The PlayStation Portable is great for making a long plane or car ride go by faster. Starting this Thursday, Talkman Travel transforms your PSP into an indispensible tool once you reach your destination.
Talkman Travel serves as an interactive pocket tour guide for tourists traveling to Tokyo, Paris or Rome. This will really help you “break the ice” with the locals in each of the destinations, with accurate linguistic support in Japanese, French or Italian.
So how does Talkman Travel help you in these world cities?
How do you say???
For those of you who didn’t take your foreign language classes seriously, Talkman Travel comes to your rescue.
For each of the titles, Talkman Travel provides you a list of roughly 150 pre-selected phrases tourists are likely to use on their vacations. Sentences such as “Where is the tourist information desk?” or “Where is this restaurant?” or even “Where is the restroom?” All sentences can be translated into the respective languages at the push of a button. Push the button again, and the PSP will provide the audio for you as well. Suggested sentences are provided for likely situations involving dining, sightseeing and shopping.
Pictures
Along with the linguistic support, Talkman Travel contains pre-selected photo archives targeted at the likely interests for tourists traveling to Tokyo, Paris or Rome. Each of the photos are also accompanied by detailed descriptions of their significance.
Pick-up lines
Okay, maybe this sounds a little bit cheesy, but you never know.
We have kept the phrases to a reasonable level (to keep you out of trouble) with suggested phrases such as “May I sit next to you?” or “Let’s take a picture together!” Use of these phrases along with the mini-games included in Talkman Travel, could possibly bring you closer to that cute girl or guy you just saw at the cafe in Paris, the gardens in Tokyo, or near that pizzeria in Rome.
Mini-games
There are a total of three mini-games that can be played with yourself and with a local you just met. Use them in conjunction with the pick-up lines explained above!
In a nutshell, Talkman Travel is an interactive pocket tour guide and an awesome communication tool for the jet set traveller. This is an experience you just can’t get from a standard tourist guide book!
Talkman Travel comes to the PSN this Thursday, August 7th at $5.99 per city.
(Average: 4.21 out of 5)
84 Comments // 16 Replies
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51
Koroshiya | August 6th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
If this is successful for you guys, please add Hong Kong in the future. I got to HK once per year to visit a friend, but luckily most of the locals are fluent in English. Some of the local market sellers don’t speak English, so a few phrases in Cantonese for bargaining prices would be great! Cantonese is one of the most difficult languages for native English speakers to learn, so having some quick and useful references would be great for someone like me.
Tsubasa Inaba replied on August 6, 2008 at 3:58 pm
We’re keeping fingers crossed for the 3 cities we will make available tomorrow.
Like you (and many other posts) have mentioned, it would be great to have additional cities made available too.
We’ll just have to see eh?
52
Herby | August 6th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
I think this is awesome. And I hope this is the start of seeing some of the awesome addons that are available in other territories. (GPS and PSP Camera)
53
erico316 | August 6th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
@herby the camera for the psp that out worldwide are useless for us in the usa.the resolution are too low for our taste.now if they brought out a at least 3 mpeg then i would buy its.
54
Koroshiya | August 6th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Sorry for posting again, but I just noticed the gravatar Tsubasa Inaba has. I just have to ask, are you a pilot? I’ve just finished my private license earlier this year and love flying! I will go back for my instrument rating this fall so I can have a little more freedom. Anyway, keep up the good work!
Tsubasa Inaba replied on August 6, 2008 at 4:01 pm
ha ha.
I wish I was a pilot.
Actually, my name in Japanese means “Wings”.
I do love flying though, and would love to get a private license myself.
This is a photo of me during one of the crazy photo shooting sessions during my times at Polyphony Digital, the creators of Gran Turismo. The photo was taken in a helicopter high up in the Swiss mountains, with no doors… It was summer, but it was freeeeezing!
55
afrosheen | August 6th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Lack of GPS is really a bummer. Maybe 2.0? It’d be awesome to have context-sensitive statements, like questions to ask or information related to landmarks, local restaurants, temples, etc.
56
coramoor_ | August 6th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
if you can get a german guide out within a year or so you’ll have my sale since i plan on making a return trip to germany during my break next year
57
BlackShadows14 | August 6th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
I wasn’t expecting this at all, and I won’t be surprised if anyone else thinks the same as me. Cool guide, seems innovative.
58
Stoffinator | August 6th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
I don’t know, seems kind of silly to me. And at $ bucks a pop, yikes.
59
Scar28fo | August 6th, 2008 at 5:06 pm
this is indeed worth the price but i wish it was for all 3.
60
chanskie | August 6th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Thanks for this program~~! I am going to Tokyo first time ever this coming Christmas…I was wondering how i gonna survive there, but now i have find my saviour!thank SONY……but most importantly, will this available in Australia?
61
tearsofash | August 6th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
It sounds nice, but it still doesn’t fill that void that the GPS device would fill.
A+ for effort though. It seems like a little much to take in right now. Not sure how useful it will be for me, but it sure seems neato burrito, Jeff!
62
Traveler1990 | August 6th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
It’s about time you guys released this i’ve been waiting forever to learn some japanese, I came close to importing it so many times.
It just sucks that i can’t buy talkman this week;gotta wait till i get my credit card down so i can get a sony walkman then i can go PSN CRAZY:)
63
Enforcer_X | August 6th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
What about the GPS adapter for the PSP?
