Castlevania for the PSP Unveiled

1up has the news that Castlevania is coming to the PSP for the first time. Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles will bring not one but two games from the classic side-scroller series to the portable console. The pack will include the title Rondo of Blood, which is a brand-new release for the United States, as well as the much beloved Symphony of the Night. The network is featuring an extensive preview from Jeremy Parish, as well as video and screenshots of this sure-to-be-bestseller PSP title.

w000t!

[mandelbr0t]

Subject says it all. There aren't many good titles for PSP, but this may well be one of the better ones. :)

Re:Rondo on the PSP means...

[HappySqurriel]

Well, I live in Calgary and I only (really) see the PSP or DS on the train ...

The train is (insanely) crowded which could be why PSP owners choose to listen to music or watch movies, but I do see DS owners fight with the crowd to play games. There are countless reasons why I could not see games being played with PSP owners, and it doesn't mean that they don't play games, but I suspect the main reason is that a PSP could be brought out to watch videos/listen to music whereas a DS will only be brought out to play games ...

Re:Thank God

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, the best.

Re:Rondo on the PSP means...

[Fozzyuw]

Seriously, who actually owns a PSP? I don't think I've ever even seen one.

I own one... and I've probably not touched it in 4 months. I love the hardware. The screen is jaw dropping on a hand-held. I love the analytical thumb stick. UMD is a nice fit for a portable to cram data onto a disc to get more out of gaming. Built in Wi-Fi is awesome and necessary. I use to use it at the Gym as a bulky MP3 player and movie watcher.

So... why haven't I played it in 4-months and seriously played it in about 1 year?

1. Games. I just haven't played enough fun games on it that 'work' with the portable use. Meaning, I loved Ridge Racer and Dragon Ball Z, but I couldn't play wirelessly over the internet (at least at the that time), only Ad-Hoc was enabled. I don't know anyone else with a PSP. No go. Other than that, I haven't enjoyed the other games I played and I couldn't find a decent RPG game. What, those champions of norrath games? No thanks, all I can say is "Loading..." crap, I forgot to do something in the town... "Loading..." (5 secs later) Ok, done, lets go kill things, "Loading..." (killed 10 things) Ok, I need to kill things in this area now, "Loading...". Ugh, I just didn't get a fluid game experience.
2. UMD, while useful, is WAY to costly and restricted. Beside a birthday gift, the mandatory Ghostbusters purchase and a 3rd film I bought for a long international flight, I got sick of the high cost and low featured UMD movies. What? I have to pay $20 for a UMD movie and $12 for a DVD? Hmm... I guess I'll get the DVD. And now, there's software out there to convert DVD to a Duo memory card to watch on the PSP, ok, that's cool. Why buy the UMD movie to carry all those discs around?
3. I stopped traveling. My fiancee now lives in the US (from France) and I do not take as many trips to Europe as I use to.

I wanted to sell my PSP this past holiday season, but it was a gift from my Fiancee... who seemed hurt by the idea that I didn't use it anymore and wanted to sell it. On top of that, it was originally a 30GB iPod, which I didn't want at the time because I was mostly swimming at the Gym. Now, I have an iPod shuffle. hehe ironically sad.

I've been considering giving the PSP another Go, but now I have WoW's expansion pack, Nintendo Wii, Blockbuster online subscription (catching up on TV episodes I've never watched), that I don't have much time left for the PSP (I also recently purchased my first PS2 and have games on there I play). I guess this is just one man's 'market saturation' story. The PSP had it's chance, it lost it, and it might be better now, but I don't have the time or interest to go back. Though, I might start by picking up the new Castlevania game if it's 2 games in one. I guess it really does come down to games in the end. =)

Cheers,
Fozzy

Re:The reason for the recent hype

[be-fan]

Air-quote all you want, but Castlevania is a classic series of games. It first came out on multiple platforms (most popularly the NES) 20 years ago, and since that time has appeared on a number of different Nintendo, Sega, Sony, and arcade platforms.