RECOMMENDED PSP DOWNLOAD SITES FOR GAMES AND MUSIC?

At least for games. There two legal ways to distribute games for the PSP. The first is via a UMD, which fits into the slot on the back, and the second is making a flash game that will run in the web browser. All the other methods tend to involve something either illegal or at least legally questionable methods.

Music shouldn't be a real problem. Any CDs you have, you could rip to MP3, put on a memory stick, and use with your PSP. You should also be able to play AAC files from Apple's iTunes with some of the more recent firmware releases. I'm not aware of any music sites specifically targeting the PSP, and considering how badly the PSP movie idea flopped, I doubt there would be any left if they existed in the first place.

So unless some site is talking about a Netflix style mail order game rental system, or they deal in flash games, it's not legal, free or subscription based.

Also, Cnet, like almost every other major company, subcontracts its advertising. No one at Cnet is personally verifying every place that advertises on their site. However, if you pop over to the forum feedback forum here, and mention these ads there, someone may or may not get around to looking into it. Probably depends on how long the person has been working for Cnet. If they're new, and still eager to please, chances are good. If they're a seasoned veteran, with the will to live completely beaten out of them, you're on your own.

For music, there is Sony Connect (www.connect.com , for the States). It isn't terribly user friendly, and the sound quality is subpar compared to iTunes and eMusic, but the selection is actually quite broad. There's psp.connect.com for video, but it's a half-hearted attempt at video site and only has clips and amateur stuff - no TV shows or movies yet.

For now, tracks purchased from iTunes will *not* work on the PSP - they only work on iPods. However, it's pretty certain that when they release DRM-free tracks, they will work on the PSP.

If you want to try demos of games, try a site like pspfanboy.com or even atraclife.com - they have archives of demos that have been released. Other than that, other sites that claim to have game/movie downloads are all going to be a bit sketchy.

I suggest you wait a couple of months - there'll be an announcement in the next little while about a new movie/music download store for the PSP.

-Nav