Www.PspHelper.Com

Black Bean Games is due to release its latest instalment in the world superbike series, SBK-09 Superbike World Championship, on June 25. Fans of the official series will be happy to know that the title has acquired the licence for all tracks, teams, and riders from the official World Superbike Championship, as well as new 3D environments, teams, tracks, and game modes. We recently had a chance to check out SBK-09’s revamped features in a hands-on session.

Like previous games in the series, SBK-09 is a simulation racer. This means it’s not a good idea to launch into the single-player Championship or Challenge modes without visiting the tutorials first. The game’s training mode sees you in a variety of sessions that involve mainly free practice (just you on a track), qualifying sessions (timed), warm-up, and a couple of races to introduce you to the competition element. We won’t lie to you: staying on track is a lot harder than it looks, especially when taking corners or misjudging the distance needed to properly slow down. But after a few practice sessions, we could pretend we were ready to race.

SBK-09’s game modes have been given a slight overhaul since SBK-08. The game offers five single-player gameplay modes, including Quick Race, Training, Race Weekend, Championship, and Challenges, and three online multiplayer modes, including Quick Race, Championship, and Team Championship. We had a look at each of the single-player modes to compare.

Quick Race lets you pick your own team and rider from a selection of celebrated real-life champions--such as Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga--and teams like Suzuki, Yamaha, Ducati, Kawasaki, and Honda. There are also 13 real-life tracks, including Australia’s well-known Phillip Island, and tracks in Spain, Qatar, Italy, France, South Africa, and the USA. You can also customise the number of laps in a race, the weather conditions (sunny, wet, cloudy, and so on), and even the skill of the AI opponents, which ranges from rookie to professional.

Racing in SBK-09 proved somewhat challenging. Even though turns are well accentuated by the arrival of a green arrow above the track, it was hard work learning to brake at the right time in order to turn without veering off the track (which happened a lot). Suffice it to say, we crashed more times than we care to admit, at least during the first couple of races.

The real challenge was in the Championship and Race Weekend modes, which offer the bona fide superbike fan something to indulge in. You can begin by asking an engineer for advice on the best bikes to use in the different sessions, but if advice is not your thing, you can kick straight into the game’s lavish customisation options. You can change your bike’s settings, tweaking each aspect to your heart’s content. You can pretty much tweak anything and everything, such as suspension, steering, gears, chains, balance, and tyres, as well as get hints on how to perfect each one of these changes.

We also had a quick look at the Challenge mode, which lets you complete a few time trials before moving on to the tricky part of performing special scenarios and tricks. For example, you will be asked to perform a skid, wheelie, or burnout in the highlighted part of the track while still finishing within the set time limit. The scenarios are all variations of the normal Quick Race mode, where you will be asked to beat a number of different riders to the finish line.

Overall, the game’s 3D environments look sharp and detailed, and small things like the bike gears and tyres really stand out. While there was not much scenery to speak of, the little amount we saw looked great.

SBK-09 improves on its predecessors but still needs a bit of polish--the loading times proved a bit too long and the game froze completely during one of the races. However, the game is visually impressive and pays a lot of attention to detail in the customisation options. We hope the other issues will be resolved before the game’s launch later this month.

SBK-09 Superbike World Championship is scheduled for release on June 25 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, and PC. Stay tuned for more PSPhelper  previews.

Warriors Orochi 2 (Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin in Japan) is the PlayStation Portable follow-up to the poorly received handheld version of Warriors Orochi. The game marries Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors and expands on its predecessor with a few new tricks up its sleeves. We got our hands on the game at this year's E3 and had a chance to tool around with the new character roster and single-player modes.

Versus mode will let you pick three warriors and take on a friend over a Wi-Fi connection.

As a brief recap for the uninitiated, the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors series of games are third-person hack-and-slash action adventure games with a focus on battling and destroying huge armies in expansive open-world spaces. Warriors Orochi maintains this sense of scale and gives you direct control over three characters, only one of whom you'll actively control at any given time. Swapping out characters can be done on the fly by simply tapping on the D pad with the direction corresponding to the avatar you wish to send into battle. You'll steer your selected character around with the PSP's analog nub and use the square and triangle buttons to perform light and heavy attacks. Pressing and holding buttons charges an attack (though you can be struck while powering up), while the right bumper is used to unleash special moves. These special attacks perform flashy moves where they can--depending on which character you're using at the time--take on the form of rushing slash moves, spinning swords, or multiple rifle shots. Many of these include area-of-effect damage to several nearby targets when used and are useful when you find yourself swarmed by a group of attackers.

