Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. has announced the availability of a new PSP (PlayStation Portable) featuring a lighter and slimmer design, a video-out port and two new PSP Entertainment Packs based on the Daxter and Star Wars properties. Revealed Wednesday at the E3 Media & Business Summit, the new units will be available in North America this fall for $199.99.
The limited-edition Daxter PSP Entertainment Pack will be available on September 10 and will include the ice silver-colored PSP unit. Sweetening the pot is 20th Century Fox’s Family Guy – The Freakin’ Sweet Collection on UMD and a 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo for storing photos, music, video clips and more.
October 9 will see the release of the Star Wars Battlefront PSP Entertainment Pack, which comes with a collector’s edition ceramic white PSP featuring a Darth Vader silk-screen image. The package will also include the PSP exclusive title Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron, next chapter in the most successful Star Wars video-game franchise ever. A stand-alone version of the LucasArts game will also launch at retail on the same day.
“We are very pleased to be taking part in the global roll-out of the newly designed PSP, while providing something unique for users in North America,” says Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA). “In response to consumer interest, we’re offering additional colors as part of this enhanced design to match users’ personal styles and interests.’
One thing gamers and gizmo enthusiasts will appreciate is the video-out port, which will allow users to hook the PSP up to a television to play games or watch movies from a UMD disc on a larger screen. The addition may help boost the poor sales of UMD movies, which can only be played on the PSP and were previously limited to the unit’s 4.3-inch screen.
Sony says PSP sales have been on the rise in North America, largely due to a $30 price reduction and a successful marketing campaign sporting the tagline “Dude, get your own”. The current PSP Core Pack will continue to be available for the suggest retail price of $169.99, and an enhanced-design PSP in “piano black” with an AC adaptor and battery pack is slated for release in September.
This fiscal year, the PSP will get approximately 140 new games, including the E3 debut titles God of War: Chains of Olympus, Jeanne D’Arc, NBA ’08, Parappa the Rapper, Pursuit Force: Extreme Justice, SOCOM US Navy SEALs: Tactical Strike and Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow.
Photo: Sony Computer Entertainment Group C.E.O. Kaz Hirai demonstrates the new PlayStation Portable Player (PSP) at the Sony Computer Entertainment America E3 2007 press event on Wednesday, July 11, 2007 in Culver City Calif. (AP Photo/Chris Weeks)
