Atlus announces SMT: Persona 3 Portable for PSP system

[AtlusAram]

ATLUS MAXES ITS SOCIAL LINKS WITH SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI®: PERSONA®3 PORTABLE™ FOR PSP®(PlayStation®Portable) SYSTEM
It's Persona 3, and it's portable. 'Nuff said.

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA -- JANUARY 20, 2010 -- Atlus U.S.A., Inc. today revealed that Shin Megami Tensei®: Persona®3 Portable™, the handheld adaptation of one of the highest-rated role-playing games of all time, would release in North America for PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system in July.

Featuring the unprecedented addition of a new player-controlled female protagonist who offers players a fresh new perspective for one of gaming's most inventive narratives, P3P adds dozens of additional hours of playability on top of a game that already easily exceeded 100 hours of total play time. Numerous additional improvements and enhancements serve to streamline the experience for optimal handheld RPG enjoyment.

"Persona 3 introduced a revolutionary social element to role-playing games," explained Aram Jabbari, Manager of Public Relations and Sales at Atlus. "Players weren't just progressing through a story; they were a part of it, and their decisions and the relationships they chose to foster or neglect became a powerful complement to the game's satisfying combat. Persona 3 Portable takes everything that made Persona 3 such a tremendous, award-winning hit and translates it into the perfect handheld RPG experience."

SMT: Persona 3 Portable is currently scheduled for release on July 6, 2010.

For more information, visit the official Persona 3 Portable website: http://www.atlus.com/p3p

About Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable
Terrible creatures lurk in the dark, preying on those who wander into the hidden hour between one day and the next. As a member of a secret school club, you must wield your inner power—Persona—and protect humanity from impending doom. Will you live to see the light of day?

Key Features

• Maximum Persona 3—The RPG that captured critics and fans alike achieves a new level of excellence. Built upon an enhanced version of the game, players will find numerous significant improvements, including the addition of Skill Cards, part-time jobs, a total of five difficulty settings (ranging from the newcomer-friendly "beginner" to the ultra-hardcore "maniac"), and most importantly, the ability to directly control your teammates in battle.
• Gain a whole new perspective—The choice of your protagonist's sex at the start of the game has a dramatic impact on the game's intricate social dynamics. Persona 3 veterans will get a kick out of playing through the story from a new female perspective, gaining new Social Links, special events, and unique romantic opportunities.
• Slick system enhancements—Improved playability permeates every aspect of the gameplay experience. One-button menu shortcuts, streamlined team equipment changes, incredibly short load times, and other tweaks and enhancements create an ideal pace for portable gaming.

#####

About Atlus U.S.A., Inc.
Located in Irvine, California and founded in 1991, Atlus U.S.A., Inc. is renowned for its proud tradition of publishing exceptional role-playing games with strong niche appeal. The Atlus library of critically acclaimed video games includes Demon's Souls, Odin Sphere, the Trauma Center series, and the award-winning Shin Megami Tensei series. For more information, visit http://www.atlus.com.

For breaking news, special promotions, insider info, and more, visit http://www.atlus.com/faithful to join the ranks of the Atlus Faithful!

SMT: Persona 3 Portable has not yet been rated by the ESRB.

©2006-2010 ATLUS SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI, SMT, and Persona are registered trademarks of Atlus U.S.A., Inc.

[rainking187]

Aw yeah.

[jeffx]

Good vibrations.

[MrPopo]

I finally finished my The Answer playthrough, so now I can look forward to doing a female MC run of Persona 3.

[slayn]

Well I certainly didn't see this coming!

[Olethros]

Good news for Atlus USA's pocket book. Otherwise, as far as I'm concerned.

[TheSheepman]

Lurving it.
OH YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

[System_Error]

The first Atlus game announced recently I'm NOT picking up.

[illogicaldreamr]

No surprises here. I want it, but I only get it if it's cheap. Wasn't FES $30? If it costs that much I'll wait for the price to drop.

[mccrackey]

Will this include the FES expansion?

[Ike.]

God damn you people love my money

[Kyuketsukimiyu]

Yes!! This week is getting exponentially more awesome every day!!

[Mank]

Eh, hm. Maybe. You'll probably have me if you throw something nice with it, say CD+Artbook. As it stands though, I played through FES not too far back, so we'll see...

[Zambatoh]

I see loin-cloth Loki has been replaced with Rockstar Loki. Awesome.

[Willzyx]

Originally Posted by mccrackey

Will this include the FES expansion?

