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118-754: The PlayStation Portable ( PSP ) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment . It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, and is the first handheld installment in the PlayStation line of consoles. As a seventh generation console , the PSP competed with the Nintendo DS . Development of

236-550: A Memory Stick . Demos were sometimes issued in UMD format and mailed out or given to customers at retail outlets. In addition, several older PlayStation games were re-released; these can be played on the PSP using emulation . As of 2008, this feature could be officially accessed through the PlayStation Network service for PlayStation 3 , PSP, PlayStation Vita (or PlayStation TV), or a personal computer . Emulation of

354-482: A bullet train , saw a bored businessman playing with an LCD calculator by pressing the buttons. Yokoi then thought of an idea for a watch that doubled as a miniature game machine for killing time. Starting in 1980, Nintendo began to release a series of electronic games designed by Yokoi called the Game & Watch games. Taking advantage of the technology used in the credit-card-sized calculators that had appeared on

472-413: A touchscreen was the Game.com released by Tiger Electronics in 1997. The Nintendo DS , released in 2004, introduced touchscreen controls and wireless online gaming to a wider audience, becoming the best-selling handheld console with over 150 million units sold worldwide. This table describes handheld games consoles by generation, with over 1 million sales. No handheld achieved this prior to

590-561: A USB cable from a PC. The GP32 was redesigned in 2003. A front-lit screen was added and the new version was called GP32 FLU (Front Light Unit). In summer 2004, another redesign, the GP32 BLU, was made, and added a backlit screen. This version of the handheld was planned for release outside South Korea; in Europe, and it was released for example in Spain (VirginPlay was the distributor). While not

708-602: A backlit screen was released in some regions around the same time. Along with the GameCube , the GBA also introduced the concept of "connectivity": using a handheld system as a console controller. A handful of games use this feature, most notably Animal Crossing , Pac-Man Vs. , Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles , The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures , The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker , Metroid Prime , and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle . As of December 31, 2007,

826-593: A calculator or file manager. Sony responded to this by repeatedly upgrading the software. Some users were able to unlock the firmware to allow them to run more custom content and DRM -restricted software. Hackers were able to run protected software on the PSP through the creation of ISO loaders that could load copies of UMD games from a memory stick. Custom firmware including the M33 Custom Firmware, Minimum Edition (ME/LME) CFW and PRO CFW were commonly seen in PSP systems. The management of media content of

944-598: A calculator, using LED (light-emitting diode) technology." The result was the 1976 release of Auto Race . Followed by Football later in 1977, the two games were so successful that according to Katz, "these simple electronic handheld games turned into a '$ 400 million category.'" Mattel would later win the honor of being recognized by the industry for innovation in handheld game device displays. Soon, other manufacturers including Coleco , Parker Brothers , Milton Bradley , Entex , and Bandai began following up with their own tabletop and handheld electronic games. In 1979

1062-590: A commercial success on a level with mainstream handhelds (only 30,000 units were sold), it ended up being used mainly as a platform for user-made applications and emulators of other systems, being popular with developers and more technically adept users. Nokia released the N-Gage in 2003. It was designed as a combination MP3 player, cellphone, PDA, radio, and gaming device. The system received much criticism alleging defects in its physical design and layout, including its vertically oriented screen and requirement of removing

1180-549: A cost-cutting move rather than hard plastic cases that Japanese and European releases were shipped in may have also hurt US sales. The WonderSwan Color is a handheld game console designed by Bandai . It was released on December 9, 2000, in Japan, Although the WonderSwan Color was slightly larger and heavier (7 mm and 2 g) compared to the original WonderSwan, the color version featured 512  KB of RAM and

1298-471: A dearth of compelling games, and Nintendo's aggressive marketing campaign, and despite a redesign in 1991, the Lynx became a commercial failure . Despite this, companies like Telegames helped to keep the system alive long past its commercial relevance, and when new owner Hasbro released the rights to develop for the public domain, independent developers like Songbird have managed to release new commercial games for

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1416-655: A flight simulator, included a "head-to-head" dogfight mode that can only be accessed via TurboLink. However, very few TG-16 games offered co-op play modes especially designed with the TurboExpress in mind. The Bitcorp Gamate is one of the first handheld game systems created in response to the Nintendo Game Boy. It was released in Asia in 1990 and distributed worldwide by 1991. Like the Sega Game Gear, it

1534-463: A laptop computer), as well as a frontlit color display and rechargeable battery. Despite the smaller form factor, the screen remained the same size as that of the original. In 2005, the Game Boy Micro was released. This revision sacrifices screen size and backwards compatibility with previous Game Boys for a dramatic reduction in total size and a brighter backlit screen. A new SP model with

1652-475: A larger color LCD screen. In addition, the WonderSwan Color is compatible with the original WonderSwan library of games. Prior to WonderSwan's release, Nintendo had virtually a monopoly in the Japanese video game handheld market. After the release of the WonderSwan Color, Bandai took approximately 8% of the market share in Japan partly due to its low price of 6800 yen (approximately US$ 65). Another reason for

1770-546: A lot of power, they were not battery-friendly like the non-backlit original Game Boy whose monochrome graphics allowed longer battery life. By this point, rechargeable battery technology had not yet matured and so the more advanced game consoles of the time such as the Sega Game Gear and Atari Lynx did not have nearly as much success as the Game Boy. Even though third-party rechargeable batteries were available for

1888-444: A major feature of the Game Boy line, since it allowed each new launch to begin with a significantly larger library than any of its competitors. As of March 31, 2005, the Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined to sell 118.69 million units worldwide. The console is capable of displaying up to 56 different colors simultaneously on screen from its palette of 32,768, and can add basic four-color shading to games that had been developed for

