Square Enix today announced that its forthcoming PSP action-based fighter Dissidia: Final Fantasy will hit Japanese store shelves this coming December, alongside a Dissidia themed PSP hardware bundle package. Specific details on the hardware bundle, such as pricing, were not divulged. Likely, it will be of similar value to the previously released limited edition Crisis Core bundle configuration.

A Dissidia trailer was shown at the company’s DKΣ3713 fan event, revealing Sephiroth and Final Fantasy VI antagonist Kefka as playable characters. As attendees will have hands-on time with the title, there’s a good chance that more details may hit soon.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy has not yet been announced for a stateside release.

Just like Parasite Eve 3, previously announced mobile cellphone title Final Fantasy XIII Agito will be making its way to the PSP at an unspecified date, Square Enix revealed to fans today during its DKΣ3713 event.

A prequel to Final Fantasy XIII, Agito is part of the vast Fabula Nova Crystallis universe, which includes XIII and Versus XIII. Apart from that, little is known about the title — in fact, that’s all we know at this point. Expect more details to surface in the not too distant future.

According to a Japanese blog covering Square Enix’s much-hyped DKΣ3713 fan event, the company has announced that The Third Birthday, unofficially known as Parasite Eve 3, will be released on PSP.

The game was initially announced as an NTT DoCoMo mobile cellphone title last year. And that’s all we know about it thus far.

The 3rd Birthday [FFKH]

According to trusty Japanese blogger Sinobi, SEGA has sold over 200K — 217,000 units to be more exact — of its recently released PSP RPG Phantasy Star Portable, a ninety percent sell-through rate. As you’d expect, SEGA is frantically shipping out more units to meet the increasing demand.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be, considering the core gameplay of Phantasy Star Portable is similar to that of Capcom’s Monster Hunter series, which has cemented its status as one of the best-selling franchises on PSP. In Japan, that is.

We’ll find out how Sega’s pocket-sized Phantasy Star effort stacks up against the other major releases of this week, like Soulcalibur IV, when Media Create releases its official figures next Wednesday.

Attention Europe! Sick of localization delays? Sony Computer Entertainment Europe head David Reeves feels your pain, but you’re going to have to bite the bullet and put up with it. SCEE takes localization seriously, wants it done properly, even if that means making folks wait 4-5 months in all English-speaking European territories after the U.S. release of a title.

Might be illegal, but if you’re that upset over waiting, you can always download the games over BitTorrent. Uh, what? Says Reeves:

We are a PAL market and we are going to do [localization] in PAL and we are going to do it properly, you can wait for it and you can have it in good quality. You know you can get the stuff from BitTorrent if you want to and download PSP games, it’s up to you.

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Homebrew developer Chilly Willy has released an update to the initial PSP port of Basilisk II, a 68k Macintosh emulator supporting OS 7.01 through 8.1.

Now at version 1.1.1, Basilisk II features a new and optimized underlying code-base, giving a six percent increase in emulation speed. Additionally, 4.01 M33 compatible IR keyboard drivers are now pre-included and two new 16:9 video output modes have been added for LCD/HDTV owners.

Download Basilisk II PSP v1.1.1

Release Thread

Homebrew developer Raphael has released a maintenance-focused update to JoySens, a highly-configurable custom firmware plugin that allows users to adjust the sensitivity of the PSP’s analog stick.

Notably, version 1.42 fixes compatibility issues with Sony’s built-in UMD driver and packs a reduced module size, in order to help further alleviate the memory issues users were experiencing with the previous release. For the full changelog, hit the jump. more »

Retro emulation aficionados, gather round. Homebrew developer Zx-81 has released a maintenance update to PSP2600, a Atari 2600 emulator for the PSP. PSP2600 is based on code from Aenea’s PSP port of Stella, a multi-platform Atari 2600 VCS emulator originally written by Bradford Mott.

In addition to a bug fix regarding the IR keyboard functionality, version 1.1.4 features support for displaying thumbnails of ROM images in the file browser, as well as the ability to jump to the keyboard and settings menu by pressing the PSP’s L trigger. For the complete changelog, hit the jump. more »

Anozor, publisher for Realtech VR’s forthcoming space shooter effort No Gravity: The Plague of Mind, has released eight new screenshots from the title. Expectedly, it’s looking quite promising in the visual department, even when compared to the already impressive homebrew demo that was released last year.

Due out this summer on PlayStation Network, the final release will feature 32 missions across six highly detailed worlds. Players will be able to select from five different spaceships, each with their own set of unique weaponry and upgrades.

No Gravity: The Plague of Mind Screenshots

Homebrew developer Zx-81 has released an update to PSPWrite, a simple yet powerful text editor that allows users to edit any ASCII format plain-text file on the PSP. The application supports input through either a wireless IR keyboard or the built-in Danzeff virtual keyboard.

In addition to a redesigned menu interface, version 1.1.0 adds a word wrap option, the ability to configure wrap settings, and pre-set hotkeys for accessing the help menu and rewrap a paragraph. Hit the break for the full changelog. more »