Kevin McCann, President and Creative Director of Tiki Games, is continuing to focus efforts towards the development of Galaxy's End, an RTS for the PSP. You can help them out. Read more in the full article.

If you're the type of gamer who enjoys arcade shooters, you won't be disappointed by this week's serving of downloadable goodies on the PlayStation Store. Gamers in North America will be glad to know that two new downloadable PSN titles are now up for grabs, as well as the first issue of the Qore Digital Magazine, covering the latest news in the PlayStation world. Check out the complete list of PlayStation Store DLC in our full article.

First, for the good news. The developers at Tiki Games have just updated their Galaxy's End RTS game for the PSP with a new gameplay video. This video will be showcasing more units the game will feature, with this video showing one particular vehicle's "Siege Mode".

As for the bad news: Tiki Games president/creative director Kevin McCann sent out a letter to PSPFanboy stating that it will be a while before they come out with more teasers of their upcoming game. The letter went on to say that Tiki games is currently undergoing talks with prospective publishers to help their project along, although it's uncertain if they'll be getting the deals they want.

McCann further stated that the team preferred that they be the ones to finish this project, although this will cost time - he estimated that Galaxy's End may not be out until summer 2008. While this sounds like a long wait, the game is expected to be released as a full version, with features like single-player, multiplayer, and skirmish mode being part of the package.

Tiki Games also appears to be thinking about releasing the game as a digital download, which should ease up the studio's manufacturing/retailer costs come release day. There will also be plans for a demo version, although its release date will be close to that of the full version. As a last note, McCann is also letting everybody know that Tiki will be making more announcements this year related to Galaxy's End - stay posted in case we pick up news on this.

Have you played Metal Bluster 2? It's a mech game for mobiles. It was really fun and had the graphics to match. Well, looks like the PSP will (hopefully) have something like it - only with more mechs in real time strategy action rather than one mech action - in the form of Tiki Games' Galaxy's End.

PSP Fanboy was able to get a hands on of Galaxy's End at the GDC and has a video of the first mission's start uploaded by scxzor. Gameplay looks engaging and controls quite manageable. Judging from the video, we'll be seeing a number of mech types (the one with heavy machine guns and the rocket launchers). Unfortunately, Galaxy's End currently doesn't have a publisher. Why, you say, as the game seems innovative enough for publishers to jump it? Well, Tiki Games is a new dev which might explain the publishers' hesitation.

We're crossing our fingers as well for Tiki Games and Galaxy's End. In the meantime, we'll stop babbling so you can watch the video.

Galaxy's End is a potential game for the PSP, except that it's makers haven't found a publisher yet. It's a PSP exclusive RTS, and those who've gotten their hands on a playable demo at the GDC all say that's it's pretty interesting. They say also that the graphics are looking impressive and that the gameplay looks fast and fun. You could see this for yourself in the vid right here.

So far, the vid's making weekly rounds at PSP Fanboy. The development team is called Tiki Games, a team that the publishers seem wary of testing. What do you think? Maybe with a little help this vid would find some publisher to get it to sell.

Could we blame skeptics from saying that "console RTS" won't work? Real-time strategy (RTS) and its close cousin, real-time tactics (RTT), have always been the domain of the personal computer, with its mouse and keyboard. The traditional console controller is ill-suited for the rigors of battle strategy. And with some disappointing attempts to port PC RTS titles to consoles - including the early Command & Conquer titles to PSOne and StarCraft on the N64 - somehow the cry went up from both sides of the gaming world: stick to the status quo.

This is where Electronic Arts, stubborn EA, comes in. Criticized as they are for a number of gaffes in the past year (alone), we'd always held that sometimes, even they can get some things right, or at least good enough. Backing EALA's bold attempts to put RTS into console gaming (starting with The Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-Earth II) might be one of them. And now a bolt from the blue dev, Tiki Games, plans to craft a real-time strategy title for, among others, the handheld PSP.

A crazy effort - ludicrous, even? Or is it finally time some boundaries are breached, some lines blurred? Is the core idea of real-time strategy breaking free (because there's not a star in heaven that they can't reach)? Short of beating the 360 Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars out of EALA right now for a review, we try instead to deconstruct the idea behind strategy games, and see where they fit in the matrix of the gaming console.

Short version of the verdict: it can, and it will - if you're willing to be as wily as Sun Tzu on a coffee high, that is.

Sun Tzu says: Hence it is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for purposes of spying and thereby they achieve great results. Intelligence analysis of strategy gaming on consoles after the jump, Commander.

 

These guys have guts. We have to give them an award or something. Tiki Games, a new developer for consoles and handhelds, is looking for a publisher for Galaxy's End, an RTS for, among others, the PSP. Yes, they said RTS. PlayStation Portable Real-Time Strategy. EALA said RTS on the Xbox 360. These guys are claiming RTS on a handheld. Excuse us while we sit stunned.

Tiki says on their site that they've gotten Stage 1 Approval from SCEA. Guess this means they really do have something on their hands. Still looking for a publisher, though. Below are the work-in-progress screenshots and the DL for the gameplay movie for what they claim is the PSP version (again, sitting there stunned).  And this Koei vet thought Romance VIII made his week...

That's it. We have got to talk to these guys when we get the chance. Really. Handheld RTS on the go. That takes balls. If anyone who's reading this is related to, say, Ubisoft or Koei or Namco Bandai or something...

    
  

Download: [Galaxy's End gameplay]