Atlus will be working with ASW, the company behind the BlazBlue game franchise to bring us a 2D fighter based on the Persona 4 universe.

Andriasang (via Famitsu) has confirmed some information about the game:

-Arcade Mode: Face off against CPU opponents while following the story
-Story Mode: Delve deeper into the arcade mode’s story. This will be exclusive to the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game.
-Score Attack Mode: Face off against CPU opponents to get the high score
-VS Mode: Face off against a CPU or human opponent
-Online Battle: Face off against players throughout the world in online combat

Anyone interested in seeing the game early can play an early build of the arcade version of the game at both the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) and the 49th Amusement Machine Show (JAMMA) on the 15th-18th and the 15th – 17th respectively.

Persona 4: The Ultimate in Mayonaka Arena is set for release on the arcades in Spring of 2012 with PS3 and Xbox 360 versions coming a few months after.

source Andriasang

• Street Fighter X Tekken release date confirmed
• Metal Gear Solid HD collection details unveiled
• First Look at Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs
• Atlus announces Persona 4 for PlayStation Vita
• Catherine brings Altus record launch sales

The server this site is running on now is a VPS by WiredTree and pages are now served using Litespeed (no longer running apache since it eats memory like there’s no tomorrow) . With this hefty investment, hopefully we won’t be seeing any more downtime in the near future .

If you have any questions, suggestions, etc, please send them over via the Contact Me Page.

• Blizzard Product Roadmap Leaked!

To those unfamiliar with his work, the aLoader plugin allows users to boot ISO’s straight from the XMB (just like OpenIdea) and is compatible with the Game Categories Light plugin. Currently only ISOs are supported by the aLoader plugin.

Do note that this release is more of a bugfix with no new features. Install aLoader 1.1 if you’re experiencing problems with aloader 1.0

Changelog

- Fixed problem of displaying “Data submerged for some ISO

- Reset the time of the plugin

- Added support for PSP Filer, in order to sort the ISO

Download aLoader plugin 1.1

• aLoader plugin for PSP-2000
• aLoader plugin for PSP-3000
• aLoader plugin for PSP Go

Important Note: If you have no idea how to use/install the plugin, read the original post.

• Create an XMB-Icon using ISO Tool
• aLoader 1.25 for 6.20 TN HEN released
• aLoader 1.20 plugin for 6.20 TN Hen
• 6.20 TN-D Hen is out
• aLoader 1.0 for 6.20 TN Hen

Part of it is my fault because I was willy-nily throwing images to imageshack instead of uploading them to my server. I’m still in the process of weeding out any imageshack links so if you do see that image on one of the posts, please inform me ASAP via the comments or contact me directly. Lesson learned , don’t use imageshack.

• Generic Game Problem Fixes
• Limited Edition Monster Hunter 3G bundles
• Blizzard Product Roadmap Leaked!
• Just a minor site update – shifting paradigms
• My experience with Blog Hackers

The five months into Civilization V’s release has given the civ team at 2kgames certainly enough information and reports of overpowered or simply imbalanced strategies as well as optimize code where it’s needed. The February patch promises, among other things, Significant turn time improvements, so anyone still playing the game is bound to be delighted with that. Dennis, the Civilization V producer at Firaxis also noted that future patches we’ll continue to iterate through Civ V systems and fine tune the balance of each one, and again offer bug fixes to anyone still experiencing issues .

It’s great timing for the patch too as Civilization V is currently on sale via Steam.

Full details of the patch available after the jump.

ENGINE

* Significant turn time improvements.
* Invisible Rivers now display correctly. This caused many issues because the player could not see some rivers, like fresh water showing up in strange places, unit movement suddenly shortened, etc.. Basically, there were certain rivers that did not display where forks occurred, etc.

