[Image: Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers]

Looks like somebody up there (or down here) finally decided to have some pity on Indian gamers without an Internet connection, a credit card, a Play-Asia account and oh, about 3 weeks of patience. Or in some cases, way longer. After having ignored the country for a long time, except for Lost Planet: Extreme Condition on the Xbox 360, Jap videogame giant Capcom have tied up with local distribution giant Milestone Interactive to bring all their upcoming and back catalog titles to the country.

While the distribution would initially stick to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the PSP platforms, Milestone says they would also be offering PC and PlayStation 2 titles somewhere down the line. The back catalog, which currently includes hot property such as Dead Rising, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition and Devil May Cry 4 will be available starting this week at stores all over the country, with newer games such as MotoGP ‘08, Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5 being available in accordance with the international street dates for these titles.

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We’re still waiting for Forever, but here’s some relief to soothe the pain and eternal anguish we’ve been enduring as we wait for the King of Kick-Ass and Smutty Babes to return. After having been long forgotten, Apogee Software is all set to worm their way back into gaming by reviving a legacy catalog of over 30 titles, as well as working with new developers to create what we assume will be new IPs.

And what better way to kick start the whole thing than with Duke himself? And at E3 2008! According to Apogee’s Terry Nagy and Scott Miller, the company, working with 3D Realms and MachineWorks Northwest LLC, will be producing the Duke Nukem Trilogy for release on the PSP and the DS, comprised of three new missions - Critical Mass, Chain Reaction and Proving Grounds.

The episodes will be released sequentially, with the first one appearing sometime in Summer 2009, and according to the massive feature list on the Apogee website, will include:

• 9 Different World Locations
• 36 Action-Packed Levels
• 3D Accelerated Graphics
• 3D Characters with Detailed Textures
• Real-Time Particle and Lighting Effects
• Multi-Mode Play with up to 5 Different Styles of Game Play Action
• Multi-Player Action
• Total Ass-Kicking Weapons

Frankly, as long as we can carry Mr. Arnold Toilet Mouth around on our handheld and squish alien piggy cops, we’re happy. Of course, if you don’t own a PSP or a DS, you could rather just wait for DNF to show up. And wait. And wait…

They usually say that when Judgment Day is near, we’ll see a lot of signs pointing to the Antichrist. So for all those who doubt that the PSP is it, first, we get news from Famitsu that the PSP is (surprisingly!) outselling the DS at least as far as this year is concerned. Then, two French exchange students in London get stabbed more than 250 times (one 80 times after he was dead) so that the perps can get away with two unbelievably rare and more-expensive-than-the-Kohinoor-diamond black PSPs. And if that don’t prove it, we’ve got the PSP wreaking havoc with lives here as well, and worse, we’re the ones who started it all.

When Abhinav’s friend got married a couple of months back, he decided that nothing would be better than blessing the happy couple (and the husband in particular) with a PSP. Talking about the London murders last night, Abhinav mentions that the couple, who’ve been enjoying a textbook romance, recently got into their first major fight. Over the PSP, and this time, it wasn’t the usual complaint we’re used to seeing.

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Maybe, just maybe, we made a huge mistake by going in for the Iron Man on the PSP right after having finished playing the excellent God Of War: Chains Of Olympus (GoW:CoO). While GoW:CoO embodies everything that a perfect game on the PSP should be, Iron Man sadly, turns out to be the exact opposite. The game seems to be a dismal failure right from the word go. A2M, the developers of the game seem to have got everything wrong as far as Iron Man for the PSP is concerned. So much so that it becomes quite clear right from the moment you pop in the disk that this is one game you won’t be playing for long, unless you happen to be an unfortunate reviewer like us who have to clench their teeth and bear through the 13 odd missions that the game throws at you.

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Whatever Latino Kratos says, Latino Kratos means well. Milestone Interactive just so happens to be offering a kinky pre-order deal for those who have been looking for an excuse to pick up a PSP Slim & Lite (or two, if your name is Scrooge McDuck). Not only will you be cashing on what’s already the best playing PSP action game to come out in like forever, but in addition to that - you’ll also be chain-combo-ing yourself a Kratos action figure as well. Just what the mad doctor prescribed!

Thanks to Sameer for the enlightening news.

Seems like the PlayStation loyalist are getting some love sent their way, what with eagerly anticipated titles such as Metal Gear Solid 4 getting a launch date and exclusive console bundles too! Adding more cheer to the parade here, is Gaming Indians, who have come with mega triple offer for both, the PSP and PS3 fans, in form of God of War: Chains of Olympus and Patapon for the PSP and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue for the PlayStation 3.Under this offer, you get to save INR 225 on each of the Patapon and GoW:Chains of Olympus and INR 270 on GT5 Prologue.

Interested?

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I have no qualms admitting it. I’ve been unabashedly advicing people who ask me that the Sony PSP is the best damned investment they can make in the console gaming market, if they can buy only one. No other device lets you be entertained so well on the move, allowing you to watch movies, browse the Internet, listen to music and yes, play games no matter where you are. Perfect for when you’re stuck in a boring meeting, or stuck in an elevator without a sweet thing, or bored to death the next time the Electricity Board decides to see what would happen if they pulled the plug on your power line.

And if Sony has their way, you will be able to see movies of unprecedented quality end up on your PSP straight from your BluRay movie and your PlayStation 3 console. After making the announcement that users on the handheld wonder will also be able to Skype to their hearts’ content, Sony has said that it plans to include special version of the movies on certain BD discs, which when loaded into the PS3 and connected to the PSP, will transfer a hi-def “made for PSP” version of the movie onto its memory stick.

While there’s no confirmation on which discs will start to see this functionality (we’re guessing movies under the SPE banner will be the first to use this, duh), this certainly beats sitting around for the better part of an hour with third party video conversion programs.

[via Wired]