Burnout Legends skids to stores

The Burnout franchise has made a name for itself with its diabolically satisfying crash-filled racing gameplay. The spectacular wrecks in the game make The World's Scariest Police Chases look like bumper cars. That over-the-top action was limited to the comforts of the living room, as Burnout never made it onto a portable system.

Today, however, all the crazy carnage is one step closer to portable, as Electronic Arts announced that Burnout Legends for the PSP has shipped to retailers. EA also today confirmed a DS version of Burnout Legends, which will speed onto Nintendo's portable this November.

The game is a sort of "Best of Burnout" compilation, taking some of the series' popular modes and shrinking them onto the PSP. Among the previous modes given more life on the go are Burnout 3: Takedown's crash mode, Burnout 2's pursuit mode, and the standard race, time attack, and multiplayer modes (now with wireless connectivity).

The game was developed by the UK company Criterion, which has taken its talents off the road with Black, a first-person shooter expected to ship in 2006 for the Xbox and PlayStation 2. The studio released the first official trailer for the shooter yesterday.

Burnout Legends is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and older, and it retails for $49.99.