2006-701: A major leap in innovation, particularly in the second half with the release of the DS and PSP . In 2001, Nintendo released the Game Boy Advance (GBA or AGB), which added two shoulder buttons, a larger screen, and more computing power than the Game Boy Color. The design was revised two years later when the Game Boy Advance SP (GBA SP), a more compact version, was released. The SP features a " clamshell " design (folding open and closed, like

2124-600: A million units were sold in the US. As of March 31, 2005, the Game Boy and Game Boy Color combined to sell over 118 million units worldwide. In 1987, Epyx created the Handy Game; a device that would become the Atari Lynx in 1989. It is the first color handheld console ever made, as well as the first with a backlit screen. It also features networking support with up to 17 other players, and advanced hardware that allows

2242-495: A model with flat buttons and no analog joystick. Although some reviewers expressed concern about the lack of an analog stick, these fears were allayed when the PSP was officially unveiled at the Sony press conference during E3 2004 . Sony released a list of 99 developer companies that pledged support for the new handheld. Several game demos such as Konami 's Metal Gear Acid and Studio Liverpool 's Wipeout Pure were also shown at

2360-490: A much higher resolution, and can display 64 sprites at once, 16 per scanline, in 512 colors. Although the hardware can only handle 481 simultaneous colors. It has 8 kilobytes of RAM . The Turbo runs the HuC6820 CPU at 1.79 or 7.16  MHz . The optional "TurboVision" TV tuner includes RCA audio/video input, allowing users to use TurboExpress as a video monitor. The "TurboLink" allowed two-player play. Falcon ,

2478-514: A potential UMD release. A section of the PlayStation Store was dedicated to "Minis"; smaller, cheaper games available as download only. Trophy support was planned for the PSP but the idea was cancelled after the firmware was cracked. In late 2004, Sony released a series of PSP demo games, including Duck In Water , world/ball , Harmonic City , and Luga City . Demos for commercial PSP games could be downloaded and booted directly from

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2596-466: A read-only Universal Media Disc (UMD) drive for access to movies and games, and a reader compatible with Sony's Memory Stick PRO Duo flash cards is located on the left of the system. Other features include an IrDA -compatible infrared port (this was discontinued in PSP-2000 and later) and a two-pin docking connector; built-in stereo speakers and headphone port; and IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi for access to

2714-708: A service similar to PlayStation Home , the PS3's online community-based service, was being developed for the PSP. Named "Room" (stylized R∞M ), it was being beta-tested in Japan from October 2009 to April 2010. It could be launched directly from the PlayStation Network section of the XMB . As in Home, PSP owners would have been able to invite other PSP owners into their rooms to "enjoy real time communication". Development of Room halted on April 15 , 2010, due to feedback from

2832-534: A touch screen and stylus. However, Tiger hoped it would also challenge Nintendo's Game Boy and gain a following among younger gamers too. Unlike other handheld game consoles, the first game.com consoles included two slots for game cartridges, which would not happen again until the Tapwave Zodiac, the DS and DS Lite, and could be connected to a 14.4 kbit/s modem. Later models had only a single cartridge slot. The Game Boy Color (also referred to as GBC or CGB)

2950-499: A variety of video displays such as LED , VFD , or LCD . In 1978, handheld electronic games were described by Popular Electronics magazine as "nonvideo electronic games" and "non-TV games" as distinct from devices that required use of a television screen. Handheld electronic games, in turn, find their origins in the synthesis of previous handheld and tabletop electro-mechanical devices such as Waco 's Electronic Tic-Tac-Toe (1972) Cragstan's Periscope-Firing Range (1951), and

3068-589: Is Nintendo's successor to the Game Boy and was released on October 21, 1998, in Japan and in November of the same year in the United States. It features a color screen, and is slightly bigger than the Game Boy Pocket . The processor is twice as fast as a Game Boy's and has twice as much memory. It also had an infrared communications port for wireless linking which did not appear in later versions of

3186-401: Is a redesigned version of the original Game Boy having the same features. It was released in 1996. Notably, this variation is smaller and lighter. It comes in seven different colors; red, yellow, green, black, clear, silver, blue, and pink. It has space for two AAA batteries , which provide approximately 10 hours of game play. The screen was changed to a true black-and-white display, rather than

3304-705: Is dictated by the PSP's firmware region; the Japanese Comic Reader will not display comics purchased from the European store, and vice versa. Sony shut down the Digital Comics service in September 2012. In Japanese market PSPs, an application called x-Radar Portable came preloaded starting with firmware version 6.35 (January 2010). This is a port of a map software for PCs and mobile phones called x-Radar, developed by PetaMap. x-Radar Portable gets

3422-660: The Monday Night War , Jake "The Snake" Roberts : Pick Your Poison , and WWE Raw Homecoming (a special episode of WWE Raw celebrating the return to USA Network ); the only WWE pay-per-view released on UMD format was WrestleMania XXIV . Tupac 's performance, Live at the House of Blues , was also released on the UMD, which also included several music videos, including Hit 'Em Up . Some adult films have been released on UMD in Japan. Sony reportedly took offence at adult film studios publishing pornography on

3540-556: The GP2X , use standard alkaline batteries . Because the mAh rating of alkaline batteries has increased since the 1990s, the power needed for handhelds like the GP2X may be supplied by relatively few batteries. Nintendo released the Game Boy on April 21, 1989 (September 1990 for the UK). The design team headed by Gunpei Yokoi had also been responsible for the Game & Watch system, as well as

3658-735: The Master System , which gave Sega the ability to quickly create Game Gear games from its large library of games for the Master System. While never reaching the level of success enjoyed by Nintendo, the Game Gear proved to be a fairly durable competitor, lasting longer than any other Game Boy rivals. While the Game Gear is most frequently seen in black or navy blue, it was also released in a variety of additional colors: red, light blue, yellow, clear, and violet. All of these variations were released in small quantities and frequently only in

