PSP

I'm still working my way through Gods Eater Burst on PlayStation Portable. I haven't mentioned it here at the blog yet, but it's basically a "lite" version of Monster Hunter with a strong anime slant and combat that runs a hell of a lot faster than it does in Capcom's game—not that the speed itself is necessarily a good thing. (Spazzy alert: GO!!!)

Three Hundred Hours and Still Going Strong

HIGH A skin-of-my-teeth victory after a knock-down, drag-out, forty-five minute battle.

LOW Struggling to survive the nasty dual Tigrex mission... Twice.

WTF Watching my Felyne companion get the game-winning hit in on the last boss.

An unsolicited copy of Crysis 2 showed up at my door today (always a pleasant surprise when that happens) and I put about an hour into it. I've heard that the multiplayer demo available wasn't too well-received, but I never got around to checking it out and I never played the first Crysis either, so I was coming into the game basically as fresh as possible. First impressions of the campaign? Very positive.

I attended PAX East, checking out upcoming games and meeting great people. That last one was a bit more difficult thanks to the enormous size of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC), but that size made panels much easier to get into and allowed for an expanded and much nicer exposition floor. In case you weren't there, here are some impressions.

It Will be One Huge, EPIC Battle

HIGH The soundtrack (with vocals!) in the New Hero Mastery Dungeon.

LOW Saving before the boss of the aforementioned dungeon, dying, resetting, getting the heck out of Dodge, finding out I still lost all my stuff anyway (including $100,000), and having no one to blame but myself.

WTF Whatever comes out of Pirohiko's mouth that isn't a platitude or a pep talk. And even some of those.

If you bought a PlayStation Portable on Saturday (or earlier) for 169.99, you will not like this. If you purchased a PSP Go! on Saturday (or earlier) for around $190, you're probably already pissed because you now own a PSP Go! Today Sony has officially dropped the price of the PlayStation Portable by $40 down to a very manageable $129.99. And what's more, Sony has announced new additions to its Greatest Hits and Favorites collections.

Winning the award for dumbest thing I've ever seen someone do this year is this video out of Japan. Some genius and other MENSA members got together and decided it was a good idea to deep fry a PlayStation Portable. If that weren't bad enough, they then concluded that it would be a good idea to then eat it.

Now how much do you hate Sony, the PlayStation Portable or living that you'd do something so asinine?

I announced this on twitter a few days ago, but it was such a milestone for me that I felt like a little micro-commemoration here at the blog would be appropriate. The big event? I finally finished the single-player campaign in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite on PlayStation Portable.

Nintendo's 3DS.

Sony's NGP.

3DS! PSP! Smartphones! Which represents the true future of mobile gaming? Plus: Our most anticipated titles of 2011, and you'll struggle to hold back tears as Richard becomes a man. (NOTE: We recorded this episode before the big PSP2/NGP announcement—you'll marvel at the semi-accuracy of our predictions!) Featuring Chi Kong Lui, Brad Gallaway, Mike Bracken, Richard Naik, and Tim "The Timely Producer" Spaeth.

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