Over the years there have been many attempts to break Nintendo’s iron hold on the handheld gaming industry. Ranging from Sega’s Game Gear and Nomad to The Neo Geo Pocket Color, all have failed the test of time while Nintendo endured. However, Sony has now picked up where the other companies have failed with the creation of The Playstation Portable (PSP). PSP, which made its debut entry into the gaming industry on Dec 12, 2004, took Japan by storm. Now it’s our turn to experience the revolution, which is scheduled to hit the U.S. market March 24, according to Info Gamers Network (IGN).

Now of course the average consumer is asking one question, "How is this device any different from the other gaming devices?" Well that question is immediately answered upon seeing PSP. What makes PSP so different is its screen. The PSP screen is an impressive 4.3inches. That’s bigger than any handheld screen on the market. In addition to that, the screen is a 16:9 wide screen Thin Film Transistor (TFT), Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) that is 490 x 272 pixels (16.77 million colors). That’s better than my portable DVD player if that puts it into perspective for you.

Aside from PSP’s breath-taking screen, it features an IEEE 80.11b (Wi-Fi); meaning online gaming is in the future of PSP. To give you a visual of what I mean the following is a short clip demonstrating the wireless game play:

http://streamingmovies.ign.com/psp/article/588/588411/PSP_NeedForSpeedUR_20050216_2_wmvlow.wmv

Of course with the PSP able to go online, Sony has given The PSP a 128-bit AES encryption in addition to individual IDs for each unit. The PSP also features a built-in lithium-ion battery along with built-in stereo speakers. In addition to PSP’s crystal clear sound quality, PSP graphics surpass those of the PS2. What the PSP has in hardware the PS2 has in software, according to IGN. This can be seen in video clips of upcoming software that really test the limits of the PSP. The following are links to various game titles for the PSP, showing the system functioning at its best:

Dynasty Warriors:

http://streamingmovies.ign.com/psp/article/579/579615/DynastyWarPSP_011205-200-0002_wmvlow.wmv

Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade

http://streamingmovies.ign.com/psp/article/595/595383/UntoldLegendsPSP_20050304_MU_3_wmvpsp.wmv

Ren-Goku: The Tower of Purgatory

http://streamingmovies.ign.com/psp/article/561/561825/RENGOKU_20041029_trailermovie_03_wmvlow.wmv

Ridge Racer

http://streamingmovies.ign.com/psp/article/597/597518/ridgeracer_psp_replay_02_wmvlow.wmv

Also with the PSP’s 2.0 USB interface and memory stick duos, it’s possible to load mp3’s onto the unit for future playback. However, the main complaint about the PSP thus far is the battery life, according to Digital Backspin. The complaints being that you can only get two to three hours of playtime. However, that is with everything on, i.e. the speakers turned up all the way, brightness on full, and Wi-Fi on. But since few people will be running the system that long, the battery life should increase.

The brain of the PSP (or CPU if you will) has 32MB that serve as the unit’s main memory, allowing for online updates and other things of that nature. It also features 4MD of Embedded DRam, and its system clock frequency is 1~333MHz. For the sake of space I’m not going to list all of the PSP’s specs. However if you wish to read them you can view the list of the specs in their entirety at: http://psp.ign.com/articles/513/513175p1.html

In short, PSP is a revolutionary piece of hardware, which the world can expect great things from. With all of its impressive features, I have no doubt that in the future PSP will set the standards even higher in the portable entertainment industry.