In a few days, November 11 to be exact, we'll be celebrating Veteran's Day. Wait up, don't dismiss this at once because you feel like it doesn't concern you. In fact, the moment we saw this, we felt like it was an effort from the organizers to broaden the scope and awareness concerning the celebration. Our soldiers, active or not, have been surrounded by too many political issues and they feel used and neglected long enough.

Anyway, before we get all teary-eyed and patriotic here, let us proceed. In Alameda, California this coming Veteran's Day, a Medal of Honor: Heroes PSP Tournament will be held. Since there is no cost to enter, it's actually a good time to spend the special day. Players just have to bring their own PSP with working Wi-Fi while the minimum age requirement to join is 13-years old.

Aside from the price, do you know what's the cool thing about the tournament? It would take place on board the USS Hornet Aircraft Carrier. Interested already? Sign-up first on the tournament's official website through the link below. You will then receive an email confirming your participation with directions and schedules.

Is that understood, young soldier? And oh, before we forget, here is the list of the prizes to be won:

• Logitech Play Gear Accessory Package
• SanDisk Gaming Memory Stick PRO Duo 2GB
• Shure E2c-n Sound Isolating Earphones
• Winners profiled in GamePro Magazine and the editorial section of GamePro.com
• One year subscription to GamePro Magazine
• Official GamePro cap

GamePro has a list of fifteen things you need to know about GTA Vice City stories. While most of it you guys probably know already, a few things in that list really stand out. So just in case you're a total initiate (a politically correct way to say newbie) to GTA, and your parents bought you a PSP, here are some things to keep in mind.

This is GTA

So look to steal bikes, helicopters (some people were wondering if you can get airborne in this game), boats, and planes, as well as ATVs, buggies, and even a Sea-Doo-type. The more vehicles the merrier right?

You can swim now but...

Unlike GTA Liberty City Stories, you can swim in this game. It could be quite useful when you're getting away from the boys in blue. Just keep in mind though that if some persistent officer falls into the water he'll swim after you too. Also, even if you can swim now, unlike GTA San Andreas, you can't climb walls. Please keep that in mind okay? Just so you save yourself the embarrassment of jumping face first into a wall.

Vice City is still Vice City...

This isn't helpful if you're a newbie to the game, but if you happened to catch anyone else playing the first Vice City, the PSP version of Vice City is still the same. This means no new city for you to get used to (that is if you caught a bit of the first Vice City... after all if you're a newbie, everything's new to you). So enjoy the music, love the ambiance, enjoy the 80s decadence, and for Pete's sake, use your pager.

You need night vision

Time passes in Vice City, so when the sun goes down, turn the PSP's brightness settings way up. This is more of a hardware issue as the PSPs screens glare factor makes things a little difficult to see when it's nighttime in-game. At times like this, make good use of the gun-aiming system.

And finally, since you're a newbie

Be aware that this game gets really hard, really fast. Rockstar Games probably assumes that most people who will be getting this game are GTA veterans already, so the learning curve is a bit steep. Even the first few challenges get difficult really quickly. Move forward, carefully.

Now that this GTA newbie advisory is over, let me geek out a bit and whine: Just a few more days... can't wait, can't wait, can't wait... Geek out moment over. Back to your regular blogging.

Pre-Order: [Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories]

I bet you guys have been waiting for news about the eagerly anticipated Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, and why not? The first game on the PSP was one of the best-selling titles, and knowing Rockstar, it would be foolish to expect anything but greatness. Well, we've got some news and info which you guys might be happy to look at. All these details were published in Gamepro, an Australian gaming mag. Firstly, here are the screenshots I'm talking about.

• You'll be playing as Victor Vance - Lance's brother.
• Victor, and his brother Lance, will be playing a big part in Vice City Stories. He's seen in the opening scene of GTA: Vice City, as he get killed by a SWAT team.
• The game takes place in 1984 - two years before GTA: Vice City
• Victor is a 28 year-old US Marine
• Players can now take on the water of Vice City With jet ski's!
• The animations are more life-like and is a ''step-up from previous titles in the series''
• A multiplayer feature similar to the PSP version of LCS is in the game
• VCS is ''much, much bigger than Vice City''
• Some landmarks are half-built or yet to be refurbished to their state circa 1986
• There's new or altered locations and buildings
• All new vehicles and weapons
• You can fly helicopters!
• Radio stations from Vice City make a return
• New weather effects that could include hurricanes
• You can swim in the game!
• Bikes handle better than before
• There's also no more seamless exterior-to-interior gameplay as seen in LCS (There'll be a slight loading time)
• A new addition in Vice City is the chunder-wheel, which you can ride in first-person view!
• Binoculars is in the game
• LCS is ''rookie first-gen PSP title compared to VCS''
• Draw distance is great and is said to be better than Vice City on PS2
• Trip skips make a return (If you die or get busted a taxi will take you back to the location where you received the mission from)
• New animations which give both the lead characters and pedestrians a whole new degree of humanity
• Far richer color palette that brings sunsets to all new levels of beauty, and realism
• Increased density of pedestrians, cars and objects
• Reduction in clumping (where groups of the same model type appear together)
• Far more interiors that its predecessors
• So far there's no word on character and vehicle customization, as well as wall climbing.

All the screenshots and scans after the jump!