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I recently, I showed my Sony PlayStation Portable to my friend, Jeff, who's 38. He never had seen the hand-held game system up close. He gazed in wonder as this 6.7-ounce "toy" played the movie "National Treasure 2" vibrantly on a 4.3-inch screen, then we toured a video game that looks and moves as impressively as any PS 2 game. I showed him photos of Charisma Carpenter stored on the PSP. We surfed the Web (albeit slowly) using its internal WiFi. But he didn't get a chance to listen to music on it, iPod-style, though it has that capability. Share & Save Newsvine Digg Fark Technorati reddit StumbleUpon del.icio.us Slashdot Propeller Mixx Furl Twitter MySpace Facebook Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Bookmarks Windows Live Favorites Ask MyStuff myAOL Favorites What is this? Most Popular Stories # GAME DORK: Improved PSP gets even cooler new features # 2008 YEAR IN REVIEW: Top 10 Shows # 2008 YEAR IN REVIEW: Top 10 Movies # 2008 YEAR IN REVIEW: Top 10 Concerts # THE R-J GOES TO A PARTY: Chefs showcase their best dishes at Epicurean Affair # LIFE ON THE COUCH: Socialite Kardashian is reality shows' common denominator # Busting Out # 2008 YEAR IN REVIEW: Top 10 Restaurants # TAPPING CASH: Reeling in Players # LOOKING BACK: WACKY, SCARY WORLD OF 2008 All this, I told him, costs $200. And this new version, the PSP 3000 (released in October), comes with a built-in microphone so you can make Skype phone calls on it. Plus, the 3000's new LCD screen features less glare and much more screen detail than before. Jeff experienced mild consumer surprise, or what I call PSP Envy. He asked if he could buy my PSP from me. No, of course not. If this sounds like my love letter to the PSP, it mostly is. The PSP is kind of like the iPhone, but with far superior gaming and video, and no mobile phone service and no touchscreen. Yet, there's scant pop culture buzz for the PSP, which surprises me constantly. Everyone talks about the Wii, "Rock Band" and the Xbox 360, while parents of little kids know all about Nintendo's hand-held DS. But the DS -- fun in its own right, offering less detail-illustrative computing power in its touchscreen -- is primarily for kids, while taller game addicts often go for the PSP. DS vs. PSP is apples and oranges, two different markets. When you play "Manhunt 2" or "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories" on the PSP, these are cinematic games, and you see the blood. In fact, if you read my best-games-of-the-year list, you saw a PSP game, "God of War: Chains of Olympus," came out on top for all of 2008. (By the way, in my best-of-the-year list, I meant to say that "Frontlines: Fuel of War" was the best online shooter of 2008.) Not everything is perfect in PSP 3000 land. If you're a hard-core gamer, the PSP is not powerful enough to serve as your only system, but it's a great secondary system to your PS 3 or Xbox 360. The PSP is ideal as a primary system for casual gamers. Also, the sound system still isn't quite loud enough for a loud-a-holic like me, even when you listen to the PSP on excellent Sony or Bose headphones, or through plug-and-play speakers (Logitech is probably the best choice for that). And you still can't buy my yet-invented fantasy item: a plug-and-play video projector that beams PSP movies and games onto a wall. If you got a PSP for the holidays, or if you're planning to take the PSP plunge, it should not leave you disappointed. (Spend an extra $45 on a Sony 2200 mAh battery, to get more battery life.) As for great games from the past few years that you can delve into, try: "God of War: Chains of Olympus," "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories," "Tiger Woods PGA Tour '08," "Patapon," "Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow," "Spider-Man 2," "Manhunt 2," "Wall-E," "Lumines II," "Tomb Raider: Anniversary," "Midnight Club: LA Remix," "Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII," "The Warriors" and "SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals: Fireteam Bravo." And feel free to show it off in front of your friends. It is almost certain they have no idea what's under its hood. (The PSP 3000 by Sony retails for $200 -- Plays movies, games, music, stores photos and videos, works as a Skype phone and surfs the Web. Games look as good as on the PS 2. Easy to very challenging games. Games rated "E" to "M." Four stars out of four.) Contact Doug Elfman at 702-383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal. com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.
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The Xbox 360 had "Halo 3." The PlayStation 3 has its upcoming "Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots." Now it's the Wii's turn for some hype.
"Super Smash Bros. Brawl" arguably is the most anticipated game for the system, rivaled perhaps by only "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" when that came out in 2006.
So does it live up to expectations? I believe it packs a punch, literally and figuratively.
The "Smash Bros." series of fighting games always has been about fan service, cramming in as many characters and references as it can. "Brawl" takes this to the next level, with a whopping 20 playable characters, including two from third parties: Snake from Konami's "Metal Gear Solid" series and Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog from, well, "Sonic."
It's the little touches that make "Brawl" great. Playing as beloved characters is awesome - my personal favorite is Pit from the NES's "Kid Icarus" - but the nods to Nintendo history don't end there. The music, power-up items and levels all point to a game in Nintendo's past.
What makes "Brawl" even better is its level of customization. For starters, players can choose from four methods of control: Wii remote, remote and nunchuk, Wii classic controller or GameCube controller. Then, once you pick the controller, you can set each button to do what you want.
Once you're in the game, there are tons of options for setting it up. You can select how many rounds, what rules you want, which items you want to appear and how frequently. Just about anything you'd want to change, you can do it.
But wait, there's even more. "Brawl" also lets you create your own stages and send them to friends.
There's a single-player (or two-player co-op) story mode that I enjoyed, but the real draw to "Brawl" is its multiplayer.
As many as four people at a time can go at it on a level, where the goal is to knock the other players out of the arena. It's not as easy as it sounds, as jumps and abilities can help players land back in bounds.
The four people don't all have to be with you, either. "Brawl" supports online play, either with friends or total strangers.
"Brawl" truly is for the fanboys (or girls) in all of us. Everything in the game is a nod to another game. And, honestly, who wouldn't want to see a battle between Mario and Sonic or Link and Snake?
Best of all, it's a great way to get friends of all ages together and just have a lot of fun.
The "God of War" series has been one of the best on the PlayStation 2, but it's never had a portable iteration.
Enter "God of War: Chains of Olympus" for the PSP. This isn't just a port of the other two "God of War" games; it's new, built from ground up for the PSP.
And it shows: "Chains of Olympus" shines with quality, from the stellar visuals (which must work the PSP to the max) to the great voice acting (all returning actors) to the solid control scheme.
It looks and feels just like a PS2 game but on the PSP. And that's impressive.
This time around, Kratos, the angry, revenge-hungry slave to the Greek gods, must save the world from eternal darkness, brought about when the chariot-pulled sun plummets from the sky.
"Chains of Olympus" plays just like the other games, with Kratos wielding swords tied to his arms with chains and learning magic and other moves along the way. There's still a fixed camera, and you'll be collecting the same red orbs.
Obviously, the button commands are a little different from the PS2 versions, given that the PSP doesn't have as many buttons and only one thumbstick. The two shoulder buttons do double duty: Each button by itself is used for magic or a special melee attack, while holding in the left button and hitting the right button makes Kratos dodge-roll.
The controls work well, though my hands started cramping from gripping the thin PSP. I also at times had trouble seeing things on the screen, as many of the levels are dark, and the PSP screen sometimes isn't that bright.
Overall, "Chains of Olympus" is an impressive feat, successfully transferring a fantastically epic series to a handheld system.
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