The multi-tasking handheld

By Guy Cocker on 03 June 2005, 11:33am

We've finally put down Wipeout Pure long enough to be able to find out all the cool new stuff happening on the Sony PSP scene. As the official Gadget of the Year™, you can bet there are loads of people out there dedicated to making the PSP do new and exciting things. We've got news of the PSP's first 'adult' entertainment, some clever hackers who've got SNES games running on the console, plus a virtually indestructible case from Logitech.

GamePro reports that Japanese companies h.m.p. and GLAY'z have created the first adult movies on the handheld's UMD format. Designed to capitalise on that untapped market of weirdos who like to watch pornography in full glare of the general public, titles such as Kaneshiro Anna: The High Class Soap Mistress will be available in July, at around £10-£20. UMD region coding restricts playback on US or European consoles, but someone in the UK is bound to follow suit, so expect some 'Ban this Sick (Public) Filth' headlines in the Daily Mail soon. Just bear in mind that in the US, there have been lawsuits against people watching such films in their cars -- although if you've got the nerve to do it in the first place you deserve everything you get.

Perhaps more suitable family entertainment is the PSP's first working SNES emulator. Fans of classic games will be salivating at the prospect of Super Mario World and Chrono Trigger on a Sony handheld, and while there are frame rate issues, the potential's clearly there. The big problem is that homebrew software will only run on PSPs with the original 1.0 firmware, which is basically the first batch of Japanese consoles. If you've only bought your console recently or imported from America, it's tough luck, but it'll be worth keeping your eye on PSP Hacker, where you can also download the emulator.

Logitech, meanwhile, has been busy creating what is arguably the best PSP case to date. The standard PSP slipcase is nice enough, but it won't protect the style icon from a drop. We're itching to test out the 'virtually indestructible polycarbonate armour shell' when they release the product over here, especially as we're on the fifth floor of a tall building. With the summer sun making it difficult to play our PSP in the park, the Logitech case cleverly acts as a sun shade as well -- so we'll never have to talk to anyone again.