USER INTERFACE

* Add combat summary when a city bombards a unit
* Add a new diplomatic status “Denouncing” that displays on the turn that an AI civ is denouncing the player
* Embarked units no longer look like they have 500 strength
* User warned if about to declare war on a city state that is under protection of a major power

GAMEPLAY

* Taper off benefit of excess food when building settlers
* City-States now recognize when a road is connected for their road-connection quest.
* Golden Ages now provide +20% production per city rather than +1 hammer per tile

STRATEGIC AI

* Prevent AI from building too many AA units
* Don’t allow CSs to build Manhattan Project
* AI calculation of enemy military might are tweaked based on size of enemy gold reserve
* AI calculation of enemy power now takes into account promotions

DIPLOMATIC AI

* Avoid cascades of denunciations against a single player. AI now uses its own current friendliness level with a given power to determine how much weight to place on a denunciation against that power.
* Denunciations expire after 50 turns
* Declarations of Friendship expire after 50 turns

MODDING

* Added support for policies that provide culture from kills
* Added support for policies that provide extra culture from cultural improvements
* Added support for policies that provide extra embarked movement
* Added support for policies that provide free Great People
* Online Panel now displays TOTAL downloads for a mod and not just the downloads for that specific version.
* When you click on a mod in the online browser, you may now use a dropdown to select a previous version.
* Added Line Control for modders to use when creating graphs, etc.

MULTIPLAYER

* Can now use DLC civilizations in multiplayer
* Added Ring, Skirmish and Ancient Lake maps to MP.

BUG FIXES

* Clear up cases where diplomatic status could show as “Friendly” even after that AI power has denounced the player.
* Fix situations where AI demeanor and verbiage didn’t match friendliness level shown in diplomatic status string.
* Additional bug fixes and tweaks.

BALANCE CHANGES

Game Rules

* Cities must now have three or more tiles in between them (1 more tile than before), unless separated by a sea/coast tile.
* Cities now only get 1 free production and 0 free gold (1 less in both cases)
* Trade routes get bonus gold based on population of capital; formula changed a bit so minimal gold received for hooking up very small cities
* Bonus production from excess food (used when building settlers) tapers off if excess is 3 or more.
* Allied maritime city states provide 3 food per turn to the capital, not 4
* Balance pass on production and maintenance costs throughout the game.

Buildings

* Aqueduct added (entirely new building). 40% of Food is carried over after a new Citizen is born.
* Palace boosted to 3 gold and 3 production
* Granary gives bonus 1 food for Wheat/Banana Deer; cost reduced
* Market and Bazaar provide 2 gold (as well as +25%)
* Workshop provides 2 production (bonus reduced to +15% but affects ALL production); cost increased
* Windmill now has a +15% production modifier (for buildings only) and provides 2 production
* Stable gives bonus 1 production for Sheep/Cattle/Horse and can be built with Sheep or Cattle; cost reduced
* Lighthouse gives bonus 1 food for Fish; cost reduced
* Ironworks dropped to 8 production (but earlier in tech tree now)
* Factory requires Workshop; add 3 production but boost now just 25%; has 1 more specialist slot (now 2)
* Nuclear and Solar Plants now require Factory but increase to production is now 35% and provide 4 production themselves; these two now mutually exclusive
* Hospital adds 5 food (but no longer retains food), requires Aqueduct
* Forge adds +1 production to each source of Iron
* Reduced Armory maintenance to 2 gold
* Reduced Colosseum happiness to 3, and reduced maintenance to 2 gold
* Reduced Theatre happiness to 4
* Reduced Monastery maintenance to 0 gold
* Reduced Garden maintenance to 1 gold
* Reduced Observatory maintenance to 0 gold
* Reduced Opera House culture to 4, and reduced maintenance to 2 gold
* Removed the Great Person Point from Public School

Specialist Adjustments

* Temple -1 Artist
* Mud Pyramid Mosque -1 Artist
* Opera House +1 Artist
* Bank -1 Merchant
* Satraps Court -1 Merchant
* Stock Exchange +1 Merchant
* Observatory -1 Scientist
* University +1 Scientist
* Garden -1 Artist
* Laboratory -1 Scientist
* Public School +1 Scientist

Improvements/Routes

* Production bonus from Railroads reduced to 25%
* Removed 1 extra gold from Mine on Gems, Gold, Silver, Marble.
* Fishing Boats give 1 food, not gold.
* Fishing Boats give 1 gold with Compass.
* Camps on Deer give production instead of food .
* Remove 1 extra food from Sugar plantations.
* Trading Post gold reduced from 2 to 1 (increases back to 2 when hit Economics).
* Trading Post & Camp gold increases by 1 with Economics.
* Lumbermill production increases by 1 with Scientific Theory (moved up from Steam Power).
* Mine & Quarry production increases by 1 with Chemistry.
* Plantation & Pasture food increases by 1 with Fertilizer.
* Well & Offshore Platform boosted to 3 production (from 1).
* Academy increased to 6 Science.
* Landmark increased to 6 Culture.
* Manufactory increased to 4 Production.

