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| Happy 16th anniversary, Sony PlayStation Portable! (Image Source: PhilStar Life) |
Since the original Game Boy was released in 1989, Nintendo has literally dominated the handheld video game market and several competitors such as Sega and Atari have tried to take the piece of the pie with their own portable gaming systems only to fail mostly due to less sales. However, it all changed in late 2004 when Sony introduced its own player in the handheld gaming market - the PSP (PlayStation Portable) - and it has successfully penetrated what other players are lacking in at a time when a vast majority of the portable gaming scene was held by Nintendo's household brand and its cavalcade of timeless characters and exclusive franchises.
Released in North America on March 24, 2005, the PSP is known for its wide catalog of classic and modern games; allowing players to store videos, music and images on top of their games through the addition of a memory stick slot; and the intriguingly impressive quality of its widescreen display. It also sports its own multiplayer gaming capabilities through wireless ad-hoc connection that enables GameShare mode in several games supporting the said mode where a PSP owner shares gaming content wirelessly to another PSP owner and allow both to play in multiplayer. Once claimed to have the ability to play console-quality games on a handheld device with the initial success of titles such as Ape Escape, Metal Gear Acid and Wipeout Pure among others, the console began hitting its stride and showing beyond its capabilities with the likes of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and God Of War: Chains Of Olympus.
The only feature and capability that made gamers literally turn their backs at the PSP since its introduction at E3 2004 was possibly Sony's early decision to choose the Universal Media Disc (UMD) format to carry gaming and media content on the device. Of course, the PSP is not safe from the negative and somewhat positive effects of piracy in which hackers have found a way to circumvent the system and eventually allow them to illegally download games and transfer them to a memory stick on board ready to play. This led to the discontinuation of several top gaming projects with EA, UbiSoft and other gaming developers. At the same time, it opened the door for homebrew communities to experiment around the hardware.
Through its time, Sony has released upgraded models of the system - PSP-1000, PSP-2000, PSP-3000 - in order to address the console's most common problems such as overall system life, processing power and battery life. In the end, the PSP sold over 80 million copies - enough for the system to be placed tenth in the list of highest-selling gaming consoles of all time in 2018 according to the Guinness Book of World Records. The PSP has ushered in a different view of handheld consoles beyond the novelty of being just a simple gaming machine with its multimedia capabilities becoming a staple in modern smartphones. If you have bought and owned a PSP, there are more than 1,300 games you can enjoy and indulge in with various affordable deals being offered in gaming stores where the console is still available. It may have taken a back seat against Nintendo's powerhouse DS line, but there is no doubt in any gamer's mind that its trubitastic impact has not only changed the landscape of the handheld gaming market, but also the way we think about handheld gaming systems.
Ultimately, the PSP and its successor PS Vita will be remembered as the systems that challenged the history-defining run of the Nintendo DS and even the slow but bitter demise of the pure handheld gaming devices with the advent and influx of modern smartphones. Nevertheless, the PSP has delivered in a wonderfully trubitastic way, created new memories of playing console quality games on-the-go, and became the first system to explore the possibilities of remote play. Happy 16th anniversary, PlayStation Portable!!
