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If you don't already have Mega Man 3 on the NES, the Wii Virtual Console or in the Mega Man Anniversary Collection, and if you have a Japanese PSN account, you'll be able to purchase the classic run-and-gun for your PlayStation systems next month.

Capcom announced that the Rockman Complete Works PS1 port of Mega Man 3 will be added to the Japanese PlayStation Store in April. But some Japanese Mega Man 10 buyers will be able to get it early -- Capcom is giving away 50 copies to random PSN users who buy Mega Man 10 in the first two weeks of its availability.

[Via Siliconera]

In what it says is a reaction to Apple's growing footprint in portable gaming, the Wall Street Journal reports that Sony is prepping a 2010 launch of a smartphone and an iPad competitor -- said to be "a portable device that blurs distinctions among a netbook, an e-reader and a PlayStation Portable" -- both capable of running PS1 games. The paper cites "people familiar with the matter" as its sources, which have also told it that the devices will work with Sony's iTunes Store challenger, the Sony Online Service, that launches this month.

The WSJ also reports that the phone is being developed in conjunction with Sony Ericsson, with Sony proper being much more involved in the design of the device over past projects, due to the company's growing focus on smartphones and other mobile platforms. Development is said to be under the direction of Senior Vice President Kunimasa Suzuki, who acts as a deputy to PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai in Sony's gaming and Network Products & Services divisions.

Of course, this isn't the first time we've heard talk of a fabled "PlayStation Phone," and likely won't be the last -- hopefully the next time there's news, it will come in the form of an official product announcement by Sony.

[Via VG247]

PlayStation classic Grandia will make its way to the PSN this Thursday, February 25, at a price far less than what you'd pay for a new or used copy. For $10, North America can finally access the RPG that's been on the Japanese PSN since April 2009 -- and on the Sega Saturn since 1997.

Grandia stands out from other JRPGs with its exciting combat system, which was obviously in its infancy during the first installment. In fact, we've been waiting for another high-profile game to iterate Grandia's turn-based battle system for years. Y'all just wait, when Joystiq publishing is off the ground, we'll iterate the heck out of it.

What does 15 years of PlayStation look like? Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has opened a brand new site celebrating the legacy of the PlayStation platform, featuring a timeline of Sony's major gaming hardware releases, beginning with the launch of the original Japanese PlayStation on December 3rd, 1994. Sony's handheld holds a majority of those dotted events, with every version of the PSP (from the 1000 to the Go) represented.

The "15" year logo is a fun potpourri of various accessories released throughout the brand's history. In addition to SingStar microphones and Buzz! controllers, you can see Sony playing homage to UMD, PocketStation and rubber ducks -- stars of the initial tech demos for both PS2 and PS3.

[Thanks, tmacairjordan87]

For some people, the sight of a gaming console broken open, exposing its parts to the world, can be something of utter agony. Not for the Museum of Game Science in Tokyo, where you can find the entire line of PlayStation and Xbox consoles disassembled and dissected for all to see.

Seen in Engadget's video above, one thin layer of glass is all that prevents the intrepid cameraman from reaching into the displays and pulling bits from here, bobs from there to assemble the world's first supermega-gen console: XStation 720. Knowing better, he chooses instead to give us a piece-by-piece visual rundown of what the museum offered for display at this year's Tokyo Game Show. We appreciate your self-control, kind sir.

The ESRB has proven to be the unacknowledged PR firm for the announcement of Sony's PSOne Classics -- today, the ratings board released its biggest onslaught of upcoming PSN titles to date, including such gems as:

• Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain
• Cool Boarders 3
• International Track & Field
• Oddworld: Abe's Exodus
• Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
• Pandemonium!
• Syphon Filter 2
• Um Jammer Lammy

Some of these ratings are new -- however, Um Jammer Lammy has already been released in Japan, and Blood Omen and Pandemonium! were actually given ratings last March before mysteriously disappearing from the ESRB site. Hopefully, their resurfacing is indicative of their swift arrival -- we're jonesing for some old fashioned, Silicon Knights-branded Vampiolence.

[Via CVG]

Now here's some Kojima-related news worth counting down to. The fan translation patch for Hideo Kojima's sci-fi graphical text adventure, Policenauts, is now complete and available for download. The game, originally planned for official release on the Sega Saturn in 1996, was never released in English by Konami, so a group of fans worked to localize and patch the files.

Policenauts is an adventure game in a similar style to Kojima's Snatcher, consisting of mostly still images with fully-voiced dialogue and a text-based menu interface. The game follows Jonathan Ingram, a one-time policeman on an extraterrestrial Earth colony, who drifted into space and returned to Earth 25 years later, having been saved by a "cold sleep" system in his suit. Following his return, he works as a private investigator and attempts to solve a murder and a mysterious disappearance.