Policies

* Tradition: Culture border expansion discount in cities placed on Tradition branch opener. Discount increases over the course of the game. Also grants +3 Culture in the capital.
* Aristocracy: Wonder bonus reduced by 5% to 20%.
* Legalism: Provides a free Culture building in your first 4 cities.
* Oligarchy: Garrisoned units cost no maintenance, and cities with a garrison gain +100% ranged combat strength.
* Landed Elite: +15% Growth, and +2 Food per city.
* Monarchy: +1 Gold and -1 Unhappiness for every 2 Citizens in your capital.
* Liberty: +1 culture per turn in every city.
* Collective Rule: Settler production increased by 50%, and a free Settler appears near the capital.
* Citizenship: Worker construction rate increased by 25%, and a free Worker appears near the capital.
* Representation: Each city you found will increase the Culture cost of Policies by 33% less than normal. Also starts a Golden Age.
* Order: Reduce Order production bonus to 15%.
* Meritocracy: +0.5 Happiness for each city connected to the capital, and a free Great Person of your choice appears near the capital.

Resources

* Fish reduced to 1 food (but can be boosted back to 2 with Lighthouse)
* Marble boosts wonder production by 20%, down from 25%

Technologies

* Scaled up tech costs throughout the game (slight change for early eras; close to double for Modern)
* Move Lumbermills up to Construction
* Move Bridge Building back to Engineering
* Move Ironworks to Machinery

Units

* Workboat cost increased
* Settler cost increased by 25%

Wonders

* Colossus no longer goes obsolete
* Angkor Wat now provides a 25% discount for the costs (both culture and gold) to gain plots empire-wide.

Civ Unique Bonuses

* Reduce Chu-ko-nu from 10 to 9 ranged strength
* Doubled culture from kills for Aztecs
* Krepost now provides a 25% discount for the costs (both culture and gold) to gain plots in the city.
* Paper Maker only provides 2 gold but no longer requires any building maintenance

Map Generation Changes

* Increased Oil quantity per resource.
* Minimum Uranium is now 2.
* Cut Deer Appearance in Arctic regions.
* Adjusted Sheep placement so it is more spread out.
* Decreased Wheat appearance in Plains.
* Increases Cow appearance overall, including adding up to 2 Cow tiles to heavy grass start positions.

source 2kgames, RockPaperShotgun

• Skyrim 1.4 Beta Patch now available
• Massive Civilization V patch goes live
• Massive Civilization V patch incoming
• Civilization V comes to Macs this holiday
• 2kgames details upcoming Civilization V patch

If you haven’t splurged on it yet, check out Steam’s Holiday sale. It’s AWESOME. Today’s sale has Fallout: New Vegas up for grabs for just $29.99

There’s slew of interesting things to come in 2011 but I’ll save that for the lengthy year end post. Till then, enjoy your holidays with a love one or a hot Mio (one of which you’ll see below )

So again, Merry Christmas from Atma Xplorer.

• Merry Xmas from Atma Xplorer
• 2011 Steam Holiday Sale begins
• PSA: doing minor blog fixes
• Blizzard Product Roadmap Leaked!
• Happy New Year from Atma Xplorer

Ake Ome to everyone! (Akemashite Omedetou -> Happy New year in Japanese) . Now on with the mandatory, first day of the yer post.

So what’s new for the year?

Aside from the usual conundrum of PSP-related stuff like the latest CFW or the latest free PSP games (and the latest free dsi games for DSI users), there’s photography, anime, fanboyism stuff and all stuff geeky. If you’ve noticed, the recent trend of posts for Atma Xplorer has trickled compared to my earlier posting frequency (I peaked at once every two days). That’s because I’ve been quite busy managing several blogs (personal and otherwise), some money making gigs (one with megaupload, thanks to bhatugan.com’s dcoyy for helping me with that ), a secret project that I’m still working on the foundations of and work (we’ve shifted our web dev team to RoR yay!).

