So, you're a little lazy to hold on to your PSP. More so, you're running out of batteries and need to charge up. Well, we found a really interesting item that could help you charge up while playing with your PSP. We're talking about Gametech's Stand Charger P+, one that also holds on to your PSP while charging. So it serves a little bit of a cradle, stand, and charger altogether. The Stand Charger P+ costs around US$ 13 and so far, it's only being sold in Japan. But you could bet that your online seller will be grabbing one of these sometime soon. Just keep watch.

Another concern among PS3 owners is switching their HDDs to SATA. Some have tried installing them only to find out that the 3.5 SATA drives are too tight, while the 2.5 are too loose for the PS3. Here's where the PS3 External SATA Adapter - known as PS3 ESATA - comes in. The ESATA Adapter allows you to use external 3.5 inch SATA hardrives instead of your PS3 internal hard drive. According to their tests, the SATA hard drive loads faster by 19 seconds compared to the regular hard drive. It even loads the menu almost 30 seconds faster compared to the regular 60HD.

The full article (with more pics) await after the jump!

 

For US$ 200, this is a truly luxurious handheld console to hold. When you have something this grand in your hands, you expect something great with it as well. Well folks, don't bet on it. Although this lovely piece of handheld has its luxurious look, it's still has its flaws.

This "champagne" gold PSP is a Japan-only release. Although it's intended for the Japanese market, Sony Japan has taken into consideration that the foreign market might be interested to import this golden item.

The handheld is also capable of playing all U.S., European, and Asian games. However, region 2 UMD movies are unplayable making U.S.-released UMD movies can't be played. So in the end, this lovely item is only beneficial for its target market.

Unless you're into Japanese things and all that, I suggest just modding the case of your PSP and spray painting it gold. At least you don't have the hassle of switching languages or not getting your movies played.

Now that we have heard from Chris Coates and Matt Holme about the various developments in the UEFA Champions League franchise (for the PC, Xbox360, and the PSP), it's now Matthew Prior's turn to tell us the importance of capturing the spirit of the game. As Associate Producer to the game, Prior tells us more about the importance of visuals and authenticity in the creation of one of the most popular sports franchises translated to the console, the UEFA Champions League.

In this developers' diary update, Prior expounds on four key developments in the game. These are:

• Real Match Authenticity
• Better In-Game Atmosphere
• Emotional Game Play
• The Ultimate Stage

According to Prior, the console sports the same look and feel of a broadcasted Champions League match. When matches start, you now have the swirling logo and that choir singing their chorus as the logo comes into full view. Commentators now talk about the weather and your starting line up as though they were still fresh out of their locker rooms or a previous match.

    

In this game, they are trying to catch the atmosphere of a live match. Playing the game is much like catching a match on the TV on weekday evenings. Even the camera angles are similar to those featured in game replays. The game even boasts a virtual stage which they call the Ultimate Stage. It's a state-of-the-art virtual stage that uses the logo of the UEFA Champions League as the roof.

Other than capturing the feeling of a broadcasted match, the game boasts a better in-game atmosphere as crowds now can chant a team's anthem or even scream with fury at every foul committed. Yes, folks. You can now hear a stadium of Liverpool FC fans singing "You'll Never Walk Alone."

Another factor that heightens this experience is the expressive gameplay of players. Prior boasts that due to present technology, they can now make more expressive game plays for players. They used state of the art motion capture devices named PCAP that tried to get that perfect corner kick. Hence, for every pass and corner, you can hear the crowd's excitement. If you scored a goal and started hugging your teammates, so will the crowd.

All of this sounds great for football fans.

However, would the better in-game atmosphere capture crowd hooliganism?

Would expressive game play mean giving head butts to your opponents? (Too bad Zidane won't be available for play.)

Coaches will do anything and everything just to make you a better player. They'll let you hit cans of coke, weed out a grassy lawn, and play barefoot if you have to. So it's no wonder that Virtua Tennis 3 comes up with another insane idea to make sure we make that smashing ace when we play the game.

Yes, here comes brainless fun in the most focused sport one could ever play. Witness the Pin Crusher on Virtua Tennis 3! It's much like bowling for tennis. You've got an enormous ball, which I don't know where you'll get a racket for, and some giant pins that you've got to knock down with some strong aces.

The concept is quite simple and hilarious. Thank god the Williams sisters never suffer the humiliation of playing this in real life, but for sure it's all fun and games when it comes to Virtua Tennis 3. This bowling of sorts is just one of many hilarious side games that come with Virtua Tennis 3. So, are you ready to waste some time for this? In the spirit of fun, let's knock 'em down!

Finally, it has come to an end. And what a majestic end it was for Legend of Heroes. Once again, Nihon Falcom pulls up an intricate tale of friendship much deeper than the depths of the ocean. As their last hurrah for the Legend of Heroes series, this was more than apt to say goodbye to one of the best RPGs out there.

The heart of Legend of Heroes is the story. The story of the Song of the Ocean revolves around two friends, Forte and Una, who share a passion for music. When Forte's grandfather, McBain, receives a music book with a power to save the world, the two went on the quest to solve the mystery hidden in the book's Water Melody. Hence, this starts a soulful trail for the lost notes.

According to Siliconera, the game boasts lovely visuals that remind you of the 16bit games of yesteryear. It even has anime FMVs that heightens your game experience. The music ties the player with the game and the visuals that you can find yourself lost in the songs. One can say that it leaves a soothing feeling, as though you were close to an ocean yourself.