PlayStation Portable - Misplaced Pages Continue

3776-579: The Nintendo Entertainment System games Metroid and Kid Icarus . The Game Boy came under scrutiny by Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi , saying that the monochrome screen was too small, and the processing power was inadequate. The design team had felt that low initial cost and battery economy were more important concerns, and when compared to the Microvision, the Game Boy was a huge leap forward. Yokoi recognized that

3894-506: The PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 , any computer with a USB interface, other PSP systems, and the Internet . The PSP also had a vast array of multimedia features such as video playback, audio playback, and has been considered a portable media player as well. The PSP is the only handheld console to use an optical disc format—in this case, Universal Media Disc (UMD)—as its primary storage medium; both games and movies have been released on

4012-618: The video-out cable. One outlet called this model "a minor upgrade". The PSP-3000 was released in North America on October 14, 2008, in Japan on October 16 , in Europe on October 17 , and in Australia on October 23 . In its first four days on sale in Japan, the PSP-3000 sold over 141,270 units, according to Famitsu ; it sold 267,000 units during October. On its release, a problem with interlacing when objects were in motion on

4130-726: The "PSP Slim", is the first redesign of the PlayStation Portable. The PSP-2000 system is slimmer and lighter than the original PSP, reduced from 0.91 to 0.73 inches (23 to 18.6 mm) and from 9.87 to 6.66 ounces (280 to 189 g). At E3 2007 , Sony released information about a slimmer and lighter version for the device, which was first released in Hong Kong on August 30, 2007, in Europe on September 5 , in North America on September 6 , in South Korea on September 7 , and in Australia on September 12 . The UK release for

4248-479: The "pea soup" monochromatic display of the original Game Boy. Although, like its predecessor, the Game Boy Pocket has no backlight to allow play in a darkened area, it did notably improve visibility and pixel response-time (mostly eliminating ghosting ). The first model of the Game Boy Pocket did not have an LED to show battery levels, but the feature was added due to public demand. The Game Boy Pocket

4366-454: The Asian market, possibly as late as 1994. The total number of games released for the system remains unknown. Gamate games were designed for stereo sound, but the console is only equipped with a mono speaker. The Game Gear is the third color handheld console, after the Lynx and the TurboExpress; produced by Sega. Released in Japan in 1990 and in North America and Europe in 1991, it is based on

4484-399: The Asian market. Following Sega's success with the Game Gear, they began development on a successor during the early 1990s, which was intended to feature a touchscreen interface, many years before the Nintendo DS . However, such a technology was very expensive at the time, and the handheld itself was estimated to have cost around $ 289 were it to be released. Sega eventually chose to shelve

4602-599: The Blade (North America, Europe, Japan), Wipeout Pure (all regions), and World Tour Soccer: Challenge Edition (North America, Europe). Additionally, Gretzky NHL and NBA were North America exclusive launch titles. The best selling PSP game is Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories , which sold 8 million copies as of March 2008. Other top selling PSP games include Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories , Monster Hunter Portable 3rd , Gran Turismo , and Monster Hunter Freedom Unite . Retro City Rampage DX , which

4720-541: The GBA, GBA SP, and the Game Boy Micro combined have sold 80.72 million units worldwide. The original GP32 was released in 2001 by the South Korean company Game Park a few months after the launch of the Game Boy Advance. It featured a 32-bit CPU, 133 MHz processor, MP3 and Divx player, and e-book reader. SmartMedia cards were used for storage, and could hold up to 128mb of anything downloaded through

4838-412: The Game Boy needed a killer app —at least one game that would define the console, and persuade customers to buy it. In June 1988, Minoru Arakawa , then-CEO of Nintendo of America saw a demonstration of the game Tetris at a trade show. Nintendo purchased the rights for the game, and packaged it with the Game Boy system as a launch title . It was almost an immediate hit. By the end of the year more than

PlayStation Portable - Misplaced Pages Continue

4956-424: The Game Boy, such as the Game Boy Advance. The Game Boy Color was a response to pressure from game developers for a new system, as they felt that the Game Boy, even in its latest incarnation, the Game Boy Pocket, was insufficient. The resulting product was backward compatible, a first for a handheld console system, and leveraged the large library of games and great installed base of the predecessor system. This became

5074-574: The Internet, free online multiplayer gaming via PlayStation Network , the ability to purchase games from PlayStation Store (now discontinued), and data transfer. The PSP uses two 333  MHz MIPS32 R4000 R4k-based CPUs , as a main CPU and Media Engine, a GPU running at 166 MHz, and includes 32 MB main RAM (64 MB on PSP-2000 and later models), and 4 MB embedded DRAM split between

5192-526: The LCD-based Microvision , designed by Smith Engineering and distributed by Milton-Bradley, became the first handheld game console and the first to use interchangeable game cartridges. The Microvision game Cosmic Hunter (1981) also introduced the concept of a directional pad on handheld gaming devices, and is operated by using the thumb to manipulate the on-screen character in any of four directions. In 1979, Gunpei Yokoi , traveling on

5310-539: The Neo Geo Pocket Color was dropped from both the US and European markets, purportedly due to commercial failure. The system seemed well on its way to being a success in the U.S. It was more successful than any Game Boy competitor since Sega 's Game Gear , but was hurt by several factors, such as SNK's infamous lack of communication with third-party developers, and anticipation of the Game Boy Advance. The decision to ship U.S. games in cardboard boxes in

