Should the PSP Phone becomes a reality, it is really exciting to see it go head to head with Nokia's N-Gage platform. One top official from the Finland-based company was recently asked about his thoughts on the possible rivalry.

The official, who heads the N-Gage division, says that they are not afraid of an impending PSP Phone. More on this after the jump!

LucasArts is about to unleash two of its highly anticipated games for the season at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Get ready as LucasArts will unveil Fracture and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Details in the full article.

Rumor has it that Sony is set to make more gaming phones through the Sony Ericsson line. But don't get too excited just yet, it's just talk (for now at least), what with all the success of the Playstation Portable and all...

Come to think of it, such a move will be very logical for the electronics giant Sony. The PSP is considered a success, and there has been a measured increase in support of the mobile gaming platform. Already, Sony's Cybershot and Walkman phones pack a lot of media features, boasting of a PSP-like interface. The next big move might be an all-out PSP phone.

Some very excited sources say that after the Cybershot and the Walkman phone, which do take after Sony's great ideas, a PSP phone will come out eventually - sort of like being part of the line. People wonder, though if a gaming mobile unit is ever going to take off or not, like the not-so-successful Nokia N-gage. Then again, if this comes out, it'll be a PSP - and a phone!

 

Asphalt: Urban GT 2 is looking to give Burnout a serious run for its money as it jumps out of the garage and into your PSPs. Packing heat with 36 licensed cars, 30 tracks and six killer game modes, this Ubisoft racer had its scares in the assembly line, but it's here and it's looking good.

The gameplay is deep and competitive as players combine simulation and arcade styles to outspeed, outwit and outdirty either the AI or other players in a free-coasting rush to the finish line. By winning races and completing challenges, unlockables can be acquired and better cars and parts can be bought so you can smoke the competition without breaking a sweat.
 
Asphalt: Urban GT 2 is also out for the Nintendo DS and Nokia N-gage platforms. Let us know what you think about the racing experience and how it stacks up against its biggest competitors.

Asphalt: Urban GT 2 hasn't exactly been the most talked about or anticipated PSP game ever.  But still, judging by the screenshots we have of the PSP version of the game it looks pretty good, and it is due to be released in March 2007. The DS and Nokia N-Gage versions have been out for quite a while and were pretty successful for Ubisoft. However, today QJ has caught wind of rumors that the PSP version of the game has been cancelled.

Maybe Ubisoft thought it was going to be easy to port to the PSP and then ran into trouble. Maybe there wasn't a big enough fanbase for the game. But whatever the reason, it sounds like there is a fair chance that it has been cancelled. We can't go into details on this just yet but we have contacted Ubisoft and are awaiting a response.

Don't jump to any conclusions just yet though, as we will update this post when we get a response from th big guys at Ubisoft. And please bear in mind that this is Friday so we might have to wait until Monday or even later for a response.

Ubisoft has just released tons of new goodies for their upcoming racing game for the PSP, Asphalt: Urban GT 2.

The game has already been out for the DS for quite some time now, but PSP users have to wait a little longer before they can flaunt their mad-driving skills. Asphalt: Urban GT 2 has also previously appeared on mobiles and on N-Gage, where the game became a huge hit.

So, what can we look forward to in the PSP version? Well, aside from six game modes, numerous tuning and customization possibilities, 30 tracks, and 36 licensed cars and motorcycles (whew! that was a long list!), the in-game music will also whoop ass, with songs from Moby and tons more.

Also, we think it's worth mentioning that the very hot Pussycat Dolls will also be making a cameo in the game. Yeah-huh, and you'll see this in one of the many screenshots we have for you today.

And because we're such nice people here in QJ, we'll throw in the game logo and packshot (see image) as well. In case you might wanna keep these images in the background while you wait for the game to be released. Asphalt: Urban GT 2 is currently being developed at Virtuos' and Game Source's labs and is slated for release March this year.

More of 'em rubber burnin' screens in the full article!

In the battlefield of handheld consoles, it seems that only two have remained standing and unscathed: the DS and PSP.

Gamasutra talks with Brian O'Rourke, Senior Analyst for the Converging Markets and Technologies Group at market analyst group In-Stat, about the duopoly of the aforementioned consoles in the handheld market and what has allowed them to stay on top. Attempts of the Nokia N-Gage, Tapwave Zodiac, and Gizmondo has proved to be futile and O'Rourke predicts that the DS and PSP will continue to sell well into 2010.

