Becoming PSP - History

by Doina Stefanescu  |  June 7, 2008

At the E3 2003 as at the previous press conference in which the PSP was announced, Sony representatives did not displayed any mock-ups of the system, issueing instead a lot of technical details about the new gaming console, enough the rise the spirit and excitement around the small device. CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Ken Kutaragi, named the device the "Walkman of the 21st century" as reference to the multimedia capabilities of the console. The first concept images of the PSP appeared in November 2003 at the Sony Corporate Strategy meeting and displayed a console with flat buttons and no analog stick which raised some concerns over this lack but the fears proved ill fonded when the PlayStation portable was officially unveiled at the Sony press conference during E3 2004. at the conference, beside giving details about the system and its accessories, Sony also released a list of 99 developer companies that had offered support for the new handheld device. Also, several PSP game demos, such as Konami's Metal Gear Acid and SCE Studio Liverpoole's Wipeout Pure were shown.

Sony announced that the PSP would be launched in Japan on the 12th of December 2004 at an average price of about $185 for the base model and $230 for the Value System. The console's launch was a success with over 200,000 units sold the first day.

In North America the PSP went on sale on the 24th of March 2005 in a single configuration priced at $249 US and $299 CA. There were some concerns over the high price, which was $100 more than the Nintendo DS, but the PSP's North American launch proved to be a success, although reports two weeks later indicated that the system was not selling as well as Sony had claimed, their declaration stating that half a million units had been sold in the first two days.

The launch of the PSP in the PAL region was delayed because of high demand for the console in Japan and North America. The PSP finally launched on the 1st of September 2005 for €249/£179, which was US $100 higher than the North American price. Sony claimed that the price was justified because North American consumers had to pay local sales taxes and the GST was higher in the UK than the US. But despite the high price, the console's PAL region launch was a complete success, selling more than 185,000 units in the UK alone, more than double the previous first-day sales record of 87,000 units held by Nintendo DS. The PSP also enjoyed great success in other areas of the PAL region with more than 25,000 preordered units in Australia and nearly one million units sold across Europe in the first week.

Next articles in this series:

1. Becoming PSP - Introduction
2. Becoming PSP - History
3. Becoming PSP - Hardware
4. Becoming PSP - Software
5. Becoming PSP - Slim & Lite
6. Becoming PSP - PlayStation Portable Vs. The Nintendo DS
7. Becoming PSP - PlayStation Portable Vs. Creative Zen Portable Media Center

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