Announced back in July it was reported that Konami was porting the cult classic, Shadow Of Memories (or more commonly known as Shadow Of Destiny in the US), onto the PSP. Strangely enough, I had just bought the Playstation 2 version about a month or so beforehand. I was a little late when it came to experiencing this game, but was happy I took the time to nonetheless. I was also quite worried that this wouldn’t make it back to American shores a second time around considering how mediocre sales were.

The game wasn’t insanely popular, but if I recall it had a good deal of the Silent Hill team working on it. It is a very unique game where you’re trying to prevent your own death, and to do so you must constantly time travel. The graphics, sadly, have not been upgraded for the port; however, there is a new vocal cast in the Japanese release. Konami announced today that America’s will also be able to delight in the port, which is very exciting. It’ll be good to see a new batch of people try out this game, but at the same time I am interested in who they might cast.

I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see…

There have recently been reports in the Japanese regions of another addition to BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger. BlazBlue is a excellent 2D fighting game, designed and developed by the creators of the Guilty Gear franchise. The addition isn’t a sequel, but is instead an upgraded version of the game entitled BlazBlue: Continuum Shift with a new playable character from the original storyline. Those who have played already are aware of the small appearance of Tsubaki Yayoi.

However, this reminds me of a previous news report that originally appeared back in August. Europeans have yet to receive BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, and it was previously reported that the region would get content not available anywhere else. This includes exclusive characters and moves, which sounds like much more of a value so far than BlazBlue: Continumm Shift. There is no word yet if the US is getting an update containing either of these updates, but fans of the series already predicted that the European release might make its way over as a downloadable extra. This would make the most sense as repackaged games generally don’t sell very well here unless ported to another system.

Considering all the rumors on how the content will be packaged to US audience, with no official word from Aksys Games, it is best to wait it out before importing either the Japanese or European versions.

• Kotaku – BlazBlue Expands With Continuum Shift
• Kotaku – BlazBlue Coming To Europe In 2010 With New Characters

Apparently the release window of February will not only be for Japanese, but also for North America and Europe as well. That means the International version will be released at the same time everywhere. This is probably a breath of relief for a few fans as well as an exciting way to make a truly International version. I’m impressed with this approach, and hope the title can do well considering the line-up next summer.