Memory stick, system and UMD disc

PSP Invades Retail



At midnight madness sales across the country and at most major retailers today that put a high priority on videogames, Sony's PlayStation Portable has been released and is being snapped up by hungry consumers ready to get their hands on this hand-held gaming device that can play slick 3D games, music and movies. Sony sent out nearly a million units of the system in anticipation of high demand, and has a plan in place should retailers burn through that supply.

The basic unit, which comes with Spider-Man 2 on UMD format, retails for around $250, while various high priced bundles packages from specialty stores like EB Games and GameStop offer extra goodies, the system and a number of launch titles. We assume that the PSP will be sold out in short order, as early reports from the frontlines report, but we'll have to wait for the hard numbers before we can make an evaluation on its first day success. We'll have a hands on report about the system later today, but for now let's take a closer look at the system's specs and the titles that are available for it:

PSP front view

The Specs



The system measures at around 6.7 inches long by 2.9 inches wide (and .9 in thickness, and weighs less than 1 lbs. The system's case is a standard black, and features a 4.3 inch, 16:9 wide LCD display capable of resolutions of 480 x 272 pixel at 16.77 million colors. PSP's memory consist of 32 MB of main memory and 4MB of embedded DRAM. PSP supports the UMD format for games and movies, offers a USB 2.0 port, support for Memory Stick Duo, and an infrared port.

The system offers headset support, two built in speakers, and features a standard directional button setup as well as analog stick and 4-buttons and the now standard two shoulder buttons. The system also supports WiFi wireless multiplayer gaming - usually for up to four players. A number of new titles will take advantage of many of these features at launch, with more titles to be announced in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

PSP playing GT4

The Games



At launch the PSP will have a number of promising games ready for sale. Here's a brief overview of some of the titles that players can expect to see on retail shelves beginning this week and beyond:



Ape Escape: On The Loose, World Tour Soccer, Wipeout Pure, Twisted Metal: Head-On, Gretzky NHL, MLB, NBA, and ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails and from SCEA; Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower from Capcom; Dynasty Warriors from Koei; NBA Street Showdown, Need For Speed Underground Rivals, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, NFL Street 2 Unleashed, FIFA Soccer 2005, MVP Baseball from EA; Lumines from UbiSoft; Metal Gear Acid, Rengoku: Tower of Purgatory from Konami; Smart Bomb from Eidos; Ridge Racer from Namco; Spider-Man 2 and Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix from Activision; and the only multiplayer action RPG in the bunch - Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade from Sony Online Entertainment.

Look for the PSP wherever videogames and videogames systems are sold. We'll keep you posted on the success or shortcomings of this system at launch as we learn more. Stay tuned! In the meantime check out Playstation.com for more details on all things PSP.