If you mean The Answer, the Japanese version of P3P didn't include it so it's unlikely. It's not like you're missing much anyway--The Answer wasn't all that good.

[pariah164]

OH MY PIZZA! YES!

This just made my WEEK. THANK YOU, ATLUS!

[thesycophant]

I am perversely excited for this, considering it's a 90+-hour RPG I played just a year ago. Can't wait for it to show up on Amazon so I can preorder it.

[DirewolfX]

OMG! Shocker!

Now how do you want my money?

[falconzss]

nice. thought the mail was strange journey related so i was surprised when i actually read persona 3 in the subject. hope there will be a nice package with ost and/or some other bonus

[RainbowDespair]

Persona 3's a fun game and all and it sounds like this version fixed some of my issues with it (loading times & no control of allies), but it's hard to justify buying a game that I've already purchased twice before when there isn't that much new content. I really hope they go with a budget release ($20-$25 would be ideal, anything above $30 is pushing it), otherwise I could see this bombing big time.

And if Atlus goes the extras route like they usually do, I really hope they don't leave the PSN folks out. Getting free MP3 downloads of the inevitable soundtrack CD would be a nice bonus.

[Juanblue85]

Sweet Persona 3 on the go awesome. Can't wait to get it on day one.

[mxpowar]

Originally Posted by Willzyx

If you mean The Answer, the Japanese version of P3P didn't include it so it's unlikely. It's not like you're missing much anyway--The Answer wasn't all that good.

I was also wondering so thanks for answering that. I already have FES, still unplayed, so I don't see any point in buying this, unless someone thinks there's a reason to buy this in addition to FES?

[Inzaghi]

Originally Posted by mxpowar

I was also wondering so thanks for answering that. I already have FES, still unplayed, so I don't see any point in buying this, unless someone thinks there's a reason to buy this in addition to FES?

Taken from another forum:

For clarity, all that P3P is missing from FES is The Answer, but has all of the content and improvements from FES' version of The Journey.

- Completely revamped interface and presentation, with 2-D backgrounds and faster "visual-novel" style cutscenes, as well as faster text and fast-forward mode.
- Installation option even for the UMD version for super fast load times.
- Most of P4's gameplay improvements, including Manual party control, combat assists from teammates (killing blows, combos, etc.), and some changes to the "one more", Shuffle Time, and dungeon mechanics, and a full party menu that lets you change their equipment directly rather than by talking to them individually.
- A bonus area opens during the last month that lets you re-fight previous boss battles at higher levels with various restrictions in place, plus a new bonus boss.
- The female MC (MShe) has different music for most of the often-heard tracks (school, town, S. Link, battle, Tartarus boss).
- New Spell Cards that let you give skills directly to Persona outside of the fusion system
- Revamped Fusion Skills that are now linked to expendable items that you can buy with gems.
- MShe has about 8 (I think) completely new S. Links, involving both completely new characters and male party members, while some of the returning S. Links are rewritten for the different perspective.
- Some new scenes added for the Male MC, but for the most part his game is the same, with all of the same S. Links as he had in FES.
- Five difficulty levels

There's also assorted changes that constitute spoilers, but you can get some different scenes as part of the main-story depending on how you play the game and S. Links.

[marche1990]

Oh, yeah!!! picking this one up on day one. Atlus, you already have $120 with your name on it (Hexyz Force, Trauma Team and P3P)
I was worried for a while that this game wasn't going to be localized.

[Hamel]

Sorry Atlus, I already bought P3 twice I am not going to buy it again for minor changes with the female MC

[Crabman]

I'm going to buy this...again.

[Oceanborn]

Well I guess I now know where next month's money goes. Even though I already preordered Strange Journey and 3D Dot Game Heroes... Stop taking my money! I hope Hexyz Force will be bad so I don't have to get that too >.<

[mxpowar]

Originally Posted by Inzaghi

Taken from another forum:

The only thing that really interests me from that list is the manual control but since I haven't even played my copy of P3 FES yet, I don't know if I want manual control or prefer FES the way it is. Maybe I'll pick it up cheap on Black Friday 2010.

[slayn]

Originally Posted by RainbowDespair

P...but it's hard to justify buying a game that I've already purchased twice before when there isn't that much new content.

Everything I've read about the Japanese version indicates there's a substantial amount of new content.

[Lilly]

Oh Squeee! <3 I love you, Atlus~ I'm SO looking forward to this. X3 Can't wait to Pre-order. *bounces*