Released for the Nintendo DS earlier this year, "Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars" debuted on the PSP this week. The new version of "Chinatown Wars" offers much of the same experience as far as your ability to blow up, assassinate, terrorize and drug-hustle your way through Liberty City's underworld as its DS counterpart, with a variety of tweaks to the graphics and controls, as well as some extra missions exclusive to the PlayStation format.

The Basics

We don't really need to detail the depravities and criminal indulgences that have made the "GTA" franchise so popular, but "Chinatown Wars" does add a few new tricks to the crime game. Along with an impressively robust drug trade that has you buying and selling a variety of narcotics to fund your climb through the city's underbelly, the game also features a host of minigames that make you a more active participant in hot-wiring cars, planting bombs and other nefarious deeds.

The Highs

More Mischief Than You Can Handle
Like previous installments of GTA, "Chinatown Wars" offers an amazingly robust world for you to tear through with reckless abandon. Every mission seems to open up dozens of additional missions, and the addition of the drug trading element provides a great lateral diversion when you want to take some time off from progressing through the game's main storyline.

Every Crime Is A Gamble
The minigames triggered each time you want to hotwire a parked car, plant a bomb on a car, pump gas or even scratch off a lottery ticket are a great addition to the game, and not only make these activities more interactive, but in many cases, add a bit more risk. Most of the minigames have a time limit that, if it expires before you complete the task, will alert the police.

The Lows

It's All In The Translation
As is often the case with translations between two very different platforms, the PSP version of "Chinatown Wars" definitely suffers from the game's DS-focused design. This is especially apparent with the minigames, as many of them were developed to use the DS stylus and split-screen format, and using the PSP's controller nub instead of the stylus is a poor substitute.

For example, early in the game when you're trapped in the back seat of a quickly sinking car, the DS required you to tap rapidly on the screen with your stylus to break the back window. On the PSP, you simply have to press the shoulder buttons a few times to accomplish the same task. The former makes you feel like you're a part of the game, the latter makes you feel like you're playing a game.

Where The Eff Am I Going?!
I'm not entirely certain if this is a problem in translation to the PSP or with the title as a whole, but the camera angles in "Chinatown Wars" quickly became one of the most frustrating issues with the game. Where previous versions of GTA were friendly to high-speed chases, "Chinatown Wars" offers such a narrow camera view of the environment that I found myself constantly smashing into buildings or guardrails at the end of dead-end streets that were impossible to see when you're moving with any speed. The game does offer a few camera options, but none of them really solve the problem.

I Bought a PSP And All I got Were These Graphics
Given the quantum leap in graphic potential from the DS to the PSP, you'd think that "Chinatown Wars" on the PSP would offer a significant step up as far as the presentation of the game—but it doesn't. Sure, things look a little brighter, and much of the game is a little easier on the eyes than it is on the DS, but given what other games have been able to do with the PSP's processing power, it feels like "Chinatown Wars" phoned it in when it came time to consider visual upgrades.

Final Word

Given the choice, I'd rather own this game on the DS. Sure, it looks nice, plays fairly well on the PSP, and should be really enjoyable for anyone who hasn't been exposed to the DS version of the game—but if you've seen how much fun it is on the DS, it's hard to argue for the PSP version.

"Chinatown Wars" is an excellent addition to the PSP library, but I can't help wondering what it could have been if it was actually developed for the PSP instead of ported over from such a different system.

Basically, if you want to get the best experience possible out of "Chinatown Wars" for the PSP, all you have to do is avoid the DS version completely. Ignorance is bliss when it comes to "Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars" for the PSP, a great game that's even better on another platform.

"Pixel Junk Monsters Deluxe," which looks a heck of a lot better on the PSP's screen than it does in the above screenshot, has apparently fallen to the fate experienced by most PSP software: Obscenely high rates of piracy. Dylan Cuthbert, the president of Q-Games (the Pixel Junk developer), made a brief Twitter post talking about his disappointment:

"I don't think we'll port anything else to the PSP, we have to see how PJMD does as there's a *lot* of piracy"

The firestorm that erupted from a mere Twitter post was rampant, so Cuthbert made sure to qualify his statements:

interesting how my PSP piracy comment was taken out of context - I specifically said "we'll have to see how PJMD does"...