5428-473: The Nintendo DS. Also on the unit's front are the four iconic PlayStation face buttons ( [REDACTED] , [REDACTED] , [REDACTED] , [REDACTED] ); the directional pad, the analog "nub", and several other buttons. The system also has two shoulder buttons, a USB 2.0 mini-B port on the top of the console, and a wireless LAN switch and power cable input on the bottom. The back of the PSP features

5546-568: The PAL launch would be delayed due to high demand for the console in Japan and North America. The next month, Sony announced that the PSP would be launched in the PAL region on September 1, 2005, for €249/£179. Sony defended the high price by saying North American consumers had to pay local sales taxes and that the Value Added Tax (sales tax) was higher in the UK than the US. Despite the high price,

5664-460: The PS3 or connected USB devices. Remote Play also allows the PS3 to be turned on and off remotely and lets the PSP control audio playback from the PS3 to a home theater system. Although most of the PS3's capabilities are accessible with Remote Play, playback of DVDs , Blu-ray Discs, PlayStation games, PlayStation 2 games, most PS3 games, and copy-protected files stored on the hard drive are not supported. Starting with System Software version 3.90,

5782-461: The PSP Go. Sony confirmed that almost all UMD-based PSP games released after October 1, 2009, would be available to download and that most older UMD-only games would also be downloadable. In February 2010, it was reported that Sony might re-launch the PSP Go due to the lack of consumer interest and poor sales. In June 2010, Sony began bundling the console with 10 free downloadable games; the same offer

5900-568: The PSP base model would be launched in Japan on December 11 that year for ¥19,800 (about US$ 181 in 2004) while the Value System would launch for ¥24,800 (about US$ 226). The launch was a success, with over 200,000 units sold on the first day of sales. Color variations were sold in bundle packs that cost around $ 200. On February 3, 2005, Sony announced that the PSP would be released in North America on March 24 in one configuration for an MSRP of US$ 249/CA$ 299. Some commentators expressed concern over

6018-513: The PSP is well-developed; the first emulator was pspplayer by Noxa , which ran on C#, then afterwards was JPCSP which ran on Java . PPSSPP is currently the fastest and most compatible PSP emulator; it supports all major games. Handheld game console A handheld game console , or simply handheld console , is a small, portable self-contained video game console with a built-in screen, game controls and speakers. Handheld game consoles are smaller than home video game consoles and contain

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6136-576: The PSP system. On July 25 , 2006, Sony Computer Entertainment America released the first batch of Greatest Hits titles. These titles included Ape Escape:On the Loose , ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails , Hot Shots: Open Tee , Twisted Metal: Head-On , and Wipeout Pure . The PSP Greatest Hits lineup consists of games that have sold 250,000 copies or more and have been released for nine months. PSP games in this lineup retail for $ 19.99 each. Downloadable games were limited to 1.8 GB, most likely to guarantee

6254-1095: The PSP through personal computers was fulfilled by Sony's PSP Media Manager software for Windows, allowing transfer as well as music/video playback and backups. In 2009 the PSP Media Manager was replaced by Media Go . There were 1,370 games released for the PSP during its 10-year lifespan. Launch games for PSP included; Ape Escape: On the Loose (North America, Europe, Japan), Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Chaos Tower (North America, Europe, Japan), Dynasty Warriors (all regions), Lumines (North America, Europe, Japan), Metal Gear Acid (North America, Europe, Japan), Need for Speed: Underground Rivals (North America, Europe, Japan), NFL Street 2 : Unleashed (North America, Europe), Ridge Racer (North America, Europe, Japan), Spider-Man 2 (2004) (North America, Europe, Japan), Tiger Woods PGA Tour (North America, Europe, Japan), Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix (North America, Europe), Twisted Metal: Head-On (North America, Europe), Untold Legends: Brotherhood of

6372-436: The PSP was announced during E3 2003 , and the console was unveiled at a Sony press conference on May 11, 2004. The system was the most powerful portable console at the time of its introduction, and was the first viable competitor to Nintendo's handheld consoles after many challengers such as Nokia 's N-Gage had failed. The PSP's advanced graphics capabilities made it a popular mobile entertainment device, which could connect to

6490-437: The PSP's PAL launch was a success, with the console selling over 185,000 units in the UK. All stock of the PSP in the UK sold out within three hours of its launch, more than doubling the previous first-day sales record of 87,000 units set by the Nintendo DS . The system also enjoyed great success in other areas of the PAL region; over 25,000 units were pre-ordered in Australia and nearly one million units were sold across Europe in

6608-438: The PSP's library was only made available in UMD format including Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep . There have been a few PlayStation Network exclusive releases since the PSP Go's launch, such as LocoRoco Midnight Carnival . Still, most new games continued to be distributed via UMD, and, aside from those published by SCE , not all have been released on PlayStation Network. The successor of

6726-484: The PSP-2000 was September 14. The serial port was modified to accommodate a new video-out feature, making it incompatible with older PSP remote controls. On the PSP-2000, games only output to external monitors and televisions in progressive scan mode. Non-game video outputs work in either progressive or interlaced mode. USB charging was introduced and the D-Pad was raised in response to complaints of poor performance, and

6844-657: The PSP-2000, 3000, and Go could use the Skype VoIP service. Due to hardware constraints it was not possible to use the service on the PSP-1000. The service allowed Skype calls to be made over Wi-Fi and – on the Go ;– over the Bluetooth modem. Users had to purchase Skype credit to make telephone calls. Skype for PlayStation®Portable was discontinued on June 22, 2016. At Tokyo Game Show 2009, Sony announced that

6962-446: The PSP-2000, the 3000, marketed in PAL areas as "PSP Slim & Lite" or "PSP Brite", has an improved LCD screen with an increased color range, five times the contrast ratio, a halved pixel response time , new sub-pixel structure, and anti-reflective technology to reduce outdoor glare. The disc tray, logos, and buttons were all redesigned, and a microphone was added. Games could now be output in either component or composite video using

