Games Sony needs to save the PSP in 2009

The PSP isn’t doing too badly when you think about it. Sony entered a handheld market that had been completely dominated by Nintendo for years and managed to take a decent chunk. The problem is that there just aren’t enough games. When you think back to all the great PSP games you’ve played this year, and what’s on the horizon, there aren’t too many. So, in an attempt to spur Sony and the rest of the video game world into action, we’ve put together a list of the PSP games that, if they were ever to come to fruition, could save the PSP in 2009.

World of Warcraft Handheld Edition

World of Warcraft is played by over 11 million people across the world. It’s the most popular MMORPG on the planet, but once you leave the house, and the comfort of your PC gaming chair, that’s it. No more Warcraft. What if a handheld version of the game, one that allowed WoW players to genuinely affect their in-game characters, perhaps through item creation, auction house interaction, character customisation and guild management, were to be released on the PSP? We reckon that would sell bucket loads, and would probably make many of those 11 million WoW players at least consider buying a PSP, if they haven’t got one already. You wouldn’t even have to be online via a hotspot for many of these gameplay elements. You could, after importing your character data to the PSP, level up trade skills and professions offline, as well as check statistics, fiddle with weapon and equipment set-ups and anything else that doesn’t require interaction with other players, and then sync your character data up when you got back to your home PC. If there’s one title that’s a stone wall system seller, it’s World of Warcarft, and with Blizzard’s merger with the multi-platform kings Activision, it’s more likely than you think.

Little Big Planet PSP

Say what you like about LittleBigPlanet, but its fans are devoted. We reckon it’ll be a slow burner too, eventually becoming one of the PS3’s top sellers. The idea of a PSP version that manages to retain all that made the PS3 game so good (four-player co-op, fun physics-based platforming and level creation tools) and can be played anywhere makes us excited just thinking about it. If Media Molecule can somehow find a way to make levels created in one version compatible in the other, so there’s a massive PSP/PS3 community all sharing and having fun together, we might just be in user created platforming nirvana.

Assassin’s Creed PSP

Ubisoft’s free-running inspired stealth action game split critics right down the middle, but it sold extremely well. With such a huge fan base we reckon a PSP game would work exceedingly well. The levels would have to be more confined, with objectives being more focussed, but we think it’d work. The fact that the camera often didn’t need to be manually controlled in the next-gen version would help too, as there’s nothing worse than a PSP game that always has you reaching for the non-existent second analogue stick. If we can get some more insight into the rather cryptic storyline that left fans wanting more, you can guarantee a queue of gamers waiting to buy it on day one.

Call of Duty Modern Combat

First-person shooters don’t work on the PSP generally, but EA managed to conjure up a control scheme that is perfectly playable for Medal of Honor Heroes 2. There’s no bigger FPS on the market than Call of Duty, so a polished game in the series for PSP would likely sell by the truck load. While we’d personally prefer a spin-off from Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, we’d settle for any game from either Infinity Ward or Treyarch set in the modern era. The PSP is seriously lacking a top class FPS, so if the production values are top class, the controls work and there’s online play, you might be looking at a sales record breaker.

Gran Turismo Portable

Gran Turismo for the PSP is the only game in this list that’s confirmed to be in development, but the importance of Sony’s driving series cannot be understated. The Gran Turismo series has sold millions of units in its history and has consistently set new benchmarks for the genre. When the PSP arrived with the brilliant Ridge Racer we all thought Sony’s handheld would become the go to machine for great racers, and Polyphony Digital’s PSP effort could go some way to making up for that missed potential. If you want a guaranteed system seller, look no further. Superb PS2 quality visuals, online play and all the usual depth would make this hard to pass up. If a form of cross-platform compatibility with GT5 on PS3 can be worked in, enabling you to share a garage, perhaps, all the better.

GTA: San Andreas Stories

It’s no secret that for many gamers GTA: San Andreas is the best game Rockstar has ever produced. The combination of the massive world and sheer variety of activities made it a title that seemed to have everything. After the success of Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories it’s a surprise that this hasn’t already happened, as we’re convinced it would quickly become the best selling PSP game in history. After the divisive GTA 4 people want a game that’s back to being over the top fun, and San Andreas Stories could be it. The improvements made to the game engine for Vice City Stories also suggest that Rockstar could do miracles once again with a third entry on the handheld. After the fairly lacklustre multiplayer modes in the previous PSP entries, we’d be happy if the focus was on the single-player campaign alone.

Final Fantasy VII remake

Every Final Fantasy fan, no, scratch that, every role-playing game fan, wants Square Enix to remake seminal JRPG Final Fantasy VII. It’s probably the most desired game in the world right now. While most fans would love a PS3 remake, complete with gorgeous 1080p graphics, we reckon a PSP remake, with PS2 quality graphics, would be just as good, and, given the enduring popularity of the series, and that game in particular, would be a guaranteed system seller. Imagine, if you will, returning to Midgar, re-familiarising yourself with materia, learning all the Limit Breaks, seeking out all of the summons, revisiting Cloud’s story and his epic battle with the white-haired Sephiroth, suffering the pain of that traumatic death, all over again. It wouldn’t just be brilliant. It would be bloody brilliant. Who knows? Perhaps the superb Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, not only one of the PSP’s best games but one of 2008’s best games, was a test bed for a full PSP remake of the one everyone wants to see. The game to save the PSP in 2009? We can’t think of anything better.

What would you like to see on the PSP? Let us know in the comments section below.