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Next week’s release of Borderlands 2 is weighing awfully heavily on our minds! In today’s very special interview, we invite Gearbox Software Creative Director Paul Hellquist to answer a battery of questions from Jeff, myself, and you. We touch on just about everything: the game’s vastly enhanced variety, co-op improvements, weapon manufacturers, questing, level caps, DLC, and much more. If you’re dying for next Tuesday, this is one interview you won’t want to miss.

Then we shift gears to another one of fall 2012’s hottest releases with Dishonored in our new interview with Arkane Studios Co-Director Raf Colantonio. Mr. Colantonio provides copious insight into the creative process behind this thinking-man’s FPS, whether it’s the importance of allowing players to choose between lethal and nonlethal tactics or how the game’s macabre atmosphere infests every square inch of its dark, dank world.

Of course, we also share next week’s upcoming North American PSN release lineup, answer a boatload of Player Queries™, and serve up another Mystery Theme stumper. Good stuff, I swear! Now click that succulent-looking play button up above.

Stuff We Talked About

• Borderlands 2
• Dishonored
• PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2
• New York City
• Persona 3 Portable
• Jet Set Radio

The Cast

• Sid Shuman – PlayStation Social Media Manager
• Jeff Rubenstein – PlayStation Sr. Social Media Manager

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]

• Thanks to Cory Schmitz for our beautiful logo and Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music. Special thanks to Astro Gaming headsets for providing audio gear.

Since nobody wants to be the jerk that steps on that poor, innocent snail, we (the fine people at Atlus) are dropping prices on our PlayStation Store library of PSP system titles, not unlike the PS Vita’s undocumented ability to drop smaller articles of sub-clothing. We’re calling it…

Want to own the complete PSP Persona collection, including Persona 3 Portable, which is tied for the second-best-reviewed PSP game of ALL TIME, according to Gamerankings.com? It is now far more affordable to do so. Also getting a drop in price is the very recent Persona 2: Innocent Sin, a stunning handheld remake of one our company’s most highly anticipated games!

Always been a fan of Sting’s series of Dept Heaven RPG and SRPG genre-benders? Perhaps you’ve always been curious to see how Knights in the Nightmare, with its incredibly novel blend of tactical roleplaying and bullet-hell action, looks and plays? Well, for less than half the price of a new console game, you can own every PSP Dept Heaven game we’ve ever released (which should set you up nicely for the upcoming June release of Gungnir for PSP, the next entry in the acclaimed series).

Besides the aforementioned two collections, there’s a terrific mix of other RPGs and even an action game—Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble—that are sure to offer something for every type of gamer.

Whether you’re a PSP system owner who has watched Atlus RPGs from afar, your eyes glued to your pervy game-watching binoculars but your wallet unable to open itself for the cause… Or perhaps you like to spend your evenings making sexy time with the two nubs on your new PS Vita… Now you can dive into a library of critically acclaimed Atlus PSP games that delivers hundreds of hours of deep, compelling RPG adventures and promises to thoroughly satisfy your hardcore gamer cravings.

Here, let us move that snail out of the way for you. Step freely, friends… Step freely.

“How do I enter?” you inquire, leaning forward in excitement. Easy! Just tell us what you’re most excited about regarding the upcoming P3P as a comment under this post. Maybe it’s the fact that you can take one of the highest rated RPGs of all time on the road now? Or the cast of memorable characters you just can’t get enough of? Or the dating sim elements? The fantastic music? The great art? The addicting gameplay? The original story?

10 lucky winners will be randomly (or as close to randomly as possible) chosen and sent a SIGNED soundtrack CD. Only North American residents are eligible to win, however. It’s not that we don’t love you rest-of-the-world’ers; we just want to focus this giveaway on the region in which the game is actually releasing.

Why are we doing this? Well, we’d love to use this opportunity to remind you that:

a) Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable, Atlus’s upcoming handheld RPG epic, is right around the corner, releasing in stores and via PlayStation Network on July 6th.

b) It features one of the best soundtracks ever, and in order to further emphasize that point, we want to give a few of those soundtracks away. SIGNED.

In case you all are a bit unfamiliar with the P3P soundtrack, perhaps we should share a sample with you:

For more music samples, visit the official Persona 3 Portable website!

“The music seems awesome,” you say, pensively prodding your chin with your finger, “but I’m not guaranteed to win it. I just wish there was some cool bonus with Persona 3 Portable that I was guaranteed to receive.”

