Update: Some fun with the files this week, you might need to reset and reload your client to get the latest show.

Alongside the site, you can also listen and subscribe to the show in Apple’s iTunes - and leave an independent review there as well. You also have the PSP Show’s Facebook Group, which can be found here.

Sorry for the delay in this week’s show, a touch of (ahem) jet lag after the weekend in Las Vegas at the Blog World Expo, but it was great meeting some of you out there - glad you liked the stickers. Right then, on with today’s show. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 is up for review, and as last week, I’m reviewing this title on its own, not comparing it to Tiger Woods 08. And the weekly news, with highlights including the weekly US sales figures and the Spaced connection to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, plus Sony reminding us the PSP will be big in 2009. Honestly.

As always you can listen and subscribe to the store in Apple’s iTunes - and leave an independent review there as well. You also have the PSP Show’s Facebook Group, which can be found here.

Lots to get through in this week’s show, including a look at software and hardware sales for August, comments from Sony Worldwide, and the latest American Football game to hit the PSP, namely Electronic Arts Madden NFL 09.

This coming weekend (19th-21st September) I’ll be attending the BlogWorldExpo in Las Vegas -if you are there, then drop me an email (ewanspence@gmail.com) or wave at the kilted Scotsman… I’ll have PSP Show stickers with me to adorn your favourite gaming machine.

As always you can listen and subscribe to the store in Apple’s iTunes - and leave an independent review there as well. Don’t forget about our Facebook Group, which can be found here.

And Clank makes it into The PSP Show, along with Ratchet. Secret Agent Clank spins the normal way of Ratchet and Clank games - that would be a set of games I haven’t played before, but will that make a difference to the review of this 3D platformer? You’ll have to listen to find out. It’s also time to bring up some of the news stories of the week, with a focu on Sony’s network titles now on UMD, and what sort of upgrade is the PSP-3000? It’s not one for existing -2000 owners in my opinion.

All that and (a little) more on this week’s PSP show.

As well as here, you can listen and subscribe to the store in Apple’s iTunes - you can leave an independent review there as well. And as mentioned in the show, The PSP Show’s Facebook Group can be found here.

First up there’s an easier URL to type into your PSP (or other podcast application) to get the show’s feed, namely tinyurl.com/pspshow . Pass it around to all your PSP friends if you could…

Secondly, I’ve put together a Facebook group for The PSP Show, and if you’re on the social network du jour, feel free to click through and join the group there as well.

After Echochrome last week, it seems I am in the mood for calm zen-like games, so while I take a little bit more time to play with Secret Agent Clank (expect that to be reviewed in the next show) I’ve been chilling with the downloadable title ‘Flow,’ available from your regional Playstation Store. It’s mellow, chilled and can be played in many different styles. Listen to Show #78 to find out why I love this title.

There’s the latest news as well, with news on Wi-Fi access to the Store, Sony’s PSP sales in Japan, and a demo of Pipe Mania in advance of a late September release.

Listen to the show (or subscribe in iTunes), and feel free to leave your comments. And as I mentioned, music as always is from Charlie Crowe - visit Charlie Crowe on MySpace.

The first thing, as I mentioned in Show #77, is that this is the same physical size and control layout as the PSP Slim and Lite (PSP-2000 model). While I think some will ask for another analouge stick to provide some games with alternative control options, I’m glad that they’ve stayed with the same layout - it means developers have compatibility all the way back to the PSP-1000 and can address some 41 million PSP’s out there.

The addition of the microphone will help the promotion not just of Skype, but in game voice as well - something that I think will come to prominence over the next 18 months or so if the developers make good use of it.

The big change is to the display, with a brighter screen that should update faster. I do wonder what this is going to do to the battery life, with the 3000 still using the same 1200mah battery as the previous version, but I can’t wait to try this out and about. Finally, there’s a tweak to the video out chips, which will allow more TV’s (in more hotels around the world that I visit) to take the TV cable.

PSP-3000 Product Specifications:

In the midst of the Edinburgh Fringe (you can listen here), but even the slow summer months of the PSP (it’s been like this three years in a row now) can be hit by a squall. Sony’s announcement of an updated PSP model due out mid October, the PSP-3000, is going to lead to some raised eyebrows… I think because of what’s not been added.

And Echochrome is just the perfect zen-like game to relax me during the hectic schedule at the Fringe, so that’s up for review in this show as well.

Listen to the show (or subscribe in iTunes), and feel free to leave your comments.