7080-477: The PSP-3000 screen was noticed. Sony announced this problem would not be fixed. The PSP Go (model PSP-N1000) was released on October 1, 2009, in North American and European territories, and on October 31 in Japan. It was revealed prior to E3 2009 through Sony's Qore video on demand service. Its design is significantly different from other PSP models. The unit is 43% lighter and 56% smaller than

7198-500: The PSP. To date, there are around 1,500 films released on UMD (around 1,000 are common for all regions and around 500 are region exclusives). The American punk rock band The Offspring released their Complete Music Video Collection on the format. The BBC released a number of its programmes on UMD in the UK, including The Office , The Mighty Boosh , Doctor Who and Little Britain . WWE also released some wrestler highlights and documentary content on UMD format, such as

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7316-590: The PlayStation Portable, the PlayStation Vita, did not include UMD support, nor was it added throughout its lifespan. In move similar to the PSP Go, Sony focused on digital downloads and opted for low-profile flash-based cartridges as the system's main media format. Since 2011, there have been no more movies published on UMD in all Regions, excluding Region 3, which saw releases of adult content up until 2016. Games were published on UMD up until 2013. UMD can be dumped into disc image files ( .iso or .cso), using

7434-485: The PlayStation Store. The Digital Comics Reader application required PSP firmware 6.20. The PlayStation Store's "Comic" section premiered in Japan on December 10 , 2009, with licensed publishers ASCII Media Works , Enterbrain , Kadokawa , Kodansha , Shueisha , Shogakukan , Square-Enix , Softbank Creative (HQ Comics), Hakusensha , Bandai Visual , Fujimishobo, Futabasha , and Bunkasha. It launched in

7552-603: The Slims in North America were both on September 10, 2007, were the Daxter PSP. Included with the bundle was an Ice Silver PSP with a Daxter UMD, the Family Guy ;: Freaking Sweet Collection, and a 1 GB Memory Stick for usage. The other was a Piano Black Only PSP Limited-edition models were first released in Japan on September 12, 2007; North America and Europe on September 5; in Australia on September 12, and in

7670-814: The UK on October 26. The PSP-2000 was made available in piano black, ceramic white, ice silver, mint green, felicia blue, lavender purple, deep red, matte bronze, metallic blue, and rose pink as standard colors. Several special-edition consoles were colored and finished to sell with certain games, including Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (ice silver engraved), Star Ocean: First Departure (felicia blue engraved), Gundam (red gloss/matte black), and Monster Hunter Freedom (gold silkscreened) in Japan, Star Wars (Darth Vader silkscreened), and God of War: Chains of Olympus (Kratos silkscreened) in North America, The Simpsons (bright yellow with white buttons, analog and disc tray) in Australia and New Zealand, and Spider-Man (red gloss/matte black) in Europe. The PSP-3000

7788-521: The USB port was replaced with a proprietary connector. A compatible cable that connects to other devices' USB ports is included with the unit. The new multi-use connector allows video and sound output with the same connector using an optional composite or component AV cable. As with previous models, Sony also offers a cradle (PSP-N340) for charging, video out, and USB data transfer on the PSP Go. This model adds support for Bluetooth connectivity, which enables

7906-607: The United States and in English-speaking PAL countries on December 16 , 2009, though the first issues of Aleister Arcane , Astro Boy : Movie Adaptation , Star Trek : Enterprise Experiment and Transformers : All Hail Megatron were made available as early as November 20 through limited-time PlayStation Network redemption codes. In early 2010 the application was expanded to the German, French, Spanish and Italian languages. The choice of regional Comic Reader software

8024-530: The WonderSwan's success in Japan was the fact that Bandai managed to get a deal with Square to port over the original Famicom Final Fantasy games with improved graphics and controls. However, with the popularity of the Game Boy Advance and the reconciliation between Square and Nintendo, the WonderSwan Color and its successor, the SwanCrystal quickly lost its competitive advantage . The 2000s saw

8142-551: The aforementioned GPU and Media Engine. The hardware was originally forced to run more slowly than it was capable of; most games ran at 222 MHz. With firmware update 3.50 on May 31, 2007, however, Sony removed this limit and allowed new games to run at 333 MHz. The PSP is powered by an 1800 mAh battery (1200 mAh on the 2000 and 3000 models) that provides between about three and six hours of gameplay, between four and five hours of video playback, or between eight and eleven hours of audio playback. To make

8260-523: The battery to change game cartridges. The most well known of these was " sidetalking ", or the act of placing the phone speaker and receiver on an edge of the device instead of one of the flat sides, causing the user to appear as if they are speaking into a taco . The N-Gage QD was later released to address the design flaws of the original. However, certain features available in the original N-Gage, including MP3 playback, FM radio reception, and USB connectivity were removed. Universal Media Disc While

8378-446: The battery-hungry alternatives to the Game Boy, these batteries employed a nickel-cadmium process and had to be completely discharged before being recharged to ensure maximum efficiency; lead-acid batteries could be used with automobile circuit limiters (cigarette lighter plug devices); but the batteries had mediocre portability. The later NiMH batteries, which do not share this requirement for maximum efficiency, were not released until

8496-431: The briefly successful PocketStation in Japan as its first foray into the handheld gaming market. The SNK Neo Geo Pocket and Nokia's N-Gage also failed to cut into Nintendo's share. According to an IDC analyst in 2004, the PSP was the "first legitimate competitor to Nintendo's dominance in the handheld market". The first concept images of the PSP appeared at a Sony corporate strategy meeting in November 2003, and featured

