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PSP Games (Sony PlayStation Portable)

Sony PSP History and Development Schedule

Platform name: PSP™
Display: Wide screen (16:9) TFT LCD with backlight (480 x 272 dots)
Disc medium: “UMD” 60mm optical secured ROM disc with cartridge (1.8GB)
Video CODEC: MPEG4
Graphics: 3D Polygon/NURBS
Sound: PCM (built-in stereo speakers, stereo headphone output)
I/O: USB 2.0, Memory StickTM slot
Battery: Rechargeable (lithium-ion)

E3 2003: SONY ENTERS HANDHELD MARKET
Posted: 19/5/2003 at 10:54:18 GMT

PSP: “‘Walkman’” of the 21st century”…

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc (SCEI) hopes to reach a wider audience with the introduction of a new all in one portable entertainment platform entitled PSP, scheduled for release in Q4 2004.

Unveiled at last week’s E3 in Los Angeles, the move pitches SCEI against both Nintendo’s Game Boy Advance and Nokia’s N-Gage, which is set to launch this autumn.

“Just as PlayStation and PlayStation 2 revolutionized in-home computer entertainment, we aim to become a new driving force in the portable entertainment platform arena,” said Ken Kutaragi, president and CEO, SCEI. “The world of PlayStation encompasses hundreds of millions of users worldwide, most of whom view computer entertainment as part of their everyday lives.

“We look forward to extending the experience through a portable entertainment platform, and are excited about the possibilities and impact 'PSP' will have on the market,” he continued. “Along with game applications, 'PSP' will have a huge potential for delivering other forms of entertainment as well as live entertainment through the network, anywhere, anytime. “This is the 'Walkman' of the 21st century.”

The foundation of the PSP is Universal Media Disc (UMD), which comprises60mm optical disc in a cartridge – which has huge advantages, such as shorted turn around time for manufacturing, larger data capacity and lower media costs.

PSP will feature a wide screen (480 x 272 pixel) TFT LCD monitor with backlight, with 3D rendering enhanced by curved surfaces and conventional polygons. It will also have a USB 2.0 port.

SCEI is set to offer PC-based development tools starting from this autumn, with a new license scheme for PSP software development to be announced in summer 2003.

Details on pricing will be released closer to the date.

PSP CONCEPT MODEL REVEALED FOR FIRST TIME

Posted: 5/11/2003 at 11:13:53 GMT

Kutaragi unveils console to U.S. …

Sony PSP Concept

Sony has unveiled a prototype of its PSP during a presentation to U.S. investors in New York, with Ken Kutaragi reiterating the idea this console will be “the Walkman of the future”.

Kutaragi, Sony’s executive deputy president and head of its gaming business, also said the firm plans to eventually add telecommunications features to PSP, suggesting the console would also have mobile phone functionality.

The concept model displayed at the presentation was a one-piece device, with a bright colour screen roughly 4.5 inches (11.4 cm) in diameter.

“PSP will not be one kind of product,” Kutaragi told Reuters. It is a platform of related devices with the capacity to add or subtract features, he said, while stressing that final design details are not expected to be revealed until later.

The presentation also saw Sony reiterate plans to restore profitability at the company.

SONY'S PSP SET FOR NOVEMBER LAUNCH

Posted: 6/1/2004 at 11:39:13 GMT

Global launch date...

Sony PSP Concept

Above: Concept design of the PSP

Sony Europe’s recently-appointed head Chris Deering has given a global launch date target for the company's hotly anticipated handheld console, the PSP.

"The target date for its global launch is November 2004," Deering is quoted as saying in an interview published on Sony's own website, although he conceded that this was not an officially confirmed date. He described the PSP as the "Walkman of the next century; it brings TV quality of portable gaming into existence for the first time."

On the question of compatibility, Deering commented: "It's true that PSP is not directly compatible with PSone or PlayStation 2, but it may have several areas of compatibility, through the Memory Stick, with PSX."

