WipEout returns to PSP

Sony has announced that a new WipEout game for PSP will be released this September, courtesy of our old pals Studio Liverpool.

WipEout Pulse promises 24 new, reversible circuits to race around in new ships shooting people with new weapons while listening to new licensed music, including songs by Mason, Loco Dice and Stanton Warriors. God I feel old.

You'll be able to race against your friends in ad hoc and infrastructure (Internet!) modes, coating yourself in the liveries of eight new in-game racing teams, including one called EG-X. Good name.

More impressive, Sony reckons, will be in the introduction of a new track element called the "Mag-Strip" - this will lock ships to the surface of the track temporarily, allowing level designers to include things like loops, vertical drops and 90-degree angled sections to mess with your head.

Which, it turns out, they will be doing in seven game modes, with a Training section also introduced to show you everything from steering to shooting - something that's bound to come in handy for gamers more used to wheely racecars.

Finally, there'll be scope for personalisation and showing off, with the option to store your own music (MP3s) on a Memory Stick and listen along while you play, while a Photo Mode will allow you to take shots of your ship and post them online. Kids these days.

And, says Sony, the fun won't stop in September either, with downloadable content lined up for launch (why not put it on the disc then?) and afterwards, including new tracks, ships and tunes.

It's so exciting they emailed it to us eight times. Which, considering they were carrying these first screenshots on their backs, surely went above and beyond. Anyway, expect more soon, as we'll be sure to keep our finger on the, er, Pulse.