8614-609: The capability to store quality audio/video content; however, the format's proprietary nature, the lack of writers and accompanying blank media, made adoption difficult. The UMD format never saw implementation on any device other than the PlayStation Portable , and as a result the market was very limited compared to those of other optical media formats. The high price of UMD movie releases were another contributing factor: they often retailed at comparable prices to DVD , but lacked extra content. Poor sales of UMD movies early in

8732-657: The community. The SensMe software, which had already existed on some Walkman music players and Sony Ericsson handsets, was added to the PSP through a software update in 2009. It is a music analyser that reads music files stored on the PSP and categorises them into "channels" representing moods and creates automatic playlists from it. The PSP has support for the playback of MP3 and ATRAC audio files, as well as WMA since firmware version 2.60. Sony partnered with publishers such as Rebellion Developments , Disney , IDW Publishing , Insomnia Publications , iVerse , Marvel Comics , and Titan Books to release digitized comics on

8850-766: The conference. The PSP's development posed several challenges for Sony and third-party developers, with battery life being a primary concern. To address this, Sony implemented power management strategies, including restricting the CPU to two-thirds of its full speed for the first few years. The Universal Media Disc (UMD) drive was another significant hurdle, as it drained the battery and had slow read speeds. Developers had to optimize their game data layout to minimize disc access and reduce power consumption. These limitations sometimes led to performance constraints and long loading times, with some titles like WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 experiencing load times of up to two minutes for certain scenes. On October 18, 2004, Sony announced that

8968-431: The console, screen, speakers, and controls in one unit, allowing players to carry them and play them at any time or place. In 1976, Mattel introduced the first handheld electronic game with the release of Auto Race . Later, several companies—including Coleco and Milton Bradley —made their own single-game, lightweight table-top or handheld electronic game devices. The first commercial successful handheld console

9086-533: The device the " Walkman of the 21st century", a reference to the console's multimedia capabilities. Several gaming websites were impressed with the handheld's computing capabilities, and looked forward to its potential as a gaming platform. In the 1990s, Nintendo had dominated the handheld market since launching its Game Boy in 1989, experiencing close competition only from Sega's Game Gear (1990–1997) and Bandai 's WonderSwan (1999-2001) and WonderSwan Color (2000–2004) in Japan. In January 1999, Sony had released

9204-481: The digital-download-only PSP Go , which was the first (and only) PSP model to not include a UMD drive. However, the system experienced lackluster sales compared to previous models, with most consumers still choosing the UMD-compatible PSP-3000 model, which continued to be sold alongside the PSP Go. Despite the earlier push for PlayStation Network releases around the PSP Go's launch, over half of

9322-401: The emerging optoelectronic -display-driven calculator market of the early 1970s. This synthesis happened in 1976, when "Mattel began work on a line of calculator-sized sports games that became the world's first handheld electronic games. The project began when Michael Katz, Mattel's new product category marketing director, told the engineers in the electronics group to design a game the size of

9440-404: The format's life caused major studios like Universal and Paramount to rescind their support. Retail support of the format experienced similar troubles, and in 2006, Wal-Mart began phasing out shelf space devoted to UMD movies. In late 2009, Sony began pushing developers away from the UMD format and towards digital distribution on the PlayStation Network in preparation for the launch of

9558-497: The format. The PSP was received positively by critics, and sold over 80 million units during its ten-year lifetime. Several models of the console were released, before the PSP line was succeeded by the PlayStation Vita , released in Japan first in 2011 and worldwide a year later. The Vita has backward compatibility with PSP games that were released on the PlayStation Network through the PlayStation Store , which became

9676-462: The fourth generation of game consoles. This list does not include dedicated consoles , such as LCD games and the Tamagotchi . The origins of handheld game consoles are found in handheld and tabletop electronic game devices of the 1970s and early 1980s. These electronic devices are capable of playing only a single game, they fit in the palm of the hand or on a tabletop, and they may make use of

9794-461: The high price, which was almost US$ 20 higher than that of the Japanese model and over $ 100 higher than the Nintendo DS . Despite these concerns, the PSP's North American launch was a success; Sony said 500,000 units were sold in the first two days of sales, though it was also reported that this figure was below expectations. The PSP was originally intended to have a simultaneous PAL and North American launch, but on March 15, 2005, Sony announced that

9912-546: The idea and instead release the Genesis Nomad , a handheld version of the Genesis , as the successor. The Watara Supervision was released in 1992 in an attempt to compete with the Nintendo Game Boy. The first model was designed very much like a Game Boy, but it is grey in color and has a slightly larger screen. The second model was made with a hinge across the center and can be bent slightly to provide greater comfort for

10030-477: The late 1990s, years after the Game Gear, Atari Lynx, and original Game Boy had been discontinued. During the time when technologically superior handhelds had strict technical limitations, batteries had a very low mAh rating since batteries with heavy power density were not yet available. Modern game systems such as the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable have rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries with proprietary shapes. Other seventh-generation consoles, such as

10148-407: The location of the PSP on a map and obtains information of places around the user. It determines the location through "PlaceEngine" technology, via wireless LAN spots. On June 15, 2005, hackers disassembled the code of the PSP and distributed it online. Initially the modified PSP allowed users to run custom code and a limited amount of protected software, including custom-made PSP applications such as

10266-492: The main method of purchasing PSP games after Sony shut down access to the store from the PSP on March 31, 2016. Hardware shipments of the PSP ended worldwide in 2014; production of UMDs ended when the last Japanese factory producing them closed in late 2016. Sony Computer Entertainment first announced development of the PlayStation Portable at a press conference preceding E3 2003 . Although samples were not presented, Sony released extensive technical details. CEO Ken Kutaragi called

10384-490: The market, Yokoi designed the series of LCD-based games to include a digital time display in the corner of the screen. For later, more complicated Game & Watch games, Yokoi invented a cross shaped directional pad or "D-pad" for control of on-screen characters. Yokoi also included his directional pad on the NES controllers, and the cross-shaped thumb controller soon became standard on game console controllers and ubiquitous across