So basically it's not a death rattle for any future Pixel Junk PSP releases, but the outlook isn't good. Given the required development time on a PSP-specific project, it makes sense that a developer wouldn't want to risk it. It's just interesting to hear such worrying comments from a developer that's been all over the PS3 since the launch of the PlayStation Network.

(via The Examiner)

In this week's Game Plan, we have what could arguably be the best game of the year, as well as me with a cold. I say some goofy things, 'cause of the medicine. Don't mind me. "National Treasure" really is awesome, though.

My PSP and I? We get along fine… but we don’t really spend much time together anymore. In fact, I haven’t picked up a PSP game from a brick and mortar shop in over a year (and that may never change thanks to the increasing number of downloadable titles launching with the PSPgo). But there’s one game that’s looking to change that this fall, and that’s "SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3."

At Sony’s recent fall preview event I stumbled upon -- or rather into -- Ryan Eams, Associate Producer on “Bravo 3,” as he was tucked up against a wall, just slightly out of the single line of foot traffic. After brief introductions, he handed me a PSPgo with “Fireteam Bravo 3” loaded up and he talked me through the ins and outs of the franchise’s fourth entry on Sony’s handheld. To put things simply, I was sold. And it wasn’t the sales pitch that did it.

This latest entry in the “Fireteam Bravo” series returns to the action-oriented gameplay that was introduced in the original title, but it takes things one step further by increasing your squad’s count from 2 to 4 members. “We wanted to recreate the experience players were introduced to on the PS2,” Eams tells me. “This is us bringing that console experience to the PSP in the best way possible. We’ve totally redesigned the graphics engine to create visuals that are well beyond anything we’ve done on the PSP so far. And that translates to more density in the environments, more enemies on screen at one time, and the two additional members in your squad.”

Even without Eams’ claims, it was readily apparent that this was not your average PSP title. The snow-covered landscape of the demo was littered with cabins and other structures within an impressive proximity to one another. And these structures weren’t merely four solid walls. All the doors I tried to open, did, revealing interiors with more cover points, windows, and tactical opportunities for my squad to take advantage of during our hunt from A to B.

Once more, traversing the terrain and issuing complex commands to my squad proved incredibly fluid and simple. I’ve long believed that the “Syphon Filter” games on the PSP represent some of the best controls implemented on Sony’s handheld but “Fireteam Bravo 3” may just outshine those definitive examples. “Bravo 3” handles movement and aiming with the single analog stick while depressing the left shoulder button switches the left and right commands from turning to strafing. It only took a few moments before I was easily covering ground, popping off shots at incoming enemies (by holding the right trigger to auto-aim and X to shoot), and issuing waypoints to my squad mates.

Best of all, “Fireteam Bravo 3” does away with health packs and embraces a regenerative health system that just seems more appropriate for a portable offering. While die-hard “SOCOM” fans may cringe at the change, I can’t help but feel that the team at Slant Six made the right move to embrace new players this time around.

Of course, it wouldn’t be “SOCOM” without some sort of online component and Fireteam Bravo 3 brings along the whole bag of tricks. Local and online competitive multiplayer, stat-tracking via SOCOM.com, and dynamic drop in/out co-op all make for an impressive list of features to lure in players and keep them playing online for hours. While no plans are in motion to release any downloadable content for the game just yet, the precedent set by “Fireteam Bravo 2” may be enough to expect further multiplayer support for the title well after launch.

“Bravo 3” looks like an easy bid for PSP Game of the Year and I’m betting I'll put my money where my mouth is this November 24th.

