PSP Set for Launch in Japan

This weekend marks the biggest shift the handheld videogame industry has ever seen. We take a look.

Update: PSP Launch: Full Report from Tokyo

Nintendo has enjoyed a virtual monopoly of the market for well over a decade with its Game Boy line, but the company now faces the most capable attack yet on its portable throne.

On Sunday, 12 December, hundreds of stores across Japan will open for business to queues of tired, frozen customers anxious to get in bed with Sony's new handheld console, the PSP.

The release of the PSP comes at an important time for the industry, when some are content to stay the current course where raw technology rules all, while others, including Nintendo, feel that technology has gone as far as is useful and that the industry needs to instead focus on creating new gaming experiences above all else.

With its massive, bright 4.3" LCD screen, true surround sound, high-quality 3D graphics and multimedia capabilities, the PSP falls firmly into the tech-rules school of thought.

It was only 18 months ago that Sony announced the handheld, and it has been a year-and-a-half of nervous anticipation for a lot of people. Sony hasn't helped matter, being especially coy with details for the PSP - until recently there were still questions lingering unanswered regarding the all-important issue of battery life.

The company has since confirmed that the PSP's battery will allow for 4-6 hours of continuous game play or 4-5 hours of movie watching. In addition, the battery has been designed along the lines of recent mobile phone batteries in Japan, which recharge much more quickly than conventional batteries.

For the past few weeks the early anxiety has been replaced by panic after Sony committed to only 200,000 units of the portable at launch - far short of the current demand.

This reduced supply coupled with escalating demand and inefficient pre-order campaigns has led to dedicated gamers readying their warm clothes for a night of camping in queues outside stores.

The PSP will be released in two packages on Sunday. The standard pack, retailing for ¥19,800 (£98) excluding tax, will contain a PSP, a battery pack and a universal power adapter.

The Value pack contains the same components and also includes a 32MB Memory Stick Duo, headphones with remote and a padded case and will sell for ¥24,800 (£123).

PSP as it was unveiled back at E3 in May.

The low number of PSPs available through to the end of the year means that only the most obsessive will have any luck importing. Already, online auction site eBay is littered with auctions for PSPs, some going for well over £300.

Good news for the few that do manage to import a PSP is the confirmation by Sony that there are no territorial lockouts, meaning that games bought anywhere in the world will work with PSPs bought anywhere in the world.

This convenient situation won't be repeated on the movie front. The PSP uses a new proprietary disc format called the Universal Media Disc (UMD), which can carry games, movies or music.

Tokyo could see many disappointed gamers on Sunday.

While games will not be locked-in to specific world regions, Sony has confirmed the movies will be region-specific, so don't think that you can play that new action flick you picked up on UMD in Japan on your shiny new UK PSP.

But despite the multimedia skills of the PSP, Sony is keener to push it solely as a videogame machine for now - partly due to ongoing negotiations with studios to secure UMD releases for their movies.

Nearly twenty games are scheduled for release in Japan before the end of the year and they run the gamut of genres, from mahjong and puzzle to sports and RPG.

Here's the full range of PSP games set for release in Japan by the end of the year:

• AI Go (Marvelous) - board game
  
• AI Mahjong (Marvelous) - board game
  
• AI Shogi (Marvelous) - board game
  
• Armored Core Formula Front (From) - mech simulation
  
• Doko Demo Issyo (Sony) - miscellaneous
  
• Dynasty Warriors (Koei) - action
  
• Hot Shots Golf (Sony) - golf
  
• Kollon (Cyberfront) - puzzle action
  
• Kotoba No Puzzle Mojipittan Daijiten (Namco) - puzzle
  
• Legend Of Heroes: Gagharv Trilogy (Bandai) - RPG
  
• Lumines (Bandai) - music action puzzle
  
• Mah-Jong (Koei) - board game
  
• Mah-Jong Fight Club (Konami) - board game
  
• Metal Gear Acid (Konami) - card-based action
  
• Puyo Pop Fever (Sega) - puzzle
  
• Puzzle Bobble Pocket (Taito) - puzzle
  
• Ridge Racer (Namco) - racing
  
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour (EA) - golf
  
• Vampire Chronicle: The Chaos Tower (Capcom) - fighting
  

Perhaps predictably, considering the scarcity of the PSP at launch in Japan, Sony has been hesitant to give out any solid details for the release of the system in either North America or Japan.

Both territories are expected to see the PSP before the middle of 2005, and it is likely that Sony will set out its plans soon after the Japanese launch. In the meantime, the world will sit and watch as Sony takes on its biggest challenge yet in the videogame arena.

Update: PSP Launch: Full Report from Tokyo

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games