Star Scream said: It won't be long before PSP outsells PS3 by 10 million units in Japan. Bet Sony didn't expect when they first announced PS3. Ah diddums! |
They said that the PSP was going to be the new walkman and the UMD the new standard format...... yes there were pretty crazy those days:
From 2002 PSM
You might be buying the PSP to play games, but Sony wants to make sure you keep using it long after your thumbs have blistered by packing it full of multimedia features.
For music aficionados, the unit supports standard MP3 files as well as Sony's proprietary ATRAC3plus format, originally conceived for the much-maligned MiniDisk. Converting music to the ATRAC3plus format will require custom software, such as Sony's "Sonic Stage", but we doubt it'll be bundled with the PSP (it wasn't in Japan).
On the video front, the PSP features support for the brand new H.264/AVC video codec. An extension of the MPEG-4 format, H.264 is the basis for HD DVD, but scales quite nicely for lower resolution systems such as the PSP. You'll be able to create your own content and save it to a memory stick (watch your favorite shows on the go) or download videos for playback. If you have a digital camera that records in MPEG-4 you can save the file directly to a memory stick them slide it into the PSP for instant playback. As with the audio, though, you may have to track down your own program for converting files such as AVIs to PSP ready format.
Also, while there hasn't been a formal title announcement, Sony is still planning on releasing pre-ordered movies on the UMD format, and trailers for everything from Shrek 2 and The Day After Tomorrow to The Grudge and Seinfeld were running at the event. Professionally compressed and optimized for the PSP's screen, UMD titles should offer great quality. The big questions are how much it will cost (in North America), and will fans be willing to purchase UMDs as well as, or instead of DVDs?