Just one week after the PSP go's launch, retailers are already slashing prices on Sony's new portable venture over the UK. The UMD drive-less, download-only system premiered with a slightly higher price tag at £225 (roughly $355), compared to the MRSP of $250 in the U.S. Numerous online retailers in the U.K., including Amazon and Gamestation, are already ratcheting that price point down to £200, however.

Several retailers, such as Zavvi and Tesco.com are keeping their prices fixed and ignoring the trend, according to GameSpot, but Game, Play and HMV have all cut pounds off their tags.

That drop won't quite equalize PSP go prices on both sides of the Atlantic; nor do North American retailers show any signs of issuing similar cuts, but it does raise questions about the handheld's appeal right out of the gate in the UK.

Russ pointed out in his review that the price jump from the PSP to the PSP go is a significant detractor considering anyone with a PSP game library of UMD's will have to re-buy everything they want to play on their new system from Sony's online store.

If a similar or greater cut makes its way to North America, however, perhaps that won't be such an issue anymore. Watch those American Amazon listings.

Has the PSP go's price been an issue for you? How much do you think Sony should charge for the system? Share your suggestions in the comment section below.

With any franchise of sports games, there's a certain level of difficulty in reviewing a given year's release—even moreso if you haven't played each and every edition from year to year. I fall into that latter category with Sony San Diego's "NBA 10 The Inside" for the PSP, so gauging what's been added, what's been improved and what other features have changed from "NBA 09" isn't really an option. Instead, I can offer up a "clean slate" review from someone new to Sony's NBA franchise.

Like any good sports game, "NBA 10" offers the requisite gameplay options for full seasons, playoffs and general manager functions like trading players, drafting players during the offseason and just about every other type of real-life team management options you could ask for. It also offers a massive number of games outside the standard modes of play, which I'll get into in a moment. There's also an ad hoc multiplayer mode for challenging someone else to a game of Horse, Skee-ball or any number of other games.

The Highs

You have to hand it to the Sony's "NBA" crew for packing a lot into a single game. I counted more than 20 different mini-games available outside the standard season mode, including the aforementioned Horse and Skee-Ball, as well as a game akin to Brick-Breaker, a variety of pinball games, a Risk-style game called "Conquest," and my personal favorite, dodgeball. All of the mini-games are ridiculously addictive, and to be honest, I'd be willing to buy a bundle containing all of these mini-games, given the chance. They're remarkably solid and don't seem like the last-minute additions most mini-games tend to to be.

As for the basketball element of the game, your team of players is surprisingly easy to manage and individual players seem to respond well to the controls. More talented players in the real world are noticeably more talented in the game, and the AI for both your team and your opponents seems to offer a great approximation of real-life game strategies. Managing your team outside of the game (i.e., trades, simulation settings, etc.) is fairly straightforward, too.

The Lows

I don't have a single bad thing to say about the dozens of mini-games on "NBA 10," but here's my gripe with the basketball element of the game: I just can't seem to win.

When you pick up most sports games for the first time, there's usually a learning curve. It usually takes a dozen games or so to figure out all of the controls, which actions are actually useful, and the plays that generally have a high probability to score. Whether it's a certain player, match-up or designed play that scores more often than it doesn't, there's usually something you can do to keep the score balanced while you develop a more comprehensive understanding of the game's mechanics. Not so with "NBA 10."

I've played more than 20 games thus far using the top-ranked teams in the league, under the lowest skill setting, and the closest I've come to winning is a 10-point loss to the Sacramento Kings. The Kings! Basically, I've been shamed by this game, and I'm not sure how to take it.

Final Word

"NBA 10 The Inside" is a fun game for basketball fans and non-fans alike, and while I have some issues with the difficulty level of the basketball element of the game, the massive number of mini-games and new spins on the standard season make it the sort of game that will spend a lot of time in my PSP.

Like I mentioned earlier, if I was offered a separate bundle of all the mini-games contained in "NBA 10," I'd buy it in a heartbeat. While the standard season mode is fun, the game really shines when it puts a new spin on the game—like the Conquest mode, for example. While I'm not sure if this is a franchise I'd buy a new edition of each year, owning at least one edition certainly makes sense, as it would take more than a year for all of the games to lose their appeal.