Action still revolves around killing waves of grunt-level fodder guards before taking on minibosses and more powerful adversaries with larger health bars, better armor, and their own special attacks. Our demo introduced us to the playable character San Zang, who had us searching for Sun Wukong. We were told that Sun Wukong had been imprisoned for "mischief." On the way to finding Sun Wukong, we passed the 100 soldiers kill counter, unlocking a new strategy that our team could use as we progressed onward.

Warriors Orochi 2 features several new modes, including Dream, Versus, and Survival. Dream mode allows you to select three characters from the 92-name roster (including new character Benkei for the western release) and play scenarios based on your choice of team members. Versus uses the same three-character team in a two-player head-to-head mode where you'll play across four different scenarios. Survival mode is a two-player mode that works identically to the Versus mode but includes infinite enemy spawning.

The game looks reasonable on the PSP's widescreen LCD and showed off fluid character animations and a solid frame rate, though environmental textures appeared quite muddy. Game audio (though repetitive) sounded quite good and did a good job of capturing the feel of the oriental setting--when you're not listening to the sound of swords hitting bodies. The game builds on the PlayStation 2 version of the game, and Warriors Orochi fans who are after a portable fix of their favorite hack-and-slash game will no doubt follow this with interest ahead of the game's as yet unconfirmed 2009 launch.

Unbound Saga is one of the many games on display here at E3 2009. The download-only PSP game will be a side-scrolling brawler like Double Dragon or Streets of Rage, and it pits two comic-book characters, tough guy Rick and femme fatale Lori, against legions of bad guys as part of Rick's self-aware quest to find out why he's been stuck in a comic book all of his life, and who's behind it.

Who's Making This Game: New Jersey-based studio Vogster, which is also responsible for the Robocalypse games.

What the Game Looks Like: Unbound Saga looks like a comic-book-inspired brawler because it is a comic-book-inspired brawler. Rick is a heavily tattooed muscle head, and Lori wears a corset, fishnet stockings, and high heels.

What There Is to Do: Walk to the right and beat up some 38 different types of enemies. In addition to punching and kicking, each character has extra abilities. Rick can grapple opponents and hurl them into his foes, as well as pick up objects, such as crates and barrels, and hurl those at the bad guys too. Lori, on the other hand, can kick and attack with her butcher knives, and perform special jumping attacks or use a bunch of other abilities from her "bag of tricks," such as healing her teammate or poisoning her enemies.

How the Game Is Played: Unbound Saga takes place on comic-book "panels"--basically, a single screen on which a pile of enemies spawn. Once you've defeated all of the enemies on one panel, you can move on to the next. The game has 10 "scenarios" that consist of 10 to 12 panels apiece, though in addition to fighting, there will be puzzles and secondary objectives, such as destroying an elevator that keeps dumping enemies into the world. At all times, both Rick and Lori are in the game, pummeling the bad guys, and though this is a single-player game only, you can switch control to the other character at any time. The computer-controlled character can't die and gradually recovers from damage over time, so an important part of the game's strategy might be exactly when to switch control to the other character.

What They Say: Unbound Saga has a ton of physics modeled with respect to smashing objects, knocking enemies into each other, and so on. The game has a lot of potential as a downloadable game, given that the possibilities for DLC are endless. Vogster is also working with Dark Horse Comics on a comic adaptation of the game, which is scheduled to hit comic-store shelves on July 1.

What We Say: Unbound Saga looks like it could be a pretty solid brawler, though the action felt a little plodding at some points. We'll find out how the final game ends up when it launches on July 16.

After nearly 13 years since the release of the original game, Persona is still going strong, and many are enjoying the series for the first time with Persona 4. As such, it's not a bad idea that Atlus is releasing a new version of the original Persona for the PSP that features plenty of tweaks--some more apparent than others. We had the chance to get our hands on a brief battle sequence on the show floor.

