Stairway to PSP Heaven

Sorry about the lack of updates recently, but it seems the PSP has been taking up most of my free time. With so many great games to play, it's hard to find time for anything else but wi-fi multiplayer and hanging out with the family. At least for me, PSP gaming is a godsend, as I don't really have much time to play console games at home anymore. Short bursts of WipEout, Tiger Woods and Need For Speed are all I can really squeeze in these days.



For those of you jumping on the "downloading videos to your PSP" bandwagon, here are some useful programs and resources for you to check out. If any of you know of any other useful applications, definitely send me an email about them.

PSPhoto: http://tokyopia.com/tk/downloads/PSPhoto1.01.zip
Manages and shrinks down photos for the PSP

PSP Video 9: http://www.pspvideo9.com/
Will convert movies and upload them to your PSP

iPSP: http://ipsp.kaisakura.com/
Manage your pictures, movies, etc. and convert them. You can also back up your save games, which is a useful feature

Sony Connect: http://www.connect.com/psp
Prep your memory stick for movies and download various (and constantly updated) content

Mobile Media Maker: http://makayama.com.hosting.domaindirect.com/
Seems to be able to shrink movie size pretty small for those of you with only the stock 32MB memory stick

3GPP Japanese Video Encoder: http://www.nurs.or.jp/~calcium/3gpp/
Another program designed to compress movies for your PSP

Rapiz PSP Video Converter: http://rapiz.gotdns.org/
Yet another converter for movies

PSP Video Encoding Thread: http://forums.gaming-age.com/
A good place to read up on converting movies for the PSP

The Kool-Aid Man Returns...

Chris Lucich sent me another gem in the form of a trailer for the upcoming, high-budget Kool-Aid Man movie. It's amazing how much money the studio is spending on this thing, but I guess you have to. What got me most was how serious the story is and how you instantly feel a bond with the characters. Check it out for yourself and see what I mean.



Sometimes, when the word is against you and nothing seems to work out, why not build a Death Ray? It seems to work for at least a few of the villains in the movies, so it's worth a try, at least, isn't it? Now, if there was only a site that explained how to build one.

My good ol' friend Chris Slate has started his own blog, so everyone should be sure to check it out. Chris has always been one to express his likes and dislikes about games, the industry and pretty much everything else, so it's good to see that he now has an open forum to do so. I'll definitely be keeping an eye on his future posts and commenting when I can.



For those of you who happen to be living in a cave, don't forget that the Sony PSP launches in North America this Thursday. I'll be first in line at my local GameCrazy in order to pick up a unit on my way to work. Right now, it appears that Ridge Racer, WipEout Pure and Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix have gotten the best reviews. So far, I've picked up:

• Need For Speed Underground Rivals
  
• NFL Street 2 Unleashed
  
• Dynasty Warriors (Thanks to Koei:-)
  
• WipEout Pure
  

I'm hoping to get Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower, Ridge Racer and Twisted Metal: Head-On in the near future. Those titles should be enough to last me for a while, but there are still plenty of launch games that I want to get my hands on.