Riding on the global success of PlayStation 2 (PS2), Sony has launched its first hand-held game console to challenge rival Nin-tendo, whose Game Boy Advance monopolizes the worldwide portable game market.
PlayStation Portable (PSP) will hit the Japanese market by the end of this year and is slated to go on sale in Europe and North America by March.
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc has yet to release the price for PSP although news reports estimate it will cost around US$300.
"We are confident that we can break into Nintendo's market," said spokesman Kenichi Fukunaga, speaking at this weekend's Tokyo Game Show 2004 where the PSP was the main attraction.
Sony aims to sell three million PSPs globally by next March and some 60 software markers are working to provide 105 game titles for it.
Nintendo, for its part, hopes to trump Sony with its much-hyped new Nintendo DS, short for dual-screens, which includes a "PictoChat" program that allows up to 16 DS users to chat at once.
It will go on sale in North America in November, a month ahead of its Japanese release. It is the first time a Japanese game maker has launched its latest game console abroad and analysts said it underlined the importance of foreign sales over the sluggish Japanese market.
Nintendo surprised analysts by announcing last week that Nintendo DS would cost US$149.99, US$50 less than their estimate.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source