Weaving our way through the nether of the Interwebs, we've compiled a list of about two dozen games for the PlayStation Portable that came, saw, and conquered the hearts of PSP gamers worldwide. The best part is, their price tags are near-irresistible. A Greek historian once said, "Nothing is cheap which is superfluous, for what one does not need, is dear at a penny." Too bad ol' Plutarch isn't here to check these bargains for Sony's portable console, because he'd probably make an exception. Find out why after the jump.

Game designer Tetsuya Mizuguchi comes into view again for the day, along with some interesting thoughts he's got for Lumines, Rez, and Space Channel 5. During a recent interview with GameInformer's Billy Berghammer, he (Tetsuya) was quizzed about the possibility of making Lumines III.

Tetsuya explained that for the game, they (Q Entertainment) would have to come up with a fresh game design, and that the its sounds and visuals would have to be "gorgeous."

Tetsuya didn't give any specifics regarding what platform Lumines III would most probably land on, although he hinted that if it were to hit the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, they would have to upgrade the game's effects and sound. He did point out that handhelds like the PSP and DS provided for portability.

Moving on, Tetsuya was also quizzed about the possibility of remakes for Rez, and Space Channel 5. While Tetsuya states that he's only started thinking about a Rez sequel, he did say he was interested in making a new Space Channel 5 game, for the motion-sensitive Wii console to boot. Here reads his answer when asked about Ulala making a comeback by 2008:

Maybe I should send her [Ulala] an e-mail—"Please answer sometime!" It would be really good timing to make a Space Channel 5 sequel, in general. I think the Wii would be a really good fit, with the special controls. The audience is wider, too. I think casual players would like it, too.

Space Channel 5's dance rhythm action with the Wiimote? Heck, why not? And while this interview doesn't appear to confirm if any of these possibilities are in the works, it appears that Tetsuya is very open to recreating his older classics. We'll get back to you guys if we can get some confirmations.

In the wake of the recent Illuminati exploit from Noobz, the team has posted a quick update on their site yesterday. No, they haven't come up with a downgrader. (Yet.) But they gave a suggestion for PSP users exploiting with a European Lumines:

It seems that the Illuminati exploit doesn't work properly if your PSP is set to non-English settings. At a guess, it's something to do with unicode when displaying the profile name. // Anyway, if you are having problems, especially with the European Lumines, then try switching your PSP to 'English' settings.

Well, a lot of our commenters have asked, really, which version Illuminati would work on. Good thing Noobz was finally able to clear it up.

Now speaking of Lumines, Noobz pointed out that, over at Amazon, sales for Q Entertainment's rhythm-puzzle game went skyrocket. As of June 24, Lumines sales went up 14,000%. Surprised?

We checked for ourselves how the game is currently doing. Under the Video Games category of the online store, it pushed way past the currently released games for the Wii, DS, and PS3, and is now comfortably sitting on spot #2 (right under the Wii console itself). Sales ranking though currently notch it up with an increase of 350%.

Moving on, for those who have been waiting for the grand daddy itself (i.e. HEN and a downgrader), we're still promising to give you guys an update. If you remember the last time, January 25 saw the previous Hello World exploit. Then, just two days later, a homebrew enabler and downgrader finally hit FW 3.03.

It's been two days since the Illuminati "Hello World" exploit. It's going to be any day now... (or maybe that's just some of us hoping) As of now though, let's make Tetsuya Mizuguchi proud of how his creation is currently helping the homebrew community.

Q Entertainment's Lumines II was finally released in Japan last Thursday. Not a big deal if you don't dig music, but a big deal for fans of the very popular Lumines franchise.

The Japanese version is missing some of the licensed titles included in the U.S. version. The songs that didn't make it include New Order's "Lose Control" and Beck's "Black Tambourine." Music from Mondo Grosso and BoA are also missing.

