With the holiday shopping season inching upon us, I’ll be writing soon about Sony’s new PlayStation 3 (launching Nov. 17 for $600) and Nintendo’s new Wii (launching Nov. 19 for $250), as well as games for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 ($400). But there is yet another great gift option: Sony’s handheld PSP.
After a year and a half on the market, it’s still pricey at $250. But scores of good games come out for PSP every month. It is sort of a luxury item, but I love it. It fits in my pocket, yet the screen is splendid. Here’s a look at some classic PSP games and a few newbies.
Newish ‘‘LocoRoco” is a holy-cow game, as in, holy cow this is a cute, addictive, bizarre blast. You play as a yellow, happy blob. You roll along a cartoon land, picking up items along the way, like in ‘‘Sonic the Hedgehog” but gentler, merrier and slower. You don’t have feet to run. Instead, you press buttons to turn the world sideways, and gravity forces you to roll along. I imagine that kids, adults who aren’t allergic to cuteness and female gamers would eat this thing up. It’s rated ‘‘E.” Grade: A.
The new ‘‘Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories” and 2005’s ‘‘GTA: Liberty City Stories” may be the most entertaining games available for the PSP, if you’re into shooting people, robbing them and driving fast cars through city streets. Rated ‘‘M.” Grade: A.
‘‘Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’07” is the signature sports title for PSP, I think. It has lush greens, gorgeous action and swinging is easy to figure out. It’s easy at first, very difficult later on. Rated ‘‘E.” Grade: A.
This summer’s ‘‘Field Commander” is one of the most fun role-playing games I’ve played on any system, and I don’t love role-playing games. You send tanks, helicopters and soldiers along a chesslike path to beat competing armies. It’s a great brain game with nice artistic flourishes and fairly difficult. It’s rated ‘‘T.” Grade: A-.
‘‘SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo” is more ambitiously entertaining than it sounds. You go undercover and save the world from terrorists. The fun is in negotiating intricate, moderately difficult battlefields, or shooting against other gamers. Also out now is the sequel-worthy ‘‘SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 2.” The original is rated ‘‘M,” the sequel ‘‘T.” Grade: A.