Are you ready to lay the smackdown!? Well, before that, get ready to make a decision about which store you’re buying this year’s Smackdown vs. Raw from, because many stores seem to be offering different bonuses. Ranging from different characters to even money off of Pay-Per-View events, it seems like there is something to try to appeal to each Hulkamaniac… or Kanonite… or whatever’s in now. Take a look to see which stores are offering which bonuses on WWE’s newest addition to the Smackdown vs. Raw series.

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A lot of exciting stuff has been coming out of Gamescom, including the new Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep trailer.  Before you sit down to watch it though, be sure that you have refreshments handy because it’s seven minutes long.  The trailer features plenty of glimpses of the gameplay, characters and story.

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Atlus really does treat their fans well.  Many associate them with the lavish pre-order bonuses they include with their games, usually without any additional charge, running the gambit from collectible figurines or plushies to art books, soundtracks and more.  And while they are as willing and eager as most other developers/publishers to re-release games (i.e. for a new platform), they almost always are sure to update and add something extra to reward those who might be buying a title for the second (or third) time.  Obviously, Persona 3 Portable is a prime example of this.  Originally released in August 2007, the game was later re-released in a “director’s cut” version (with added content) less than a year later, also for the PlayStation 2.  Now, almost three years to the day after the first game came out, gamers old and new to the title can play it once again in a third iteration, this time for the PSP, with Persona 3 Portable.

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Today Sony announced that God of War: Ghost of Sparta, the second PSP God of War title, will be releasing on November 2^nd. The upcoming PSP title has won many E3 awards and will take fans through the origins of Kratos. Along with the announcement of the release date, Sony also revealed two pre-order packages that will give fans free DLC at launch and a PSP bundle with a specially designed PSP that will also include Chains of Olympus.

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After more than 20 years, everyone’s favorite moonwalker (may he Rest in Peace)  is finally getting another video game made for him. Ubisoft’s Michael Jackson game, simply titled Michael Jackson: The Experience, is going to be developed for the PSP, DS, Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3. According to Ubisoft, The Experience will utilize the Wii MotionPlus, Kinect, and Move. Get ready to Beat It, Jackson fans.

The Wii version will be similar to Ubisoft’s Just Dance, while the Xbox 360 version is going to project 3D images of the player onto the screen (can we say Michael Jackson costumes?). Both the DS and PSP versions are said to be tap-based games. Not too much has been discussed about the PS3 version yet, but be sure that we will keep you updated as frequently as possible about The King of Pop’s latest video game appearance.

Sony’s press conference followed Nintendo’s yesterday, which was a tough act to follow but they really pulled out their big guns.  Heart1lly’s live tweet recaps the PlayStation Move, 3D gaming, Kevin Butler, and lots more.  The press conference was very exciting, but for those of you who may have missed it, here’s the live tweet recap.

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Just yesterday, Hideo Kojima came strolling along the streets of SOHO, New York City in Metal Gear REX touting his Big Boss shirt to celebrate the recent release of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (June 8th) for American fans. Well, maybe they couldn’t fit REX in Koji-san’s helicopter, but he definitely had a nice entourage of bodyguards for any “just in case” crazy New York fan moments. We understand, Kojima.

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Europe, Australia, and New Zealand will see the “PSP Essentials” line launch in June and later this year, North America seems to be getting its own series of promotions, including a tempting offer with the purchase of a new PSPgo and additions to the Greatest Hits lineup.

Sony launched their “PSP Favorites” lineup in North America with games for $9.99 each. Some of the notable titles include LocoRoco 2, PixelJunk Monster Deluxe, and Manhunt 2.

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Remember that old awesome board game we used to call Chess back in the day? Yeah, that old game that’s been around for some-odd centuries or what-have-you. Or maybe you stuck to your guns in the simpler red and black checkers game, and that’s cool, too. But we wouldn’t want you to miss out on the upcoming Battle vs Chess, SouthPeak’s upcoming chess game using 3D models and beastly war ravaging pieces taking chess to a whole new level. It’s only going to be able for just about every platform ever except for that newfangled iPad doohickey, too.

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SEGA of America has announced that the PSP exclusive title Phantasy Star Portable 2 will be coming to North America and Europe this fall.  Players of the sci-fi role-playing game will be given the chance to form alliances, make friends and of course explore the world of Phantasy Star Portable 2.  In addition to the single-player campaign, players will be able to make use of the multi-player components to join friends on a large variety of quests.

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This is the official trailer folks.  There’s nothing unofficial about the trailer you are about to see.  It is as official as men in suits and blank business forms.  It’s serious business.  You may note in the trailer, images of the new female playable character, who is just darling!  And she gets new social links, though I can’t say the idea of romancing dudes is really what I’m looking for in a second playthrough.  If they allow her to romance Mitsuru, I’m so in.  The game also lets players finally control the entire party, ala Persona 4, removing one of the roughest barriers of the initial PS2 version.  Anyway, no more ado.  Check it out.  It’s pretty.

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It was pretty much a given that Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep would be hitting North American stores, but today Square Enix confirmed it with both a solid release date and the inclusion of the game into an exclusive bundle package.  First off, the game now has a September 7th release date.  Secondly, the bundle is said to be a “mystic silver” PSP 3000, along with the game obviously, a movie, and a 4 gig memory stick, once again proving how little faith Sony has in the PSP Go.  And in case you’re wondering, mystic silver is the same silver as every other silver PSP.

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For a long while, PSP owners had a drought where RPGs were concerned.  Crisis Core is a great game and Half Minute Hero is probably the most innovative RPG on any console, but compared to the massive catalog of RPGs over there on the DS, PSP owners have been poorly served.  Because of this inattention, many might find Mimana Iyar Chronicles a welcome addition to the catalog.  They might be blinded to its faults out of sheer need for something in the role-playing realm.  They might tell people it’s a good game simply because there is so little to compare it to.

Do not be fooled, because this is not the RPG you’re looking for.

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Before we get too excited, it’s a PSP game.  Those dozen or so of us who still have a PSP can get excited, and in fact we are.  We have get-togethers every Wednesday night.  It’s like a nerd-centric recovery group.  But Ghost of Sparta, hell yes?  Set to fill in apparent gaps between the first and second games, Ghost of Sparta narrates Kratos’ rise to godhood.  We can bet that this rise will mean losing everything gained from the first game.  The game has been in development already for a couple years and Ready at Dawn, the same team behind the first PSP God of War game, Chains of Olympus (which was excellent), is back again to tackle this rendition.

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Rather than a simple re-release, XSeed Games went the extra mile and brought us a complete retooling of Lunar: The Silver Star that improves upon one of my personal favorite PlayStation releases, Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. I felt it would be quite appropriate to do the same to my review. Originally I had penned it like any other of my reviews you see here, but halfway through I decided to honor the game with an “update” of my own to what would otherwise be a regular review. I crafted Spawn Kill’s very first video review.

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