There are plenty of good games out there beyond what’s on the PC. Whether you also own a PS2, Xbox, GameCube, PSP, DS, or—heaven help you—an N-gage, we’re here to help. So here’s our pick for the best of the console world now shipping to store shelves.

Sony’s PSP

Normally, this is the spot where we single out a console game that we feel you simply have to pick up. This month, though, it’s a little different. Sony’s handheld, the PSP, could very well be the next Walkman. We are not exaggerating here—every editor at CGW has a PSP, and we’re hooked.

There are already a bag load of good games—which we’ll get to in a second—but Sony’s new handheld is capable of a whole lot more. We’ve used ours to read comics, listen to a couple hours’ worth of music, and even watch DVDs ripped onto Memory Stick Duos (tip No. 27: Buy SanDisk’s 1GB memory card if you can find one—its cards are reliable and relatively inexpensive at $150). And the PSP is quickly becoming a hacker’s dream machine, as people are finding ways to put console emulators, Web browsers, and more onto the new portable.

As for what should be on your play list: Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Wipeout Pure, Ridge Racer, and the digital crack known as Lumines. Also promising at press time are Rockstar Games’ PSP versions of GTA: Liberty City Stories and Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition.

Copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Computer Gaming World.