Well spotted, this isn’t Echocrhome (it’s coming, I can see it… now I can’t… now I can… he-heh), but the house here has been on Buzz’s PSP incarnation all weekend, and we’re all fighting to get the 100% perfect score on the solo challenge. So there was no doubt it’s time to swap out the reviews for the newest release. It’s definitly one for trivia heads, and worth a look. Plus I have a look at the news, Sony’s Q1 2008/2009 financial figures, and chat about your comments from last week’s ‘Future of the PSP’ show.

Listen to the show (or subscribe in iTunes), and feel free to leave your comments.

Not a news and review show this week, but my thoughts on how Sony and the PSP are faring in 2008. From a strong start to the year with Wipeout Pulse, Patapon and God of War, they’ve kinda let the side down. There’s some good vibes coming from Sony on the second half of the year (there would be, naturally), but I remain to be convinced.

My thinking detailed in more depth in the show, is we need more regularity to the market, over a four week cycle, that goes something like this…

• Week 1: Release a big, flagship game.
• Week 2: Release something cute, around $5, on the Playstation online store
• Week 3: Release a second tier game, that’s quirky and fun, perhaps experimental.
• Week 4: Add a new service to the PSP, either via a firmware update, or a utility app via the store.

Listen to the show (or subscribe in iTunes), and feel free to leave your comments.

PS: Switched comments back on…

If all is well, you’ll be able to see this text - our server problems her at The Podcat Network continue, but it appears that while our website is having problems, The PSP Show is still making it down the podcast feed. Which means it’s finally time to turn my eye onto Sony’s Swords and Sandals epic, God of War: Chains of Olympus.

Listen to the show (or subscribe in iTunes), and feel free to leave your comments.

Tags: PSP, podcast, God of War, Chains of Olympus, Sony.

– Ewan

Back after a bundle of database problems meant all of TPN had a halt on posting new shows, but that’s just given me more time to crack on with some reviews - up first is Electronic Arts Need for Speed Pro Street. It’s an arcade racer, and while I prefer my driving a touch more realistic, it’s got a lot of appeal, and a killer soundtrack. Find out more in the show!

Listen to the show (or subscribe in iTunes), and feel free to leave your comments.

Tags: PSP, podcast, Need for Speed, Sony, EA.

Back from a stupidly long trip around the US and Europe, but comfy in the stash of games and news to go through. No immediate news today, blame jetlag, but I did want to touch on the bittorrent numbers PSP Fanboy linked to last week. After that, it’s on to another ‘crazy’ japanese arcade simulation - this time I get to be an Air Traffic Controller!

Listen to the show (or subscribe in iTunes), and feel free to leave your comments.

Tags: PSP, podcast, Air Traffic Control, Sony.

It’s been well advertised, it’s obviously something Sony strongly believe in, but is Patapon a good game? And if so, just how good is it and how should it fit into the marketing strategy and message of the Playstation Portable? Let’s find out what I think, in this week’s PSP Show (coming live-ish from Barcelona).

Listen to the show (or subscribe in iTunes), and feel free to leave your comments.

Tags: PSP, podcast, Patapon, Sony.

So I’m getting read to head out to a number of conferences - I’ll be on the road for the next four weeks, starting off in Barcelona by being on the keynote panel for the European Broadcasting Union’s Multimedia Meets Radio conference. And that means a fully loaded PSP, with a bundle of games to get me through the flights, delays, queues and aggravation. So what are my top 5 PSP games while travelpsping? And has it changed since the same show last year? Let’s find out

(And as a challenge, try and guess the top five before you listen…)

You’ll be able to follow my adventures at www.ewanspence.com/video and the more official reporting over on The Tech Conference Show. Don;t worry though, with some big PSP games on the way, and the occasional surprise, you’ll still get your weekly hit of PSP podcasting fun.

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Tags: PSP, podcast, Travel, Top 5.

It’s fast and it’s furious, and sequels are always bigger and better, aren’t they? Sony’s Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice promises a Hollywood A-List plot of explosions and intrigue, but can it deliver in a 21st century gaming environment?

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Tags: PSP, podcast, Pursuit Force, Sony.

Carrying on with the classic titles from last year (and beyond, by the looks of it) is another ‘Arcade Collection,’ this time focussed on a specific genre (the horizontal shooter) and a specific brand - Gradius. How does this make the transition from arcade cabinet to portable powerhouse? I’ll give you a hint, slightly better than Atari Classics… but only slightly.

Listen to the show (or subscribe in iTunes), and feel free to leave your comments.

Tags: PSP, podcast, Retro, Gradius, Konami.