Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas (1/30/07) from Ubisoft is showing some promise from a technical standpoint, and the popular franchise name probably won’t be hurting sales. We know what you’re thinking; shooters rarely work on PSP because of the sad analog nub. However, Ubisoft Quebec has reportedly made significant changes to the gameplay from the PC and console versions to make it more suitable for PSP. The game’s online and ad hoc play also show potential. If the final product can deliver the fundamentals of a good shooter in combination with its popular brand, R6V for PSP could be a strong early ’07 seller.

A militaristic shooter of a more classic variety arrives in ’07 with SNK Playmore’s Metal Slug Anthology (2/6/07). The UMD will house seven versions of Metal Slug that have been released in the arcade. It’s not the most popular series with the mainstream, but perhaps the solid 2D gameplay will appeal to the handheld audience.