The patch requires a copy of the Japanese PlayStation version of the game and a PlayStation that can play CD-R discs -- that's because you have to rip the game files, apply the patch, and then burn it to another disc. Finally, a reason to dust off that PlayStation you modded to play Beatmania ten years ago!

[Thanks, Mike]

Square's PS1-era RPG, Vagrant Story, is a weird, brilliant little game. This under-appreciated gem had a number of interesting elements that enraptured those who played it when it was released in 2000 -- elements like deep weapon creation tools, a real-time battle system and a tragic, Shakespearian plot that few RPGs since have been able to emulate.

Folks living in Japan recently received a second chance to pick up the game -- it just got added to the Japanese PlayStation Store for the extremely reasonable price of ¥600 (about $6.25). We've contacted Square Enix to see if and when Vagrant Story (as well as a few other of Squeenix's PS1 Originals) will be making their way stateside.

Taito's had a glut of classic-title remakes hit current-gen consoles as of late -- and if a recent rumor proves to be true, its streak shows no signs of stopping. NeoGAF user Shard recently posted some supposedly leaked images from the developer's next project -- an Xbox Live Arcade version of PS1 top-down shoot-em-up Raystorm (aptly titled Raystorm HD).

Mr. Shard also supposedly dug up images of an XBLA version of Rainbow Islands: Towering Adventure, a recent WiiWare release. That's great and all, but we're far more intrigued by the possibility of a renovated version of Taito's classic shooter, which features weaponized lightning. We've contacted Taito to see if they'll comment on the rumored screens. Stay tuned!

[Via GamerBytes]

Sony is printing money with its slowly expanding library of PSone classics on the PlayStation Store. Playable on both PSP and PS3, these downloadable titles have been an easy way to prey upon gamer nostalgia. Unsurprisingly, the most iconic games of the PS1 era take the top of the PSone downloads chart in the month of June:

1. Final Fantasy VII
2. Street Fighter Alpha
3. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
4. Crash Bandicoot
5. Twisted Metal 2
6. Spyro the Dragon
7. Crash Bandicoot: WARPED
8. Crash Bandicoot 2
9. Wild Arms
10. Tekken 2

It shouldn't be too surprising to see multiple Crash Bandicoot games take positions in the top 10. He was, after all, PlayStation's official mascot back in the day. Let's remember him with some classic PS1 ads after the break.

Our problem isn't that we're waffling on whether or not to buy one of these gorgeous, felt, PlayStation One-shaped iPhone cases. Our problem is that we can't stop buying them. Every time we confirm our order we think of yet another reason we need one. What if we lose the first one in a house fire? What if the second one goes through the wash? What if we want our iPhone to have a different yet identical outfit for every day of the week like Doug Funnie?

We hope you understand our predicament. We also hope you understand why they seem to be temporarily sold out.

[Via Gizmodo]

Square Enix fans can look forward to enjoying more Final Fantasy classics on the PS3/PSP in the future. The very first Final Fantasy game has been re-released as a PSN downloadable in Japan, and it looks as though many more are to come. This digital download isn't a PSN version of the PSP enhanced Final Fantasy. Rather, it's a downloadable version of the PSone remake. Siliconera notes that the PSone game includes FMV cinemas and an art gallery, but misses features found in the later GBA/PSP versions.

Considering all of the classic Final Fantasy games (minus III) were eventually ported on PSone, chances are good that PSN will play home to a very comprehensive library of Final Fantasy games. Who doesn't want to play Final Fantasy VI again?

According to Siliconera, Capcom has just released Rockman Complete Works, a PS1 enhanced version of Mega Man 1 on the PlayStation Network. The problem? It's impossible for you to get. To celebrate the very-late PS3 release of Mega Man 9 in Japan, Capcom is holding a contest for those that purchase the game. Winners will be able to get either a free t-shirt, or a downloadable version of Rockman Complete Works.

We're certain Capcom won't restrict the release of Rockman to just this Japan-only contest. We wouldn't be surprised to see each and every Mega Man game released on PS1 to get its inevitable PSN re-release. Let's not forget, Capcom promised a lot of downloads this year ...

Finishing up Final Fantasy VII? (Wow, you're fast!) Don't worry, looks like there's even more classic PSone RPG goodness coming your way. Siliconera discovered an ESRB rating for Wild Arms 2. With games like Metal Gear Solid finally coming out on the PlayStation Store, it looks like Sony is finally doing good on its promise of delivering more PS1 games. Remember folks, these games can play on both your PS3 and PSP.