He also commented on the approaching arrival of Sony's other new product, the PSX, saying: "The signs in Japan are that the interest in PSX is rapidly skyrocketing; the hits on the website, the pre-orders on the mail order side of the business, the .com delivery method, as well as pre-orders in stores would suggest that there's a revolution about to happen, and we're very excited that it's coming to Europe."

KUJU PLEDGES FULL SUPPORT TO PSP

Posted: 19/3/2004 at 12:26:48 GMT

Exclusive team formed…

Kuju Entertainment has erected a team specifically to handle development of games for Sony’s forthcoming PSP platform.

The team will initially be working on the development of technology, tools and engines which will underpin future Kuju PSP products. PSP is expected to launch in PAL regions in early 2005.

Jonathan Newth, managing director of Kuju enthused: “Kuju is always at the forefront of technology development and we are very excited to be working on PSP. We are working closely with Sony on the new platform and hope to unveil some early work in progress over the coming months.”

The PSP’s first major public appearance is scheduled at the Tokyo Game Show in the autumn of 2004. It will play games, movies, and music and perform other, as yet unconfirmed functions.

KEY PSP TECHNICAL DISCUSSIONS SLATED FOR SEPT

Posted: 16/7/2004 at 15:45:57 GMT

Head to Austin Game Conference…
Sony PSP Picture

The PSP will go under the microscope at this year’s Austin Game Conference in September, with the “most detailed technical discussion yet” promised.

Sony will hold a talk entitled Programming the PlayStation Portable, with key speeches from David Coombes, senior developer support engineer and Peter Young, developer support engineer.

According to blurb from the Austin Game Conference website, the presentation will “detail the architecture and design of the PSP to as great an extent as possible. Key features that will impact game design decisions will be highlighted.

“This is Sony’s most detailed public technical discussion of the PSP and developing for the PSP to date," it says. "Important product-related considerations will be discussed. Software APIs and example product code will be illustrated.”

This week Sony announced the PSP will support Talkman, which translates spoken input into another language and plays it through the console’s speaker. Also, the PSP’s wireless technology will allow up to 16 players to compete simultaneously.

The Austin Game Conference takes place in Austin, Texas September 9-10 2004

EXCLUSIVE: NEW EURO PSP DETAILS EMERGE

Posted: 17/6/2003 at 14:54:17 GMT

Software pricing information revealed…

“Unplugged gaming gets serious with PSP” was the message from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s president Chris Deering today, with crucial pricing for the software of the new handheld also unveiled.

Deering told attendees to the first Annual ELSPA Games Summit 2003 during his keynote address ‘Future Challenges for Console Platforms’, that games on the Universal Media Disc (UMD) for PSP would be priced, “as high as €50 or €60 no doubt, but probably the mass of games given the time slots these will be played in will be more the £20 range, €20-€30.”

Deering also said films on the UMD would be slightly less than a DVD and music will hopefully be under €10.

Launch wise, Deering reiterated the second half of 2004 date, with every intent for this to be worldwide: “It’s technically possible,” he said, “but you can only make so many a day, so I would imagine it might be a slight time difference between the Japan launch and, U.S. and Europe. There’s no difference between PAL and NTSC, [although] there will be region codes for movies.”

At the start of his address, Deering emphasised that PSP will not be a direct competitor to Game Boy or Game Boy Advance: “I think it can be in fact synergistic and dynamically collaborative with Game Boy,” he said. “Maybe it might compete with people on the planes, but in the school yard I don’t think people will be able to walk around with the PSP and treat it as roughly as you do with Game Boy. So it’s trying for a new part of the market to escape the TV, for the shorter leisure time slots that are seeming to be a factor.”

These comments come following a Dow Jones report last week, with a statement from Nokia’s senior vice president of media entertainment Ilkka Raiskinen, saying N-Gage is targeting an older audience with its N-Gage: “Game Boy is for 10-year-olds. If you're 20 or 25 years old, it's probably not a good idea to draw a Game Boy out of your pocket on a Friday night in a public space,” he said.