Ever since the PSP launched in 2005, we have been excited about Sony’s plans to release a GPS peripheral for the system. Well, PSP owners in Japan — and now Europe — have had their dreams fulfilled. The Japanese GPS system comes equipped with maps for the entire country and costs about $60. Now, PSP owners in Europe can pick up the GPS unit on its own, or in a bundled package. Amazon France has listed a bundled PSP system with GPS adaptor, car mount and French maps, set to go on sale June 3. The complete bundle will cost a hefty 299 Euros ($460 US), while the GPS receiver on its own costs 119 Euros ($185 US). We are not sure why the European version costs more than the Japanese product, although European users certainly get great value for their money with the included maps and visualization software.

Sony has promised to release the GPS peripheral in the United States, and we really hope that they follow through with their plans. Considering how often we use the Google maps function on our iPhones to find our way around town, a GPS would be phenomenal! Hit the jump to check out the packaging for the new French PSP bundle, but prepare to drool.

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Do you like your pristine white DS Lite or your glossy, light-absorbing black PSP Slim? That’s nice and all, but how would you like a purple DS with a red top screen shell, blue bottom panels and green L / R buttons? Well, hardly anyone would want that, but thanks to the people at ColorWarePC you can have your game system just the way you want it. Using plain colors or metallic ones, which feature a nice faint sparkle, you can customize many aspects of your game console, handheld, controller or Guitar Hero guitar to your liking. You can choose to send in your system or purchase a brand-new one to be painted and sent to you directly. A good amount of colors is available, and the best part is that this isn’t just a well-crafted skin applied on your system; instead, your console / portable is taken apart and painted individually. Mind you, this will void your warranty if it hasn’t expired yet, but this isn’t the most concerning factor. A cool paint job will cost you upwards of $150; a hefty price, but perhaps a few people out there would like to invest in quality system-painting services. Alas, I can finally have my brown PSP / DS Lite, if I could afford them. Check them out, and an example of the many portions of a system that you can color:

Yes, the rumors of yet another DS redesign continue. Everyone is talking about this, again. And with E3 fast approaching, a perfect moment for the mysterious DS revamping does as well. We even heard that this ‘new’ system is all done, sitting prettily, waiting for DS Lite sales to drop significantly. Many great DS games are on their way for this Summer, and Fall / Winter surprises could strike at any time; maybe this ‘DS the Third’ could breathe even more life and success to Nintendo’s current handheld. Do you see a new DS version unveiling at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo? Perhaps not so soon? Is another DS model a given? We have talked about this, multiple times, but it’s time to find out what you think:

According to a pair of psychology professors, Dr. John Charlton and Dr. Ian Danforth, being addicted to video games is a lot like what is experienced by sufferers of the social disorder called Asperger’s Syndrome. This disorder, not medically recognized until fairly recently, is recognizable by sufferers’ intense discomfort in social situations, withdrawl from conversation with others, inability to recognize emotional cues, and intense fixation on arcane, highly technical topics (like model railroad building or statistics).

According to these two university researchers, people who play a large quantity of video games tend to exhibit many of the same traits as sufferers of these more serious disorders:

“The thinking in the field is that there is a scale along which people, even those considered to be ‘normal’, can be placed upon. And that people such as engineers, mathematicians and computer scientists are nearer to the non-empathising, systemising, end of the spectrum, with people with Aspergers syndrome even further along again. Our research supports the idea that people who are heavily involved in game playing may be nearer to autistic spectrum disorders than people who have no interest in gaming.”

This is very interesting research, and it will undoubtedly spur more debate in behavioral science and psychology about the true relationship — if any — between video games and social behavior. In the meantime, their research has not quite convinced me to put down my PSP and go outside, but it might get me thinking about how playing games potentially shapes my human interactions. In the meantime, who wants to check out my uber-realistic model train kit?

As our loyal readers know, every month here at PVG we keep a running list of the most promising upcoming games on both the PSP and DS. For the first time this month, the unexpected happened: there are absolutely no upcoming games worth getting excited about for the PSP in April. For the record, fanatical PSP owners in North America have a poker sim and a somewhat promising arcade compilation from SNK to look forward to this month (but nothing else!). Granted, the release of blockbuster games God of War and Final Fantasy: Crisis Core last month may help to explain the drought, as publishers are unwilling to go up against — or fall under the shadow of — those two monolithic franchises. However, looking down the pipeline, there are a few potential surprises, but otherwise very little to get genuinely excited about. So, what does this current situation mean? Are we simply in the midst of mid-life doldrums, or does this actually signify the beginning of the end for Sony’s impressive handheld? Instead of the usual rundown of hotly-anticipated games, we have compiled a list of signs that we may be entering the twilight years of the PSP’s existence.

A lack of highly-anticipated games

What PSP games are you most looking forward to as we slowly approach the 2008 holiday season? If you find yourself scratching your head with difficulty trying to come up with a single title, you can understand why this is worrying. Some of our favorite games around the office happen to be the kind of under-appreciated gems that continue to populate the PSP catalogue, so there will be plenty of titles for us to play (and review) this coming year. However, it is less certain whether Joe gamer is as excited as we are about upcoming cult hits like R-Type Command from Atlus, or Atari’s quirky ninja platformer, N+.

Murmurs of a hardware revision/update

There have been unsubstantiated but steady rumors that Sony is considering the release of a new hardware revision, a Sony-Ericsson branded gaming phone, or an entirely brand new handheld. We are not sure what improvements Sony might make in order to breathe new life into the current PSP platform (it already has GPS, for goodness sake) but certainly the prospect of a PSP 2 might make developers reluctant to pour resources into a costly PSP title. If Sony has something new in the works that they are not telling us about, it would help to explain the reaction of developers such as Ready at Dawn, who recently stated that they will not be working on another PSP game any time soon.

