Last month we teased you with the upcoming Metal-on-Metal action that is The Steambot Chronicles. Now, we’re going to flaunt more assets in front of your game-starved PSP. Consider it tough love. And be mindful of the fact that when summer rolls around, your PSP will finally have something to entertain you with. Crimson Gem Saga? Steambot? Class of Heroes, anyone? (ALL from Atlus, we might add…)

Enjoy the screenies, and make sure to check out our fact-packed original preview here. Steambot Chronicles Battle Tournament drops in the USA on June 30th, 2009.

Awww crap!

Do games like Virtual On, Mech Assault, and Armored Core make you weep with gaming euphoria? Do you enjoy feeling the earth beneath your hulking metal feet tremble as you blast fools directly INTO said earth? Did you eat your Wheaties™ this morning? Have you heard of a little company called Atlus? If you answered “YES” to the logical majority of these questions then mark your calendars NOW for “Steambot Chronicles Battle Tournament.”

Summer 2009 is all we can tell ya, but we do have some Japanese screenies to show you (localized US ones coming soon). We’ll let Atlus run down some of the key features of this metal-on-metal brawler, which was originally developed by Irem.

• You control your adventure — Mission-based gameplay puts you in the driver’s seat: you choose what you do and say.  Take on missions ranging from cross-town delivery to mining in a canyon to defeating bandits.  The money and fame points earned can be used to upgrade your Trotmobile and enter arena battles.
• Complete freedom to build — The cardinal rule of Trotmobile design is that there is no ideal design.  Instead, there are tons of customization options, letting you upgrade your arms, legs, heads, bodies, and more, each changing the nature of how you battle!  Personalize your vehicle with color and emblem to make it distinctively yours.
• Four-player competition mode — Clash with your friends’ Trotmobiles in 4 player ad hoc multiplayer!  Set each player against the others battle royale style, or pair up for tag team action.
• One disc, four players — Only one UMD disc?  You can still compete!  Activate “game sharing” to enter multiplayer mode with standard Trotmobiles, or use multiple UMDs to have access to your customized battle vehicles!

As someone who put 100’s of hours into Mech Assault and Virtual On!, this has me more than a bit thrilled. It’s much too early to rave about it until we have some hands-on battle time, but we’ll keep you updated on this one as often as possible. The PSP needs more of this stuff!