The first screenshots of the Pro Cycling Manager 2009 PSP version have been released along with information on what to expect from this new handheld game.

The main new feature is that track mode has now been implented to the PSP version. The official announcement says that 5 disciplines have been added, and these are: Sprint, Keirin, Elimination, 200 metres Time Trial and Points Race.
Another much missed feature in the 2007 version was the possibility of playing multiplayer. This has also been added, although it's a bit unsure if it's possible to play over the internet or only through LAN.

Other than that, there's 18 teams + 20 bonus teams which can be unlocked, and you can participate in 20 races, including the 2009 Vuelta and Tour de France.

Read the full description here and / or take a look at the screenshots here.

Source: PCMGeeks.dk

Since we're now very close to the release of PCM09, the media people at Focus/Cyanide thought it was time for another batch of screenshots of Pro Cycling Manager 2009. There's no new information in the press release, so you only have to 'worry' about the new screens - although they do actually show something new: podium girls!

Have a look in our screenshot section right here.

The action is still yet to come in the queen stage of Giro d'Italia, so while we're waiting for Denis Menchov to go crazy on the last mountain, here's the Weekly News edition 73.

Cyanide releases new game
A while ago, we reported that Cyanide was working on a free-of-charge (or free-to-play, as Cyanide puts it) multiplayer game called Dungeon Party. The game is taking place in a crazy virtual world where you compete with a team vs. another one to win treasures. It sounds fun - I haven't had time to play it myself just yet, though.

Anyway, the game has now been released, and you can find more information about it on the official website. And for those really interested, the game has actually been reviewed by the website Free MMO Gamer, scoring 7 out of 10 with one of the conclusions being that "Dungeon Party has everything to be big among the free MMOs". Last, but not least, make sure to check out PCM.daily's thread for the game.

... and announces a new one
Having released one game doesn't mean that Cyanide is going to sit back and relax, it seems. They've acquired the rights to make a game based on George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" book series. There's not much information about what kind of game Cyanide is going to make, but I guess we'll know more soon.

You can read the press release here.

Paul-Boogerd World Champion in PCM08/Road
Although it's not something that's been mentioned a lot here at PCM.daily, the official World Championship is currently being held, divided into Road, Elimination and Keirin. So far, only the Road Championships have been played, and this ended out with Paul-Boogerd taking the championship. This means that he can now call himself World Champion.

Next up is the championships in elimination which will be held from the 29th of May until the 31st. Several members of PCM.daily are subscribed, so hopefully some of us will be able to set our mark on the championship.

More info can be found on the website. Good luck to everyone :)

PCM09 gold tomorrow?
Good news for everyone eager to play Pro Cycling Manager 2009: The game is, according to our information, going gold tomorrow, meaning that the final countdown can start. The game is still being tested by the 46 community beta testers + in-house beta testers, and hopefully, Cyanide will be able to deliver a good product for us when the game is released on the 18th of June.

There's still no news about the demo, though.

Now that we're getting closer to the release of PCM09, it's also time to reveal what the covers of the games will look like. The international cover for England, Benelux, France and probably a few other countries was revealed a while ago - have a look at it here - and now it's time for the Scandinavian one.

As always, it's Saxo Bank (previously CSC) which is dominating the front, and I'm sure that we'll once again have a bunch of not-so-happy Norwegians (and I guess also Swedish people, now that they suddenly have some rather good riders).

The game will be released in Denmark (and probably also Norway) on the 26th of June.

(Click the picture to enlarge)

TeamSpeak is back
A few months ago, PCM.daily member Doddy13 launched a TeamSpeak server which was especially used for online gaming when the PCM.daily Track Team met other sites for online 'matches' in PCM. In the left-side menu, we had a TeamSpeak Viewer which showed who were online - this function is now back, now in a more simple version, though.

During the Giro, it's mostly used to talk about today's stage, so if you have a microphone, feel free to join us. You need the TeamSpeak Client. Once installed, open it, select Quick Connect and type in 195.74.52.108:8776 - and you're connected.

Giro d'Italia Fantasy Game
Speaking of the Giro, as you probably know, several fantasy manager games are available at cycling sites. One of them is VeloGames.com, and rovven7 suggested making a PCM.daily League, which was done a few moments later by t-baum. Although the Giro has already started, you're more than welcome to set your team and join the league. You can read more about the league in this forum thread.

Also remember to use your PCM$ on the Giro bets which are available every day in the right hand side of this website.

GPS Kicker updated to v0.9
The GPS Kicker, made by Impish, which makes it possible to create stages from GPS files and Google Earth, has been updated to v0.9, enabling a few new options. You can read more about this excellent tool in the forum, and download the latest version from our DL section.

18 through to the next round in World Championship
As we reported last week, PCMBenelux is hosting the official World Championship in Pro Cycling Manager 2008. On the 9th and 10th, the first round of the Road Cycling part of the championship was played, but due to many people not showing up, everyone who did show up are through to the next round.

For the next round, there's also been some rule changes. So if you're still in, check the official thread here at PCM.daily or go to the website.

44 % wants to win Paris-Roubaix
For c. a month, we had a poll running, asking which classic (of the ones mentioned) you'd most like to win if you were a pro cyclist - and it turned out to be the poll with most votes ever here at PCM.daily with 883 votes. 44 % of these votes went to Paris-Roubaix while 21 % of you want to win Liege - Bastogne - Liege. In the bottom of the list, we find Gent-Wevelgem, which only received 7 votes.

The new poll is whether or not Boonen should be suspended after his 2nd (or 3rd) positive cocaine test. This poll won't be open for just as long, so hurry up and vote now ;)