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Sickr

The latest edition of Japanese gaming publication Famitsu reveals that Square Enix’s First Production Department is handling the development of Final Fantasy X HD. The game is only in the initial stages of development which is why Square Enix hasn’t released much information about the eagerly anticipated game.

NetherRealm Studios has announced that it’s brining the superb fighting franchise Mortal Kombat to PlayStation Vita. Mortal Kombat is due for release sometime in March and will bring with it some new gameplay additions tailored to the PlayStation Vita hardware. There isn’t much more information at present but it’s certainly one to look forward to.

Sony has announced that the PlayStation Vita has had its firmware updated to version 1.52. As with the previous PlayStation Vita firmware update this one just fixes a few behind the scene bugs but doesn’t add any additional functionality to the system. However, a few users have reported that the update fixes a version 1.51 bug where the 3G system would not recognize your SIM card.

Oddword: Mucnh’s Oddysee will be releasing Q2 to the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita. Not much is at all is known about this game other than that above logo where it shows Munch’s updated character model.

One of the things we have learnt over a long period of time, is that whether it is PS1, PS2, PSP or PS3, it is dangerous to the point of impossible to take any experience from the Japanese market and try and extrapolate it, and propose upon what will happen in Europe or North America.

Not withstanding the fact that it is just way too early to make any conclusions. The markets are now just so different, I actually think they are diverging to a greater extent than they were different in the past – if that’s even possible. It is impossible to draw any meaningful conclusions of the Japanese launch in the context of what will happen in Europe. We are  more focused on our stakeholder reaction, whether that is specialist press or the reaction from retail.  The key task of allocating the supply that we have to the considerable demand, and just ensuring everything is in place for February 22nd.

Sony has apparently cut the PlayStation Vita shipment in France by a whopping 50% according to French gaming publication PlayPortable-Life. Instead of shipping 80,000 units for launch Sony will instead provide 40,000 units. 75% of PlayStation Vita units will be the WiFi model and 25% will be the 3G model.

PlayStation Vita sales in Japan have emerged and they are not looking good as Sony’s latest portable trails significantly behind the Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and the Wii. It’s not all bad news for Sony as sales for the console have risen by a meagre 0.06%. Here’s the Japanese hardware charts:

Japanese hardware charts

• 1. 3DS: 240,819 (197,952)
• 2. PS3: 74,459 (67,199)
• 3. PSP: 71,033 (62,746)
• 4. Wii: 49,525 (33,208)
• 5. PSV: 42,915 (42,648)
• 6. DSi LL: 3,971 (3,356)
• 7. X360: 2,738 (2,453)
• 8. DSi: 3,565 (2,418)
• 9. PS2: 1,323 (1,659)

Peripheral manufacture Nyko has unveiled a range of accessories for your PlayStation Vita when it launches next month. The most interesting of these accessories is the ‘Power Grip’ which Nyko claims that boasts three times the battery life of Sony’s own Vita battery. This humongous monstrosity costs $24.99 but could prove to be a vital piece of equipment if you want to get more battery life out of your PlayStation Vita.

During Sony’s CES Press Conference on Monday evening, Sony’s Head of Consumer Products Kaz Hirai announced that Sony has managed to sell over half a million PlayStation Vita consoles since its launch on December 17. The PlayStation Vita is to launch in the West on February 22.