10502-573: The medium, but claimed that they were unable to restrict films on UMD like with games and other software for the PSP. ECMA -365: Data Interchange on 60 mm Read-Only ODC – Capacity: 1.8 GB (UMD) The case dimensions for UMD discs are 177×104×14mm. According to the official ECMA specification Sony designed the UMD to support two possible future enhancements and products. DVD region coding has been applied to most UMD movies and music. However, all PSP games are region-free, although some require pay-to-continue. UMD offers large capacity and

10620-479: The model's region. System Software updates have added many features, including a web browser, Adobe Flash support, additional codecs for various media, PlayStation 3 (PS3) connectivity, and patches against security exploits and the execution of homebrew programs. The most recent version, numbered 6.61, was released on January 15, 2015. The PSP Internet Browser is a version of the NetFront browser and came with

10738-596: The original Game Boy. It can also give the sprites and backgrounds separate colors, for a total of more than four colors. The Neo Geo Pocket Color (or NGPC) was released in 1999 in Japan, and later that year in the United States and Europe. It is a 16-bit color handheld game console designed by SNK , the maker of the Neo Geo home console and arcade machine. It came after SNK's original Neo Geo Pocket monochrome handheld, which debuted in 1998 in Japan. In 2000 following SNK's purchase by Japanese Pachinko manufacturer Aruze,

10856-428: The original PSP-1000, and 16% lighter and 35% smaller than the PSP-3000. Its rechargeable battery is not intended to be removed by the user. It has a 3.8-inch (97 mm) 480 × 272 pixel LCD screen , which slides up to reveal the main controls. The overall shape and sliding mechanism are similar to those of Sony's mylo COM-2 Internet device. The PSP Go features 802.11b Wi-Fi like its predecessors, although

10974-444: The other, for an early 3D effect . In 1983, Takara Tomy 's Tomytronic 3D simulates 3D by having two LCD panels that were lit by external light through a window on top of the device, making it the first dedicated home video 3D hardware. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the beginnings of the modern-day handheld game console industry, after the demise of the Microvision. As backlit LCD game consoles with color graphics consume

11092-503: The playing of games using a Sixaxis or DualShock 3 controller. The use of the cradle with the controller allow players to use the PSP Go as a portable device and as a console, although the output is not upscaled. PlayStation 1 games can be played in full screen using the AV/component cable or the cradle. The PSP Go lacks a UMD drive, and instead has 16 GB of internal flash memory, which can be extended by up to 32 GB with

11210-460: The primary application for UMD discs is as a storage medium for PSP games, the format is also used for the storage of motion pictures and, to a lesser degree, television shows for playback on the PSP. The video is encoded in the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format, with the audio in ATRAC3plus or PCM . Video stored on UMD is typically encoded in 720×480 resolution, but is scaled down when displayed on

11328-416: The responsiveness of the buttons was improved. Other changes include improved WLAN modules and micro-controller , and a thinner, brighter LCD screen. To improve the poor loading times of UMD games on the original PSP, the internal memory ( RAM and Flash ROM ) was doubled from 32 MB to 64 MB, part of which now acting as a cache, also improving the web browser's performance. In comparison with

11446-605: The system every year until 2004's Winter Games . The TurboExpress is a portable version of the TurboGrafx, released in 1990 for $ 249.99. Its Japanese equivalent is the PC Engine GT . It is the most advanced handheld of its time and can play all the TurboGrafx-16 's games (which are on a small, credit-card sized media called HuCards ). It has a 66 mm (2.6 in.) screen, the same as the original Game Boy, but in

11564-548: The system via the 2.00 update. The browser supports most common web technologies, such as HTTP cookies , forms , CSS , and basic JavaScript . It features basic tabbed browsing and has a maximum of three tabs. Remote Play allows the PSP to access many of the features of the PlayStation 3 console from a remote location using the PS3's WLAN capabilities, a home network, or the Internet. Using Remote Play, users can view photographs, listen to music, and watch videos stored on

11682-417: The system's first week of sales. The PlayStation Portable uses the common " bar " form factor. The original model measures approximately 6.7 by 2.9 by 0.9 inches (170 by 74 by 23 mm) and weighs 9.9 ounces (280 g). The front of the console is dominated by the system's 4.3-inch (110 mm) LCD screen, which is capable of 480 × 272 pixel display resolution with 24-bit color , outperforming

11800-422: The unit slimmer, the capacity of the PSP's battery was reduced from 1800  mAh to 1200 mAh in the PSP-2000 and 3000 models. The original high-capacity batteries work on the newer models, giving increased playing time, though the battery cover does not fit. The batteries take about 1.5 hours to charge and last for between four-and-a-half and seven hours depending on factors such as screen brightness settings,

11918-565: The use of WLAN , and volume levels. In March 2008, Sony released the Extended Life Battery Kit in Japan, which included a bulkier 2200 mAh battery with a fitting cover. In Japan, the kit was sold with a specific-colored cover matching the many PSP variations available. The North American kit released in December 2008 was supplied with two new covers; one black and one silver. The PSP-2000, marketed in PAL countries as

12036-567: The use of a Memory Stick Micro (M2) . Games must be downloaded from the PlayStation Store . The removal of the UMD drive effectively region-locks the unit because it must be linked to a single, region-locked PlayStation Network account. While the PSP Go can download games to itself, users can also download and transfer games to the device from a PlayStation 3 console, or the Windows -based software Media Go . All downloadable PSP and PlayStation games available for older PSP models are compatible with

