Beaterator may be on the PSP (with versions coming for iPhone and iPod Touch), but it’s no game – that’s why you’re not seeing this within Game Console’spages. Rather, it’s an intuitive yet powerful and comprehensive music-making application. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a novice music maker or someone a bit more advanced; Beaterator offers as much depth as you’re comfortable with. At its simplest there’s the ‘Live Play’ mode, which allows you to create a song on the fly by toggling various samples on or off. At its most advanced, Beaterator lets you craft an entire song, right down to the individual note or beat, in the ‘Song Crafter’ mode. It can get a little bit technical and involved, but never fear – there are a number of helpful tutorial videos on offer, narrated by famed producer Timbaland. And through the Rockstar Social Club, you can even upload your tracks to share them with the Beaterator community. It’s going to be interesting to see what the community comes up with!

PROS: Incredibly simple to use. There are thousands of beats and samples at your disposal, courtesy of Timbaland and the application’s developer, Rockstar.  And you can even record your own samples using the PSP’s microphone.

CONS: The more advanced features will take some serious perseverance and dedication to master.

VERDICT: Not only is Beaterator is as close as you’re likely to get to having a recording studio in your pocket; it’s cheap and accessible to boot.