The PlayStation Portable (officially abbreviated PSP)[6] is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment.[7] Development of the console was first announced during E3 2003,[8] and it was unveiled on May 11, 2004 at a Sony press conference before E3 2004.[9] The system was released in Japan on December 12, 2004,[10] in North America on March 24, 2005,[11] and in the PAL region on September 1, 2005.[12]
The PlayStation Portable is the first handheld video game console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc (UMD), as its primary storage media.[13][14] Other distinguishing features of the console include its large viewing screen,[15] robust multi-media capabilities,[16] and connectivity with the PlayStation 3, other PSPs, and the Internet.[17][18]
Despite the console's superior computing power and multimedia capabilities, sales have (with cyclical exceptions) lagged behind its main competitor, the Nintendo DS.[19] Nevertheless, the console is "the most successful non-Nintendo handheld game system ever sold".[20] After the release of a remodeled, slimmer, and lighter version of the PlayStation Portable, appropriately titled Slim and Lite, in early September 2007, sales quadrupled in the United Kingdom the following week and increased by nearly 200% in North America for the month of October.[21][22]
