Sony's adding some heavy back-up to their Playstation Portable this fall. Aside from the arrival of the brand spanking new PSP 3000, the handheld's networking capabilities will further expand via a firmware update.

Starting this fall, PSP owners will be able to gain access to the Playstation Store straight from their device. No longer will they have to plug in their portables to PS3s or PCs, as users will simply download directly from their PSP. And on top of that, the network pairing of the PSP to the PS3 will be significantly enhanced by being able to take select PSP titles's ad-hoc multiplayer modes online through the PS3. While playing through the system, the PS3 can be used to message and chat with other players, as well as look for online matches. Sweet!

Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G, published by Capcom, is one of the initial titles capable of the new PSP-PS3 networking capability. More titles will be announced soon.

Source