Islamic magazine expands the uses for Sony’s PSP

Sony has openly touted the PSP as a media player, games machine, web browser, and mp3 player.  However, through the proliferation of self-published magazines and podcasts, the PSP is rapidly becoming the medium of choice for street-level digital broadcasting. Most magazines for the PSP focus on video gaming, film, and music reviews, but a growing number of publications deal with with issues of wider social relevance.

 “The Raise” is a new magazine published by the Cyberjaya Multimedia University in Malaysia, which provides information and news of interest to Muslim PSP users worldwide.  The first issue of the magazine, which is available in English, features a video documentary about the effects of 9/11 on the Muslim population, as well as commentary and articles about religious Islam.  Whether or not you are a Muslim it is worth checking out this magazine, just to see what other people are doing with the PSP as an artistic medium.  It might even insipre you to start your own PSP ‘zine…

Video game players and makers have fought vigorously to have their work taken seriously by the mainstream media and the academic community as a form of art and social commentary.  Sadly, much of the current debate focuses only on the negative effects of  video games on society.  Examples like ”The Raise” show that video gamers are not only a diverse bunch, but also that we care about issues like religion and politics, and that we have meaningful things to say about these topics.  Someday the mainstream press will take video games and gamers seriously, but until then, we have to keep finding new and creative ways to use the technologies we have and emphasize the positive aspects of gaming. 

If you publish a PSP ‘zine and would like to see it featured in Portable Video Gamer, please let us know about it. 

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