The earliest adopters in America already have theirs, those black slabs of glistening black plastic and metal.

Some traveled to Japan, where they were released in December,
to buy one. Others paid resellers premium prices - sometimes more than twice their $250 retail price - to call them their own before their arrival in stores in North America in two weeks.

The object of desire is Sony’s PlayStation Portable, a hand-held video gaming device aimed at redefining entertainment on the go - and not just for young gamers.

For Sony, which has faltered in recent years in some electronics categories it once dominated, it is a big bet. The company often refers to the PlayStation Portable, the descendant of the original PlayStation, born 10 years ago, as the first truly integrated portable entertainment system.

Besides playing a new class of interactive 3-D games on its 4.3-inch liquid-crystal-display screen, the PlayStation Portable can play full-length movies, music videos, home movies and digital snapshots with startling clarity.

With the tap of a couple of well-placed buttons, the device is a high-fidelity digital music player complete with gleaming white ear buds.

Nintendo, the industry leader with its line of Game Boy portable gaming devices, has long appealed to younger players, the silvery dual-screen Nintendo DS, which came out late last year, has not attracted hordes of adult players, it adding that most adults shy away from portables.

Sony has not been shy about its desire to appeal first to consumers 18 to 34 years old, and then to younger teenagers and children. In recent months the company has promoted the device’s nongaming extras with almost as much fervor as its high-end gaming features, like built-in Wi-Fi for wireless ad hoc gaming with anyone within 100 feet and online gaming at Wi-Fi hot spots.

From The NewYork Times

它们是一个闪着黑色塑料金属光泽的类似平板的东西，一些04年12月份来日本的游客，为了能早于北美两周以后的发售，甚至以高于正常销售价格250美元两倍的价格而拥有他们。
这就是索尼公司携带式PlayStation-PSP(PlayStation Portable),一个可以玩游戏，看电影，听音乐，并且不再是单纯只为年轻的娱乐者，对于曾经在电子领域一度称霸的索尼，这是一个未来的赌注！
凭借Game Boy系列在手掌机领先的任天堂，由于新机种DS迟于PSP发售，虽有双屏幕，似乎并没有在这新的一轮主机站中占上风。
现在在秋叶原，PSP仍然是一个稀物，出产量赶不上购买量。
说个实在话，我在游戏专门店门口看那些摆着供试玩的机器，第一入眼的还是PSP,虽然DS就在他旁边，没别的，感觉就一个字：酷！
虽然我很讨厌索尼，很欣赏DS的触摸棒想法。