PSP Firmware (v3.95) Coming Very Soon

It seems that the firmware may have been released early. We have not seen anything official ye yet to be announced.

Here is what Sony PlayStation Network Operations Director Eric Lempel stated on the US Playstation blog:

"Just a quick update, we’ll be making PSP firmware update 3.95 available shortly. The update includes the following:

• While playing PSone games on your PSP, you can now customize how the buttons are assigned by going to [Controller Settings] > [Assign Buttons] and select [Custom].
• You can now quit Remote Play and choose to turn off your PS3 or leave it on after quitting. This is useful if you are performing a download and want to quit Remote Play, but still want your download to continue on the PS3. Select [Quit and Turn Off the PS3 System] or [Quit Without Turning Off the PS3 System] from [Quit Remote Play] when you press the HOME button on the PSP system.

For details on remote play, refer to the online user’s guide for the PSP."

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Sources: PSP version of LittleBigPlanet in development

"LittleBigPlanet is in development for the PlayStation Portable at Sony Studio Liverpool, a source told game site CVG today.

There's been no official word from Sony on whether or not the anticipated physics-friendly user-generated level designer is making the jump to the portable, but that didn't stop CVG from speculating about what a PSP version could offer.

Interesting ideas included transferable PS3-to-PSP levels, or a level editor on the PSP that would allow players to keep working on their creations even when away from the PS3. They note that the robust LBP physics engine would be hard to replicate under this system, however, so we'll just have to wait and see what pops up in the near future.

The PS3 version of LittleBigPlanet arrives in September."

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Space Invaders, Arkanoid Set for US

"Today Taito confirmed that its recent remakes Space Invaders Extreme and Arkanoid DS will be released in North America on June 17. Both games are already available in Japan and make use of the new paddle controller that fits into the Game Boy Advance slot on the DS. Unfortunately, Taito currently does not have plans to bring the paddle controller overseas.

Space Invaders Extreme, also available on the PSP, is a sped-up, hyper take on the classic arcade game. The graphics have been modernized, and an electronica soundtrack now accompanies the invasion (the original had no music, only the forward march of the aliens).

Arkanoid is a portable version of the block-breaking game we all know and love. Multiplayer is available for up to four 'Noids, and interior decorators can adorn their backgrounds with patterns earned through gameplay."

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Unfair pricing structure found on PlayStation Store

"As you might have noticed, the PS Store is currently blooming with new content (in certain countries of course) and with a new layout coming soon the PS Store has quite a promising future ahead of it.

Price wise however things don’t seem that promising. As you know all purchases on the store are done via credit card. The store however only allows you to activate your PSP on one country setting. What this basically means is that say you sign up for an American account but change to UK afterwards all your content downloaded from the American store won’t play due to license restrictions.

Well since I live in South Africa I obviously selected the South African store as I prefer viewing the currency (Rand) from my own country for easier purchases. Last night I had a little peak at the American store just out of curiosity and was quite shocked at what I discovered. They are overcharging me!

1 USD ($) currently equals 8 South African Rand (R).

Here is an example:

Beats on the USA store costs $5 which equals to R40 whereas on the South African store the same game sells at R75 ($9+). I haven’t checked the pricing on the stores from other countries but I’m sure there’ll be some differences too. Why is Sony doing this? There is no import costs involved since its downloadable content. If I knew this from the beginning I would have signed up for the USA store, and even if I do that now all my already purchased games simply won’t work. I could have purchased Flow and Beats from the USA store for basically the same price as only one game from the SA store.

Really sucks.

P.S. As I’ve mentioned in one of my previous posts If you really can't afford a PSP game then you’re more than welcome to email (don't spam!) me and I'll show you how to make $30 or so to go buy Patapon or whatever."

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