LucasArts has always been good about supporting Sony's handheld. In fact, they even graced the PSP with an exclusive Battlefront game, Renegade Squadron. In spite of the handheld's diminutive capabilities, the wizards at LucasArts managed to get 16-player infrastructure gameplay onto the system. The upcoming Force Unleashed reaffirms the commitment Lucas has towards the PSP.

A new listing on amazon.com shows Star Wars Battlefront III arriving on PSP, in addition to every other platform out there. With the last PSP Battlefront game being such a success, we can only hope that this listing turns out to be real. Guess we'll have to wait until E3.

[Via Joystiq]

We're providing a shortened review for Renegade Squadron because ... well, you've read most of our impressions. In fact, you've read impressions from Andrew, Colin, Nick and Jem. Here's a final thought on the game with the now-requisite PSP Fanboy score.

Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron is an impressive technical accomplishment for the PSP. It's certainly has its flaws, but bringing massive online battles such as these exclusively to the handheld certainly deserves some applause. Without a doubt, Renegade Squadron is the Warhawk or Halo of the PSP: the definitive online game for our system.

The included single player mode is brief, easy, but nonetheless well executed. When viewed as a primer for the game's primary mode, the online multiplayer, the single player campaign more than delivers. Instead of being destroyed by the competitive online field, this gives a chance for players to learn the nuances of the control, giving each player a fair chance of mastering the game before heading online. The Conquest Mode was a stand-up hit for many on the PSP Fanboy team -- and for good reason. The addition of "Instant Action" against bots is also a huge plus -- something that's missing in many modern console shooters.

If you're in the San Francisco metro area, you may want to head to the Sony Metreon for the Star Wars Battlefront launch party. The festivities start next Tuesday at 6PM. LucasArts is promising tons of prizes, such as the Han Solo carbonite case -- free for the first 200 people that purchase the new PSP bundle. If you come in costume, you'll get a chance at winning a Darth Vader lightsaber replica. Of course, with tons of people expected to show up, there'll undoubtedly be tons of opportunities for some local wi-fi multiplayer as well.

For the complete details, check out the game's IGN blog.

All this week, the writers of PS Fanboy will share their impressions of Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron. Make sure you come back every day, as we'll be giving away five limited edition Darth Vader PSP-2000 systems.

When I first heard that the next Star Wars Battlefront game was coming exclusively to PSP, the first thing I asked was "why?" It's not that I don't love my PSP -- but I found it surprising that the biggest Star Wars gaming franchise of all time would make Sony's diminutive handheld its home, rather than a console powerhouse. Certainly, a game that's all about online connectivity would benefit from the additional horsepower that's demanded from a game of this kind. So, when the first footage of the game was released, I was admittedly concerned. The framerate was far from stable, and the graphics lacked the polish that I expected from a modern PSP game.

Well, a good number of my worries were put to rest when I picked up Renegade Squadron. The developers finally gained access to the PSP's full clock speed, 333MHz, and the framerate has stabilized quite nicely. Granted, the level of detail isn't what I'd like it to be, and the draw distance still leaves a lot to be desired. Considering the limitations of the PSP hardware, it does seem like the team at Rebellion have still pulled off an impressive technical feat for the handheld, especially considering how large the environments tend to be.

There's a lot to do in Renegade Squadron, and it can be quite daunting at first. Thankfully, there are tons of in-game tutorial videos that attempt to explain all of the features of the game. However, I discovered the best way to learn is to simply jump into the single player story mode, which offers far more useful advice. The tutorial will guide you through the basics of capturing bases, choosing weapons, conducting battle, and flying spacecraft. After a few levels, you'll have gained a basic understanding of Renegade Squadron's basic gameplay mechanics.