Launch Delay Worries for PSP

News emerged today that the life-completingly sexy PSP handheld could be delayed.

It has been nearly a month since this year's Tokyo Game Show, an event where many got their hands on Sony's new handheld, the PSP, for the first time. While the company has been adamant that the handheld will be coming out this year, the cracks are beginning to show.

In a recent interview, Izumi Kawanishi, chief of the network system department at Sony Computer Entertainment, revealed that the launch of the system is entirely dependant on publishers and whether or not they would be able to have enough software ready in time. This marks a considerable departure for Sony, which has publicly been unwavering regarding the PSP launching this year.

It's not uncommon for videogame hardware to ship with substantially less software in Japan than is the norm in North America and Europe. For instance, the Nintendo 64 launched with just two titles in 1996. But Sony has stated previously that it will have a good-sized library of titles in place when the PSP launches.

Many of the games on display at September's Tokyo Game Show were confirmed to be launch titles. And yet, despite this, several of these titles were only 50% complete, making their completion in time for release this year a difficult task.

This December marks the tenth anniversary of the launch of the PlayStation. Several industry insiders believe that Sony is pushing to release the PSP this year to coincide with this auspicious occasion. But with a dearth of software and hardware details hard to come by, the situation is not looking promising.

Sony's president and CEO, Ken Kutaragi, previously stated that the company will announce full launch details following the Tokyo Game Show. These most recent announcements have us anxiously awaiting anything Kutaragi might have to say.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games