PS3 Fanboy

If you've been playing Valkyria Chronicles you've probably noticed that the story is excellent and the characters are superbly lovable. We've actually thought a couple of times whilst playing that we'd love an anime based on the game. It seems our wishes have come true as it has been announced today that a series has been greenlit and will be shown in Japan in the Spring.

There's no indication on whether we'll ever see a localized version in the west. If you want to show Sega you're interested in an English voiced version, feel free to go ahead and buy the game. Anime fans and SRPG fans alike won't be disappointed. We'll have our full review up before the end of the week.

[Thanks, Tim!]

Looks like all is right with the world again, according to the latest numbers from Media Create. This week on Sony's home turf, the PS3 moved 39,587 units -- outselling the combined figures of the Wii and Xbox 360. Also worth noting is that PS3 sales jumped a whopping 907% from last week, when the PS3 sold only 3,931 units.

As we reported yesterday, Grand Theft Auto IV for the PS3 took first place on the Japanese charts -- now we know it has sold 132,676 copies, while LittleBigPlanet and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue: Spec III sold 51,705 and 34,965 copies, respectively. You'll notice that Media Create has released slightly different numbers -- for example, the 360 version of GTA IV is in eighth place now instead of fourth place. Hardware sales are below, software sales are after the jump:

Hardware and software sales for the week of October 27th - November 2nd:

• DSi -- 171,925
• PSP -- 50,358
• PS3 -- 39,587
• Wii -- 23,123
• DS Lite -- 16,369
• PS2 -- 6,714
• Xbox 360 -- 6,119

We get a little giddy every time we see Japanese people running in flocks in cities. No, it's not Godzilla. Heck, it's not even SackZilla -- this is the Japanese LittleBigPlanet ad, and it just screams "Gojira" to us. This is probably the beginning of a much bigger campaign. Let's hope that Sony finds some success in the Japanese market when selling this title.

We're still recovering from our trip to TGS (in fact, we're still here in Tokyo). However, we thought you'd appreciate this list of new games which will definitely be supporting Trophies when they release on the PS3. Big first-party and third-party titles can be found on this list:

• Demon's Soul
• Derby Time Online
• Gomibako
• Quantum Theory
• Resident Evil 5
• Street Fighter IV
• White Knight Chronicles
• Yakuza 3

Unfortunately, the status of other big PS3 games, like Final Fantasy XIII, is still TBD. To check out the full list of Trophy-supported games on PS3, don't forget to check out our Trophy Portal.

Famitsu has already spoiled one of Sony's TGS surprises, but don't worry. You probably won't be that interested anyway. A couple of Japanese hardware bundles were revealed via Famitsu. The 80GB model will be hitting the region in two flavors. The first bundles Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Spec III with an 80GB system and a DualShock 3 for 39,800 yen ($398/€292). What's Spec III? Again, don't get too excited. It's a Blu-ray release of Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, including all the patched in features and content. Because Japanese people hate connecting their PS3s to the internet.

The second bundle will be known as the "PlayStation 3 LittleBigPlanet Dream Box" and will obviously include LittleBigPlanet along with an 80GB (in either black, silver or white) and two DualShock 3s. The box will also be covered in artwork of Sackboy. The Japanese will be able to pick this up for 44,980 yen (450/€329). LittleBigPlanet will also be bundled with DualShock 3 controllers, saving customers almost $35 in comparison to purchasing the items separately. Early copies of the game will come with a code to download an Ape Escape monkey costume. Hopefully, this isn't the extent of Sony's announcements at TGS tomorrow. We'll be there to bring you any interesting info from the show.

The current generation of consoles are more powerful than ever. However, it appears that many Japanese developers are struggling to get the most they can out of the hardware. The real innovators of games technology appear to be coming from non-Japanese studios, from America and Europe. SCE Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida admits the disparity of development between East and West. "The technology base has shifted from Japan to the US and Europe," he told videogaming247.

One of the main reasons why Japan has struggled in comparison with the rest of the world comes from the lack of manpower. Studios in other countries can top a hundred, but Japanese studios are still quite small. "That's not the case in Japan. Because they don't have a large base, like the movie industry; there aren't [a lot of people] in the high end of computer graphics. That's making the many great developers in Japan make slow progress."

