Most Anticipated Consumer Product Launch Of 2005, PSP™ (PlayStation® Portable), Ushers In A New Era In Portable Entertainment

One Million PSP Value Packs Available for Purchase on March 24th, 2005

News by GamesIndustry International Contributor

Published on March 24, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOSTER CITY, Calif., March 24, 2005 Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. announced today the highly anticipated PSP^TM (PlayStation^® Portable) portable entertainment system is now available in North America. Setting a precedent as the first-ever integrated portable entertainment system designed to provide consumers with a comprehensive entertainment experience including games, music, movies, communication, and wireless networking, the PSP system builds upon the company's heritage of innovative products that define a new entertainment landscape to meet consumers' lifestyles. In anticipation of the overwhelming consumer demand for PSP, there will be one million PSP Value Pack units available in retail outlets across the country for today's launch. Extending its consumer-centric approach to the business, the PSP Value Pack is available for a suggested retail price of $249.99 US/$299.99 CND, and contains the following:

PSP^TM (PlayStation^® Portable)

AC Adaptor

Battery Pack

Memory Stick Duo^TM (32 MB)

Headphone with remote control

Soft Case

Wrist Strap

Cleaning Cloth

UMD in-pack game/movie/music sampler

Spider-Man^TM 2 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (for the first 1 Million PSP Value Packs shipped)

"The launch of PSP in North America marks a new chapter in portable entertainment, giving consumers the freedom to access the entirety of their entertainment options without sacrificing quality all through one extraordinary product,"said Kaz Hirai, president and chief executive officer, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "As the tremendous response to PSP continues to grow, we are redefining the marketplace with a comprehensive portable entertainment system."

Market leading Sony Computer Entertainment America's first foray into the portable market, PSP allows for the viewing of movies, digital photo display and supports digital music playback in both MP3 and ATRAC formats. With gaming at the product's core, PSP f eatures graphics rendering capabilities comparable to the leading in-home console, PlayStation 2, bringing an unmatched gaming experience to a portable platform, allowing users to play 3D games, with full-motion video, and high-fidelity stereo audio. PSP also comes complete with built-in stereo speakers, exterior headphone connector and input/output connectors such as USB 2.0, and 802.11b (Wi-Fi) wireless LAN, enabling users to connect to the Internet and play online via a wireless network. Up to 16 PSP systems in the vicinity can also be connected to each other directly, allowing for wireless head-to-head competition. In addition, wireless capabilities allow software and data to be downloaded to a PSP and saved onto a Memory Stick Duo.

PSP has amassed an unsurpassed line-up of 24 titles from the world's leading software development firms available in North America during the launch window. With an additional 23 titles currently in development in North America and 100 titles currently in development world wide, PSP will launch with a broad cross section of entertainment genres and support from publishing leaders Activision, Capcom, Eidos Interactive, Electronic Arts, Koei, Konami, Namco, and Sony Online Entertainment.

Consumers can find the following titles available during the launch window at more than 18,000 retail locations: (listed in alphabetical order)

Ape Escape^®: On the Loose , Sony Computer Entertainment America

ATV Offroad Fury^®: Blazin' Trails , Sony Computer Entertainment America

Darkstalkers Chronicle^TM: The Chaos Tower , Capcom

Dynasty Warriors^® , KOEI

FIFA 2005 , Electronic Arts

Gretzky^TM NHL ^®, Sony Computer Entertainment America

Lumines^TM , Ubisoft

Metal Gear Acid^TM , Konami

MLB^TM, Sony Computer Entertainment America

MVP Baseball , Electronic Arts

NBA , Sony Computer Entertainment America

NBA Street Showdown , E lectronic Arts

Need for Speed^TM Rivals , Electronic Arts

NFL Street 2 Unleashed , Electronic Arts

Rengoku^TM: Tower of Purgatory , Konami

Ridge Racer^TM , Namco

Smartbomb , Eidos Interactive

Spider-Man 2^TM, Activision

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR^® , Electronic Arts

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix , Activision

Twisted Metal: Head On ^TM, Sony Computer Entertainment America

Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade , Sony Online Entertainment

Wipeout^® Pure, Sony Computer Entertainment America

World Tour Soccer, Sony Computer Entertainment America

Further validating the multi-media entertainment value proposition of PSP, several motion picture studios announced feature film support for the platform with movies being made available on the newly developed proprietary, compact (60 mm), but high-capacity (1.8 GB) optical disc, Universal Media Disc (UMD^TM ), which PSP utilizes as its main storage medium. In addition to other studio announcements, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced House of Flying Daggers, XXX, Hellboy, RESIDENT EVIL: Apocalypse and Once Upon A Time In Mexico , for release on April 19 with plans to make additional titles available monthly thereafter. To protect this content, a robust copyright protection system has been developed for UMD, which utilizes a combination of a unique disc ID, 128 bit AES encryption keys for the media, and individual ID for each PSP hardware unit.

About PSP^TM (PlayStation Portable)

PSP ^TM (PlayStation^® Portable) is a new portable 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^TM ), 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 PlayStation.

About Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. continues to redefine the entertainment lifestyle with its PlayStation^® and PS one^TM game console, the PlayStation^®2 computer entertainment system and the PSP^TM (PlayStation^® Portable) portable entertainment system. The PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system is set to revolutionize the home entertainment market, offering the most compelling interactive content and the capability to be used as a network terminal in the coming broadband era. PSP is a new portable entertainment system that allows users to enjoy 3D games, with high-quality full-motion video, and high-fidelity stereo audio.

Recognized as the undisputed industry leader, Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. markets the PlayStation family of products and develops, publishes, markets and distributes software for the PS one game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and the PSP portable entertainment system for the North American market. Based in Foster City, Calif. Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. serves as headquarters for all North American operations and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

About Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) is a Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) company. SPE is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in 67 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com.

"PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks and "PSP" and "UMD" are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Memory Stick Duo, Memory Stick PRO Duo, ATRAC3plus and MagicGate are trademarks of Sony Corporation.