Playstation Portable

The PlayStation Portable (officially PSP) is a handheld game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment. The PSP was first announced during E³ 2003 and was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference during E³ 2004. It was released in Japan on December 12, 2004, the United States on March 24, 2005 and the European Union and Australia on September 1, 2005.

Variations and accessories
In all territories the PSP is available as part of a Value Pack or Core Pack, and in most territories it is also available as part of a Giga Pack. The Value Pack contains the console, battery, a 32 MB Memory Stick Duo, earphones with remote control, a slip-case, a wrist strap, and a Sampler Disc (in some territories), for USD $249.99, CDN $279.97-299.98 and even 229.99, GBP £179.99, JPY ¥26,040 or AUD $399.00.

On July 21, 2005, Sony announced in an event in Tokyo, Japan that there would be a ceramic white version of the PSP. This PSP is the same as the black one except that it has higher, non-clear buttons. It also has an improved volume system. With the box of the white PSP you get: white PSP system and slip case now in white. Some other variations - proved in the UK version were that the screen had been re-built helping to prevent dead pixels. Of course dead pixels are inevitable but the improvement has helped a great deal. It was released on September 15, 2005 in Japan and was later released in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Australia. It was released in Europe on May 15th, 2006.

On October 20, 2005, Sony announced the PSP Giga pack, which contains a 1 GB Memory Stick Pro Duo, a USB Cable, and a stand. It also contains all of the other accessories found in the standard PSP Value Pack, except for the hand strap. The suggested retail price is ¥29,800 in Asia, $299 in the United States, $349 in Canada,and £214.99 in the UK.

The Giga Pack was released in Japan on October 31, 2005, in North America on November 3, 2005 November 17, 2005 in Europe, on November 16, 2005 plus in the UK. However in North America the deal was based on a holiday offer, and stopped production for North America on December 31, 2005.

A base unit package was available only in Japan at launch, although it was released on the U.S. and Europe on March 22, 2006, with pricing points set at $199 U.S, 199 Euros,$329 AUD and £149.99.

Other optional accessories offered by Sony include: PSP headset, carrying case, extended-life battery, headphones with remote control, battery charger, car adaptor, accessories pouch and cleaning cloth, AC adaptor, and system pouch and wrist strap.

Controls
Despite its movie and music playback capabilities, the PlayStation Portable has primarily gaming-oriented controls (as opposed to the controls typical to television remotes or MP3 players): two shoulder buttons (triggers), the iconic PlayStation face buttons (triangle, circle, X, square), start and select buttons, a digital 8-directional pad, and an analog input. There is also a row of secondary controls along the underside of the screen, for controlling volume, music settings (either switching the audio off and on in games or selecting different equalizer presets in the OS), screen brightness, accessing the system's main menu, as well as the standard Start and Select buttons.

The PSP's analog input, often called the "analog nub," is not a traditional analog stick, but rather a sliding flat panel. It is used in the same way as the analog thumb stick of a modern console.

The games are packed into Universal Media Discs, but Sony has announced that for the end of this year the Playstation Portable will be able to play original PlayStation games through a emulator from the Memory Stick Duo[citation needed], this is thought to be because of a huge success of "homebrew" emulators which include NES, SNES, Neo-Geo etc, there has also been progress on a Nintendo 64 emulator for the PSP, but is currently only loading a couple of games and is unable to play games at full speed. The first downloadable demo for the Playstation Portable is the demo of "Loco Roco", it can be downloaded from the Japanese Playstation site and be booted directly from the Memory Stick Duo and requires the latest Firmware version 2.7.

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