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[Vic Viper]

At Sony Computer Entertainment America's Gamers Day 2003, the company revealed some tidbits of information in regards to its upcoming portable system, the PlayStation Portable (PSP). The most significant of the news is the controller configuration, which is now confirmed to consist of the four face buttons we all know and love (triangle, circle, cross, and square), a digital directional pad, two shoulder buttons (left and right), start and select buttons, and one analog joystick. The absence of a second analog stick implies that a Dreamcast-like controller setup may be used for first-person games, but only time will tell.
Connectivity was emphasized as playing a large part in the PSP's lifecycle, whether that be through a wireless connection, or through the portable's USB port; PSP to PlayStation 2, PSP to PC, and PSP to PSP (to PSP to PSP) were all possible connections shown in the presentation, though no specific applications were named or elaborated on.

Other minor but significant details were made public, most notably that developers should have PSP emulators very shortly, and actual hardware development kits later this winter. Given the PSP's scheduled winter 2004 release, this give developers almost exactly a year to get a game completed. Additionally, battery life was said to be comparable to other high-end devices (roughly 3-6 hours), and the Universal Media Disc was confirmed to have sophisticated piracy measures, as well as a parental lock system. Lastly, Sony compared the 3D prowess of the PSP to be more akin to the PS2 rather than the PSone. The future of portable gaming is looking very interesting indeed.

ign

so far so good, though i wish it has a longer battery life.