Homebrew coder HardHat, together with Team Sushi, has released another update for HardHat's Battle Arena, a homebrew game where you are tasked to collect and train a party of up to 6 mages and eventually win the Sushi Island Tournament. The latest version has added new features like trainers, some fixes and more tweaks.

Download: HardHat's Battle Arena v0.61
Visit: QJ.NET PSP Development forum

Oh, delicious cake! The quirky cast of characters in Titan Studios' PSN title Fat Princess are headed for a feast on the PlayStation Portable courtesy of developer Supervillain Studio.

I haven't tried this one out for myself yet, but being an 8-bit Theatre fan I'm pretty sure I'm gonna enjoy it. This game demo from NickyP is a fighting game based on Final Fantasy I using the OpenBOR engine. Details after the link.

Thanks to NickyP for the heads up!

Download: Final Fantasy I demo for OpenBOR

And you thought that the character roster for Dissidia was over? Ha! Not by a long shot, if you consider the non-main characters! The hero and villain rosters may be complete for those coming from FF to FFX. Today, the question of whether we'll be seeing other icons from other FF games is answered. First up: Final Fantasy XI, represent! Handheld brawlers-in-waiting, I introduce to you: Shantotto! "Eh, who the hell is that?!"

To say that what you're about to read is chockful of screens and details is a bit of an understatement. A big batch of screens for Patapon 2 arrived today, with an accompanying army of details to tide you over. We got story details, multiplayer modes, info on the new stuff (heroes, units, and eggs, oh my!), as well as that uber cool "new game plus" feature!

   

Take note of the capital S in the title. (It's not a typo, this writer just felt the need to put emphasis on the plural of Star Ocean, you'll know what we mean in a bit.) Square Enix held a Pre-Conference Meeting at its HQ in Shinjuku and let's just say there was a deluge of new info about the upcoming titles.

Squeenix is definitely giving the Sony PlayStation Portable a lot of love. They're releasing three Star Ocean titles, two of which are for the PSP. Yup, you read that right. Star Ocean: First Departure is a full makeover'd version of the original Super Famicom video game (it was only released in Japan). Second up is Star Ocean: Second Evolution which is also a remake for the original PSOne Star Ocean: The Second Story. Star Ocean 4 is still under development by the original devs for the series, tri-Ace. There wasn't any info on what platforms it will be released on and an ETA.

Shinji Hashimoto announced a new Wii title under the working title Chocobo's Dungeon: Toki-Wasure no Meikyuu. It will be released in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Chocobo franchise. Reportedly, it will serve as a follow up of the DS Chocobo Tales and will feature familiar characters and locations. The difference would be that the title will focus on dungeon gameplay instead of a bunch of minigames. Producer Yuki Yokoyama concluded:

Finally, a word for those who enjoyed Chocobo Tales, we are including something special that should be very familiar to you to discover, and I hope you're looking forward to this title as much as I am.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers were discussed by Akitoshi Kawazu, executive producer of the series. He indicated that Ring of Fates will be coming to Nintendo's handheld and will be utilizing the DS' WiFi capabilities. Ring of Fates will be more focused on traditional action RPG gameplay with good special effects. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates will be released in August 23 in Japan - a bit later than what Square Enix had planned. A short in game footage for The Crystal Bearers for the Wii was shown featuring sky ships and other impressive elements.

Lastly, the Square Enix announced Final Fantasy XII: International Zodiac Job System (definitely a mouthful) which is scheduled for a August 9 release. Hiroyuki Ito, producer and director for the title indicated that a secret DVD will be included. The North American version of the game will be English dubbed and will feature a 16:9 widescreen mode. According to Ito, "the Zodiac Job System now enables players to create characters that adhere more closely to classic Final Fantasy job systems, like White Mage, Red Mage and Black Mage."

Looks like we've got a lot to expect from Square Enix this year. Expect more goodies as when the party really begins. Stay tuned.

Now-a-days, when people think of Dungeons and Dragons video games, they usually think of games like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, or even Dungeons and Dragons Online. Well, it's probably safe to say that most people who are fans of tabletop role-playing games are also fans of turn-based, grid-set, Japanese style Tactics RPGs. So perhaps this "tactical" addition to the D&D gaming library is a pre-determined eventuality.

Some people have posted on the comments section of previous coverage that this merging of grid-tactics based gameplay and third edition tabletop rules-sets could perhaps be one the geekiest combinations known to man. Perhaps he's right. But, if you're into that sort of thing (like most of us here in QJ) this game promises to be really fun. This is definitely a game targeted at a select group. Will the game fly though?

It's safe to say that it all depends on the execution. Some people on the comments section have said that turn based games will be the downfall of the PSP. But when you think about it, how come turn-based grid-strategy games performed so well on other platforms like the GBA and the DS? Will D&D Tactics invite a whole new type (geeky) of crowd to the PSP scene? The more the merrier ...right?

The full article awaits after the jump!