After long speculations, Sony today announced the final price and confirmed Japanese release date for its PSP Playstation Portable™. Especially as Sony took a long time to confirm any dates and the withdrawal of the price announcement shortly after Nintendo announced their pricing models for the Nintendo DS™, we are pleased to inform you that the price will not be as dramatacially high as previously expected. Japanese customers will need to pay Yen 19.800 (that's Yen 20.790 including tax) for the Playstation Portable, Sony offers a 'PSP value pack' for YEN 24.800 which will include a few accessories. Just in time for Christmas, fellow importers are given a great chance to enhance their Christmas-gift portfolio.

Unlike the Nintendo DS™ that features 'lower power' hardware but innovative Dual Screens, the PSP will be capable to deliver near-PS2™ type screenplay on a 4.3inch widescreen TFT-LCD, plus playing movies & MP3 from proprietary UMD-discs and Memory-Stick Duos. More power does not come without its toll, the battery life is set at around 4-6 hrs. Not as low as some of us were afraid but certainly not the longest battery life we have seen.

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We have certainly not hesitated and opened preorders for all currently announced PSP PlayStation Portable™ handheld sets as well as official accessories. The PSP™ handheld is available as either Model PSP-1000 (which includes the PSP handheld, a Battery Pack as well as a 100-240V AC Adapter) or as Model PSP-1000K (which additionally ships with a 32MB Memory Stick Duo, a Headphone with remote control as well as a soft case and hand strap).

Play-Asia will further include a free travel plug with every PSP™ console order for all customers who require one. The PSP™ will be ready to use world-wide.

Hardware lineup:

PSP PlayStation Portable (PSP-1000)

PSP PlayStation Portable Value Pack (PSP-1000K)

PSP PlayStation Portable Memory Stick Duo 32MB

PSP PlayStation Portable AC Adapter (100-240V)

PSP PlayStation Portable Battery Pack

PSP PlayStation Portable Headphone with remote control (white)

PSP PlayStation Portable Soft case and hand strap (black)

(Please note that pricing is subject to change prior release)


Apart from the hardware lineup, Sony™ has announced a total of 21 PSP™ software titles to be released before end of 2004. We have opened preorders for the entire lineup and will update all product pages as soon as more official information have been revealed. When placing your preorder, you are welcome to make changes at any time. Please be reminded that software pricing is subject to change. If you pay with your credit card, you will not be billed until your order is ready to ship out.

Expected December software lineup:

AI Go

AI Mah-Jong

AI Shogi

Armored Core Formula Front

Dokodemo Issyo [tentative]

Everybody's Golf / Hot Shots Golf

Kollon

Kotoba no Puzzle Mojipittan Daijiten

Lumines (Music & Luminary Action Puzzle)

Mah-jong Fight Club

Mahjong [tentative]

Metal Gear: Acid

Need for Speed Underground Rivals

Puyo Puyo Fever

Puzzle Bobble Pocket

Rengoku: The Tower of Purgatory

Ridge Racers

Shin Sangoku Musou / Dynasty Warriors

The legend of heroes Gagharvtrilogy White Witch

Tiger Woods PGA Tour

Vampire Chronicle: The Chaos Tower

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PSP PlayStation Portable™ product specifications:

Color: Black

Dimensions: Approx. 170 mm (L) x 74 mm (W) x 23 mm (D)

Weight: Approx. 260 g (including battery)

CPU: PSP CPU (System clock frequency 1~333MHz)

Main Memory: 32MB

Embedded DRAM: 4MB

Display: 4.3 inch, 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD, 480 x 272 pixel (16.77 million colors), Max. 200 cd/m2 (with brightness control)

Speakers: Built-in stereo speakers

Main Input/Output: IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi), USB 2.0 (Target), Memory Stick™ PRO Duo, IrDA, IR Remote (SIRCS)

Disc Drive: UMD Drive (Playback only)

Profile: PSP Game, UMD Audio, UMD Video

Main Connectors: DC OUT 5V, Terminals for charging built-in battery, Headphone/Microphone/Control connector

Power: Built-in lithium-ion battery, AC adaptor

Access Control: Region Code, Parental Control

PSP PlayStation Portable™ product description:

PSP comes in a black color, with a 16:9 widescreen TFT LCD centered in a sleek ergonomic design with a high-quality finish that fits comfortably in the hands. The dimensions are 170mm x 74mm x 23mm with a weight of 260g. PSP features a high-quality TFT LCD that displays full color (16.77 million colors) on a 480 x 272 pixel high-resolution screen. It also comes complete with the basic functions of a portable player such as built-in stereo speakers, exterior headphone connector, brightness control and sound mode selection. Keys and controls inherit the same operability of PlayStation® and PlayStation 2, familiar to fans all over the world.

PSP also comes equipped with diverse input/output connectors such as USB 2.0, and 802.11b (Wi-Fi) wireless LAN, providing connectivity to various devices in the home and to the wireless network outside. The world of gaming is further enhanced by enabling users to enjoy online gaming, or by connecting multiple PSPs to each other, directly via the wireless network. In addition, software and data can be downloaded through a USB or wireless network onto Memory Stick™ PRO Duo. All of these features can be enjoyed on one single system.

PSP adopts a small but high-capacity optical medium UMD™ (Universal Media Disc), enabling game software, rich with full-motion video and other forms of digital entertainment content, to be stored. The newly developed UMD, the next-generation compact storage media, is only 60mm in diameter but can store up to 1.8GB of digital data. A broad range of digital entertainment content such as music video clips, movies and sports programs can be provided on UMD. To protect this entertainment content, a robust copyright protection system has been developed which utilizes a combination of a unique disc ID, a 128 bit AES encryption keys for the media, and individual ID for each PSP hardware unit.

(from Sony's official press release)

As usual, stay informed by using the Play-Asia.com Personal Agent, available on the right on most of our pages.