WipEout Pulse gravitating towards PSP

Sony Europe has just announced a PSP sequel to the excellent WipEout Pure, which entertained us greatly when it turned up to support the handheld's UK launch on September 1st, 2005.

Now, the manufacturer is typically a fan of anniversaries (the UK PS2 was originally due to launch five years to the day after PSone – September 29th, 2000 – before it suffered a little delay due to supply issues, to name one example) so we're not ruling out a September 1st for Pulse, but nothing as precise has been officially confirmed yet.

So far all we know is the game promises 24 new tracks, eight racing teams and seven game modes, including a comprehensive Training option to introduce newcomers to the joy of anti-gravity combat racing.

One interesting new feature has also been revealed – the Mag Strip, which locks your ship to the track's surface, thereby enabling the inclusion of wilder track design features such as loops and vertical sections.

As with its predecessor, Pulse is to benefit from downloadable content in the form of additional tracks, ships and music (to complement an already licence-heavy soundtrack featuring the likes of Loco Dice and Stanton Warriors, as well as any of your own tunes that may reside in your Memory Stick).

Other than mutterings about ad hoc and infrastructure multiplayer, as well as some very smooth looking visuals, that's as much as we've got out of Sony so far.

Obviously we'll let you know more as soon as we've travelled further down this potentially very exciting road. Click 'Track It!' to stay on course.