PlayStation Portable owners tired of the handheld limelight continually hogged by Nintendo’s seemingly all-conquering DS still have a little something to shout about, and that’s access to downloadable PSP game demos. Yes indeed, PSP fans wishing to take a playable sneaky peek at forthcoming titles (or wanting to try before they buy) on Sony’s sexy little piece of widescreen hardware, can do so with relative ease courtesy of the official PlayStation Portable website.

Fresh out of the blocks, Sony is now adding to its downloadable demo service with the introduction of Killzone: Liberation, which takes top billing beside other available game demos including Mercury Meltdown, MotoGP, Ridge Racer 2, World Tour Soccer 2, and the award-winning LocoRoco. Plus, beyond that already decent selection, other titles set to arrive include the likes of SOCOM: US Navy SEALs: Fireteam Bravo 2, and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror.

The (currently) free playable demos can be downloaded directly to the PlayStation Portable via a PC Internet connection and the integration of the console’s latest software update…speaking of which:

The PSP’s new Firmware release, version 3.10, offers up the following features (security-wary homebrew fans will probably want to steer clear):

* Support for PlayStation Network titles has now been expanded (this feature will make no difference those users in Europe as the required PlayStation 3 is not available before 23 March)

* The PlayStation Portable will now play MPEG-4 AVC format video files through the Location Free Player (sold separately)

* A "Conserve Memory" feature has been added as an option to View Settings located in the system’s Internet Browser file, which will assist when viewing websites with large amounts of data by decreasing visual performance.

* A new "Dynamic Normalizer" feature has been added under the system’s Sound settings, which will apply automatic volume regulation to music playback—if selected.

Note: Firmware v3.10 contains all the update features delivered by earlier versions.