I spent part of the morning playing Virtua Tennis: World Tour for PSP in preparation for today's multiplayer spotlight. Having not played the same for several weeks, I was taken aback with how good this game looks and plays on the PSP. It's games like World Tour and the recently released Burnout: Legends that point to a resurgence in the PSP sports/driving lineup.

　　After a blistering sports launch (okay, blistering isn't the best term for it, considering some of the crap to be found. How about hefty sports launch?) the second wave of PSP sports and driving titles are coming and things are looking up--the aforementioned Burnout is a speedy gem and Madden NFL 06 is a solid debut for the series (though reports of some ugly franchise bugs mar things).

　　That said, what's coming next is even more exciting for the handheld. If Tiger 06 halves the load times of Tiger 2005 (or, alternately, doubles the difficulty) that will be great news and the fact that Winning Eleven 9 is heading our way, despite no clear-cut American release date, is enough to keep even the most cynical sports gamer afloat with optimism.

　　After several months of worry, I'm feeling better about the sports prospects for my PSP.