Sony PSP Coming March 24 to North America

[BJ_M]

(February 03,2005)

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today the North American launch details for its highly anticipated PSP(TM) (PlayStation(R) Portable) handheld entertainment system. Available through retail outlets on March 24, the company continues its consumer-centric legacy with the release of the PSP Value Pack for a suggested retail price of $249.99 U.S./$299.99 CND. In addition to the revolutionary PSP hardware, the PSP Value Pack contains an unprecedented added-value package of accessories and entertainment content, including 32 MB Memory Stick Duo(TM), headphones with remote control, battery pack, AC adaptor, soft case and cleaning cloth, movie/music/game video sampler UMD disc including multiple non-interactive game demos, and for the first one million PSP Value Packs shipped, a special UMD video release of the feature film Spider-Man 2 from Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Sony Computer Entertainment will manufacture one million units for sale in the North American market by the close of its fiscal year ending March 31. This figure is part of the company's total three-million-unit worldwide PSP system shipment estimate within the same time period. PSP released in Japan on December 12, 2004 and is already a hit, with more than 800,000 units shipped, including a 200,000-unit allocation that sold out on day one.

PSP sets a new standard as the first truly integrated portable entertainment system designed to provide consumers with a comprehensive entertainment experience including games, music, movies, communication, and wireless networking. Featuring graphics rendering capabilities comparable to the company's leading in-home console, PlayStation(R)2, PSP brings an unparalleled gaming experience to a portable platform, allowing users to enjoy 3D games, with high-quality, full-motion video, and high-fidelity stereo audio. PSP also allows for digital photo display and supports digital music playback in both MP3 and ATRAC formats.


"PSP will evolve and elevate portable entertainment, giving users the freedom to play full 3D games, watch movies, listen to music and connect wirelessly on their terms, their time and their place," said Kaz Hirai, president and chief executive officer, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. "More than ever, today's consumer demands access to entertainment outside the home without compromising quality. With more than 100 PSP game titles currently in development worldwide, and the ability to download and listen to digital music and view feature films with breathtaking screen quality, PSP lets users control their entertainment options, all in one package."

PSP features an unmatched 4.3-inch, 16:9 wide screen TFT LCD that displays full color (16.77 million colors) on a 480 x 272 pixel high-resolution screen. PSP also comes complete with built-in stereo speakers, exterior headphone connector and diverse input/output connectors such as USB 2.0, and 802.11b (Wi-Fi) wireless LAN, enabling users to connect to the Internet and play online via a wireless network.* Up to 16 PSPs in the vicinity can also be connected to each other directly in ad-hoc mode, allowing for wireless head-to-head competition. In addition, wireless capabilities will allow software and data to be downloaded to a PSP and saved onto a Memory Stick Duo.

PSP also adopts a newly developed proprietary, compact, but high-capacity optical disc, Universal Media Disc (UMD(TM)), as its storage medium. UMD is the next-generation compact storage media, only 60mm in diameter but can store up to 1.8GB of digital data -- more than three times the data held on a CD-ROM. A broad range of digital entertainment content such as high quality 3D games, music, movies, video clips and other programs can be distributed on UMD. To protect this content, a robust copyright protection system has been developed for UMD, which utilizes a combination of a unique disc ID, 128 bit AES encryption keys for the media, and individual ID for each PSP hardware unit.

PSP(TM) (PlayStation(R) Portable) is a new portable entertainment system that allows users to enjoy 3D games, high-quality full-motion video, and high-fidelity stereo audio. With graphics rendering capability comparable to that of PlayStation(R)2, PSP features a 4.3 inch widescreen, high-resolution TFT display. PSP also adopts a newly developed compact but high-capacity (1.8GB) optical disc, Universal Media Disc (UMD(TM)), as its storage medium. With a wide range of accessories and connectivity options, including Memory Stick Duo, USB 2.0, IR port and WiFi wireless LAN, PSP is the new entertainment platform from PlayStation.