"FIFA 10" outperformed last year's "FIFA 09" and dethroned "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" in its first week on the UK sales charts. The EA Sports release, which enjoys a far bigger following on the east side of the Atlantic than its sister franchise "Madden NFL," knocked of "San Andreas" as the number two first-week performer of all time in the UK, placing second only to "GTA IV."

The latest incarnation of EA's perennial soccer series beat its 2009 predecessor by 48 percent in sales, according to GamesIndustry.biz. That was good enough to earn a number one ranking for the week, with "Professor Layton and Pandora's Box" and "Halo 3: ODST" following at two and three, respectively.

"Madden NFL 10," by contrast, appeared at the number eight slot during its August debut week in the UK. Though "Madden" reportedly sold 1.9 million units in its first month, that number was considerably less than what the series sold in 2009.

That means EA should be fairly pleased with the new UK bar set by "FIFA 10," particularly in a down year for the economy at large. North American soccer fans -- and the U.S. sales charts -- will have to wait until October 20 to see how well it performs on this side of the pond.

Do you have high expectations for "FIFA 10"? Have you picked up a copy in Europe yet and have an opinion on how well is compares to "FIFA 09"? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

The first wave of Minis, including "Alien Havoc," "Brainpipe" and "Sudoku," run from $4.99 to $9.99, as pointed out over on Pocket Gamer. Those first three fall into the $4.99 bracket. A step up from them are "Funky Punch," "Hero of Sparta" and "Fieldrunners" at $6.99, and "Tetris" at $9.99.

To put these prices in perspective, Sudoku games in the iPhone App Store popularly range from free to $2.99, with couple of exceptions. A full version of "Funky Punch" caps out at $3.99, "Hero of Sparta" runs a full $4 less at $1.99, and "Tetris" tops even that difference with a $4.99 price tag.

Maybe there are extra licensing expenses at work. Maybe the development costs are higher. But in cases where the games were already developed and just needed to be be ported over to a new platform, these differences are a bit surprising. In fact, for anyone who already has an iPhone or iPod touch, there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of incentive in play to start downloading PSP Minis just yet.

What do you think of Sony's new PSP Minis prices? Do you see a compelling reason to download for the PSP if you have the option of downloading from Apple's App Store? Share your opinions in the comment section below.

In an extra special, sassy episode of Game Plan, I give a spot-on impersonation of Mickey Mouse and Tim actually agrees with me for once. Also I, occasionally, have the voice of the devil.

Sidenote: Tim really liked the fact that you can use the alt fire on "Dead Space Extraction" by turning the remote sideways. It got cut in the final edit, but he wanted you all to know that. There, my conscience is clear.

We already knew that "Assassin's Creed 2" has some sex talk and cartwheels, but it looks like the game will be able to pull coins from the PSP as well. New box images from the "Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines" PSP Entertainment Bundle leaked a few new details about what the game will be able to do when you put it in communication with "Assassin’s Creed 2" on the PS3. In addition to transferring currency and weapons to the PS3, "Bloodlines" will also be able to receive blade and health upgrades from its big console brother.

The bundle, which becomes available on November 17, according to its listing on Amazon, should open up options for "AC2" players who find themselves in a pinch and in need of some Templar coins.

The box art also advertises a voucher for the "Angels & Demons" movie on the PlayStation Network and a Sony Music Voucher for ten song downloads, which come packaged with the white PSP.

There's no rundown of which weapons and upgrades specifically will be transferable, so we probably won't know how worthwhile those data swaps are for improving in-game play until we've had a chance to see those blades in action. If there are some unique attacks available to owners of both systems, though, it should be fun to see what effects the games can have on each other.

Do you plan on trying out both new "Assassin's Creed" games? What do you think of their connectivity features? Share your reactions in the comment section below.