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Elite Beat Agents dev working on Xbox 360 project

No doubt communicating to Gamasutra via boisterous cartoon speech bubbles, Keiichi Yano of the annoyingly capitalized iNiS confirmed that his team is currently working on an unnamed Xbox 360 project. "Yeah. We are currently working on a title," he said when prodded about Microsoft's console during Seattle's GameFest event. "I can't really get into it more than, 'Yes, we're working on something!'"

With iNiS' past creations consisting of feel-good rhythm games such as Gitarooman, the Ouendan series and Elite Beat Agents, said something could easily involve catchy tunes, rhythmic button presses and unintentional gyration. We're certain the iNiS co-founder isn't pressed for ideas, but even if he was, he'd only need to holler for help. The strange men leaping out of his closet in response would probably share some sort of song about putting Gitarooman on Xbox Live Arcade ("it was the best decision ever made!").

Gitaroo Man Lives again, port headed to North America

Gitaroo Man Lives!Koei is bringing Gitaroo Man to North America again, with a remake of the acclaimed, but obscure 2002 PlayStation 2 title for PSP. Gitaroo Man Lives! is essentially a port of the original rhythm game (Gitaroo Man) with the new (ad hoc) Duet Mode included. Gitaroo Man Lives! will ship to North American retailers on November 14.

While the remake will no doubt please some gamers who missed Gitaroo Man's first tour, we can't help but feel a bit slighted by the release. Coupled with news that a PaRappa the Rapper port (with some bonus features) is also headed to PSP, it's become glaringly obvious that many publishers are using the PSP as a sloppy seconds machine. Instead of producing new content, companies are dusting off old titles, applying a little gloss -- and maybe tacking on ad hoc multiplayer -- and shipping these "remakes" off to retail.

What's even more disappointing is that these ports, as well as the downgraded PSP versions of multiplatform releases and franchise spin-offs, are consistently earning higher critical marks than the PSP's original content. Gangs of London? Bounty Hounds? Rengoku 2? Are these games even on your radar? Why is it so frickin' hard to make exceptional PSP games that can't be played on any other platform? LocoRoco? Is that all we've got?

[Via press release]

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