PSP goes to language school

The PSP isn’t satisfied with just being multi-talented and multimedia – it’ll soon be multilingual too thanks to a new interactive language translator.

As you can see above, the Talkman isn’t just a ‘French for xenophobes’ textbook on UMD – it lets you talk to a cosmopolitan blue parrot called Max via a bundled microphone.

Max is an engaging but schizophrenic chap who changes his personality from language to language.

In ‘talk’ mode, he can offer straight translations and answer questions in English, French, German, Italian or Japanese. There’s also a bookmark function to help you find particular words easily.

If you fancy testing whether or not your German evening class was worthwhile, you can go into ‘game’ mode. Our friend Max will then give you a pronunciation for you to mimic and rate your accent, or let you try and work out the meaning of a sentence in his ‘listening’ game.

Alongside the language functions, the disc also offers handy extras for travelling like a world clock, alarm and voice memo.

It makes a change from the flow of generic, crossover titles like Need for Speed and Fifa. The Stuff office recently discovered the addictive pleasures of Zookeeper on the DS, and Talkman could be a welcome injection of Nintendo quirk for the PSP.

Its UK launch date is 9th June – just when our famously cosmopolitan football fans will be travelling to Germany – and the price is expected to be under £20.