How long is the battery life of the PSP?
Sony has still not fully confirmed as of this writing what the typical battery life of the PSP's lithium battery would be. Its 1,800mAh battery is described to be able to power the unit for as long as typical battery-based portable electronics, which would include portable DVD and MP3 players as well as other game systems. The PSP's various CPUs are scalable, and usage of the UMD disc drive may depend between different types of games and game engines. Sony estimates the battery life of the PSP to be, depending on the application, between 2 1/2 hours and 10 hours.
Will I be able to play PSP games on my television?
The PSP has AV in/out capabilities. Games, movies and other multimedia should be able to display on televisions through this port -- Sony was unable as of this writing to confirm the feature, but representatives on the E3 show floor alluded to this being a regular feature of the system.
Will games or other multimedia releases from other countries be playable on any PSP?
The PSP UMD format is fully equipped with region encoding procedures on all formats published to the media -- games, movies and music. However, SCE Europe's president and COO, David Reeves made comment in an interview with the Official PlayStation UK magazine that region encoding would not be utilized in game releases. Sony representatives were unable to be reached for clarification on if this policy remains regarding PSP games being region-free.
When will the PSP be made available?
Sony Computer Entertainment has not announced exact availability in any territory. However, the company has given rough estimates of when it is planning on releasing the system:
JAPAN: late 2004 (expected in November)
US: Q1 2005 (expected by March 2005)
EUROPE: Q1 2005 (expected by March 2005)
KOREA: Mid-2005
How much will the PSP cost?
Sony Computer Entertainment has not released information regarding pricing for the PSP in any territory, or commented on the record in any way regarding official pricing plans, aside to say that the company plans on being competitive with other handheld devices in all the fields that it will be competing (games, video, audio.)
What publishers are signed up to create PSP titles?
The majority of PlayStation publishers in all three territories have voiced interest in also publishing titles for the PSP. While the current state of game development has spread both creative and development resources to the point where not all interested publishers will decide to actually produce titles for the handheld, most top publishers are already planning on at least an initial slate of offerings for some time in the PSP's immediate future. Below are a list of major publishers who have publicly commented on plans regarding the PSP.
ACTIVISION - 2 PSP titles by March 2005
ATARI - Several titles planned for US
ATLUS - (*No titles planned, still evaluating system)
BANDAI - No confirmed titles, but is expected to announce plans soon
BANPRESTO - (*No titles planned, still evaluating system)
BETHESDA SOFTWORKS - Titles in development; has not announced plans
CAPCOM - At least 1 planned title at Japanese launch
CODEMASTERS - In development of titles (and prospective teams for said titles)
CHUNSOFT - Evaluating prospects of new title in the SOUND NOVEL series
DORASU CORPORATION - (*No titles planned, still evaluating system)
