PSP: New Games & Release Date Lies

Comments from SCEI and SCEE point towards a Christmas 2004 release, and reveal a good (but costly) start from developers.

Sony Computer Entertainment vice president Masatsuka Saeki has revealed that PSP is set for release in December 2004, in the latest issue of Japan's Famitsu magazine. Earlier this week however, recently promoted Sony Europe boss (formerly CEO of SCEE) Chris Deering mentioned that the most desirable handheld device of the year will be available in November - and quite possibly, globally.

This means one of them is lying! Or alternatively, that the exact date is undecided at the moment.

In his interview with the official PlayStation website, Deering said: "I think people have come to know, understand and expect that continuing evolutions will occur and that compatibility will be maximised. It's true that PSP is not directly compatible with PS one or PlayStation 2, but it may have several areas of compatibility, through the Memory Stick, with PSX."

Deering also mentioned the device will play MP3s - no surprise since Kutaragi promised it would play movies back at the E3 announcement - and more intriguingly, may boast some kind of GPRS technology.

While SCE has stated PSP will not be a phone, inclusion of GRPS would indicate some kind of messaging, chat, content download or wireless/networked multiplayer gaming will be offered - or possibly all of the above. Previously Sony had not mentioned much about the prospect of multiplayer gaming for the machine, so this news is pretty exciting.

Returning to Saeki's Famitsu interview this week, and additional news also emerged regarding developers working on the machine. Most notably, Sega will reveal "plans" around the time of Tokyo Game Show in September, and Namco have been working on two titles for some time. Koei is working on three titles, one of which is likely to be Dynasty Warriors.

Kutaragi shows of the UMD disc at E3'03.

However, Capcom and Konami, both working on a single PSP title each, have expressed concern about the expensive cost of development on the platform, something most developers outside Japan would agree with right now.

SCE itself will unveil several titles alongside the hardware at E3 in May. We are hoping these will be playable - but no promises from Sony as yet.

Adam Doree
Director, Kikizo.com