Today marks the three-year birthday of North America receiving the Sony PlayStation Portable. Now [courtesy of Wikipedia] let me tell you the history of this awesome machine:
Sony first announced development of the PlayStation Portable at a press conference before E3 2003. Although mock-ups of the system were not present at the press conference or E3, Sony did release extensive technical details regarding the new console. Then-CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Crazy Ken Kutaragi called the device the "Walkman of the 21st Century" in a reference to the console's multimedia capabilities. Several gaming websites were impressed by the handheld's computing capabilities and looked forward to the system's potential as a gaming platform.
The first concept images of the PlayStation Portable appeared in November 2003 at the Sony Corporate Strategy Meeting and showed a PSP with flat buttons and no analog stick. Although some expressed concern over the lack of an analog joystick, these fears were allayed when the PSP was officially unveiled at the Sony press conference during E3 2004. In addition to announcing more details about the system and its accessories, Sony also released a list of 99 developer companies that had pledged support for the new handheld. Several PSP game demos, such as Konami's Metal Gear Acid and SCE Studio Liverpool's Wipeout Pure were also shown at the conference.
The PSP was released on March 24, 2005 in North America (the United States and Canada). The only package on sale is the Value Pack, identical to the Japanese release save for the inclusion of a UMD of preview videos and a cleaning cloth for $249.99 USD (€200 or $299.99 CAD). Sony claimed it would have one million units available for sale in these territories by the end of the 2004-2005 fiscal year (ending March 31, 2005). In order to accommodate the large demand in North America the European release date was pushed back several months. In the US, the first million units included the movie Spider-Man 2 on UMD, free of charge. In Canada, PSP bundles were made available with Gretzky NHL (a Sony-developed hockey game).
Launch Games Included: Critically Acclaimed "Lumines", "Metal Gear Acid", "Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade", "Ridge Racer", "WipEout Pure", and "Twisted Metal: Head On".
According to VGC, sales for the first year of the PlayStation Portable in all regions totaled 6.1 million units.
The PSP has since gone on to bring us such great games as Syphon Filter, Monster Hunter Freedom, two Grand Theft Auto games, and the highest-rated game for the PSP [via Gamerankings], God of War: Chains of Olympus. The PSP has just received a makeover where it lost some weight, and added some features in the new PSP Slim & Lite. The new PSP is much lighter and slimmer than the first model, and supports a video-out port to play games or UMDs on your television sets. This redesign has given the PSP boosted sales, and has been received really well. And since it's launch, the PSP has sold 31.95 million units around the world (According to VG Chartz). With many great games to come such as the highly anticipated Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, expect the PSP to be around for a time to come.
Okay Everyone!
Share your love for the PSP!
