Say what you want about Sony’s business model, but the company knows how to make good franchises last.  Case in point – Twisted Metal is still running, 17 years strong, with its PS3 release last month.  And now we have Wipeout, a racing series that has been around since the very beginning, under the guise of Psygnosis.  It’s been hanging around for several years, eventually making its way to every Sony platform, including the PS2 and PlayStation Portable.  A while back, it made a grand PS3 debut with the downloadable Wipeout HD, alongside its DLC counterpart Fury.  And now, the series once again returns to speed, this time on the PlayStation Vita.

It seems no matter what kind of system is launching, Ubisoft and Gameloft are on standby with some version of its long-standing Asphalt racing series.  Not that there’s anything wrong with having an arcade racer on hand, especially one where you can ram into opponents and send them crashing to a halt, Burnout-style.  But it almost seems like the development of these games has become by the numbers, wherein going for a fresh approach would’ve been more welcome.  Alas, Asphalt Injection doesn’t do that, and so it stands as an “average” pick for the system’s launch today.

Every Tuesday, Sony brings its PlayStation faithful new content, add-ons for your favorite games, Themes and avatars for your PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable. Again another standard week of PSN goods you can get, but for the most part the main draw are going to be demos. Twisted Metal is finally going to hit store shelves and the fans of  the series will be eager to get their hands on the multiplayer demo now available.  

Through out the years, video game genres have frequently changed to get ready for the next generation of new consoles. This is understandable sacrifice as developers and fans have profited over yearly growth in technology’s. However, the one game that has changed since it was first release on the first PlayStation , is now getting a completely ballsy addition to the franchise. Instead of Racing the black and white flag, fans of the series will know be racing for their life as all hell breaks lose in Ridge Racer: Unbound.    

Sony has a huge booth this year at the Consumer Electronics Show, and if you're wandering around the Central Hall, it's almost impossible to miss it.  Taking part of the action this year is the PlayStation Vita, which is set to launch next month.  The handheld has left us impressed in a number of areas, but it's with one particular demonstration that it really blew us away -- Wipeout 2048.

Ever since its release in 2010, Gran Turismo 5 has been winning the hearts of racing fans on the PlayStation 3, selling millions of copies.  Lately, the amount of DLC for the game has picked up, with new cars and content to keep fans happy.  If you somehow missed out on it, don't worry, as Sony is preparing a special "XL" version of the game that will have all that content included, and for a lower price.

I've never owned a Sony handheld, but WipeOut 2048 makes me want to join the club. The no-grav racer series has been rather quiet these past few years, its sole current-generation title (WipeOut HD) originally released as a PSN-only title. Fortunately, WipeOut seems to be speeding around the bend to make every other racer look like a virtual venture into snail-farming.