In response to tremendous consumer anticipation for the North American launch of the PSP handheld entertainment system, select retailers across the country will open their doors to eager consumers at the stroke of midnight on March 24th. Definitely one of the most anticipated products of the year, the PSP will be available at participating retail locations nationwide including special Sony Computer Entertainment America hosted events at Sony Style Retail in Manhattan, New York and the PlayStation Store at the Metreon in San Francisco.
Consumers are expected to turn-up in large numbers in order to be among the first to purchase the PSP system, fans in New York and San Francisco will be treated to the ultimate entertainment experience with sneak peeks at new games, giveaways, surprise appearances and more leading up to the moment of truth at midnight. At Sony Style Retail in New York, host Carson Daly will kick off the biggest consumer product launch of 2005 where one lucky consumer will purchase the first PSP in North America. Additionally, there will be an exclusive consumer launch event for PSP at the PlayStation Store in San Francisco.
It is crunch time for PSP as we will soon find out the public's reaction to its, comparatively, high price. The single-SKU PSP Value Pack will carry a suggested retail price of USD 249.99. In addition to the hardware that allows for games, movies, music and photos, the PSP Value Pack contains accessories and entertainment content including a special UMD video release of the feature film Spider-Man 2 from Sony Pictures Entertainment for the first one million PSP Value Packs shipped. PSP is also host to a line-up of 24 titles available in North America during the launch timeframe, with an additional 100 titles currently in development worldwide.
For those of you not sure what the PSP is all about here is some basic information about the unit: PSP (PlayStation Portable) is a new handheld entertainment system that allows users to enjoy 3D games, high-quality full-motion video, and high-fidelity stereo audio. With graphics rendering capability comparable to that of PlayStation 2, PSP features a 4.3 inch wide screen, high-resolution TFT display. PSP also adopts a newly developed compact but high-capacity (1.8GB) optical disc, Universal Media Disc (UMD), as its storage medium. With a wide range of accessories and connectivity options, including Memory Stick Duo, USB 2.0, IR port and Wi-Fi wireless LAN, PSP is the new entertainment platform from Sony's PlayStation brand.