Is this a case of classic licensing issues? We don't know for certain, but that is likely the case. Some have also pointed out that the song "Everything is Love" that was present during the E3 build is nowhere to be found.

In other words, Japanese consumers waited an additional four more months just to have a version of Lumines II that is missing some tracks. We assume Namco Bandai, the game's publisher in Japan, has something else up its sleeves to make up for the loss - we'll update you when we know more.

When Lumines came out for the PSP, it was one of the best games out there. It was created by Q Entertainment, which Mr. Tetsuya Mizuguchi founded. Fast-forward to the present, Lumines II was released last Thursday in Japan. For Q Studios, it was a big step since the original Lumines was published by Bandai (in Japan) and Ubisoft (North America and Europe). Lumines II, however, is Q Entertainment's first self-published title.

Mizuguchi, known for his wild launch parties, did not disappoint. The launch event was held in Air. (It's a popular club just south of the Shibuya Station.) Mizuguchi was joined by different DJs, an MTV crew, people from Famitsu, and even a few guest artists. As expected, there were drinks all around.

The people from Famitsu started a simple tournament in which the loser would buy the winner a drink. Since Mizuguchi won the tournament, one can imagine the amount he drank that night.

As you can see in this image, Mizuguchi (in black) claims another drink:

 

Lumines II has already been released in the US under Buena Vista. We suggest you consider adding Lumines II to your collection if you even dabble in puzzle games.

The February 7 European release of Every Extend Extra is almost here, and for the UK fanbase, things are psychedelically lighting up with some goodies straight from Q Entertainment. They've just opened up a new section in their official (UK) site for EEE. They've got all these Every Extend Extra, err, *extras* for you guys: wallpapers, screenshots, tutorials, videos... You'll even be able to watch the recent video interview with Tetsuya Mizuguchi.

The game might have already invade many a PSP in North America, but even for the folks living in the States, you might also want to visit this UK site for the goodies. Those wallpapers are looking mighty trippy, and of course, you can either download a version for you computer or your PSP unit.

Just click the "Read" link below and beam yourself up to the official site. Enjoy!

CVG has an interesting interview with Rez ,Every Extend Extra, and the Lumines game's mainman, Tetsuya Mizuguchi. The interview is quite hefty and some questions were already answered in Mizuguchi's earlier interviews. So with that, we'll be shifting our focus to the meatier sides of the interview.

The Q Entertainment founder often said before that he would want to come up with a successor to Rez - now that's something we could all look forward to. When he was asked about the possibility of that happening in the near future, here's what he said:

No (laughs). I'm really aggressive to make the next game - It's a big motivation to me, to create something. I always have the concept and the ideas - I'm always thinking about what kind of game I should make if I get to make Rez 2...I don't know if the next game should be Rez 2 or some new title. I have a big reason to make that kind of new experience because technology is changing; hi-res, 7.1 surround. I'm ready to go.

We sure hope he comes up with the next Rez game. Whatever its title would be, we're sure that most Rez lovers won't mind. Of course when talking about this guy, a conversation about music-based games is always present. He then gave a sneak peek as to how they choose licensed tracks in their games:

Basically it depends on the game. We have to think about what kind of experience we want, so with Rez I focused on a trancey experience - using lots of sounds and effects to make you feel trancey...I think about what kind of effect I want to give the player first, then I decide the kind of sound of music I want and go out and get it. The priority is not to get a name or famous artist.

Although he believes that Nintendo is gonna be the force to reckon with in Japan, two or three years from now, he re-affirms his belief on the PlayStation brand. He mentions that "Sony has always had very good concepts, like with the PSP - it's not only a game console; you can listen to music and watch movies."

To read the word-per-word account of the interview, click on our read link below.

We'll be quick about this: If you're looking for a copy of Lumines II for your PSP, you might want to check out Best Buy's online shop, as they are now selling this PSP hit for US$ 19.99.

