One of the most exciting features of the new 3.30 firmware update is the ability to play back video with resolutions as high as 720x480 (DVD quality). However, many PSP users have found it nearly impossible to create files that will play in the system. As it stands, Dark_Alex's custom firmware still appears to have better video capabilities than Sony's current official firmware.

However, Chipxsd of QJ.net has been able to use Sony's Vegas video application (which starts at $90) to create a 480x272 video file that works on his system. It's unclear what that program does differently from other free programs, such as 3GP Converter and PSP Video 9, but hopefully all PSP fans will have access to full-resolution videos in time.

To download the test file, click here.

[Via IGN]

Gamespot just went hands-on with Ubisoft's suspiciously beautiful Rainbow Six: Vegas. The game, originally supposed to ship in October, has been delayed further into the holiday shopping season, into December. As mentioned earlier, the PSP iteration of the game will take place in a new story, with evil terrorist Lucas Picares trying to poison Vegas' water supply. Little does Picares know that the closest thing to water that's drunk in Vegas is vodka. Still, you and your Rainbow Six squad will have to stop him.

The game controls like most every other FPS game on the system. Although the PSP's single analog nub has proven problematic in the past, the slower and more tactical pace of the Rainbow Six franchise should fare better on the handheld. The PSP version also features many of the same gameplay options of its next-gen console brethren: You can enter a third-person view when backing up for cover, and you can lock-on selecting between body and head shots. More details should be released in the coming weeks, and we hope the development team churns out a winner.

Ruriweb has discovered some supernaturally beautiful screenshots of the PSP version of Rainbow Six. Certainly, the game doesn't match the visual intensity of its Xbox 360 brethren, but it does a fine job visually nonetheless. Everything seems a bit too stellar: the character models, the lighting and the textures. Hopefully, such beauty doesn't come at the expense of framerate or loading times. We'll certainly find out more info before the game sneaks into store shelves in October. Until then, check out more pics after the cut.

[Via PSP-Vault]

The Xbox 360 Fanboys have been having a lot of fun talking about their beloved Rainbow Six: Vegas ever since E3 this year. Well, it looks like we join in on the party. While the game certainly won't look as graphically marvelous as the Xbox 360 version, the portable version seems to be filled with features that'll (hopefully) make it worthwhile. The PSP version will get its own parallel story, and will feature single and multiplayer (Infrastructure!) gameplay. The PSP version will also have a "Terrorist Hunt" mode which is a Duck Hunt modification mode where players start at different points in a single player map and kill terrorists one-by-one.

The game will stealthily launch on the system in November. Crazy, huh?

[Via IGN]