Who's Making This Game: Persona is one of Atlus' strongest properties, so it's not surprising that it made the decision to revisit the original so a whole new audience can enjoy it.

What the Game Looks Like: Although we know that there are going to be some new full-motion video sequences and some other visual tweaks, Persona for the PSP looked similar to its predecessor, albeit adjusted to mesh better with the PSP screen and hardware. Don't expect a full-on remake.

What There Is to Do: Even in the brief amount of time we played, there was still plenty to check out in terms of the battle system, which remains largely unchanged from the original (though we're told that some tweaks have been made to the frequency of enemy encounters). The characters in our party could perform standard attacks with melee weapons, or long-range weapons if they have them equipped. Additionally, each of the characters came pre-equipped with a persona: a spirit summon of sorts that can do plenty of damage against an enemy if that enemy is weak against the type of attack associated with the persona. Conversely, if the enemy is strong against that kind of attack, then the persona won't do much damage.

But the one thing that's made Persona stand out from so many other role-playing games since its inception is your ability to communicate with enemies. By selecting that option during a battle, you can essentially converse with enemies, having them answer your questions and vice versa. If you're lucky enough, an enemy will give you a spirit card (the type of card is then determined by the emotions of the enemy), which can then be turned into a persona.

What They Say: It's Persona, but with new tweaks and adjustments.

What We Say: It's hard to tell from such a brief hands-on time if some of the intended changes (such as the overhauled dialogue) are that noticeable or not, but what we can tell is that this is very much a tweaked version of the original game, and a little piece of history that will probably interest most fans of RPGs.

Square Enix had several games on display at its booth, including the PSP exclusive Dissidia Final Fantasy. In a surprising change of pace, the game is a 3D real-time fighter starring some of Final Fantasy's most famous characters, such as Cloud, Cecil, Terra, Sephiroth, and Onion Knight. Although it may seem more akin to Soul Calibur than Final Fantasy, it features several unique features that make the game feel rather unique not just for a Square game, but for fighters in general.

Each battle takes place between two opponents in a large, interactive arena. You have full control over your character in all three dimensions, with the goal to deplete your opponent's HP to zero. Now what sets Dissidia apart from other fighting games is something called "brave points," or BP for short. Each opponent starts the match with a set amount of BP, which determines the strength of your attacks. However, that number is anything but static, given that both opponents can steal BP from the other, enhancing their strength while lowering their adversary's. The goal is to gather as much BP as you can because the amount of damage inflicted by an "HP Attack" is equivalent to the amount of BP currently held. Dissidia also features an "EX Gauge," a meter that fills by delivering or taking damage. Once it's full, you can activate "EX Mode," which significantly upgrades the strength of your existing attacks while enabling all-new ones as well, such as the unavoidable EX Burst--a handy maneuver for gaining the upper hand.

From our brief hands-on, the game felt good. Navigating the 3D environment was mostly trouble-free, though the camera did get in the way whenever we were forced up against a wall by our opponent, which made it difficult to escape without being pummeled. What we saw of Dissidia Final Fantasy looked interesting, and we're eager for the final product to come stateside later this year. Stay tuned to GameSpot for more as we approach the game's release.

For many years, Pro Evolution Soccer was the untouchable king of soccer games. However, slowly and steadily EA's FIFA franchise has made strides in the right direction to the point where last year's game surpassed Konami's series hands down. The Japanese publisher is fighting back, and this year's update offers several new features. Konami unveiled the first trailer for PES 2010 at E3 2009, and we sat down with our friends at Konami Europe to find out more.

One of the biggest changes this year is in PES's presentation. This year's iteration features improved animations as well as more detailed player models. Skin textures, blemishes, sweat, and even forearm hair have been added or improved to add to the realism of being one of the world's greatest footballers. Apparently the graphics will even show the detail of different weaves in team uniforms. The quality of instant replays has also been improved to reflect those visual updates. The E3 trailer features PES regular and Barcelona winger Lionel Messi and is part of the game's opening sequence.