For the guys who have yet to own a copy of this title (or probably waited out for deals like this, you sly dog), this is your opportunity to break into Q Entertainment's tune-savvy puzzle game that's also available for Xbox Live Arcade (Lumines Live).

Now, for the guys who already own a copy, consider this your girlfriend's next birthday/anniversary gift, though we advise discretion in challenging them - it could get ugly. Make sure to check out Every Extend Extra, the other Q Entertainment title trippin' your PSP this February.

Q Entertainment's addictive, explosive, and hypnotic puzzle shooter follow up to Lumines II, Every Extend Extra should see a European release date of February 9 (or so Playfuls.com claims). And since anticipation for this game is arguably high, we're naturally curious about how this sound-trip of game came to be.

A few quick searches led us to a GameSpot UK interview with Tetsuya Mizuguchi, that reveals several interesting bits about the games development. Below are some of the things that Mizuguchi had to say about the game:

On how the game evolved from a free PC game to a full PSP release
Mizuguchi explains that one day, one of the younger members of Q Entertainment discovered Every Extend on the PC. It was so addictive and viral (eventualy the whole team was playing it), that eventually one of the staff came to Mizuguchi and suggested that the team concert it for the PSP and give it a Q flavor.

Mizuguchi adds that the game is a good fit with the previous games they've made. It's apparently an extension of the music is interactive theme that they've got in mind for the PSP.

On the visual style
Mizuguchi explains that he just leaves it up to the designers and he thinks that each should have its own individual style. Rez is Rez, and Every Extend Extra is Every Extend Extra. He says that Every Extend Extra (EEE) getting close to Rez in terms of style is something that he's "quite anxious about"

On synaesthesia
Mizuguchi explains that when it comes to his style if developing games, Rez in particular, draws a lot of inspiration from the work of artists like Kandinsky, the concept of synaesthesia (the mixing of senses hear a sound, see a color), and rave culture. Basically, he constantly tires to keep visuals, sounds, and game response intertwined. Interactively created grooves, or some-such.

On the Wii
Since we're going to get console specific now, and people are quite touchy about consoles, we'll let Mizuguchi's words do the talking. Here they are:

The Wii is really unique, really fun to play, but the graphics and sound technology is not gorgeous like the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. I think it's very fun, and they have style, but I think it depends on the idea for the game. If I have an idea that I need to use the [Wii Remote] for, then I will do that. But no particular ideas or projects yet!

And there you have it, folks, a whole lot on EEE from Mizuguchi himself. We'll keep you updated about this game as news becomes available. For now, If you're European and you want this game, mark February 9 on your calendars.

In a recently concluded interview, Q Entertainment boss Tetsuya Mizuguchi shared some interesting insights into his company's growing repertoire of titles (Rez and Lumines), along with the upcoming Every Extend Extra titles that's hoped to make an equally big splash as Lumines.

In the interview, Mizuguchi discussed some of the more important inspirations for his games, such as his first taste of the Beatles and Pong when he was child. Aside from this, the conversation also drifted into a favorite gaming discussion: female gamers.

As Mizuguchi reflected on why he thinks female gamers tend to prefer puzzle titles:

I think the male and the female… everybody has part male-brain and part female-brain… The ratio is always moving, so some male players still love the puzzle games…But many female players love to play puzzle games. The male player loves to fight each other – it's basic DNA!

Moving on with the interview, Mizuguchi also reiterated on his game's "trippy" feel. Did he mind?

No, that's okay. I’m seriously thinking about what is the future of entertainment via visual or audio or stimulation by good vibration. My DNA of creation is coming from like a "sensorama" concept or games like ELIZA [an early therapist sim] and crazy, experimental games based on new science …so I’m always thinking what should we do, not only for amusement, but to expand our consciousness in different ways so … "trippy"… yeh, that is good.

For the full details on what this psychedelic dude think about next-gen consoles, XBLA and the (removed) rumble function, click on the source link.