News about Sony's next-generation portable game device, the PlayStation Portable, has been coming fast and furious. Lately, reports indicate that Sony may have a tough time duplicating the success of the full-sized PlayStation consoles.
The PlayStation Portable has a 4.3 inch screen, a 333MHz processor, 3D display capabilities, and supports wireless connections for network play. Games run on a proprietary format based on 1.8 gigabyte optical discs. Other tech details are listed in an August News.com article.
However, a more recent News.com article reveals the PlayStation Portable has had a difficult development phase. News.com says the product will launch with only five available titles in Japan. Moreover, although Sony has positioned the device as a multimedia device, no music or film companies (including Sony's own studios) have announced plans to release titles on the special discs. Production difficulties have limited the number of handhelds being produced over the next six months.
That's not all, notes the article: Reports of a short battery life in the PlayStation Portable forced a Sony executive to admit that gameplay can only last four to six hours, and then only playing simple card games with the screen dimmed, sound turned off, and wireless connectivity disabled.
Nevertheless, one analyst quoted in the article says the PlayStation Portable might be able to succeed if it builds up a stable of good games in a "reasonable" period of time.
The device will launch in Japan this month, and in the United States in March 2005.
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