That would make a great compliment to this Talkman Travel!
64
2ndPSP | August 6th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
IT’s a great conmcept, what would make it even better is if Sony had released the GPS adaptor in the US. Tha way you could know where you were going and what to say when you got there.
65
gardea | August 6th, 2008 at 11:16 pm
This sounds really cool.
I’ll definitely be getting this, but not for travel reasons…just because I’m taking a French class in college next semester and I’ll probably need all the help I can get translating stuff :)
By the way, do you know when the PSP Cam will come out? I’ve been waiting for that since the PSP came out…
66
crystalx3d | August 7th, 2008 at 12:03 am
Wasn’t there a talkman game that came out a while ago that used the microphone accessory? Does this program use the microphone at all?
67
mobiletone | August 7th, 2008 at 12:15 am
what next.. a cooking program? if i wanted a DS i would have bought one, just give us some GAMES to play on the thing! my PSP just sits there collecting dust.
68
okiwa002 | August 7th, 2008 at 1:51 am
Great work!!! This is definitely COOL!!!! :)
69
Jast3r Rogu3 | August 7th, 2008 at 2:02 am
This is why i love my PSP and have been using it since launch pretty much everyday.
70
mdo7 | August 7th, 2008 at 6:04 am
Wow. So Sony finally released the Talkman program for America. I wonder if Sony can make one for people going to China, South Korea, and Germany. I could imagine Sony and Rosetta Stone programer can release a Rosetta stone program for the PS3. That’s one thing the PS3 could have over the other console because of the blu-ray. 50 GB BD=5 to 10 languages in all level.
Maybe I’ll think of getting this because I’m planning of going to Italy next year. Sony, if you can team up with Rosetta Stone, that would be cool.
71
Fuji311 | August 7th, 2008 at 6:07 am
Sweet!!! This will come in very handy on my trip to Tokyo over the new year!!!
72
Korlithiel | August 7th, 2008 at 8:43 am
gardea
Sony announced that they were not going to bring the camera to the US, at first they said they were looking into retooling it so it could compete with cellphones though. I wish it was still coming, since it is more interesting then the GPS to me.
mdo7
I totally agree, if they teamed up it would be sweet learning a new language from your PSP and having several bundled on your PS3.
Tsubasa Inaba
Thanks, I had imported Talkman and later tried the euro version only to get bored and eventually sell them. Looks like this will definitely be worth trying out, just hope the mini games are enjoyable.
73
Gunwing | August 7th, 2008 at 10:00 am
Well for those noobies who wan’ted official apps for the PSP here they go. They can buy it and have fun with talkmen. Oh well for those of inclined to stick with the PSP as a Gameing machine there is no need to buy it right? Please tell me I don’t have to buy this PSP addon.
If I do I will have to use a credit card because my stores (All of them BTW) Lack PSN cards!
74
Solid Squirrel | August 7th, 2008 at 10:53 am
How much memory does each city take up? I can’t imagine a lot considering it’s just flat graphics and text…
75
Devil240Z | August 7th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
does this use a microphone like the umd versions?
76
Jackal888 | August 7th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I love these programs that help us PSP users. I do not travel a lot but I do hope to in the future.Lets hope more cities are added, I always wanted to go to Barcelona.
77
Wolf26pack | August 7th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
This is very interesting and would have been great with the GPS Add-on. When the PSN cards finally make it to store shelves I will have to try out the Japanese Version.
78
Tsubasa Inaba | August 7th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Hello Everyone,
Thank you all so much for the positive feedback and support.
Talkman Travel comes to the PSN today and we are very much looking forward to this.
As producer of this title, I agree with many of you, and had hoped for more availability of PSP peripherals. A game like this is a perfect example of why all of those peripherals were designed.
However, even without those brownie points, I’m sure Talkman Travel will give you a hint of what to look forward to, when traveling to each of these cities.
Some of the recommendations are more obvious, but some are from my personal experience having traveled to Paris and Rome, and having lived in Tokyo for many years.
79
mdo7 | August 7th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Tsubasa, I said earlier that I would love to see Sony and Rosetta Stone team up and create a foreign language (Rosetta Stone: PS3 edition) software for the PS3. with Blu-Ray (50 GB), we can probably put like 10 to 20 languages for the price of 1. It means we can make foreign language and video game a bit intresting. I love to see that happen, the #1 foriegn language software on one of the promising gaming console.
80
Enigma777 | August 7th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Will be picking up the Jap pack… It would be sweet if you could use a mic to practice pronouncing the words…
81
thedragonrider | August 8th, 2008 at 3:53 am
so these feature two european cities, right?
yet you dont think it’s a good idea to actually release it in europe?
smart guys, really smart.
or are (as i suspect) scee sitting on it?
i mean i can get to paris in a couple of hours, how long would it take any us customers?
you need to get rid of this regional crap because it’s punishing your best customers
82
zeke2040 | August 8th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
WOW! this is intereting… i can’t wait to try it out…
83
sony-alpha | August 8th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
wow! I see good job. Thank you very match.
84
jhazline | September 4th, 2008 at 2:51 am
Incredible type of travel aide, this would be a gigantic help you on finding specific landmarks, learn local phrases, and store pictures. Do you know how where and how to download this thing?
Jhazline
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http://www.1explore.com
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