We know that you want a remake of Final Fantasy VII on your Sony PSP units. Square Enix knows this very well, too. Given that, we really can't blame you if you feel frustrated why the thing hasn't happened yet.

In an interview with publication OPM, game director Hajime Tabata gave an explanation that will help shed light into the matter. You can see his response in the full article via the "read more" link below.

 

We're all curious as to what Capcom's "major bombshell" is, and we here at QJ couldn't wait to find out about it as well. Italian gaming site Xzone may have an idea, however, and it's a very, very good idea that we wish would turn out to be true. The latest issue of Italian PlayStation magazine PSMania hinted at a Resident Evil for the PSP. Zombie love on PlayStation Portable? Please say yes, Capcom.

It looks like the petition for the PSP Resident Evil wouldn't be in vain, after all. Until then, let's keep our fingers crossed. More updates to come!

The rumor mill is in full production today, and it's churning out a fresh supply for Sony Computer Entertainment Japan's upcoming puzzle game designed to play with your mind, Echochrome (PSP, PS3). It seems that the game, which is all about how angles and perspectives can change the in-game world drastically, may have no less than three sequels in the pipeline.

This juicy tidbit comes from a page of the Official PlayStation Magazine, in the PlayStation Network section. In that section lies a mini-article talking about Echochrome, and how Sony Japan has mysteriously patented the titles Echoblack, Echosepia and Echowhite. See a pattern forming there? Curious, no?

Either way, this bodes only good tidings for those of us with PSPs in our pockets and PS3s in our living rooms. After all, Echochrome is sandbox fun at its finest - more of it would simply be icing on the cake.

Late last month, rumors of Sly Cooper moving on to the next gen arena graced QJ.NET. Understandably, this excited a lot of Sly Cooper fans, especially since the rumor also mentioned that the titles would be officially revealed at this year's E3. The bad news is that apparently the whole thing isn't true.

According to IGN, both Sony and the U.S. branch of PlayStation Magazine (PSM) have dismissed the rumor as false. The rumor started out as a forum post on GameFAQs that allegedly had snippets off a Sucker Punch interview in PSM. IGN contacted PSM editor-in-chief Rob Smith about the rumor, but Smith said that no such interview appeared on PSM.

Sony Computer Entertainment PR manager Jennifer Clark, meanwhile, added that "there have been no announcements made in regards to future Sly Cooper products and there are no plans for the franchise to appear at this year's E3. Any information that has recently been reported is pure rumor and speculation."

Sucker Punch has not yet commented on the issue, but it has been confirmed that the company is working on at least one project for next gen consoles.

We got word that the next issue of the PlayStation Magazine (PSM) will mark the resurrection of the Sly Cooper video game franchise. Accordingly, Sly Cooper 4 will make an outing on the PlayStation 3 while an all new Sly Cooper title is scheduled to appear on the Playstation Portable.

Aside from this, the report mentioned that the two titles will be officially revealed during the upcoming E3 Media and Business Summit 2007 in July. The franchise is owned by development studio Sucker Punch Productions and all the first three installments were released on the PlayStation 2 (PS2).

What's more interesting is that Sly Cooper 4 and Sly Cooper PSP will be released simultaneously and will have some sort of connectivity. The following is an alleged snippet from Sucker Punch that is included in the PSM's article on the matter:

The graphics have been majorly overhauled and the gameplay will be more varied and focused this time around. We're aiming for a fully interactive 3-d world, with no loads and seamless interaction between settings and characters.

The series features the character of eight-year old Sly Cooper who is actually a raccoon descended from a long line of Master Thieves. All three previous versions were platform games. The report also noted that Microsoft tried to buy Sucker Punch two years ago but was unable to do so.

A lot of people have been clamoring for more details on Grand Theft Auto IV. Fortunately, Official PlayStation Magazine Australia has released some more tidbits on the game and they are quite interesting.

For those who saw the demo, Niko (the main character of the game) passes an ATM machine and the option to access his bank account appears. Now, no official word has been given on this yet, but the initial impression is that it will be possible.

The GTA IV physics engine has been tweaked as well which should allow you to actually hear "vehicles passing by with their radio turned on." Hmm, not bad at all. Speaking of driving, the controls have been "tremendously" tweaked and enhanced. They also gave other details on the game which are listed below.

