E3: The Sad Plight of the PSP

I really, really wanted to see the PlayStation Portable excel at E3. New game announcements were fired off one after another but at the end of the week just twenty-one games were shoved into existence for PSP. Sony themselves put more emphasis on PlayStation 2 and even let the PS3 footage of Valkyria Chronicles get mixed up in their PSP video, creating a sensation whose disheartening explanation (NOT coming to PSP) further deflated the handheld’s presence at E3.

Worse still, several major releases spanning all consoles like Tomb Raider Underworld, Bolt, and Ghostbusters are completely ignoring the PSP, even though the PS2 version of each could probably be ported over. Polyphony Digital head Kazunori Yamauchi was cornered at E3 and revealed that Gran Turismo 4: Mobile is still in development but that it wouldn’t be released until after GT5, possibly not until 2011. Ironically, the biggest PSP news of the week was when I found that cheap copy of Jeanne D’Arc at Target.

For me personally this list begins and ends with Yumi’s Odd Odyssey. It’s the only domestic PSP title I’m interested in. I wish Carpenter’s Story and There’s Japan were heading our way or even some new downloadable titles but it looks like I’ll have to keep busy with R-Type Command, Jeanne D’Arc, and Beats for the foreseeable future. And now, the list of E3’s PSP titles, in no particular order.

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Duke Nukem Trilogy
Star Ocean: First Departure
Star Ocean: Second Evolution
Madden NFL 2009
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2009
Yumi’s Odd Odyssey
SBK08 Superbike World Championship
WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009
Smash Court Tennis 3
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Ford Racing Off Road
Ben 10: Alien Force
LEGO Batman: The Videogame
BUZZ! Master Quiz
NBA 09 The Inside
Patapon 2
Resistance: Retribution
Super Stardust Portable
LocoRoco 2
Valhalla Knights 2