According to O'Rourke, the DS will continue to outship the PSP because of the former's success in the Japanese market. But he believes that Sony will try to win not only Japan but also all major regions by the fourth quarter of this year by cutting down the price of the PSP. Whether the PSP entertainment bundle will be effective in "keeping up" with DS sales remains unclear.

O'Rourke's report/forecast on handheld shipments and revenues up to 2010 was based on in-depth interviews with manufacturers and software publishers. In the interview, O'Rourke shares with Gamasutra his findings and what it would mean for the PSP and DS in the years to come. Let us run by the topics discussed:

Why the DS has outsold the PSP: O'Rourke says that the DS's shipment advantage has been overstated, because by the end of 2005, the PSP outshipped the DS on a worldwide basis. However in 2006, the DS outshipped the PSP for two reasons: 1) DS is selling better than the PSP in Japan and 2) Nintendo has been more successful with game software for their handheld than Sony has been with theirs. Case in point: the Nintendogs and Brain Games franchises. O'Rourke says that the success of these franchises helped sell more DS units.

On other companies' failure in the handheld market: O'Rourke says that the reason why most companies fail to stay on the handheld market is that they focus too much on graphics and see it as the most important aspect of their consoles. He gives the Atari and NEC as examples of Nintendo's competitors that had superior graphic performance but did not succeed. According to him, what's more important is strong software support and recognizable characters that appeal to the pre-teen and early teen market. O'Rourke further adds that this is where Nintendo has been successful in tapping into.

Where Sony went wrong: O'Rourke sees two particular reasons why the DS seems to be more successful than the PSP: 1) the PSP costs more than the DS, with a 70-dollar price difference. 2) Nintendo has created more breakout titles for the DS than Sony has with their PSP. However, he makes it clear that he is not bringing down the PSP in any way and that we should keep in mind that the PSP has been a successful product and will continue to be. He also says that publishers will continue to stand by the PSP in the years to come.

Now that's what he thinks. How about you, which do you prefer - a DS or a PSP? Us? We have both!

That graph you see above (click the thumbnail) has been put together by Square2005 of NeoGAF. What is it? It's a chart tracking the sales progress of all handhelds since 2001! If you want to see a visual version of how the DS and PSP are stacking up to the GBA or even the N-Gage (Yay N-Gage!) then you've got all you need! You just gotta love those spikes in December!

It starts off at the launch of the Game Boy Advance in June 2001 and goes up to the month that we last received sales data for, August 2006. In their lifetime, the consoles have done these numbers:

• Game Boy Color - 17,050,000
• Game Boy Advance ~ 13,730,000 (numbers not counted in recent months)
• Game Boy Advance SP + Game Boy Micro - 18,340,000
• All Game Boy Advance models combined: 32,027,000
• Nintendo DS - 5,837,000
• PlayStation Portable - 5,022,000
• N-Gage ~ 60,000

Poor, poor N-Gage. The GBA SP, DS, and PSP are still selling over a hundred thousand units a month! It's a great time to be a handheld gamer. Unless you're a Nokia fanboy of course...

Ubisoft have announced a new driving simulation game for the PSP and DS, Asphalt: Urban GT 2 for all racing fans out there. The original Asphalt: Urban GT game received a good audience last year on the DS and Nokia's N-Gage handheld gaming systems, being crowned 2005's Best mobile Racing/Driving game by IGN. Asphalt: Urban GT 2 is being developed by Virtuos and Game Source and will be available for the DS in November 2006 and the PSP in March 2007.

Asphalt: Urban GT 2 shifts into gear with six game modes, numerous tuning possibilities, 30 tracks and 36 licensed cars and motorcycles taking handheld racing simulations to a new level. To keep the action hot, Asphalt: Urban GT 2 also features music from popular music icons Moby and appearances from the Pussycat Dolls.

Tony Key, vice president of marketing at Ubisoft said "Asphalt Urban GT 2 is the most feature-rich racing game available for handhelds and will provide gamers with an exhilarating street racing experience." It better be good too, as the PSP version of this game will face stiff competition from Atari's mobile racing title, Test Drive: Unlimited. The McLaren Mercedes SLR pictured above hasn't been confirmed to be in the game, but if it is, we'll buy it!