Back from the dead, AK really doesn't have much to say, but here's a Guitar Hero: Smash Hits review. Hope you enjoy it!

It's taken a long while for Sony to officially announce the next redesign of their specific handheld system, the Sony PSP, but finally the public is able to take a serious look at the product. Though it has yet to be released and will remain out of gamers' hands till Fall 2009, the PSPgo! has brought up a number of praises and complaints from gamers everywhere.

Let me begin by saying that I own a PSP currently, though the only games that I've bothered buying are the original Sonic Rivals and Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness, the latter being a game that I've begun playing, but have yet to seriously master. I recently went online with my PSP, finally gaining access to the Playstation Store. I even picked up a demo of Rock Band Unplugged (which is surprisingly addictive, but that's for another blog). For the couple of years or so that I've had my PSP, I haven't even been able to take it on the go much because of the battery life, and the whir of the UMD drive has annoyed me, despite the increase in graphics and sound that the system provides. I liked being able to listen to music and browse the internet, but as stated before, there isn't much room for this because of the battery life. The PSP library itself has plenty of unique titles, and it pretty much covers all of the bases in terms of variety. You get your many sports and action games, along with a platformer or two, and plenty of classic RPG's. Sony's recently put another foot forward in terms of games, with exclusive titles like Rock Band Unplugged and a new Assassin's Creed, along with the Playstation-only franchises of Resistance: Retribution and Little Big Planet. It's a bright future for the PSP, I absolutely must say.

So, onto the PSPgo.

The biggest change is the implementation of digital media instead of the loud and battery-attacking UMD drive. I, for one, find this to be a marvelous inclusion, but like many others, the problem of these UMD-based games that I own (as few as they may be) is a serious issue. Sony has claimed that they will use a "goodwill" system to replace UMD's with digital games. The problem with that is that there are so many PSP games and there's a good chance that not all of the games will be represented. However, this will make the system faster and easier on the battery, IN THEORY.

The second change is the design, which is probably its most discouraging factor. The slidy screen looks fragile and the button placement just doesn't seem to nail it. And yes, we know that there's no second analog stick. I haven't yet held the PSPgo in my hands so I can't judge, but from what I've seen, it looks pretty uncomfortable.

I do have to say that it's near impossible for Sony to put a serious dent in Nintendo's handheld supremacy. Nintendo has had a hold on the portable market for what...like 20 years? It's surpassed competitor after competitor and still has managed to keep its momentum going. But for the record, the Sony PSP has probably been the closest of any competitor to taking a piece of the pie from Nintendo. The success of the Monster Hunter series has been a major factor in Sony's success in the Japanese and North American markets, but you can only run on a single franchise for so long. But Sony's attention is divided in this: not only are they trying to make a gaming system, but also a multimedia system. This is another great reason to use internal memory for sure, but now both Apple and Microsoft are major competitors in that market, and trying to sell in both types of markets isn't the best way to win.

But the ultimate question is "should I buy it?" That's up to you, but I'm probably going to keep my older PSP just in case. As thrilled as I am about a strong digital download service on a handheld system, Sony has a lot to learn. Overall, though, the PSPgo has potential. It looks to be the way to go for newcomers to the PSP world, but for the rest of us, we'll have to wait out for Sony's implementation of the UMD exchange program.

And a price drop. I mean, $250 bucks? Are they serious?

It's been over 80 hours in the making, but I've finally completed The Journey in Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES. What a wild ride, I must say. While I wasn't blown away by the battle system, I did like its fluidity. It wasn't too complex, and in some regards, it reminded me of Pokemon. You can only hold a certain number of Personas, each with up to eight moves each, so it felt familiar and new all at once. The storyline, quite honestly, didn't feel too fresh to me. However, the characters really impressed me. Each had their own stories, personalities, and abilities throughout The Journey. Many of the Personas themselves were remarkably unique as well, and had plenty of unique properties to mix, match, and manipulate into something truly powerful. There's a ton of versatility in the Persona system and finding out what Persona is best for battle is fun on its own.

My review for Persona 3 FES will in the composition phase after I complete The Answer, which will take approximately 30 hours to complete.

Next up, the PSP Go! Now, I have a PSP, but I rarely play it. The two games that I have for the system are Sonic Rivals and Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness. With the PSP Go!, however, I'm very intrigued in the 16 GB of memory and the ability to save games to the PSP's memory instead of on UMD. Though the design is a bit cumbersome-looking, I do like the way that Sony has implemented such technology into the handheld. What really matters, however, are the games, which Sony has definitely shifted into high gear in producing. The idea of putting Little Big Planet onto a portable game system is a great way to go, as is presenting a new Metal Gear game. Sony has a ton of catchup to do versus the Nintendo DS system family, but I did find the PSP Go! to be pushing handheld entertainment in a great new direction, especially compared to the Nintendo DSi, which isn't really that impressive in my eyes. All in all, I'll have to see more from Sony to constitute my purchase of the PSP Go!, but at this point, it's looking very promising.

With E3 over with, I can finally return to full-attention gaming. Along with the rest of Persona 3 FES, I have some more games that I need to check out. I was able to pick up Guitar Hero II for cheap, along with Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and Final Fantasy Tactics A2. I want to be able to play through the first Jak game before I move onto Jak II, which I also picked up for cheap. I'm also interested in both Prince of Persia for the 360, and Excitebots: Trick Racing. I'll be sure to check those out too.

Hopefully everyone enjoyed E3 in one way or another, and happy gaming!