujin · 2009-02-25 09:37 · Score: 1
  
  Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. "Play song notes with the controller buttons. Switch tracks any time you like - but you lose your multiplier if it's at the wrong time. Sounds like Amplitude."
  What's interesting about this iteration, to me at least, is that they're going with four inputs instead of three - and by having the inputs on the left and right thumb by default (as opposed to FreQ and Amp's use of the right-thumb buttons as the "primary" controls) they've got easy-to-explain controls which allow for fast sequences, and multiple presses at once (as many as two, anyway). FreQ and Amp controlled nicely with the shoulder buttons - but HMX found that wasn't really as intuitive for players as using face controls... Seems like they came up with a good solution to that one.
  
  --
  Bow-ties are cool.
2. Re:Rock Band: Unplugged? by Tetsujin · 2009-02-25 09:55 · Score: 1
  
  Actually, I guess it's worth adding (from TFA) that it's not HMX making this. I don't know to what extent they're involved with the production of Rock Band: Unplugged... The similarities to FreQ & Amp are still interesting, though...
  
  --
  Bow-ties are cool.
I don't get it by MrNiCeGUi · 2009-02-25 00:55 · Score: 1

Why does Sony need to upgrade the PSP hardware? Your wish list is a V12 short of a Maybach. All the while the DS with inferior hardware compared to the PSP in almost every category is winning this generation portable battle.
When talking about consoles it's always about the games. Yes, HD may be nice, but what would that do to the battery life? The PSP is suffering from a lack of quality games and from a lack of games in general. The DS has a much larger library, shovelware mostly, but it doesn't matter as long as genuinely good games exist between them.
Also Sony is unclear at the moment about the direction it wants to take the console. It seems to have a new strategy with the PSN, but the firmware updates are a constant disappointment. It took them almost a year to unlock full resolution video playback that the console was able to do from day one; the mp3 playback still sucks, the browser is pitiful, and people are resorting to custom firmware to change that.
With custom firmware you can get an ok browser (Opera Mobile), a great ebook reader (Bookr), a very nice mp3 player (LiteMP3), Youtube playback, and emulators for all the classic consoles up to the PSX. They fell into the same trap as Microsoft with the original Xbox: the modded console is so much better in every way that it becomes almost mandatory to mod it, and once there piracy is just a click or two away.
1. Re:I don't get it by gabebear · 2009-02-25 02:24 · Score: 1
  
  It certainly seems like you are right. I wouldn't consider buying a PSP without the ability to mod it... but that might change. Cell-phones and the iPod-Touch have better browsers, better mp3 players, and better software in general than you are going to get with a modded PSP. I don't think this is a good thing for Sony... Even with piracy a click-away some of us avoid it, and less PSPs(even modded) is less potential game sales.
  
  I've had a modded DS since near launch and haven't pirated any games ( I've bought at least a dozen ). The PSP situation is different in that UMD is a stupid because it creates load times... it's sad when the pirated version of the game plays better than the legit version. This was the same on the XBox with it's crappy DVD-ROM.
2. Re:I don't get it by gabebear · 2009-02-25 02:29 · Score: 1
  
  I think Sony might be best off ditching the pocket-computer idea and focusing PURELY on gaming. If Sony released a PSP2 with roughly the same specs, but with a revamped controls(touch screen or second stick), no UMD drive, and 3G similar to the Kindle they could make up some serious ground. I'd love a portable multi-player console. The DS almost did it right with WiFi... but there aren't many WiFi enabled games and configuring WiFi on the DS isn't as idiot proof as it needed to be.
3. Re:I don't get it by tlhIngan · 2009-02-25 04:35 · Score: 1
  
