LOS ANGELES — The PSP had a great run. At least according to Sony—and its sales numbers. But those numbers couldn't touch Nintendo's DS, and the PSP's critics have consistently skewered its lackluster games, while consumers felt the device was too restricted to shine fully. And despite the recent news that users will be able to download movies from the PlayStation Network and watch them on the PSP, the end might be near for this embattled little handheld.

When EA releases the highly anticipated Spore in September, the full game will show up on PC, Mac and a more limited spin-off will be available for the Nintendo DS, iPod Touch and Apple iPhone, as well as various other cellphones. Spore creator Will Wright recently mentioned that a version is currently being developed for the Wii, and although nothing official has been announced, it's safe to say that the rest of the next-gen consoles will see the game at some point. The one major platform not invited to the party: the PlayStation Portable.

Although the PSP doesn't have a touch-sensitive or tilt-control interface, it's at least as good of a platform as a standard mobile phone. And the PSP's network capabilities are well-suited to the community-oriented Spore—in the phone version of Spore Origins, you can upload your primordial creation and pit it against other beasts in the Flash-based Spore Arena. That way, having a fancy iPhone doesn't give you an advantage against an old-school flip phone, and neither will a faster PC or Mac. EA wouldn't say why Spore is skipping the PSP, but it's easy to imagine that the game wouldn't mesh with Sony's PlayStation Network.

We tried out Spore on all of the currently available platforms, and while the handheld/phone versions aren't nearly as epic as the full version, Spore Origins on an iPod Touch was completely addictive. You steer your swimming organism by tilting the screen, which is relatively responsive, and has a loose, unpredictable feel that makes the relatively repetitive gameplay surprisingly intense. If your beast were running around, the tilt would feel wrong. But when you accidentally veer into another creature too big to eat, or can't quite pull off the precision bank you were hoping for, it makes sense because you're a freakish little creature undulating through a primordial soup, not a crack fighter pilot.

The creature editing, however, was sluggish on the iPod Touch. We had to tap the same spot repeatedly to select body parts. And using both fingers to pinch the creature's shape, making it leaner or more bulbous, was a mess. Neal Alcaraz, EA Mobile's Senior Manager of Product Marketing, didn't do much better, but he pointed out that the game isn't final yet—it comes out in September, along with the rest of the Spore titles. Alcaraz couldn't confirm the price, but given the price of similar EA mobile games, it's likely Spore Origins will cost around $10.

Which is another problem for the PSP. New titles for the handheld tend to cost $40. Spore Origins looks at least as good as anything on the PSP. The tilt control is excellent, the upgrade system is incredibly deep, and if EA can release it for $10, the PSP will become even more irrelevant.

Not that the PSP will disappear, but if Sony's press conference yesterday is any measure, the handheld isn't exactly breaking new ground. It can play downloaded movies, but so can the iPhone, iPod, Zune and tons of other portable media players.

When the lights dimmed at the Sony press conference for the trailer for the forthcoming PSP game Resistance: Redemption, the next few minutes were strangely uncomfortable. The PSP version of Resistance looks flat-out bad. The graphics are underwhelming—as rough and pixilated as Spore Origins is clean and elegant. It looks like yet another shooter awkwardly crammed into a handheld, desperately hoping to capitalize on the good will generated by one of the PS3's most popular games. And when Resistance: Redemption shuffles quietly onto the shelves and tries to hold the attention of the hardcore gaming crowd for a few months longer, Spore on the iPhone will most likely be making history. —Erik Sofge