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| Customers queued all night in the cold to be
first to own a PSP |
Sony has launched its first handheld games console , the PlayStation
Portable (PSP), which it hopes will challenge Nintendo in the portable
games market.
An initial 200,000 of the consoles went on sale in Tokyo on Sunday.
Thousands of shoppers queued, some of them overnight, to buy the first
devices.
Sony says it intends to ship three million of the consoles by March
2005.
Nintendo has already raised shipment targets for its new DS handheld
console by 40% since its late November launch.
Sony has dominated the computer games market since it launched its
first game a decade ago, but it has lacked a handheld console to challenge
Nintendo, maker of the well-established Gameboy portable device.
The Japanese press has devoted huge coverage to the story. Radio and TV
reporters waited overnight with would-be customers. One man told the NHK
channel he had been queuing since mid-morning on Saturday.
Sony says the PSP has high-quality graphics to
rival those normally seen on its full-size PS2 consoles and stereo sound
.
As well as games, it can play music and movies.
The PSP has wireless Lan (local area network), enabling users to
download characters and content and to hold group gaming sessions.
It is retailing in Japan for 19,800 yen ($188; ￡98), while rival
Nintendo's new DS handheld console costs is on sale in the US and Japanese
markets for $150.
Sony has promised to release 21 games titles to accompany the launch by
the end of this year. The firm also says it has 100 new titles in
development.
Nintendo has greater production capacity, giving it a strong potential
advantage in getting its device into buyers' hands.
Nintendo's goal is to ship 5 million of its new Nintendo DS handheld
consoles by March 2005, compared to Sony's target of 3 million PSPs.
The device has already proved popular enough for Nintendo to raise its
2004 shipment target to 2.8 million from 2 million just one week after its
21 November launch.
(Agencies) | 
Updated: 2004-12-13 09:18