I reviewed Chinatown Wars on the PSP the other day and it’s my least favourite GTA game but still one of the best titles on the PSP. You can check out the review here. Actually getting the game working was a bit of a hassle. I got sent a code for it so I went to the PlayStation Store on my PS3 and entered the code. The game popped up and I downloaded it onto my PS3 hard drive, so far, so good. It didn’t take long to download and I plugged my PSP into the PS3 with the controller USB cable and downloaded the game onto the PSP. Once again it was nice and quick with no hassles.
Awesome, I thought, that was easy and I went to load up the game on the PSP. Denied, I need a software update before I can play the game. How do I get a software update for the PSP? Can I just hook it up to my PS3 again and do it the same way as I downloaded the game? No. I have to connect to my wireless network and get it directly. This meant configuring a new network connection on the PSP which actually proved to be pretty easy since I have a wireless router with a WEP key printed on the bottom. I entered the key, it connected and downloaded the update before auto installing it which probably took as long as it had taken me to download and install the game but at least it worked.
In the end it wasn’t too bad and it definitely took less time than going to the shop to physically pick up a copy would have. I’m a fan of buying and downloading games and I buy the vast majority of my PC games through Steam. I’ll probably do the same for the PSP from now on, we just need full console games to adopt the same system and we’ll never have to go to the shops again.
Sony made some interesting announcements at the GamesCom 2009 Expo. First up was the predictable news that they would be releasing a slim version of the PS3 on the 1st of September. It is 33% smaller, 36% lighter and 10% less loveable. I’m just saying that because I already have a fat PS3 and I love it anyway. None of this shallow obsessive dieting for my PS3.
There is also the PSP Go, the dinky version of the PSP which slides open. It will be getting a download service where you can buy mini-games, by which they mean under 100 MB puzzle games and casual titles. It has a way to go to catch the Nintendo DS but this still looks like a smart move from Sony.
Just back from a two week holiday in France and we drove. Yes all the way from Edinburgh through the Channel Tunnel and down to a tiny place near Josselin in Brittany. Couldn’t fly for various reasons so we were stuck with the two day road trip and so I dusted off my handhelds, charged them up and finally played some DS and PSP games. 
No doubting the mass appeal of Nintendo then.