According to Konami, the development team has gone back to the proverbial drawing board to respond to some of the criticism of previous years. We're promised improved AI, an overhauled, more intuitive online mode, and fewer tacky J-pop tracks for Western audiences this year. The Master League and Be a Legend modes, new additions to the series in recent years, will again return for 2010. Master League has also been extended to allow you to manage a team over a longer period than before.

Also making a return in PES 2010 are official licences for the UEFA Champions League and Europa League (formerly UEFA Cup). There's currently no word on which English Premier League teams will make an appearance or if last year's top-tier licences--Manchester United and Liverpool--will return again. With their performance in this season's Premier League and Champions League, it certainly wouldn't be unexpected, although Chelsea would also make a sensible option.

Lastly the new Power Gauge, as seen in the trailer, allows you to manually set certain tactics on a sliding scale, such as the amount of pressure, the defensive line, and receiving positions. Categories will let players change their overall style of play, strategies for players in possession, the frequency with which players change position, and defensive pressure. We're keen to find out more about PES 2010, and the new changes look like a step in the right direction for the series. Check back in the coming weeks and months as we learn more about the game ahead of its October release.

It's been a long time coming, but Gran Turismo is finally coming to the PSP. Gran Turismo 4 Mobile was announced way back in 2004, but it was only at E3 this week that a release date (October 1, alongside the PSP Go) and a new title (Gran Turismo for PSP) were confirmed, and the game appeared in playable form somewhere other than behind closed doors. The E3 demo weighs in with an impressive 100 cars and 14 tracks, but that's just a fraction of the 800 cars and 35 tracks (60 with variants) that will be included in the finished game.

With so many options at our disposal, we set about testing the demo's extremes. First, we took the incredibly quick Toyota Le Mans for a spin around Laguna Seca, and then, after scrolling to the other end of the vehicle selection screen, we climbed into an ancient and extremely slow Citroen 2CV to take a look at the Tsukuba circuit. We were tempted to check out the Nurburgring, but that takes a long time even in a race car, so in the 2CV (which took a long time to get up to 40mph before we hit a corner), it would likely have taken a good portion of the day.

The fact that Gran Turismo features such a broad range of vehicles is truly impressive, and though some might say that cars like the 2CV, the Daihatsu Midget, the Fiat 500, and the Nissan Cube have no place in a racing game, it's immediately apparent as you scroll through the list that Polyphony Digital is picking and choosing which vehicles to include very carefully. Some have been chosen because they're fast, some because they're fun, many because--at least to some people--they are considered classics. DMC's DeLorean, the 1990 Toyota Supra, the Pagani Zonda, the 1973 Alpine A110 1600S--the list just goes on, and you'd do well to approach Gran Turismo as the "driving simulator" that it is, rather than wishing it were a racing game (like some of us).

Taking the controls of any car in Gran Turismo is fun, even if the game rarely forgives mistakes. The PSP controls work well regardless of whether you choose the D pad or the analog nub, the visuals are impressive and move at a steady 60 frames per second, and the racing line feature borrowed from Forza serves as a great learning tool. Where the game falters, depending on your criteria, is in its lack of believable or competitive AI drivers, its lack of damage models, and its lack of customization options outside of those offered by manufacturers. These things have been true of every game in the long-running series, and Gran Turismo for PSP is no exception.

On the upside, GT for the PSP will support ad-hoc play for up to four players, so there's some realistic racing to be had provided you can find a friend or three with a copy of the game. We're also told that you'll be able to trade cars with friends, though it's unclear if you'll be swapping them one for one, exchanging in-game money, or just unlocking cars you've already gained access to for your friend.

Gran Turismo for the PSP will be released both as a UMD and a download on October 1. Based on what we saw of the game today, it's unlikely to attract many drivers who aren't already fans of the series, but it could well be a must-have for those who are fans.

Who's Making This Game: LucasArts, the developer/publisher that makes official video game adaptations for all of filmmaker George Lucas' Star Wars franchises, including the Star Wars The Clone Wars animated series, on which this game is based.

What the Game Looks Like: Republic Heroes looks like a colorful and cartoonlike game that very closely resembles the TV cartoon. This is probably because the game developers at LucasArts have full access to all the art assets from the cartoon show. In fact, the story is being written by the writers of the actual TV series and bridges the gap between seasons one and two of the show.

