July 6th, 2008 by Daniel Duncan

A question that arises quite often is if Rare could ever develop for Sony’s Playstation Portable (PSP) handheld. Microsoft has made it quite clear that developing for handhelds is not considered as competition. They have allowed Rare to develop not only on the Game Boy Advance, but for the Nintendo DS as well. In fact, Microsoft is now utilizing the incredibly massive fanbase of the dual-screened system to fluctuate their own franchises such as Blue Dragon and Viva Pinata. But what about the PSP? Could it join the limelight as well?

It is believed that Microsoft doesn’t want Rare to develop for the PSP because Sony is considered more of a rival than Nintendo, despite the lack of ‘competition’ it would induce. Recently, however, the PSP has hit its stride and has been outselling the DS, especially Japan. Microsoft could really take advantage of this and purchase some PSP development kits for their first party studios. I personally think that titles like Kameo and Perfect Dark would work extensively well on the system. To have a good title in the universe of both of those franchises, you would need a decent amount of horsepower, and the PSP certainly packs more than the DS ever will.

The most important question of all though is this: would Rare’s fans invest in the Playstion Portable to purchase their games? The majority of the Rare fanbase is either with Nintendo or with Microsoft or both (the better choice, obviously). Sony has never had the privilege of having a Rare title on any system of their’s, so releasing a Rare game on the PSP would be quite the gamble.

Despite not liking Sony much myself, as a dedicated Rare fan I have to say that I would most definately invest in the handheld. I can’t help it, I’m just a Rare fanatic! What about you? If Rare were to announce tomorrow that a title such as Perfect Dark, Kameo, or heck, even Banjo was going to release on the PSP, would you flock to your nearest retailer to make a purchase?