  They fell into the same trap as Microsoft with the original Xbox: the modded console is so much better in every way that it becomes almost mandatory to mod it, and once there piracy is just a click or two away.
  Less than a click away.
  The #1 feature I use of a modded PSP? The ability to run UMD dumps off memory stick rather than the slow, noisy UMD drive. Sure I dump my games, then compress them to fit more per memory stick, but now it's a triviality to go from legit-dumped games to piracy.
  (And modern modded firmware makes it really easy to dump - USB mode with the drive selected, and up shows a nice .ISO file ready for copying).
  Sony should admit it, and let people dump games legitimately from UMD to a memory stick. Wrap it up in tons of DRM so it can't work on another PSP (they can always dump it again), and require the original disc, a la the Xbox360. Then again, we have a bastardization of this on the PS3, where games have to be "installed" onto the hard disk.
4. Re:I don't get it by MemoryDragon · 2009-02-27 03:47 · Score: 1
  
  I agree here, and I have to admit I modded my PSP as well, there was a reason for it, and no it was not piracy, it was that the thing became an awesome pocket multimedia machine as soon as it was modded.
  Sony wanted to sell it as media device, it failed with its software, the modders did it!
  Problem is, once it is modded it really is wide open to piracy more than any PC...
  But on the other hand I would not want it closed due to all the things you mentioned above!
  Problem is it does not fit into Sonys world that people do not want to use the device as Sony intended but want to use it as Sony marketed it!
Re:An Introduction to Anal Masturbation by rokknroll · 2009-02-25 01:28 · Score: 1

Thanks, now my boss will think i read gay pr0n at lunch and not a "tech" site. Can this be removed?

--
billy pilgrim *has* become unstuck in time!
Re:An Introduction to Anal Masturbation by Anonymous Coward · 2009-02-25 01:52 · Score: 0

No, which is good - some people like reading anal sex trolls. If you don't want to read it, browse at +1.
Comment removed by account_deleted · 2009-02-25 03:03 · Score: 1

Comment removed based on user account deletion
They done it on the NES already! by anomnomnomymous · 2009-02-25 03:58 · Score: 1

Have a look at this fantastic game made for the NES-emulator: DPad Hero

--
When you shoot a mime, do you use a silencer?
For the love of God by Anonymous Coward · 2009-02-25 05:20 · Score: 0

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE make the tedious, repetitive, tedious, repetitive, tedious, repetitive, tedious, repetitive cutscenes in Assassin's Creed skippable.
Re:An Introduction to Anal Masturbation by enHatt · 2009-02-25 06:14 · Score: 1

Wait, what? Are you trying to tell me slashdot isn't a site for reading slash and gay erotica?
That's it, I'm going back to wikipedia.
xbox 360 by tyrantking31 · 2009-02-25 07:05 · Score: 1

I thought the Little Big Planet people said that little big planet would be impossible on the Xbox 360 because it was technologically inferior? And the PSP isn't? At this point, Sony deserves the whooping they're getting from Nintendo and to a lesser extent Microsoft. Innovate or die, Sony.

--
We willna be fooled again!
1. Re:xbox 360 by Anonymous Coward · 2009-02-25 07:40 · Score: 0
  
  If you want LBP on the PSP, just play Megaman Powered Up which is like LittleBigPlanet only fun.
2. Re:xbox 360 by Tetsujin · 2009-02-25 09:53 · Score: 1
  
  If you want LBP on the PSP, just play Megaman Powered Up which is like LittleBigPlanet only fun.
  How is it like LittleBigPlanet? Does it have a physics engine? A system for creating working mechanical objects? Those would be the defining characteristics of LBP, as far as I'm concerned...
  
  --
  Bow-ties are cool.
3. Re:xbox 360 by MemoryDragon · 2009-02-27 03:51 · Score: 1
  
  Well LBP is nothing technologically... Seriously I have seen it on the PS3 and I would not see a single reason why it could not be ported straightly to the 360 or the PC... this is all marketing mumbo jumbo...
  Glorified 2 1/2d jump and run thats it...
4. Re:xbox 360 by MemoryDragon · 2009-02-27 03:53 · Score: 1
  
  Crayons Physics has that, but is more fun :-)
Comment removed by account_deleted · 2009-02-25 20:03 · Score: 1

Comment removed based on user account deletion
P A I N ? by Anonymous Coward · 2009-02-28 06:02 · Score: 0

It's a shame they can't port PAIN to the PSP. It's a fun game and just about all I play on the PS3..