I know. Reading is hard. This interview wasn’t able to be captured on camera (as it was standing in front of Team ICO’s Fumito Ueda at the time — more on that next week), but I’m sure Valkyria Chronicles fans will be very interested in reading it, nonetheless. I snuck down to the show floor during a rare quiet period — more of those next year, please! — and got my hands on the TGS playable demo. You guys are going to love it.

What made you decide to develop the official sequel for Valkyria Chronicles on the PSP? (Submitted by user: Trollkotte)

For the original PS3 version of the game there were two key features: The Canvas graphics system and the BLiTZ combat system. So when we were discussing the sequel we obviously wanted to bring these two features over, but we wanted to upgrade it somehow. When we looked at the BLiTZ battle system specifically — especially in the Japanese market — co-op play and wireless play is becoming more and more popular and we felt that would expand the gameplay for the title in a great way. When we went further in that direction we discovered that the PSP is the perfect platform to take advantage of that.

Are you adding new unit classes, weapon types or vehicles? Will there be any returning characters from Valkyria Chronicles 1? (Submitted by user: BigBoss712)

Yes. In terms of new weapons and units, not only will there be more of each, but there will be expanded customisation options for both. We have Scouts and Stormtroopers, as we did in the first game, but Scouts may branch into Scouts who run faster or are more meant for battle. In that way, each of the units will branch into new units. In terms of weapons, in the first game a rifle might branch into three different rifles as you progress in the game. The amount of variation is even greater in the sequel. In terms of returning characters, you’ll definitely see Alicia and Welkin come back and you might see other members of Squad 7, too.

We can also customise tanks this time around. You can equip different weapons and change the colour, which will affect how the tank moves. There are many ways for you to customise your own troops, just based on all the different character, tank and weapon options.

(more…)

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I know a lot of you wanted to hear more information on The Last Guardian coming out of TGS, so no doubt you’ll be pleased to see the video we have for you below. It’s a Q&A with Team ICO’s Director and lead Game Designer, Fumito Ueda. After the interview, there’s also a little bit of new footage from the game. We’ll have a full interview with Ueda for you later on. Enjoy the video!

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Earlier today, Kaz Hirai kicked off Tokyo Game Show with a keynote speech that unveiled some interesting tid bits about the future of PlayStation. Customarily starting with some sales figures, it was revealed that the new slimmer PS3 has sparked a massive sales surge, with over 1 million PS3s sold through to consumers worldwide in the three weeks since its launch on September 1st.

Hirai also showed off the motion controller, reiterating that they would be released in the Spring of 2010. They feature a pair of motion sensors, a three axes gyroscope and a three axes accelerometer, along with Bluetooth and a rechargable Li-on battery. A list of games in development for the peripherals was revealed, though there’s no word on which of these will be available outside of Japan. On top of that, it was confirmed that PAIN, Flower, Hustle Kings, High Velocity Bowling and EyePet will get compatability patches to add motion controller functionality. LittleBigPlanet and Resident Evil 5 were also demonstrated to be working with the motion controllers.

The PSPgo will also be getting a couple of new peripherals in January – a Bluetooth Stereo Head Set Receiver and a Converter Cable Adapter. The latter will allow you to use any PSP 1000 – 3000 peripheral with the PSPgo. These will be available in Europe and Japan. The European price will be €39.99 for the Bluetooth Head Set and €14.99 for the Converter Cable Adapter.

If the 120GB hard drive in the new PS3s isn’t big enough for you, you’ll be happy to hear that a 250GB version will be out in October in Europe (no word on 250GB bundles coming to America) . It will be bundled with various games and will retail for €349.99 (£284.99). We’ll have more details for you soon.

Finally, Gran Turismo 5 now has a solid Japanese release date – March. An European release date will be announced in due course.

We’ll be looking to go into more detail with the above information over the coming weeks.

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Tokyo Game Show officially begins tomorrow, but EA set up a special press showcase on the 52nd floor of Roppongi Hills in central Tokyo. Whilst there we met up with Mayumi Koyanagi and Jeff asked her a few questions about EA’s plans for PSP minis. Tetris and Sudoku were on hand to play during the showcase, but clearly there’s more to come from EA.

The PSPgo is only a week from release so you can see how these games play for yourselves then. Spoiler: it’s like Tetris and Sudoku, but on your PSP.

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By the time you read this I will already be on my way to the airport to catch my flight to Japan to cover the Tokyo Game Show with SCEA Blog’s Jeff Rubenstein.

We’ll be doing our best to make you feel as if you’re there along with us, by reporting on as many games as possible and interviewing as many developers as we can grab. We need you to help us out by giving us some questions for all these great people we’ll be chatting to. Below you’ll find the list of games whose developers we’ve already confirmed meetings with, though more may be added.

• PixelJunk Shooter
• PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe
• White Knight Chronicles
• Gran Turismo 5/ GT PSP
• Heavy Rain
• Valkyria Chronicles II
• Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker
• Quantum
• Trinity: Souls of Zill O’ll

We want our interviews to be as interesting as possible, so make sure your questions stay away from the obvious (dates, Trophies, etc). Be sure to let us know if there are any games that aren’t on this list that you want to hear more about. We’ll make it our mission to keep you informed.

See you (virtually) from the show floor,
Jeff & Jem

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