12154-447: The user. While the system did enjoy a modest degree of success, it never impacted the sales of Nintendo or Sega. The Supervision was redesigned a final time as "The Magnum". Released in limited quantities it was roughly equivalent to the Game Boy Pocket . It was available in three colors: yellow, green and grey. Watara designed many of the games themselves, but did receive some third party support, most notably from Sachen . A TV adapter

12272-607: The video game industry since. When Yokoi began designing Nintendo's first handheld game console, he came up with a device that married the elements of his Game & Watch devices and the Famicom console, including both items' D-pad controller. The result was the Nintendo Game Boy. In 1982, the Bandai LCD Solarpower was the first solar-powered gaming device. Some of its games, such as the horror -themed game Terror House , features two LCD panels , one stacked on

12390-419: The zooming and scaling of sprites. The Lynx can also be turned upside down to accommodate left-handed players. However, all these features came at a very high price point, which drove consumers to seek cheaper alternatives. The Lynx is also very unwieldy, consumes batteries very quickly, and lacked the third-party support enjoyed by its competitors. Due to its high price, short battery life, production shortages,

12508-547: Was Merlin from 1978, which sold more than 5 million units. The first handheld game console with interchangeable cartridges is the Milton Bradley Microvision in 1979. Nintendo is credited with popularizing the handheld console concept with the release of the Game Boy in 1989 and continues to dominate the handheld console market. The first internet -enabled handheld console and the first with

12626-549: Was available in both PAL and NTSC formats that could transfer the Supervision's black-and-white palette to 4 colors, similar in some regards to the Super Game Boy from Nintendo. The Hartung Game Master is an obscure handheld released at an unknown point in the early 1990s. Its graphics fidelity was much lower than most of its contemporaries, displaying just 64x64 pixels. It was available in black, white, and purple, and

12744-623: Was frequently rebranded by its distributors, such as Delplay, Videojet and Systema. The exact number of games released is not known, but is likely around 20. The system most frequently turns up in Europe and Australia. By this time, the lack of significant development in Nintendo 's product line began allowing more advanced systems such as the Neo Geo Pocket Color and the WonderSwan Color to be developed. The Nomad

12862-551: Was horizontal in orientation and like the Game Boy, required 4 AA batteries. Unlike many later Game Boy clones, its internal components were professionally assembled (no "glop-top" chips). Unfortunately the system's fatal flaw is its screen. Even by the standards of the day, its screen is rather difficult to use, suffering from similar ghosting problems that were common complaints with the first generation Game Boys. Likely because of this fact sales were quite poor, and Bitcorp closed by 1992. However, new games continued to be published for

12980-527: Was made available in Australia in July. Three free games for the PSP Go were offered in America. In October that year, Sony announced it would reduce the price of the unit. On April 20, 2011, the manufacturer announced that the PSP Go would be discontinued outside of North America so it could concentrate on the PlayStation Vita . The PSP-E1000, which was announced at Gamescom 2011 , is a budget-focused model that

13098-492: Was made available in piano black, pearl white, mystic silver, radiant red, vibrant blue, spirited green, blossom pink, turquoise green and lilac purple for standard colors. For limited edition colors were "Big Boss Pack" of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker had a camouflage pattern while the God of War: Ghost of Sparta bundle pack included a black-and-red two-toned PSP. The Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy Cosmos & Chaos edition that

13216-484: Was not a new software platform and played the same software as the original Game Boy model. The Game.com (pronounced in TV commercials as "game com", not "game dot com", and not capitalized in marketing material) is a handheld game console released by Tiger Electronics in September 1997. It featured many new ideas for handheld consoles and was aimed at an older target audience, sporting PDA-style features and functions such as

13334-526: Was released across the PAL region on October 26 of that year. The E1000 lacks Wi-Fi capability and has a matte finish similar to that of the slim PlayStation 3. It has a monaural speaker instead of the previous models' stereo speakers and lacks a microphone. This model also lacked the physical brightness buttons from the front of the handheld, instead offering brightness controls in the System Software's 'Power Save Settings' menu. An ice-white version

13452-498: Was released in July 2016, was the final PSP game that was released. The best rated PSP games on Metacritic are God of War: Ghost of Sparta , Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories , and Daxter , Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is the only PSP game to receive a perfect score from Famitsū . During E3 2006 , Sony Computer Entertainment America announced that the Greatest Hits range of budget titles were to be extended to

13570-565: Was released in October 1995 in North America only. The release was six years into the market span of the Genesis, with an existing library of more than 500 Genesis games. According to former Sega of America research and development head Joe Miller, the Nomad was not intended to be the Game Gear's replacement; he believed that there was little planning from Sega of Japan for the new handheld. Sega

13688-479: Was released in PAL territories on July 20, 2012. The PSP was sold in four main configurations. The Base Pack, called the Core Pack in North America, contained the console, a battery, and an AC adapter. This version was available at launch in Japan and was released later in North America and Europe. Many limited editions of the PSP were bundled with accessories, games, or movies. The first two initial releases of

13806-499: Was released on March 3, 2011, has an Amano artwork as the PSP's face plate. Below is a comparison of the different PlayStation Portable models: The PSP runs a custom operating system referred to as the System Software, which can be updated over the Internet, or by loading an update from a Memory Stick or UMD. Sony offers no method for downgrading such software. While System Software updates can be used with consoles from any region, Sony recommends only downloading updates released for

13924-601: Was supporting five different consoles: Saturn , Genesis, Game Gear , Pico , and the Master System , as well as the Sega CD and 32X add-ons. In Japan, the Mega Drive had never been successful and the Saturn was more successful than Sony's PlayStation , so Sega Enterprises CEO Hayao Nakayama decided to focus on the Saturn. By 1999, the Nomad was being sold at less than a third of its original price. The Game Boy Pocket

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