Funny you’d say that, because there’s still time to pre-order your copy of Persona 3 Portable at a participating retailer (GameStop and Amazon in the United States and Canada) and receive a collectible Junpei Baseball Cap. It’s modeled after the one he wears in the game!

“Wow, they’re sure giving us a lot of physical awesome to celebrate the release of the game, but what about the game itself?” you muse aloud to no one in particular, gently tapping your pointer fingers together in front of your mouth.

We’ve already told you in previous posts about how Persona 3 Portable puts you in the shoes of a team of gifted high schoolers forced to use their developing supernatural abilities to save the world from destruction, and how the game cleverly mixes addicting RPG dungeon crawling with social sim elements. And how the PSP system release introduces a new female protagonist who experiences the events of the game from a new perspective, not to mention the addition of one-button menu shortcuts, a streamlined user interface, and more.

We’d say more about the game, but really, why not let others speak for us? Early reviews are in, Blog readers, and they’re glowing:

Gaming Nexus – A
“Atlus added enough new content to make this the first must-own PSP RPG of the year!”

Gamervision – 10 out of 10
“Persona 3 Portable is one of the strongest games in the PSP catalogue, and a shining example of a role-playing game done right.”

GamerTell – 99 out of 100
“Simply said, Persona 3 Portable is a system seller. If you own a PSP and can purchase “Mature” games, you should own it. If you don’t own a PSP, Persona 3 Portable is easily a game to inspire you to pick one up.”

PlayStation Illustrated – 95 out of 100
“It’s a fantastic RPG stuffed with things to do and interesting, yet unusual, ideas.”

1UP.com – A-
“I’d actually recommend Persona 3 Portable as the best introduction to the series — even ahead of the console versions of Persona 3 or Persona 4. But I’d also highly recommend P3P for longtime fans of the franchise…”

gamrReview by VGChartz – 9 out of 10
“PSP fans can rejoice that such a grand RPG has arrived on their system of choice…”

GameZone 8.5 out of 10
“…a solid version of a great RPG.”

Look for Persona 3 Portable on retail shelves and in PSN Store on July 6, 2010! For more info about P3P, visit the game’s official website.

Don’t forget: What about the upcoming Persona 3 Portable are you most looking forward to? Tell us below for a chance to win a SIGNED soundtrack CD! We’ll try and choose winners by the game’s release date (winners will be notified with a message sent to their PSN account).

What’s it full of? Why, WIN, of course, and lots of it! What other portable roleplaying game gives you dozens upon dozens upon dozens of hours of satisfying combat, character interaction, side-quests, and a riveting story? Moreover, few handheld RPGs, if any, deliver the aural and visual impact of Persona 3 Portable, with its stunning world and character design, and a soundtrack courtesy of master composer Shoji Meguro. I could go on and on, PlayStation Bloggerists, and not just because they’re paying me to, but I digress:

For those of you who’ve never been properly exposed to Persona 3, allow me to pull back its long black trench coat to reveal a bit more about the concept of the Dark Hour. In the world of Persona 3 Portable, there is a hidden hour between the end of one day and the start of another. It is imperceptible to most, save a select few. You’re one of this gifted minority (of course you are) and in fact, you’re even more special than the others: you have the ability to not only summon your own inner-power — an alter ego of sorts called your Persona — but also the ability to collect and summon other Personas as well. The fact that most of the populace is catatonic during this Dark Hour means that it’s up to you to stop the Shadows that come out of the great dungeon Tartarus (more on that in a future post). That also means you’re high on the Shadows’ “kill them all” list… Fun!

And when it comes to the whole Persona swapping thing, if you’ve yet to play a Persona game, or any of the Shin Megami Tensei titles, you’re missing out. The level of addictiveness found in acquiring, managing, and fusing Personas is tremendous. It’s on par with a very popular RPG franchise that rhymes with… Moke-a-pon.

*stares expressionlessly at PlayStation.Blog audience*

We hope you enjoy the trailer, so much so that you decide to pre-order immediately. And we’re not just saying that to look out for ourselves (well, we are, granted), but also because if you happen to reserve a copy at a participating retailer (GameStop or Amazon in the United States and Canada, and ONLY while limited supplies last), you’ll snag a rather awesome pre-order bonus baseball cap modeled after the one worn by the popular character Junpei Iori, Gekkoukan High School’s bantering, jabbering class clown.

