The Playstation Portable

The PlayStation Portable, PSP is a handheld game console manufactured  by Sony Corporation. Development of the console was announced during E3 2003,and it was unveiled on May 11, 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004. The system was released in Japan on December 12, 2004,in North America on March 24, 2005, and in the PAL region on September 1, 2005.
The PlayStation Portable is the first and only handheld video game console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc (UMD), as its primary storage medium. Other distinguishing features of the console include its large viewing screen, robust multi-media capabilities,and connectivity with the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, other PSPs and the Internet.After the release of a slimmer, lighter, remodeled version of the PlayStation Portable (the PSP-2000/"Slim & Lite") in early September 2007, sales quadrupled in the United Kingdom the following week and increased by nearly 200% in North America for the month of October. This model was later replaced by another remodeling, the PSP-3000, which included a new screen and an inbuilt microphone. Since then, a complete redesign called the PSP Go has been released, which was sold alongside the PSP-3000. In 2011 a budget model, the PSP-E1000, was announced. The PSP line is due to be succeeded by the PlayStation Vita in late 2011/early 2012 (varying by region).