[krazydl]

Can't wait to get my hands on this....

[Nilfennasion]

PSP features a 4.3 inch widescreen, high-resolution TFT display.

I'll pass. One of the many quirks I have is that I like to see things big and bold, which kind of rules this out. Along with any other handheld.

[slimmx]

I'll pass too. Even though 4.3" screen seems pretty good size to me. I watch movies on my gmini400 which has a 2.2" screen.

[BJ_M]

always something new coming out

[BJ_M]

the gameboy advance SP has a nice picture -- its not quite 4" .... not sure as my son never lets me touch it .

but the image looks good

[slimmx]

always something new coming out

What's that? I never seen that before. It looks like a mod.

[tacoman97x]

If some Devo group can develop software to play divx/xvid on it, I will purshase it..... wonder if it will be able to access 1GB memory sticks...

[shelbyGT]

Too pricey for me, pass (until prices come down)

[jetblac]

If some Devo group can develop software to play divx/xvid on it, I will purshase it..... wonder if it will be able to access 1GB memory sticks...

1gb memory stick Duo
Right now i'm searching for a good MP4 encoder

[matj]

The website PSP Advanced has a link to some software for encoding. I just read about it yesterday. Who knows how well it works.

http://psp.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=1154

[Gregg]

One of the things that make my life much more easier is I never touch video/computer games. For me this is 100% waste of time. Period.

[raffie]

One of the things that make my life much more easier is I never touch video/computer games. For me this is 100% waste of time. Period.

I had the same attitude before I started playing Worms (armageddon, 3D, Forts). I actually bought a Gamboy Advance second hand JUST because it had a worms game with it, never bought another game for it
So, for me to buy a PSP, there would have to be Worms games for it. (I'm absolutely serious btw)

[BJ_M]

The website PSP Advanced has a link to some software for encoding. I just read about it yesterday. Who knows how well it works.

http://psp.advancedmn.com/article.php?artid=1154

thats a nice program ( http://www.pspvideo9.com/index.html ) for all mp4 encoding it seems ...

also

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000980024404

HOW-TO: Get videos and DVDs onto your Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) for free

[Tidy]

A friend of mine has a PSP and my comment is "Unremarkable". To be honest I was not impressed at all.

[RottenFoxBreath]

i bought one,and its just sitting there,not doing much.
ive ordered a couple of games,and played friends in the meantime,screen marks too easily(seems to be soft plastic,so scratches are a pain),and that damn square buttons just too "off",seems like a flaw,but sony say its not.ive got about 15 dead pixels on and around the screen,lik-sang will only think about repairing it if i send it all the way back to them,so i guess im stuck with it,sony want nothing to do with them i hear,so thats that,and also the screens far too shiny for its own good,still reflective in darker light,and useless in bright daylight.
my wife prefers our daughters nintendo DS,i like its touch screen,there games seem more catered for gaming,its small,fits in pocket,and the minigames on mario and wario are a godsend when the wife goes shopping.i dont think now i need a full on one stop shop for all things multimedia.ive got several pieces of gear that do that job well enoughand besides,spiderman on a 4" screen looks shit,doesnt even compare to my home kit,which i the way i like it

[ipgpe13]

Just got mine this morning and I can not put it down. Looks and plays great, no bad pixels or control problems so far. The graphics on the the Ridge Racer game I got are amazing. I think they are almost on par with the graphics on the PS2 taking into account the screen size.

The audio is great too, the speakers are pretty strong and clear even with out head phones.

The screen is very easy to smudge and scatch, I will have to put on a screen protector as soon as I get home.

I watched some of the Spiderman 2 disc and I think the movie quality is really good, about the same if not better than the quality of my portable DVD player.

I have to try out some mp3's, jpg's and home made videos later tonight, if I can put down the games for a bit.

So far I think it has lived up to all the hype, it really is a step above what is available now. Just have to hope the battery life works out well.