After a report revealed that the UMD Passport Program will not be heading to North America, there were some unanswered questions on whether the program will make its way to Europe and PAL territories. According to Eurogamer, it seems that SCEE is still undecided on whether they will implement the program, which will allow Playstation Portable owners to obtain digital copies of their games at a discounted price.

The comment was made by a Sony Europe representative:

We’ve not made any announcement about the program in the UK and Europe as yet. We’ll let you know as and when that changes.

So far, the Land of the Rising Sun (Japan) is the only territory where PSP owners can use the program for their libraries. However, if you still want to play PSP games on the Vita, then you would have to buy the game of the Playstation Store at its current price.

Vodafone Australia have revealed their plans for the Wi-Fi/3G Playstation Vita. Potential customers can grab a monthly data plan with no upfront cost for the Vita or you grab it pre-paid for $419, which is roughly the price elsewhere. For those who do buy it outside of Vodafone, a Vodafone Sim will be included in the box on launch day.

Postpaid plans will start at $55 per month on a 12 month contract. With the basic plan, owners will get the Playstation Vita and 1.5GB of data per month over 12 months (minimal cost is $660). If that is too small, there will be other data plans available, up to 18GB for $95 per month (minimal cost is $1,140). For those who just want to pay it all on launch day, the $419 prepaid pack includes 200MB of data on a 30-day expiry.

As a special offer, if you pre-order the Playstation Vita through Vodafone’s online store by March 31st (which you can do right now), then customers will be given a necessary gift: a 4GB Memory Stick. The Memory Stick is essential for the Playstation Vita due to a lack of internal memory for save data. This does apply to both postpaid and prepaid deals. This is in addition to a free digital copy of WipEout 2048 when you activate your Vodafone sim, which you can now play since you will have the Memory Stick.

Ross Parker, General Manager of Devices at Vodafone had this to say on the Vodafone partnership with SCE Australia:

“Our partnership with Sony Computer Entertainment Australia presents us with a unique opportunity to make the move into the exciting world of mobile gaming. Our new network is built for smart devices like PlayStation Vita. Our customers have told us they can’t wait to get their hands on this device, and we echo their enthusiasm and look forward to the arrival of PlayStation Vita in Australia later this month.”

For more info or to pre-order the Vita, check out the Vodafone Playstation Vita page and see if the 3G version is the right one for you.

While the PlayStation Vita won’t be out yet in North America for a couple of weeks, or next week for those who purchase the pre-launch bundle, it seems Sony has chosen to place certain games on the PlayStation Store a bit early. You will need to search for them however, and when you find them there will be five games available for download.

NeoGAF has found that these games are Uncharted: Golden Abyss for $49.99, Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational for $35.99, Wipeout 2048 for $35.99, ModNation Racers Road Trip for $26.99, and the PSN-only Super Stardust Delta for $9.99. This is a nice little preview on how some games, minus Uncharted, are cheaper on the PSN and also a way for those who bought a Japanese PS Vita to get some easy to download games.

If a tweet is led to believed, then we can expect another kart racing game, but it won’t be another Modnation Racers. In fact, this kart racer will be set within the Little Big Planet world. This unusual tweet came from Canadian retailer Future Shop during Destination Playstation 2012, which is currently running in Arizona. This is what the tweet said:

@FS_Gamer at #Playstation Destination Little Big Planet Cart racing announced for ps3. Move compatible wheel and 3D capable!

If that wasn’t enough, the claim has more credibility than you might think. Below is a banner ad that shows “Little Big Planet Karting” and it is going to be released on the Playstation 3. It is unknown whether it is fake or not, but, considering the amount of time required to make this banner, surely it can not be a fake.

Sackboy Wants To Race (Source: Playstation Lifestyle)

As one can see, the banner has screenshots and the slogan “Play, Create, Share,” which is usually attached to every Little Big Planet game. However, it does raise one important question: What happens to Modnation Racer? Will it die out or run parallel to another Little Big Planet game? What do you think of the rumour and do you believe it will hurt Modnation Racer? Why don’t you document your thoughts below.

Source: Eurogamer

In this new Army Corps of Hell trailer, Square Enix shows off the multiplayer features of the Playstation Vita launch title. You don’t have to go through Hell alone as the game will support adhoc multiplayer, which is Vita to Vita. Co-operative modes will be available, where players will team up to defeat hordes of monsters and battle gigantic bosses together. However,it is not all about being on the same page. There will be times where the inner jerk can be released, as players can sacrifice their companion and steal their own goblins.

Army Corps of Hell will be released in Australia and New Zealand on February 23, the launch day of the Playstation Vita. The trailer can be seen below.

In Japan, the UMD Passport Program allows Playstation Portable owners to grab digital versions of their PSP games on UMD for a special price. It looks like it will be a Japanese exclusive as a report on Kotaku has revealed that Sony Computer Entertainment America will not bring the program to North America. This leaves North American owners no way to play their physical PSP games on their Playstation Vita.

