The Star Wars Battlefront series was well received in its console and PC variants, however when Star Wars Battlefront II hit the PSP, the lack of infrastructure-based multiplayer games was a major thorn in the side of an otherwise impressive title. This time around, the PSP-exclusive Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron comes complete with 16 player multiplayer games on dedicated servers.

How well does the epic multiplayer experience of Battlefront translate to the PSP? Read on for the full review.

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Those lucky Japaneses always have the best stuff and now when they pre-order Silent Hill Zero for the PSP they will receive an awesome Butcher figurine. There are currently no details on how big it is or if Konami will do the same for the rest of the world.

via Kotaku

At least seven new PSP games are in development to be sold via the online PlayStation Store. A source has revealed that the games in development are three action games, two music-based games, one racing title and a shooting game. Sony also plans on releasing 13 classic PSone games on the store.

Though the store is currently only available for PS3 owners, it is due to launch later next year for the PSP, and this winter for PC users. Sony plans to offer PSP users original games, classic PSone titles, demos, additional content for released games and TV content such as trailers, behind-the-scenes clips and interviews. Content for PSPs will be available via wireless or through a PC via USB.

Downloaded games are predicted to be between half and a third of the size of disc based games and offer between two to ten hours of gameplay.

via GamesIndustry.biz

Originally dubbed Gran Turismo 4 Mobile and planned as a flagship title for the PSP, Polyphony Digital’s portable racer was shelved in order to work on a Gran Turismo title for the PlayStation 3.

Nearly three and a half years after the initial announcement, one could be forgiven for passing the title off as vaporware, however series creator Kazunori Yamauchi has said the team will start working on the PSP title again “probably after GT5.”

via Eurogamer

Those of you who were planning on picking up a PSP Slim and playing games on your standard definition TV should be aware that it’s most likely not going to work. While UMD playback, and pictures will display fine on any set, in order to play PSP games on your TV, it must support progressive scan - which rules out a vast majority of non-HD sets.

via Kotaku

Figures released by Sony today show that 580,000 units of the new PSP Slim have been sold in Japan since its launch on the 20th September - eclipsing the sales figures the original PSP managed in the same time period. The figure includes the 77,777 Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII special edition bundles.

via GamesIndustry.biz

Japanese airliners have banned all gaming systems with Wi-Fi capabilities from being played on board. The move comes after Japan’s transport ministry decided “electromagnetic waves emitted by the consoles have the ability to interfere with aircraft navigation systems and other devices.”

What I find interesting is that while other wireless devices like mice and headphones have also been banned, laptops seem to have avoided the ban. Any guesses why?

via Joystiq

Sony has released a Windows application that allows users produce their own custom PSP themes. While the program was released from the Japanese PSP page, English users need not fret as the program is actually in English. The application itself is not very intuitive, but Jay Lee has made a useful tutorial to show you the ins and outs of this surprise from Sony.

PlayStation.com via PSP Fanboy

Ready at Dawn Studios have just released a brutal unedited trailer for God of War: Chains of Olympus. As can be seen from this boss battle, the action is smooth, flowing and frantic. However what really warms my heart is the functional use of crates - and you can’t get more functional than the ending of this video. At the mere mention of this game it was a must have title for PSP owners, but now it looks to be a good reason for buying a PSP.

It’s a simple formula really: Slimmer + more colors + another Final Fantasy game = massive hardware sales. At least in Japan, anyway. In the last 3 days Sony have moved more than twice the amount of units than all other systems combined. Check it out:

PSP - 277,794
DS Lite - 70,523
Wii - 24,992
PS2 - 11,373
PS3 - 10,732
Xbox360 - 1,687
Game Boy Micro - 243
GBA SP - 106
GameCube - 68
GBA - 33
DS – 15

via Kotaku