I’ve recently become a big fan of the PSP, rejoicing when someone formatted a great set of wallpapers for the PSP screen. I still dislike Sony’s practices, but that didn’t keep me from diving head-first into the coolest handheld gaming device ever to hit the planet. A few weeks ago, my parents traveled out to Seattle. I handed my PSP to my dad and let him fiddle with Ridge Racer. He didn’t look up from the screen once in a half hour. That’s when I knew he’d need his own PSP to take back home. So, we meandered down to the local PSP-vending superstore and I surprised him with the gift of portable gaming. He tells me that he’s advancing through the Ridge Racer levels, which is good to hear - because I need serious PSP competition when we get together again. My PSP game count is almost in the double digits, although I’ve had to sell a few snoozers to a gaming chain to recoup some costs. The good news is: resale value for PSP UMDs is relatively high.

I returned four PSP games: Need for Speed Underground Rivals, Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, Death Jr., and Coded Arms. I played each one of ‘em enough to know they weren’t keepers - and most of the online reviews were correct. Instead of going with one of those PSP game rental services, I’d just as soon buy it in the off-chance I might like it. My collection now stands at: Lumines, Mercury, Ridge Racer, Wipeout Pure… and four games acquired yesterday afternoon: GripShift, Hot Shots Golf, Twisted Metal Head On, Namco Museum Battle Collection, and Burnout Legends. Two friends have also recommended Virtua Tennis, so that’ll likely be my next PSP UMD game purchase. I don’t like sports, and I don’t like sports games - but these seem to be an exception to the rule. I’m so incredibly thrilled with my PSP, despite its lousy location for a power switch. I had a Sandisk memory stick fail on me a few weeks back, but that’s currently being serviced (with no headaches in the process). PSP? Yeah, it’s a keeper.