Steve and Jon tackle this episode Co-op style while Adam ventures across the frozen tundra of Greenland to rescue rare sea birds. Jon’s been playing a lot of Ys Seven on his PSP, and Steve got a little quality time in with Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days, Mafia II, and makes a second attempt at Final Fantasy XIII. They both have some early thoughts on the first hour or so of Metroid: Other M to share as well.

After that comes discussion of Gamescom, Europe’s biggest video game conference. What rocked? What sucked? Listen and learn. This one is much better than the last time we let these two run an episode.

How do you feel about obscure Japanese action role playing games? Are you jonesin’ for some Metroid? Did you dig what you heard out of Gamescom? Share in the comments below, over in the DVD Verdict Jury Room forums, or by emailing feedback@pixelverdict.com.

Blast Processing theme song by Dan “String Vulture” Moore.

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GTI Club Supermini Festa! has over 15 courses in five different stages from across the globe including Japan, France, the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States. Each stage takes racers through open cities and rough terrain and challenges them to tackle oncoming traffic and uncover new routes and secret courses. Gamers can drive over massive jumps, around hair-pin turns and through secret shortcuts in 16 customizable Supermini cars based on the original arcade game, and a few all-new additions. In the garage, gamers can also design their own Supermini from the ground up, or tune their engine’s performance to perfection. Players can race to the finish against friends in multiplayer modes via ad-hoc party for the PSP with up to four players.

GTI Club Supermini Festa! is rated E for everyone by the ESRB and is now available for PSP and PSPgo download for $29.99. GTI Club Supermini Festa! will also be available on Wii this Spring

Via Kotaku, news comes out that PM Studios is bringing Gunbird 2 to the PSP.  Now there hasn’t been much on Sony’s portable that I’ve found compelling enough to shell out the sheckels for, but this, my friends, makes it tempting.

Gunbird 2 is, essentially, the most bat-&#$%  insane shooter ever forged.  I became engrossed with it when it came to the Dreamcast and everyone I’ve forced to try it has also fallen under its spell.  It takes like nine minutes to complete, but features some of the most incoherent (read: awesome) storylines ever.  Pro-tip: match chibby flying-carpet straddler Hei Cob with anyone and strap in for an endless march of fat jokes.

The Charge:

For the first time, Become a master assassin on the PSP System.

Opening Statement:
Hot on the heels of Assassin’s Creed II comes the first iteration of the series for Sony’s powerhouse portable. Does Assassin’s Creed make the leap of faith into the palm of your hand? Or is this one portable knock off worth killing?

Facts of the Case:
It’s been a month since Altair buried his hidden blade into the neck of Robert De Sable, leader of the Templar Knights. As the new leader of the Order of Assassins, he’s gone on the offensive, taking the war to the Templars. Travelling to Cyprus, Altair hopes to wipe out the last remaining leaders of the Templar forces before they can rebuild and strike back.

The Evidence:
Reviewing a PSP title is always a dicey prospect for me. When you get a handheld with such horsepower, do you stand the games shoulder to shoulder with their console peers? Or should one judge the title against the sea of utter trash that consists of your average portable system’s software library (the PSP being no exception). Taken on its own; Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines is really a pretty amazing feat. Not only have they managed to squeeze an experience that feels remarkably close to the big brother games on the current consoles, but they’ve managed to do so without a whole lot of compromise to the core mechanic.

You still roam through a crowded city (though not quite so crowded as on PS3 or Xbox360), and you still have several side missions you can attempt in between assassination attempts (though the model is closer to the more linear approach of Assassin’s Creed II than the first game). Controls immediately feel markedly familiar to veterans of the series, and are not at all tough to grasp, even without the second analog stick, and in seconds you’ll be free-running over rooftops and dodging angry guards.

Technically speaking, I’m amazed that they’ve managed to squeeze this stuff into what is essentially a slightly enhanced PS2. The atmosphere and character of Assassin’s Creed is instantly recognizable, and character animations are every bit as fantastic as one might expect from the series. The sound is also top drawer stuff, and the game sounds fantastic through a set of nice headphones.

Rebuttal Witness:
While Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines does capture the core of the big console titles pretty effectively, it must be acknowledged that there are many elements stripped down or removed altogether from this version. The assassination missions basically boil down to fight scenes and boss battles rather that the calculating and strategic offerings the game is typically known for. The emphasis is definitely on the combat, which feels more like the first game than the second, now allowing for much in the way of choice or diversity. It’s an issue worth noting, but it doesn’t sour the deal completely.

Closing Statement:
Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines manages to succeed based simply on the fact that it’s a portable offering that immediately feels like Assassin’s Creed. While it doesn’t have the same depth of its console brothers, and even some of the basic elements of those games has been stripped down some, it’s still a technical wunderkind, and it’s still a worthy distraction for those on the go, or those with a hankering for some portable assassin action.

The Verdict:

Platform: Sony PSP/Sony PSPgo
Developer: Griptonite Games
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: November 17th, 2009
Rated: M(17+) for Mature.

Well, here it is, folks. After months of speculation and rumor, prior to E3, we’ve got leaked photos of the newest incarnation of Sony’s PSP system, dubbed the PSP Go! And surprise surprise, it flips, just like we all imagined it would. Engadget has the skinny on the leak, as well as a photo gallery and some video. Read on after the break for first impressions.

Honestly? I’m a bit underwhelmed. It looks like an overgrown mylo, without the keyboard. There’s nothing in it that says to me I must replace my old PSP with it. It’s still got the same terrible analog nub, same amount of buttons. And the placement of the analog nub horrifies my hands already–I can already feel the cramping and the accidental dropping of the device. It’s lighter and has Bluetooth, and they’ve abandoned the UMD drive… but I’ve still got a sizable collection of UMD games for my old PSP.

It’s great they’re announcing an online store to sell games electronically, but these days, everyone I know has memory cards in excess of 4GB. Did we really need a new piece of hardware to facilitate this particular consumer need? What was the problem with continuing to integrate the PSP into PS3 functionality? Wouldn’t it be cheaper for people just to buy a new Memory Stick and stick with the old PSP than shell out for a new console?

Sony seems to want to run the Go! in tandem with the PSP, as if one device somehow won’t compete with the other, because of how revolutionary and different each is from the other. Frankly, I don’t see it.

(via Engadget)

It’s Canada 3, America 1 as Erich welcomes Adam, Jon, and Steve to talk games and correct his meager knowledge of Canadian geography. They talk Demon’s Souls, Sly Cooper 2, Hammerin’ Hero, Legends of Wrestlemania, Suikoden Tierkreis, Resident Evil 4, and Tetris DS. In news, Jon’s excitement about an early release for PS3-exclusive inFamous turns into a debate about the marketing wisdom of using demos as pre-order bonuses, Steve joins the throngs of Xbox 360 owners rejoicing over Microsoft adding the E74 error to its 3-year warranty, and Adam uses his +4 charm to get everyone to care about the new World of Warcraft patch. After minor technical difficulties, the boys wrap things up with this week’s Symposium Ad Nauseum, asking deep questions about why the gaming cliches that bug us the most are often those we hold most dear.

Have an existential question about exploding barrels? Let us know by emailing feedback@pixelverdict.com.

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