What There Is to Do: In Republic Heroes, you can play as one of two character types: Jedi or Clones. The game will have eight playable Jedi characters, including Anakin and Obi-Wan. It will also have new characters, such as Mace Windu. It'll have 10 playable Clone characters, six of which are characters from the TV show; four of which are original characters being created specifically for this game. As a Jedi, you will fight melee battles with your lightsaber and use your force powers to fight battles, navigate the world, and solve puzzles. Your catlike Jedi agility will also let you do some "droidjacking." This means you hop on top of any droid in the game and take control of it while riding on top of it; you can use its weapon systems to fire on enemies and any other abilities that droid has for your benefit. You can also do this to any droid in the game. As a Clone, you are a "grunt" soldier of the Republic who's generally sent in to sweep warzones clean for Jedi to come in and do their thing. Clones will have a variety of blaster weapons and can get new ones as pick-up items that drop from fallen enemies. They can also throw grenadelike thermal detonators.

How the Game Is Played: The game seems to be played like any third-person shooter but is intended to be accessible to players of all ages and skill levels. Jedi characters fight with their lightsabers and can perform dazzling lunges and combination swings, though there is only one attack button for Jedi characters, which should make things easy enough to pick up. Clones fire their blaster weapons with a clearly defined transparent firing arc superimposed onscreen to help guide your aim, and you can pick up heavier weapons, such as miniguns and rocket launchers, to blast enemy droids to bits. However, you fire simply nudging your right analog stick, and by pressing and holding it in circles, you can rotate your character 360 degrees while firing continuously, which is similar to such classic arcade games as Smash TV. You can also toss thermal detonators, which have a handy transparent arc that shows where your projectile will land. As in other third-person action games, you'll fight your way through enemies, explore new areas, solve puzzles, and collect "force orbs," which can unlock character hats and masks, as well as other hidden items.

What They Say: QA lead Troy Sims described Republic Heroes as being a game with lots of fun action, but one that's also going to be very accessible to players of all ages.

What We Say: It does look like Republic Heroes should be easy enough to play, and assuming the gameplay holds up, the simplified combat, item collection, and puzzle solving should be a very effective way to burn through a couple of afternoons for the young (or the young at heart). Republic Heroes is being released on September 8, 2009, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, DS, PSP, PC, and in North America only, the PlayStation 2.

The PSP Go was only officially announced today, but Sony is wasting no time in letting this year's E3 attendees get their hands on it. Sprinkled liberally throughout the dozens of PSP stations at Sony's sizable E3 booth are a number of stations at which the PSP Go (which we found surprisingly comfortable, even when using the oddly positioned analog nub) is being used to showcase upcoming games. One of those games, which we had an opportunity to check out, is Little Big Planet.

The E3 demo version of LBP features only two levels: a story-style offering titled Gift of the Grab and a surfing minigame. Gift of the Grab, which may or may not be featured in LBP's all-new story mode, has a distinctly antipodean theme, sporting kangaroos with pouches that you can jump into, koalas that climb trees when you grab them, and boomerangs that spin around really quickly so that you can use them to launch into the air. The level didn't really look any different than those on the PS3, and areas where you're supposed to place stickers (as well as the usual selection of switches, levers, and the like) were clearly visible, even on the PSP Go's relatively small screen.

Sticking with the "down under" theme, the surfing minigame saw Sackboy stepping onto a surfboard that rocked on a pivot as he moved between the front and back. Staying on the board was easy, because although there were waves in the foreground and background, none of them appeared to be having any effect on the board. Even the giant shark giving chase didn't appear to pose a genuine threat, though its appearance certainly added a sense of urgency. The goal in the level was to collect point-scoring orbs, arranged in wave patterns throughout the level in such a way that you have to jump up and down to reach them. If you fall off your board, or fail to collect enough orbs while staying on it, it's game over.

It's unclear at this time exactly how level creation and sharing will work in the PSP version of Little Big Planet, but the impression we were given is that it will be as close to the PS3 experience as possible. With that said, the demo version on show here is plagued with some pretty excruciating load times, which appeared to be even worse on the original PSP systems than on the Go. It's still early days though, so we're hopeful that those will improve when LBP--which doesn't currently have a release date--arrives in stores and online.