As of now, I’ll be running just a handful of blogs (downsized for quality and other reasons…. thanks a lot john /sarc) to keep focus on post frequency/quality and make time for my other activities like gaming (yay for our PS3, Xbox and wii though our first wii died earlier last year so I’ll be getting a new one by the end of the month), field shoots (on location photography if you’re not familiar with the term) and freelancing gigs (courtesy of my still secret project ). So yeah, busy busy, busy!

If you’re wondering what’ll be the break down of post topics per blog:
Atma Xplorer – Gaming, Anime, Photography, Random yet interesting stuff. I may even start running contests (with prizes from Play-Asia or even cold hard cash) but those plans are still under wrap for now
Techie Xplorer – From the ashes of Pinoy Tech Guy (my earlier attempt at a tech-blog), Techie Xplorer is just another tech-related blog. You’ll find gadgets (and hopefully reviews soon), tips and tricks and other geeky stuff that don’t fall into Atma Xplorer’s plethora of categories.
sylv3rblade.com – currently it’s just a personal blog (an empty one at that) so I’ll be posting stuff that comes out to mind
The secret project – is currently a photography, face-painting and web development gig. I’ll be posting more info after the public launch but for now, that’s the only information I can give out

Anything else?

I’ve been busy for that last few months of 2009 so here’s an x’mas present for myself:

Yep, that’s a D90 kit.

I know, I know. I was supposed to get it last year but due to several complications, I was able to get one just now. I’m still playing with it and thus far, I can safely that it’s quite a level up compared to my older D40 (my head is still buried reading the thick manual and kenrockwell’s D90 manual). I’ll be posting a review on Techie Xplorer but for now, I’ll be tinkering and testing it out until I get the feel of it. If you’re curious, I got my D90 from kimstore! The kit (D90 body + Nikkor 18-105mm VR lens + LCD cover) is currently at Php 53,000. They even threw in a free 8GB SD card .

Well that’s all for now. I was supposed to write a year end report but I guess I got carried away . Will be posting a few interesting morsels in a bit, stay tuned via Atma Xplorer’s feeds.

• Merry Xmas from Atma Xplorer
• PSA: doing minor blog fixes
• Merry Christmas from Atma Xplorer
• Happy 10th Birthday PlayStation 2
• Meri Kurisumasu from Atma Xplorer

Now, if you’re scratching your head as to how meri kurisumasu = merry christmas, it’s the japanese pronunciation of the holiday! Forgive my otaku-mannerisms as I’ve just started a week-long anime marathon . I need the break from this month’s overbearing workload so I may not be online as much as I did so I hope you can bear with me (this is still a one man show!). If you’ve posted a question and are still waiting for a reply, why not treat yourself to some free psp games and free dsi games? I promise to be back before the new year’s celebration

Again, Merry Christmas everyone!

• Merry Xmas from Atma Xplorer
• Merry Christmas from Atma Xplorer
• Happy New Year from Atma Xplorer
• Top Stories on Atma Xplorer for 2008
• Suprnova is back

A bit of warning, the language of the commentary me offend you… but it will crack you up I promise!

Now please excuse me while I continue rolling on the floor laughing (that’s ROTFL to the uninitiated)

• Limited Edition Flame Red 3DS up for Black Friday sale
• Limited Edition Monster Hunter 3G bundles
• World of Warcraft now Free-to-Play until level 20
• Nintendo DS Lite drops to $99
• Blizzard Product Roadmap Leaked!

Valentines has a different meaning for True-blooded Mapuans. Instead of being centered about love for your other half, black Valentines is about our love for our school and it’s memory. As a refresher, to those who still don’t know what took place behind every student and alumni’s back, Mapua Institute of Technology is officially dead. The name exists legally as the school’s alias, or simply put, it’s just the cover for the name Malayan Colleges.

Malayan Colleges?

Yes, that’s the name SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) currently refers to MIT so under legal terms, Mapua Institute of Technology is now technically named Malayan Colleges operating under the latter name.