Here are some of the other details on the game from GTA4.net:

• When selecting a contact on your mobile phone, a list of several commands are made available to the player, such as "meet me here," etc.
• Playing the single player game through co-operative mode is not possible, however there will be a co-op mode in addition to all the other unknown multiplayer modes.
• According to Dan Houser, VP of Creative for Rockstar Games, they haven't yet figured out if GTA IV is going to spark off another set of GTA games connected to it, and they're currently just focusing on this single game. He does say he "would have a certain confidence" setting GTA outside the United States, such as England, in the future.

Amidst all the good news, we have a little bit of bad news for fans of San Andreas Stories. Houser said that there are no plans for a PSP version of the game. So, while a lot PSP owners will probably still be waiting for a PSP release, it's unlikely that it will be coming anytime soon.

British middle-market newspaper The Daily Mail reports that Sony is receiving criticism for a promo stunt gone bad. According to the newspaper, the electronics giant used a "freshly slaughtered goat" as the centerpiece of a party to promote the PS2 title God of War II. The stunt has sparked the ire of critics and animal rights organizations.

Images from the party in question, which was held last month in Athens, reportedly appeared in Sony's official PlayStation magazine, but according to the Mail, Sony issued "an apology for the gruesome stunt and promised to recall the entire print run." The magazine was due to hit newsstands on Tuesday. According to the Mail, however, subscribers have already gotten their copies.

A spokesman from Sony said that the animal had not been slaughtered for the event but had been bought from a local butcher by the Greek company hired to stage the event. Sony is currently conducting an internal inquiry into "aspects of the event in order to learn from the occurrence and put into place measures to ensure that this does not happen again."

 

Rockstar Games' gruesome Manhunt series gets another addition, this time following the story of a Dr. Daniel Lamb and his bloody escapades through the help of one psychotic Leo Kasper, who is more than happy to teach Lamb the art of maiming and dismembering not-so-friendly people.

The Official Playstation Magazine was hearty enough to describe some of the kill feats you can pull on unsuspecting vic-err-guards, like thrusting a syringe to an enemy's eye to finish him off, or ripping off his testicles with a pair of pliers. Whoops, there goes Jack Thompson on his way to OPM right now...

No character from the first Manhunt, yes even James Earl Cash, will be making an appearance in Manhunt 2 coming for the Wii and the PSP. The story instead follows that of Dr. Daniel Lamb who works for The Project, a collective behind a top secret drugs-based weapons program. He soon finds himself inside a private asylum, where he soon breaks out from.

With Leo Kasper, Lamb dodges enemies and takes them down with style, in the old Hasty, Violent and Gruesome flavors. He can also use the environment to kill his adversaries, all the while using loud ambient sounds to drown out his victim's screams of agony. Players will have to follow a button combo closely while hidden in shadow to regulate breathing. If an enemy happens to come near, Lamb could get caught for his huffing and puffing.

He can also climb objects and crawl out of harm's way, and use guns to perform stealthy kills.

MGS fans look like they still have a whole lot to look forward to, as revealed in a recent podcast by PlayStation Magazine (different from Official PlayStation Magazine or OPM)">PlayStation Magazine (their FIRST podcast, actually).

This newly-launched podcast series is hosted by Playstation Magazine's Executive director Randy Nelson and Kojima Production's Assistant Producer Ryan Payton. PSM decided to start this new endeavor with a bang by having Ryan clue everyone in on plans for an MGS: Portable Ops sequel as well as the future direction of the MGS series over the course of a 37-minute program.

Though Payton will be as close as we can get to the source for now (which is pretty darned close), we can't help but get giddy over this tasty promise that they're dangling in front of everyone. Now, all we have to wait for would be word from Hideo Kojima himself before we pop the champagne.

Are you wondering what ever happened to the rumored Redesigned PSP? Well, we have more rumors about it. The Redesigned PSP, according to the buzz, will soon make a public appearance at E3 2007 on May 16 - 18, 2007, in Los Angeles.

The Redesigned PSP will supposedly be released in Japan this coming March 2007 (according to a message posted on Evil Avatar, the date was announced in PlayStation Magazine August, 2006 issue). Other rumors say it wont be available until after the E3. That will be sometime around Christmas 2007 or early 2008.

Anyway, the Redesigned PSP will have the following features according to more rumors:

• Built-in 8GB flash memory chips
  
• No hard disk drive
  
• More streamlined, thinner and lighter design
  
• Built-in still/video camera