After all the waiting, the day has finally come. (Or should I say the day is finally coming?) Atlus USA has announced on their forums and the US PlayStation Blog that Persona 3 Portable is coming stateside  for both PSP and PSPgo users. Here are a few details from the Atlus press release:

"Terrible creatures lurk in the dark, preying on those who wander into the hidden hour between one day and the next. As a member of a secret school club, you must wield your inner power—Persona—and protect humanity from impending doom. Will you live to see the light of day?"

Key Features

* Maximum Persona 3—The RPG that captured critics and fans alike achieves a new level of excellence. Built upon an enhanced version of the game, players will find numerous significant improvements, including the addition of Skill Cards, part-time jobs, a total of five difficulty settings (ranging from the newcomer-friendly "beginner" to the ultra-hardcore "maniac"), and most importantly, the ability to directly control your teammates in battle.
* Gain a whole new perspective—The choice of your protagonist's sex at the start of the game has a dramatic impact on the game's intricate social dynamics. Persona 3 veterans will get a kick out of playing through the story from a new female perspective, gaining new Social Links, special events, and unique romantic opportunities.
* Slick system enhancements—Improved playability permeates every aspect of the gameplay experience. One-button menu shortcuts, streamlined team equipment changes, incredibly short load times, and other tweaks and enhancements create an ideal pace for portable gaming.

Persona 3 Portable will be available for purchase on July 6th of this year.

While Atlus U.S.A. continues to leave us in suspense over a Persona 3 Portable U.S. release date, they've decided to indulge PSP owners' RPG-appetites with the announcement of "Hexyz Force". This game was released in Japan back in November, and it seems Atlus U.S.A. has decided the time has come to release it stateside on the 25th May 2010. The game will be available on both UMD and PSN for the price of $29.99. Details on the game from the official forum thread follow after the jump.

Publisher Atlus today announced plans to bring Metal Slug XX to PSP, an enhanced version of DS title Metal Slug 7 with the much-welcomed addition of cooperative play at a palatable budget price to boot: $19.99.

Players can choose between six characters from the Metal Slug universe, engaging in frantic non-stop shoot em' up action that fans of the series have come to expect, backed by lush 2D visuals. To round out the package a "Combat School" gameplay mode is due for inclusion, which features 70 challenge centric missions. Additionally, a seventh playable character - Leona - will be available at launch as DLC for $0.99 from the PlayStation Store.

Metal Slug XX is slated to hit retailers February 23 on UMD. No plans have been made for a digital equivalent at this point, meaning PSPgo owners are out of luck for now.

Atlus Preps Metal Slug XX UMD for PSP [eXophase.com]

Last year’s FPS sleeper hit Zeno Clash, developed by indie studio ACE, is making the jump to a major console platform courtesy of publisher Atlus – that platform being the Xbox 360.

Slated for a March 2010 debut on Xbox Live Arcade under the revised title of “Zeno Clash: Ultimate Edition,” this premium edition of the game will feature a yet-to-be-detailed cooperative gameplay mode along with new content. Additionally, several community-suggested “tweaks and improvements” are due for inclusion.

Details beyond that are scant, but look for more on this one to be announced in the near future.

Zeno Clash Making The Jump To 360 - [eXophase.com]

Atlus dropped over a note today briefly mentioning that the digital edition of RPG conversion Shin Megami Tensei: Persona has been pushed back to October 1, presumably to coincide with the release of PSPgo. The UMD release, however, is still on for September 22.

As a reminder, the UMD release is packed in a special collector’s edition boxset, featuring two music CDs that span the game’s entire soundtrack. This comes at no extra cost, making the digital counterpart somewhat less of a value proposition in our view, unless of course you plan on picking up a PSPgo or absolutely loathe lugging UMDs around.

Persona PSP Digitally Delayed To October 1, UMD Still On Track - [eXophase.com]