Mobile/PDA About Us Advertise here


		User name	Password

		Not registered yet? Register here. Lost your password? Click here.

Browse by topic

News

PSP goes on sale in the U.S.

24 March 2005 12:58 by Petteri "dRD" Pyyny | 57 comments

Sony's much-anticipated handheld console, PSP (PlayStation Portable) went on sale in the United States today. According to early reports, enthustiasts were queuing outside game stores across the U.S. to get the console that has already proven to be a hit in its origin country, Japan.

However, despite PSP's technical superiority, it has faced stiff competition from Nintendo DS which was launched slightly before the PSP and has been hailed due its dual-screen design and other innovative ideas (whereas PSP's strengths are with the hardware power).

First million units sold in the States will be bundled with Spider-Man 2 movie, released on Sony's proprietary UMD format that PSP uses for its games and other content. In the U.S., PSP costs appx. $250 (appx. €193).

Sony hasn't still decided an exact date for PSP's European release, but according to the company it is still "few months away".

Source: BBC

Permalink to this article

European PSP release moved to September (26 April 2005)

500,000 PSP consoles sold in two days (7 April 2005)

Sony ordered to halt U.S. Playstation sales (28 March 2005)

« Previous news article
Conrexx: RITEK G05 media quality issues solved by firmware updates

Next news article »
Doctor Who leak culprit sacked

Post your comment

Discuss this article!	There are more user comments available, read them here
rastasker (Inactive) 25 March 2005 20:06
how many movies can be stored with only one gig memory stick?? or do the movies go somwere else? [ + quote]
knoxl (Junior Member) 25 March 2005 20:11
only mpegs can be stored on memory sticks from you pc....More movies besides spider man 2 will be released on UMD in April starting at $15 [ + quote]
rastasker (Inactive) 25 March 2005 20:15
well i can use a p2p client and download the movies then download straght on the psp [ + quote]
knoxl (Junior Member) 25 March 2005 20:17
yes as long as its mpeg format [ + quote]
rastasker (Inactive) 25 March 2005 20:31
so i take it mpeg is alot smaller as so it takes up less space? [ + quote]
knoxl (Junior Member) 25 March 2005 20:34
yes and less quality [ + quote]
jawdrop (Inactive) 25 March 2005 20:42
if it is not mpeg, you can use conversion tool to convert to MP4 file format. [ + quote]
troie18 (Newbie) 26 March 2005 2:29
PSP is great. No doubt about that. But it could've been a lot better. Suggestions: R2 and L2 has to be added. Memory Stick worth 40 GB or if you can plug in a USB cable from the PSP to a Mini Hard Drive worth 250GB. That would be awesome!!!! Games are too expensive. $50? comon now. at least make it $20-30. I have a 6.1 Surround Sound System and a PS2. I don't travel a lot, so I might wait til it drops down to $150. [ + quote]
jrg9662 (Junior Member) 26 March 2005 3:06
Wait for $150? Wont happen until xbox2/ps3 have been out for 6 months or so. Maybe this time next year. Movies will be in new UMD format. I dont believe they can be stored on the system. [ + quote]
sniperg (Newbie) 26 March 2005 5:54
just brought psp is awesome [ + quote]
rastasker (Inactive) 26 March 2005 20:06
if some one was to buy it in japan would it equal the same amount as ini america? [ + quote]
knoxl (Junior Member) 26 March 2005 20:18
thats dumb [ + quote]
pcshateme (Inactive) 27 March 2005 4:47
anyone know if theres any talk of recordable umd media? cause a 128mb memory card aint gonna cut it for movies (i know theres a 1gig but its like $150) [ + quote]
Caboman (Newbie) 27 March 2005 7:26
people are complaining it has dead pixels!!!!!! [ + quote]
KingPep (Newbie) 27 March 2005 10:32
For the People Complaining about not having a Camera built in, I read that $ony are Designing a EYETOY Cam, the same as the 1 on PS2, to use on the PSP, Well that will be very Cool, see the Other person on there PSP, & Hear them as well, i should Imagine!!!! Can't wait for the PSP in England, Will be Buying 1, thats for sure!!!! [ + quote]
knoxl (Junior Member) 27 March 2005 14:03
any dead pixels sony will replace it but some arent noticeable anyway [ + quote]
williej (Member) 27 March 2005 18:03
I got one from Wal-Mart ... the value pack ... put it on layaway though as an investment. I should be getting it out soon ... can't wait ... [ + quote]
philipman (Senior Member) 27 March 2005 18:25
Geting mine by the end of the week with a 1gb card so I can save music and movies to it. memorex is the best! [ + quote]
killa85rz (Inactive) 27 March 2005 23:12
u buch of luckey bastards. i have to wait till late 2005 like so maney othere psp fans in australia. [ + quote]
wonderboy (Inactive) 28 March 2005 3:04
Look for the one gig memory on pricegrabber found it for like 123.99 not too bad but hey. as for how many movies you can fit on a 1 gig about 2 movies. anyone wanting to convert video should definately get PSP9 video encoder. lots of files can be converted but watch out for those nasty WMV files. [ + quote]
pcshateme (Inactive) 28 March 2005 6:02
well for a college student working for a little over minimum wage a $150 memory cards pretty pricey when you consider i have to spend $250 on a system and another $40 on a game thats $540! [ + quote]
pcshateme (Inactive) 28 March 2005 6:03
i mean 440- still expencive [ + quote]
rederived (Newbie) 30 March 2005 6:39
Just for all your info, movies can be converted to mp4 format and played from a memory stick. It's not a tough process. [ + quote]
pcshateme (Inactive) 30 March 2005 8:20
theres a program called 3gp converter that does the conversions quickly but if you want decent quality video its about 3.5 megs a minute, thats alot consindering how much the cards are and the limited capacity they have. [ + quote]
pcshateme (Inactive) 30 March 2005 8:23
if you use 384k video and 96k audio you can only store 36 minutes of video on a 128mb card [ + quote]
grundle (Junior Member) 5 April 2005 14:01
PLEASE PLEASE HELP i am in the UK and am going away for a few months to india and looking to get a PSP i know there not out in the UK but will the PSP have regionalised games (like all consoles) ie so usa games wont work on a UK machine and vice versa or is the PSP one international forgot as i was considering getting a USA PSP online... please help!! Grant [ + quote]