That's not to say great games aren't coming from Japan, of course. Developers like Kojima Productions and Polyphony Digital have created some real graphics powerhouses on the PS3. Upcoming games from Capcom, like Resident Evil 5, and Square Enix look to push Japan's tech further.

[Thanks, nirolak!]

Those of you who are anticipating the LittleBigPlanet beta will be happy to know that we've got some of the juicy details right here for you. Japanese PS3 owners can currently head to the PS Store and download a LBP theme that will also allow you to enter a drawing for the LBP beta, similar to the Home one that was held a while back.

According to the details given, applications to the beta will be accepted from September 17th to September 23rd. The beta itself will take place from September 29th to October 12th. The size of the file will be 950MB. In each region (Japan, Europe and North America), 20,000 users will be selected for a total of 60,000 users. Hopefully we'll hear about how North America and Europe can get in on the act soon.

[Thanks, will and usman!]

We were getting worried about White Knight Story. The yummy PS3-exclusive RPG from Level-5 looked incredible ... but then it disappeared off everyone's radars since its last showing at TGS 2007. Looks like it's a lot farther along than any of us could've imagined, with the RPG getting a Japanese release later this year. Famitsu reports that White Knight Story will be available in Japan on December 11th, just in time for the holiday season.

We're eagerly awaiting TGS next month so we can get our grimey Western hands on the upcoming game. With the game nearing completion, we're hoping to be very impressed by what we see.

[Thanks to everyone that sent this in!]

The official PS3 headset, which will be bundled with SOCOM Confrontation, really may be as high as $50 when it releases as a standalone product later this year. This would make the $60 SOCOM bundle an obvious deal, as it would give players both the headset and access to the online shooter for only $10 more than the headset alone.

The headset, which will debut on October 30th in Japan, will cost 5000 yen (~$45.93). It is supposedly of a much higher quality than the headset included with Warhawk last year.

Download to PSP

Ever wondered what an alien invasion of America would sound like ... in Japanese? Good, because this will hit the spot. This new trailer from PlayStation Japan highlights many of the epic battles that we've come to associate with the upcoming PS3-exclusive FPS. The game looks better with every new trailer they release, and this is no different. While this may tantalize our senses, we wonder how many Japanese (who usually dislike FPS games) will actually pay attention to this upcoming game.

We love bizarre Japanese promotions, like this one between Sony Computer Entertainment and Tokyu Hotels. During the month of September, they'll have a special campaign which starts at 19,000 yen. Special Afrika-themed rooms will include a special projector screen displaying high-resolution images from the upcoming PS3 safari game. A special exotic meal will be prepared and delivered to your room as you enjoy the digitally rendered African environment from the PS3. At the very least, this beats having to stay in a boring non-Afrika themed room, right?

Unless we're missing something because of the cultural gap, we don't think this is the best way to advertise the upcoming PS3-exclusive Afrika ...

Sony may have won the July NPD battle against Microsoft, but things have changed quite a bit in Japan. Shockingly, Microsoft's console has beaten the PS3 across the Pacific -- a strange coup we never saw coming. The wild demand for Tales of Vesperia, an Xbox 360 exclusive (for now) spurred sales of the non-Japanese console, defeating the unusual xenophobic fears of the Japanese gaming public ... if only for this week.

Nintendo DS - 60,434
PSP - 58,501
Wii - 38,506
Xbox 360 - 24,962
PlayStation 3 - 9,673
PlayStation 2 - 8,503

The difference between Xbox 360 and PS3 this week in Japan almost fully negates the one month lead PS3 earned in America. With Microsoft aggressively pursuing other RPG franchises, like Star Ocean and Final Fantasy, it'll be interesting to see how fierce the console wars can get in Sony's home territory.

Japan is next to get the ever-expanding Home beta. The virtual world has been often delayed, but this expansion of the closed beta gives us hope that maybe, just maybe, Home is actually getting closer to a full release. Japanese PS3 owners can visit the PS Store, where they'll be able to enter in a random drawing for entry into Home. Who knows? Maybe a similar drawing will be made available in other territories in the future as well.

[Thanks, Justin & Daryl!]

Just wait for it ... wait for it.

The Japanese ad for SIREN: Blood Curse (now available) is rather shocking. We don't want to ruin the surprise for you, so please just watch. Would an ad like this work in the States? We say: yes.