The PSP, Sony’s first endeavor into the handheld market, branded as the main contender to the Nintendo DS. Launched originally in Japan at the end of 2004 and in North America and the PAL regions in 2005 the PSP set new technological standards for handhelds.

The PSP featured a new format for games, the UMD disc format which was originally designed to handle both game and movies. One of the PSP’s biggest selling points was it’s ability to act as a portable multimedie device, used not just for games but also for movies and music. Sony has released two further editions of the PSP, the Slim (PSP-2000) and the Brite (PSP-3000) and numerous software updates over the years to increase the PSP’s capabilities. The updates to the PSP have made it now viable to be classed as an all in one portable device featuring the likes of Skype, the ability to stream content from your PS3 and a fully functioning web browser. Also the PSP has full analog control and in most respects is technically superior to the Nintendo DS.

Those technical specifications of the PSP are not to be scoffed at, boasting a 6.7 inch screen, in-built wifi, a USB port and the ability to take memory sticks (Memory stick Duo) as well as supporting multiple music and video formats.

The PSP has been beset by problems from it’s launch with the huge popularity of it’s rival the Nintendo DS and the failure of it’s UMD movie’s which have since been discontinued by Sony another publishers. However, as the years have went by, and with the upgrades to the hardware and software alike, the PSP is now selling nearly as well as DS in most places. One of the main reasons for this resurgence has been the increase in the quality of games, especially over the past year or so. As developers get to grips with the technology of the platform and see the increased sales the games have become much more innovative and generally of a higher quality.

Some of the most notable games have been pseudo-sequels to many popular franchises such as God of War, Grand Theft Auto and nearly all of EA’s long running sports outfits. The PSP has also had some of the most innovative hand held games such as Loco Roco and Patapon as well as great puzzle games like Lumines.

In the past year Sony has also introduced the ability to download original PS1 games at a much an affordable price, and due to the technical aspects of the PSP these, in some respects run better than on the original system.

One other interesting thing which has came to the PSP is a vast community. These bedroom coders have created new applications and sometimes even new games for the PSP and this is now seen as one of the unspoken selling points of the handheld. Sony however have forever been trying to stop this movement by continuously patching and reinforcing it’s security protocols via the PSP software update program.

The PSP has came along way from where it was at launch with many of it’s problems sorted out, and with much better support from third party developers who provide the main source of gaming content for the system. With the numerous updates and hardware changes the PSP has certainly shown itself to be a strong platform which will likely continue to be developed for the foreseeable future.

The PSP, Sony’s handheld system has had many good and many great games released for it, with many different genres being tackled.

One of it’s most celebrated, and original titles is LocoRoco. This game sees the player taking on the role of not a person or character in general, but that of the actual land and planet which the ball like Loco Roco creatures live on. By using the shoulder buttons of the PSP players are able to tilt this game world back and forth allowing the jelly like blobs to roll around and complete various tasks to eventually defeat their enemies the Moja Troop.

Loco Roco has a strikingly cartoony art direction, although could anything else be better suited for a game about blobs rolling around? I don’t know, but this makes the game seem all the more fun. Bright pinks, greens and blues are favorite colors used and the game screams good times from powering on. A very special niche title for a system which has became home to many such unique games, Loco Roco was and is still one of the best on offer.

A more predictable, but never the less brilliant game is the one from the puzzle game genre. Lumines on the PSP is the original from where many other iterations have taken their lead. At first glance the game may seem a bit like a simplistic Tetris clone, but after playing for just a few moments you begin to see that this is a very special, and incredible addictive game.

The game tasks the player with dropping four by four squares onto a two dimensional plane trying to match up and create groups of the two different colors. The two defining features of the game are the way the game is synchronized to music and that this synchronization controls the “timeline”. The Timeline is a a vertical line which will scroll across the screen eliminating any joined up blocks in it’s path, this adds to the strategy required to achieve high scores and progress through the different levels of play.

The style of the game is futuristic and sleek, with the color palette changing as you progress through harder and harder levels. Also one of the main features as you’ll have guessed is the music side of the game which is done incredibly well, especially for such a small system. Crisp and clear the music creates the beat which the whole game goes by, which I’m sure is the way it is intended.

On the other side of the coin for the PSP is a gaming series which is renowned for it’s fast paced and sometimes insane style. This series is called Burnout and the game in question is Burnout Legends. The formula of Legends is the same as other burnout games: Crash, smash and race your way to the finish as quickly as possible using any shortcuts you can find. The first thing to say about the game is how impressive it is that the sense of speed and controlled chaos which is so essential to the title has been retained on the small PSP, surely a testament to both it’s power and Sony’s technological skills.

All the normal modes are present in the title from the simple Race mode to the outstanding Crash mode. Any Burnout fan will be familiar with these but the sense of fun is not diluted in any way with the port onto the handheld. If your looking for a fun way to spend a short time and you like racing, or if you just like crashing things, Burnout Legends is the right game for you.