To those still wondering what significance that has to our lives, it’s about the name and the legacy. Although current students are still carrying the name Mapuans as per tradition, the moment you look at the next graduates (THANK GOD I’m not one of them), the name of the school written on their diplomas will be Malayan Colleges operating under the name Mapua Institute of Technology. Now I’m not much into the technicalities of naming conventions but to me, having graduated from a school named Malayan automatically disqualifies you from being called a Mapuan.

Then there’s the legacy. Mapuans are well-known for being the backbone of the industry (in general). If you’re doubting this, just go to Ayala Ave and ask around. We’re there, we’re everywhere.

Where’s the battle?

The battle was short-lived with a lot of casualties. In the end though, like any minority opposing a big and well-funded entity, we lost the battle. There will be no order to revert the name to what it was (news got out AFTER the SEC ratified the claim of changing names) and we all hung our heads in defeat.

Some of the protesters were expelled, others with similar though not as harsh punishment. And to prevent further “rallies” (as what happened 2005), the administration added a document for freshmen (or frosh as the school refers to them, I still don’t get where that term rooted from o.O) to prevent them from participating in such activities of face the guillotine. How’s that for tyranny?

Why don’t you just leave?

Too late for me now I’m just waiting for completions, but as agreed then by the CSC and the administration, all enrollees up to 2004 will retain the MIT name on their diplomas. To the enrollees afterwards, though luck to you.

I’m sure a lot of us thought of transferring when the news went out though but most if not all technical schools does not credit ALL our curriculum’s given subject so for the financially challenged (like myself then) the only option was to stay and obey.

Being the passive protesters that we Mapuans are however, the idea of a Black Valentines came into view. Since it was general knowledge that most of our population then won’t be joining in the protest activities, it was put into action so that everyone can participate in the protest for the name we lost and the legacy that’s clearly our own.

A friend of mine wrote a full write up for Black Valentines. He gave me permission to post and edit it (some words are not for kiddies). You can find it on the next page.  A word of warning, it’s long, even after editing, he’s really passionate about it.

• Geeks and Valentines #2: Date ideas
• Geeks and Valentines #1: Gift ideas
• Mapua COE GC Logo

Ok, enough about ranting. For what it’s worth, I loved the trip. I felt I really needed some time out and although I shelled out more cash than I really wanted, I can’t help but feel it was worth every peso. The trip is a very personal one so it was more of a communal thing rather than a sightseeing trip. No actual pics aside from the ones taken with my friend’s camera-attachment for his PSP so sorry about that Mark.

Here’s the highlights of my trip:

• Went to Nipponbashi look for anime stuff. I was able to buy a Destroy model kit for my collection and tried to look for a store that carries legwarmers which I wanted to give to a friend (it’s a year-late request). I didn’t know what they were called in japanese and since I was the only one who spoke English in the group, we looked like a group of drunken otakus playing charades. I only got my hands on a few items since we really needed to get on the train.
• Boarded the Shinkansen (not my idea but what the hell). I never really thought of the Nintendo DS’ popularity but after seeing a train full of DS’ holders (and gamers) I’m convinced.
• Went to Kyoto to visit my friend. Like I said in the previous post he’s still in the hospital but recuperating.
• I thought of going to Kiyomizu Dera temple since I wanted to visit another friend there but it was too far off so I just called.
• Went to Shijo-Kawaramachi shopping district to waste the last few hours of my stay. No I didn’t go on a shopping spree. We stayed at one of the numerous game centers there and played our hearts out. I got to play Beats though, a title available only from the PS Store. Then after about an hour of Tekken some other fighting game (can’t read kanji sorry), we blew our hearts out on the videoke o.O.

The trip was nothing really earthshaking but I needed it to remind plant my feet back on the ground. To quote one of our conversations:

You’ve been spending so much time building up yourself that you’ve totally lost track. It’s never about what you can or cannot do. It’s about what you keep in your heart, that’s what matters.

I hope those words keep me straight for more than a year. I’m doing this trip annually is going to break my bank. Mentioned pics will remain on my PSP.

I’m off to sleep since I’ll be having an exam later.  Cheers guys!

