More news today, as several major film producers announce plans for further support of the UMD media format used in the PSP. Buena Vista have announced a version of The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy on the handheld platform, and Pictures has also confirmed it will launch nineteen new flicks in tandem with the PAL launch on September 1st. Films on the agenda include Ghostbusters, Bad Boys, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, The Punisher and Charlie's Angels. The likes of Hitch, Anacondas, A Knight's Tale, and are also planned.

UMD are expected to cost somewhere around the £20 mark (about $35 US), and Twentieth Century Fox have also announced a range of titles for the PAL launch, including Alien vs. Predator, Dodgeball, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and I, Robot. PAL region gamers will be able, like their counterparts, to bag a free copy of Spider-Man 2 on UMD at launch - but sadly it won't be in the box... you'll have to register your PSP instead. Buena Vista were originally the first studio to confirm PAL support for UMD, declaring "The arrival of film on UMD is the most exciting in the home entertainment arena since the arrival of DVD some seven years ago."

Finally, the online-available software 'Movies on PSP' will allow you to dispense with all that UMD nonsense, instead converting your DVDs and 'downloads' to PSP friendly formats for playing from the memory stick. The software will be out on August 12th. More soon.

By Luke Guttridge