Dealing with Hardcore Delays

IS GRAN TURISMO 4 PSP RELEASED TODAY 7/9/06. YOU HAD THIS DATE ON YOUR RELEASE SCHEDULE. IS THIS CORRECT.

-- Michael

Gran Turismo 4 PSP definitely never made it to retailers this week. And sorry about the confusion, but it's actually listed as coming out during the first quarter of 2007. It should be rad, though - so hopefully the wait will be worth it.

--Juan

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San Andreas Hardcore

Hi, I'm a HUGE GTA for PSP fan, and in light of the recent Vice City Stories announcement(which more or less confirmed Rockstar is giving every GTA a PSP version), I was wondering how in the hell GTA San Andreas would fit on a UMD. UMD's supposedly hold 1.8GB or something, but San Andreas seems just too big. Also, The load times may be massive unless they cut down on the game's size, and content, severely damaging the experience for me. So, could the entire game of San Andreas for PS2 fit on a UMD? Thanks alot, and please tell me if this would be possible.

-- Jeremy

Remember, before Liberty City Stories, most doubted whether Rockstar could deliver on its promise of a portable GTA. And not a top-down deal, but a tried-and-true 3D world such as the one in GTA III and its sequels. And it did just that. So, I wouldn't rule out the possibility just yet, though Rockstar has its work cut out for them. Of course, they haven't officially announced a PSP version of San Andreas, but you know what I mean.

-- Juan

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Hardcore PSP Price Slash

Regarding the PSP Holiday price drop, I doubt Sony would take off more than $20 on it's Value and Core systems. Maybe there won't be a price drop, regardless to what people may say I don't think the PSP is overpriced, it's a great handheld gaming and multimedia system. What do you think of the price drop?

-- Sunny

Sony has already said it will not drop the price. Or at least, that it doesn't plan to do so. I really hope the higher-ups at Sony change their minds, though. The PSP is a great machine with great hardware, but the price is keeping potential buyers at bay. Plus, the DS Lite is one sweet-looking machine, and it's cheaper, so the competition is damn fierce. A PSP redesign and a drop in price could change things, however.

-- Juan

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IGN Needs more Hardcore

Why don't you update the Mailbag more often? Seems like this should be a weekly thing, not biweekly or monthly. Looking at an old mailbag, with a caption saying "Is the PSP dead?" Does not make me a happy camper. I love my PSP, and I want it to get the news and props it deserves! Thanks.

Thanks, Juan.

-- Stuntwill

The rate of mail has drastically reduced this month, at least on the PSP side of things. Not only that, it's honestly getting very busy over here. And it's not just game reviews and previews, but booking and attending appointments, processing game footage and all that stuff. Still, we'll try and do better since you asked so nicely.

And yeah, I have newfound appreciation for my PSP, especially with the likes of Locoroco and Killzone: Liberation to play.

Wooord.

-- Juan

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Portable Hardcore

When you people did your preview of Metal Gear Solid: Portable ops, I think you left one thing out. I'm just wondering, will there be a third person view like in Subsistence?

And do you agree that the name Portable Ops kinda sucks lol?

-- Russ

According to Wii and Cube honcho Matt Casamassina, who through a strange twist of events played it at a recent Konami event, it certainly does. But if he's wrong, don't blame us. Take your anger out on him, though we suspect you'll have to fight your way through his loyal guard of Wii enthusiasts. Bring several layers of body armor - they tend to detonate when challenged.

-- Juan

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Feel the Hardcore

The holiday rush has finally reared its head. Editors at IGN practically swim through unfinished builds of hundreds of games to get to their desks in the morning. When the office gets cold, we actually shovel them into a furnace to keep warm. A few editors have actually stitched jackets from old videogame t-shirts and made snow shoes from videogame covers. It gets especially bad at night, when we huddle by the vending machine writing previews until the wee hours of the morning, only to find the office janitor has carried one of us away for his morning meal.

Our janitor is so HARDCORE.


Juan Castro
Editor, IGN PlayStation Team
(Click to check out my blog or setup one of your own)

PS - I still don't have any blog posts. Expected release date for those still hovers around Q2 2009