• Final Fantasy XIII-2 hits Japan, December 15
• PlayStation Vita hits Japan December 17
• Three new PSP bundles coming to Japan
• Lost “Welcome Back” free games from PSN
• 3DS sold out on Japan launch

I wanted to go to Akihabara but seeing that the fare was already taken from my own wallet, I doubt I’d survive my first hour there. Why? Akihabara is considered Otaku heaven with the best stores if you’re searching for anime merchandise. Software, manga, anime titles and even adult items (no I won’t go into detail), you name it, it’s there.
Since Akihabara is simply out of the question, we went for the next best thing: Nipponbashi in Osaka. There was only one store that I really wanted to see there and the picture below should make clear. When I saw it, I almost broke into tears.

Aptly named Osaka Gundams, the store carries everything that a Gundam lover would want. I personally can’t describe the feeling after setting foot in the building but to put it simply, I was like a child released into a giant sandbox. ^^ I saw many Gundam kits that I really wish to take home but can’t. They’re either very rare or very expensive (20K Yen upwards o.O). I would’ve taken home a DESTROY model kit but I wouldn’t have enough cash to get home. Bummer.

Anyway, I’ll be going to Kyoto after this to visit my friend who’s still on his hospital bed, recovering from a heart by-pass surgery. I’ll probably spending the rest of my stay there since we have lots to catch up to so I hope I’ll have time to take pictures. See you guys soon.

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone!

• Merry Xmas from Atma Xplorer
• Merry Christmas from Atma Xplorer
• Blizzard Product Roadmap Leaked!
• Back from Japan
• Off to Japan for the Xmas

I wish I had a camera to bring with me but I just broke my digital cam.

While I’m out check out this interesting video of the Playstation emulator for the iPhone:

This is a screenshot of the working app.

An installer for the PSX4iPhone is available on Installer.app, Check out the developer’s site for lots more info at: http://zodttd.com/wp/

[Via Iphone4world.com]

• Merry Xmas from Atma Xplorer
• PlayStation Vita launches in Japan
• Final Fantasy XIII-2 hits Japan, December 15
• PlayStation Vita hits Japan December 17
• Three new PSP bundles coming to Japan

I’m still not done for the design up front but that’ll be for tomorrow after my exams in Accenture and Teloworks so I’ll follow that up hopefully after I get home.

• Blizzard Product Roadmap Leaked!
• Remember Mapua: Celebrating Black Valentines

	The contributor
	You share your knowledge with everyone for the betterment of the community. You ask little compensation like donations to help fund development, pay for hosting or none at all. Fame arrives from those who appreciate (or sometimes bash) your work and asks for more. Guys like you spearhead the development process of Open Source applications
	The reviewer
	You point out pros and cons from the works of the contributors with an unbiased (although most of the time biased) opinion. Your reviews gives readers perspective on what?s hot and what?s not so they can choose between A, B, C or none at all. You can either be paid to do your reviews (either by being part of a network or going solo) or you simply do it for the fun of it
	The critic
	If you think that a reviewer and a critic are the same, get a dictionary and read on. Everybody loves a critic. You can be a patient teacher or a satire critique. Point out flaws and/or things on works like articles, sites, even pictures that can be improved. Readers who have enough gray matter will pick up the values of your advice and/or criticism will both enjoy and benefit from your work.
	The ruler
	If you have people under you, they can be used (when speaking to them you say it’s “support you”) to promote yourself to others and build up reputation (if any and/or necessary). The bad part though, is that you have to compensate them somehow (like money). You need a huge backing to pull this off and even then it’s still a 50/50 chance. It’s just like running for the election although you just get bragging rights instead of an office and a seat.
	The bigot
	The second easiest way to become (in)famous. Insult and anger everyone in your path and watch the burst of traffic go wild. You?ll get hate mails, hate messages, hate gifts and if you are able to keep it up for quite a while even a hate fan club dedicated to pelting you and your opinions with eggs and tomatoes. Death threats are soon to follow.
	The lynch mob
	Members of the lynch mob can be classified under the bigot but because they have a large number, you deserve a different definition. You and those like you team up like pack or ravenous wolv-hyenas (wolves think so they?re out of the question) and when someone puts on a sign ?FOOD HERE,? you attack everything in sight. As you spend more and more time with the mob, you evolve and can then be described as an idiot.

• Blizzard Product Roadmap Leaked!
• Ways of Installing Ubuntu