Touching is good

Nintendo has a winner on its hands with the DS, and their handheld has handily won in every possible category during the current round of portable console wars. That said, Nintendo’s success in no way diminishes the very real gains made by Sony in the handheld gaming market, which have been significant (it is estimated that Sony has sold 32 million PSP systems worldwide, to Nintendo’s 68 million). With the addition of a third contender, Apple, the field is now dominated by machines that make touch input the primary interface for playing games. That means that important third-party developers are more likely to invest in touch-screen gameplay mechanics for future titles, leaving Sony’s current console out in the cold as we move toward a touchy-feely world.

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*sniff* Ahh, spring is in the air. When was the last time you saw beautiful green flowers like these? Anyway, April is just around the corner, blossoming flowers and allergens aplenty. Not so much on the DS, though; there are only a handful of titles to keep an eye out for during this month. We have a weird platformer, a promising RTS, an expanded dungeon crawler and a very unique RPG. Let’s take a deeper look at these titles, shipping for the Nintendo DS throughout April 2008:

Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys! – April 15: Zombies have taken over the world as, um, ‘space thingys’ invade the planet; it’s up to a trio of undead teens to save the Earth. Using each character’s unique abilities, you will explore various town locations to exterminate the invaders. Interestingly enough, comic-style cut-scenes depict the progress of the story and use the ‘book-style’ sideways DS position to do so.

Rondo of Swords – April 15: This real-time strategy title aims to revolutionize the genre. Although it retains typical features of similar titles, such as character classes, leveling up and attack / defend weapon equipment, the way you combat enemies is clever and sounds promising. Instead of attacking one character at a time as it’s usually done, you must trace a path for each character to go through, damaging multiple enemies at once. You also have to consider the location of your party members; if they all cluster together, opponents can charge through your party with ease. No multiplayer aspects here, but a decent story and a unique battle system have us hyped.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time / Darkness – April 20: The first Mystery Dungeon title featuring the many critters of Pokémon was a nice spin-off for the series. This time around, both versions are available on the DS, each with a small amount of exclusive Pocket Monsters. Wi-Fi Connection is introduced and allows for friends to rescue each other with ease, as well as having the ability to send and receive messages. Of course, more Pokémon are introduced, mostly from the latest versions Diamond and Pearl, and there’s a bit more emphasis on story on this sequel. Pre-order either title at participating stores and receive a neat collector’s guide with more info on the game.

The World Ends With You – April 22: This title is as unique as it gets. Formerly known as It’s a Wonderful World, this urban-themed RPG features side-scrolling, 2D missions with real-time combat. Fashion plays a big role in fights; your stats and skills vary depending on what clothes and accessories you wear. You can also collect pins and use them in pog-like battles, even over Wi-Fi. During combat, you will control two characters, one per screen, using both the stylus and either the D-pad or the system’s face buttons. Developed by Square-Enix, this title could very well be the big hit for the month.

Back in 2004, Nintendo envisioned a strategy to balance three game systems. The Game Boy Advance was doing great, whereas the GameCube was ‘so-so’; this is when the ‘Third Pillar’, the Nintendo DS, was introduced. Who would’ve thought that this third pillar would grow to be massive, overtaking the GBA’s structure and becoming a great success itself!. As far as publishers and developers are concerned, the GBA is dead. There are, however, a ton of great titles for the handheld, and to commemorate such a great system we have compiled a list of the 30 best GBA titles. Many DS owners probably have a GBA lying around somewhere; not only that, but many of these titles offer great single-player experiences fully compatible with the DS. Come along as we go through the GBA’s Best, starting with 15 great titles.

Mario Advance Series: These remakes of classic Mario masterpieces were perfectly ported to the system, bringing Nintendo’s superb platforming designs for gaming on the go. Super Mario Bros. 2, 3, World, and Yoshi’s Island introduced a few to the glorious days of great Mario titles and scored tremendous financial success. All titles shared a neat multiplayer version of the classic Mario Bros., as well. There’s no Nintendo system with plenty of Mario love, and these GBA gems are the proof.

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We have seen the roles of art and programming behind videogames, and how each aspect is worked on and then polished; now it’s time to see how it all comes together, and the concept of design is key in this stage. You can do many things with great art assets and smart code, but the way you put it together and present it to the player is just as important as the assets themselves. Let’s take a look at how smart design can make or break a game.

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Ready for more info on the creative process of videogame production? We recently disclosed the role of game arts in the industry, and now we will be analyzing quite the opposite; the programming behind videogames. As most of you know, the aftermath of programming makes things work, all through the on / off premise of the basics of binary. Let’s take a deeper look at the ‘coding’ going on inside games.

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We recently had a chance to sit down with a borrowed Nokia N81 phone and try out some new titles for the as-yet-unreleased N-gage platform. In our brief time with the system, we were able to preview three different games: Block Breaker, a pretty-looking Arkanoid clone, System Rush Evolution, an arcade racer resembling Stun Runner, which will be familiar to fans of the original N-gage system and Space Impact, an episodic twitch shooter with great production values and graphics.

As previously revealed, the N-Gage platform is going to be functional across the full range of Nokia’s high-end phones, and will feature an integrated menu system to purchase, select, and play games for the phone. From our experiences, the N-gage system loaded seamlessly from the main N81 menu, taking about 3-4 seconds to initialize. There, we were able to access the games and demos that were previously loaded into the phone through a slick-looking menu interface (pictured below). With its various services and features, the N-Gage menu is somewhat analogous to a mini version of Xbox Live. The care and attention to detail that Nokia has put into this suggests that at the very least, the new N-Gage platform will raise the bar for integrated mobile game distribution and multiplayer connectivity.

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