Written by Matt Swider  on May 19, 2004

E3 2004: Sony Press Conference: It's all about PSPЕand that other extremely successful console with the 2.

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Even though Microsoft managed to score a couple of zingers at the expense of SCEA and its CEO, it was Kaz Hirari who came out on top at the Sony press conference the next morning. There, he boasted about the continued success of PlayStation 2, revealed tidbits of information on the next-generation "Cell" processor, and unveiled Sony PSP. While the fact that Sony announced its first portable gaming system took no one by surprise, it was the finer hardware details combined with the first game footage that left much of the crowd in awe.

The anticipated PSP announcement pushed earlier aspects of the conference out of the spotlight. However, the PS2's expected $149 price drop and Insomniac's online demonstration of its third Ratchet & Clank title handed Sony another strong console showing, even after the PlayStation brand's 10-year lifespan. Ted Price, CEO of Insomniac Games, took to the stage with eight members of his development team and proved that Sony could go 10 years more. Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal will not only feature a cool name, but it will also come with a fast online shooter mode intact, making it the very first platform title to enter the online arena.

As Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal anted up PS2's current online standing against Xbox, the PSP announcement also sent an "Up Yours" in the direction of Nintendo, which unveiled a new handheld unit the same day. Sony's sleek PSP and Nintendo dual-screen DS may be very different from one another, but it's clear that each will compete for many of the same gamers come March 2005.

The carefully chosen release month for the U.S. and Europe means that Sony has opted not to seek a worldwide launch after all. It also means that DS has a couple of months to monopolize the market if the Big N keeps to its fall release schedule. The fact that this is the opposite of what occurred during the launch of PlayStation and N64 (and we all know how that turned out) suggests that Sony is in for a tough battle. But, then again, while it's not a battle Nintendo has lost before, Sony is clearly the best competitor to sweep Mario off his feet and have him land on his handheld behind.

PSP is already the victor is certain aspects as its sleek design and HD-like 16 x 9 screen-size makes GBA SP seem like a plastic tinker-toy. It will come with 32 MB of main memory, 4 MB of embedded DRAM, and supply the standard 10-hour lithium-ion battery life while only weighing a total of 260 grams. In addition to using stereo speakers, headphones can be plugged into the unit along with more unconventional accessories including a microphone, USB camera, remote controller, keyboard, wireless port for 802.11 b Wi-Fi,.

The currently undefined, but already impressive idea of having a GPS system on the PSP is a step in the right direction for Sony's multifunction handheld intent. Kaz went on to display the Spider-Man 2 movie trailer from Sony Pictures, the Megalomania music video from Incubus, and a Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children movie clip from Square Enix. Besides these three high-quality videos running on PSP, Kaz hinted that Sony Connect, the company's new online music service, could be made available for PSP in the near future.

The unveiling of PSP's design, hardware specs, list of accessories and video content running on the system stole much of the applause at the conference. However, there was nothing more exciting than seeing our first glance of actual game footage followed by EA enticing us even more with its own PSP game lineup. For the first couple of months, it seemed like some of the gamers should have been part of the PS2 lineup, many of them actually portable iterations from Sony's flagship PSOne and PS2 games. These included Ape Escape, ATV Offroad Fury, Dynasty Warriors, Formula 1, Frogger, Grand Turismo Mobile, Hot Shots Golf, Midevil, Metal Gear Acid, NBA Street, NFL Street, Need for Speed Underground, Ridge Racer, Spider-Man 2, Syphon Filter, Tony Hawk's Underground, Twisted Metal, and Wipeout. Sony didn't have any software playable on the open floor of the expo. However, the company can count on a third successful system launch and a second chance to bury Nintendo if even half of these games are available during PSP's March 2005 release.

Sony may not have had a celebrity-rich presentation with icons such as Donald Trump and Muhammad Ali, yet the press conference wasn't in any way low-key. Kaz Hirari gave us exactly what we were came to the Sony press conference to see as he announced the PS2 price drop, first online platform game and, of course, the PSP. Time will only tell whether the console price and expanded online arena will help counter Xbox Live and whether PSP make idea for DS seem like total BS. So for now, the future seems just as promising as the present for Sony.