In terms of gameplay, the battle system is slightly different compared to other Legend of Heroes series as you can change your characters in the middle of gameplay. More so, as one levels up and gains new spells, he could only use it granted that he equips the necessary stone for it.

But despite the lovely new things that come with the game, there are some things that just doesn't work. The battles are still long and 'useless', as said by Siliconera. There were also some grammatical errors in the game. But these things won't deter a happy gamer who has now sunk into the bottom of Song of the Ocean's reverie. In the end, it's all about the story, right? And what a great story this game is.

If you love your Gundam SEED (or SEED Destiny) and your PSP, then your ultimate fanboy experience comes true with Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Alliance vs. Z.A.F.T. Exporting another Gundam game to the PSP, Namco Bandai hopes that the new game receives the same success as its PS2 brother.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Alliance vs. Z.A.F.T features the wealth of mechs that were featured in the anime series. Naturally, if the mechs are available for play in the game, then so are its pilots.

The list of pilots extends from Athrun until Lunamaria. You can also use various versions of pilots as the screencaps show different versions of Cagalli. Would this mean that we will have a sane Kira and a lunatic Kira as well? Well, we would just have to wait and see the other news that come our way. In the meantime, let's just make the most out of this Famitsu update.

The game will have two modes. The first of these would be mission mode, which means that you would aid in different battles and missions that may have been featured in the anime. There are target missions, as well as missions to protect some galactic elite. The arcade mode promises fans multiplayer fun. In the said mode, up to four people can connect to destroy shining gundams for as long as they like. Whoever stands last wins the stage.

The game is not entirely captivating nor impressive. Nonetheless, the game is great for fans who just can't get enough of Z.A.F.T's and SEED Alliance's epic battle.

More familiar faces can be found in Tales of the World. Could this game be the ultimate Tales tale? For fans of the Tales series, it could just be the fanfare that you need. Arche Klein of Phantasia, Kratos Aurion of Symphonia, Reid Hershel of Eternia, and Senel Coolidge of Legendia are making an appearance in Tales of the World. So what can we get out of these old characters. Naturally, some familiar skills will be available to us in the game, as well as some extra knowledge about the world of the Tales of series. 

 

Kratos, Reid, and Senel will provide great attacks to your team. However, unlike the previous announcements wherein the characters from the old series were playable, it seems that Arche won’t be available for play. Instead, she will be an NPC who would be on the hunt for her friend, Chester Barklight. With more and more familiar faces from the Tales of series, fans are definitely anticipating for the coming of this fantastic series. 

Maximum Tune just seems to follow Initial D wherever it goes. It also started as a comic. Then it came to the arcades, rivaling - in fact even surpassing - Initial D’s arcade success. And now, it is following Initial D on the PSP. Wang an Midnight, more popularly known outside Japan as Maximum Tune, is coming out on PSPs.

There are no details about the game other than being the portable version of the arcade game. Some say that the PSP version will utilize the hadheld’s WLAN to start challenges from other players. The game may not be as popular as Initial D; however the physics of the game often makes gamers switch to this racing game.

Unlike Initial D where even bumping your guard rail to the wall doesn’t do a thing, Maximum Tune makes sure that each mistake will be felt by the player. A wrong skid can damage the tires, a slight bump can make your car less aerodynamic. It forces the player to become a skilled driver in order for him to win the race. The usual swagger at the end of a drift is unforgivable in Maximum Tune. Having an upper edge like this in driving might just teach you the skills to outrun a red...that is until a cop gets to you first.

The game will be released along with the PS3 version of the game.

 

We know that this is the game that will tie all the loose ends in the Metal Gear Solid series, from the initial Metal Gear title, all the way to MGS 4, the thing we truly need to know about the game now is how FoxHound was born. Game creator Hideo Kojima then gives us the missing piece in this epic drama through Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops. Now here’s the grand update on why Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops won Best in Show in this year’s Tokyo Game Show, so read on as we run then down just some of the reasons on why we can't get enough of this game.

Surround Indicator

Still its unofficial name, the Surround Indicator works like the earlier MGS radars. However, it’s not as perfect as the older radars as this contains a bit of backward technology. Surround indicators basically detect nearby sound and can then tell you whether your enemy is nearby or not. It is not as accurate as the radar, but it helps, nonetheless, and is still a lot better than keeping watch in a forest. A blue color on the Surround Indicator would tell that you are at a safe distance from where another sound is coming from, while red means that you’ve already been detected. When the surround indicator doesn’t detect any sound, it keeps still and shows nothing. The surround indicator will also detect loud nearby sounds such as gun shots.

More on this article, plus more screenshots after the Jump!

Our favorite hiphopping dog rapper is now back to cause a frenzy with his PSP homies, yo! He’s still got the cool and the groove, but in this remake, what else does Parappa the Rapper has to show? Famitsu’s got dibs on the PSP game and they tell us that rapping alone ain’t cool, but we got groove if we rap in a group.

Okay, enough of the rapper-wannabe-talk. From what we got from our source, it seems that the new Parrapa the Rapper game is  built with "coop" features, as it was reported to come out with WLAN capability for the PSP. There are 6 stages where 4 people can rap to the same rhymes and rhythms, and there are also challenge stages where you and your buddy can have a rapping showdown.

So this time, you can flaunt your blings and show your opponent on who’s got the schizzle. The game is set to be released sometime this winter, so until then, get your tongue going and start practicing your rhythm and rhymes yo!