With that said, this announcement is only for North America. This means the program still has a possibility to be implemented in the European and PAL territories. However, with the announcement of the no-show in North America, the presence in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and other PAL territories is still a long shot. The Playstation Vita is only backward compatible with digital copies of PSP games.

What do you think of the UMD Passport no-show in North America? Tell us what you think below.

Lately there has been a disturbing trend among some video game developers. That trend is that as soon as they finish working on a brand new title, or shortly after, the studio then fires a large amount of their employees. The latest developing company to do this is none other than Eat Sleep Play, the developers of the upcoming Twisted Metal game.

It seems that despite having their PlayStation 3 exclusive title releasing next week, the company has fired eight employees leaving them with a remaining staff of 26 and one of these employees was David Jaffe himself. David Jaffe appears to be working on something for the future however, as he has revealed plans to open up a game studio in San Diego. This is sad news indeed, as even the development of highly expected titles can cause workers to be let go once it is finished.

If you are excited about Gravity Rush (Gravity Daze in Japan) and want your Playstation Vita to reflect that excitement, then Japanese console and handheld skin creator Dezaegg have two skins up for pre-order. Each are also a protective sheet for your touch screen and come with matching wallpapers. To access the wallpapers for your Vita, you have to download them from here and transfer your chosen wallpaper to your Vita.

The two screens will not see a release until March 1 for ¥1,480 (US$19.30/AU$17.90). If you are in Japan at the moment, then standard retailers will stock the two skins. For the rest of us (which will be most of us), then you have to order them from Dezaegg official site. Gravity Rush/Daze is out now in Japan and will be ready for launch in the West. You can check out the skins below.

Source: Andriasang

Sony has released the final details on both the Portable and Car Charger for release in Japan. These were both shown off at the 2011 Tokyo Game Show. Expect the Car Charger first, as it has a release date of March 22 and it will retail at ¥1,500 (US$19.55/AU$18.10). For those who are anxiously waiting to import the Portable Charger, then you will have to wait until April 5. Also expect to drop ¥4,500 (US$58.65/AU$54.30) for this possible necessary accessory.

The Portable Charger will boast 5,000mAh, enough juice to charge the Vita 1.5 times. However, the charger itself needs to be charged, which will take seven hours. In order for the charger to work, you will need both the AC adapter and the USb cable from your Vita. The USB cable will charge the Vita from the Portable Charger (and presumably the Car Charger), while the AC adapter will charge the Portable Charger.

Check out both the Car and Portable Charger in the gallery below.

Source: Andriasang

In this week’s issue of Dengeki PlayStation, Falcom has lifted the lid on the Playstation Vita port of The Legend of Heroes Zero no Keisei, which is the sequel to Sora no Keisei trilogy, in which Trails in the Sky is the first of the three games. First up, a name change. When the game was first announced, it had the name The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Keisei Event Full Voice Edition. That has been changed to its final name: The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Keisei Evolution. It is also slated for a summer 2012  release, which is a more concrete release than the 2012 date the game received when it was revealed. It will be priced at ¥6,090 (US$79.30/AU$73.60).

The games biggest change is the amount of voice work that will be done. Over 150 characters in the game will now have voices, hence why the placeholder title included “Full Voice Edition.” The recording of the voice, revealed in an interview by Dengeki Playstation, may take two months to complete. Main character Lloyd will take up to 1,200 pages of dialogue in the game. Now that is a lot of talking.

While the full voice acting is the biggest addition, it is certainly not the only addition. The visuals will get an update over the Playstation Portable visuals, with animated character shots during scenes of conversation and improved effects on shadows, water and depth-of-fields. A new opening movie is also being developed, alongside new arrangements of the game’s soundtrack. The Vita version will also have mini-games, which will utilise Vita-specific features such as gyro and rear touch. It is unknown whether the features will be used during the main game. Trophies and additional sub-quests will also be included.

PSP version

When the game was announced, the teaser site mentioned Pyramid Inc, creators of the Patapon games. This is the studio who are developing the game, allowing Falcom to focus on new entries of the series, mainly Nayuta no Kiseki, the next entry of the series, and the entry after Nayuta no Kiseki (Falcom are really planning ahead). Falcom CEO Toshihiro Kondo revealed in the Dengeki Playstation interview that he chose Pyramid to develop the game because he is close friends with members of the development team and that he got the chance to see some of the research and development projects. The focus of other titles was also a factor, despite the fact that there was an option for Falcom to develop the game.

Chara-Ani was also mentioned with the announcement, but their role was unknown.In the interview, Chara-Ani producer Tadakazu Hiraga revealed that they are the planners, producers, managers and distributors of the game. Quite a lot of roles for the one company. Apparently, the publishing of the game will be handled by a third company known as Kadokawa Games, not Falcom. Kondo revealed, however, that they did keep an eye on development and checking out the data involved to assure a faithful port.

For those who are really interested in the title, then you might like the fact that there will be a conference over at Nico Nico Video that will be focused on The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Keisei Evolution, as well as other Falcom “Keisei” productions. It is planned for the 9th of February (this Friday) at 6pm Tokyo Time (4am Eastern/1am Pacific/8pm AEDT).

Source: Andriasang