Look for Persona 3 Portable on retail shelves and on the PSN Store on July 6, 2010! For more info about P3P, visit the game’s official website.

The purpose of this post is two-fold:

1. We wish to remind you of and/or inform you of the existence of our upcoming RPG epic, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable for the PSP.
2. We would like to bring to your attention the below pre-order bonus for Persona 3 Portable (only at participating retailers, only while supplies last)

“What is it?” you ask? Why, it’s a lovely collectible (and wearable, fortunately) cap modeled after the one worn by popular character Junpei Iori, Gekkoukan High School’s bantering, jabbering class clown.

Not familiar with him? Or the game, perhaps? That’s where this post comes in.

SMT: Persona 3 Portable is the handheld version of one of the highest-rated, meatiest RPGs of all time. “What’s so special about it?” you ask as you click around multiple tabs in your web browser. Persona 3’s unique dichotomy of social sim and dungeon crawling elements shakes the genre to its core, offering a constantly refreshing blend of character development, sharp writing, a powerful narrative, and ultra fast-paced turn-based combat in the many varying levels of Tartarus.

Let’s face this enemy! (get it?)

In an interesting twist, the bonds you share with your friends are the source of your strength in battle. As your relationships, called “Social Links,” are increased and ultimately maxed out, you will unlock new abilities and grow much stronger when engaged in combat. The game is full of options in terms of whom you can befriend and/or choose to spend your time with, meaning that maxing out all your social links becomes a very tough, very satisfying challenge. The game is full of contrasts, which is most apparent in the disparity between the action of Tartarus versus the joys of spending time with friends.

The PSP system release of P3P offers the most refined, improved version of the game to date. In addition to new content, functionality and features, like faster load times, one-button menu shortcuts, streamlined team equipment changes, and part-time jobs, P3P also adds a new playable female protagonist.

Pretty in pink.

Playing through the game as this new character, series fans will notice a number of new and different dialogue (and since the original voice cast is intact, they’ll all sound exactly as they should). Other content additions include new social links, special events, and new romantic opportunities.

Look out, ladies/gentlemen! (depending on your choice of character, of course)

Already spent dozens of hours in the world of Persona 3? Now you’ve got reason to dive back in and experience it all over again.

And now you’ve got a reason to pre-order it, too. The Junpei Baseball Cap pre-order bonus promotion is exclusive to GameStop/EB Games (in stores and online in North America and Canada), Amazon.com, and Amazon.ca, and only while supplies last, so reserve your copy (and your collectible hat) today!

For more info, visit atlus.com/p3p, and be sure to look for SMT: Persona 3 Portable to land in stores and on the PlayStation Store on July 6th, 2010, exclusively for the PSP.

Persona 3 Portable, the handheld-ization of the award-winning beloved Persona 3, is coming to PSP and the PlayStation Store (for all you PSPgo owners out there) this July.

So aside from being the portable version of one of the highest-rated RPGs of all time, why exactly should you want to play Persona 3 Portable? I’m glad you asked…

For one, P3P takes what was easily already a 100+ hour adventure, one with an innovative day/night structure that mixes satisfying dungeon crawling combat with addicting social sim elements, and expands dramatically upon it. With the new option to play the entire game through with a female protagonist, players will encounter a series of new events, social links, and romantic possibilities, all the while experiencing the acclaimed Persona 3 narrative from a fresh new perspective. Even hardcore fans who finished the original game will find something new to fall in love with in P3P.

The enhancements go beyond added content; one-button menu shortcuts, streamlined team equipment changes, incredibly short load times, and other tweaks create an ideal pace for portable gaming.

One of the most significant changes from the original game is the ability to control one’s entire party in combat. While the party A.I. in Persona 3 was certainly in the upper-echelon of party A.I. systems, fans of the original game seemed to want the option to take full control of their team in battle, and the developers have granted their wishes in P3P.

Not satisfied with the original game’s two difficulty options? P3P introduces FIVE selectable difficulties, ranging from the ultra noob-friendly “Beginner” (would you like us to just play the game for you, instead?) to the ultra hardcore “Maniac” (the force is strong with you), ensuring that what is certainly the most compact, streamlined version of Persona 3 is also the most flexible.

Look at me, going on and on about P3P and it’s so early yet…silly goose. We’ll have tons more assets and inside info for you folks, our dearest friends at the PlayStation Blizzle, in the not-too-distant future. Stay tuned, and be sure to pre-order your copy of Persona 3 Portable, landing in North America on July 6.