New Portable Gaming Device a Hot Item - Tri-State News, Weather & Sports

If your pockets feel a bit full, you might need to make room for the latest gotta-have-it gadget.

Sony's PSP, or Playstation Portable, is now on sale in the U.S., for about $250. The Playstation Portable plays movies. It plays music. It plays games. And it functions as a PDA would. It even has wi-fi internet access.

Spiderman 2 is one of the first movies available, along with about two dozen games for starters. One glance at the sleek device, and you know it's going to make waves.

Sony unveiled the PSP with much fanfare at a trade show last May. Then released it in Japan in December where the black-cased palm player went white-hot. Sony reportedly delayed the upcoming European launch to make more units are available in the U.S.

But the PSP faces fierce competition. Nintendo, which has long been the handheld leader, has a new one called the DS. Nokia's N-Gage, a combination cellphone and game device, is also out there. And hundreds of game titles are downloadable to many cellphones, offering a convenient way to get games on the go.

While Apple's Ipod isn't aimed at gamers, Sony clearly has the popular music player in its sights. Just a coincidence they both have white headphones? Ipod is probably going to be the predominant gadget in terms of the casual user. But certainly as an all-purpose gadget, the Playstation Portable is unmatched.

Sony brought us the first portable more than 20 years ago, and touts the PSP as "The Walkman of the 21st century." Retailers say pre-orders for the PSP were through the roof, and with demand so high, analysts are predicting more than a million could be sold in the first few days. The trick may be getting your hands on one.

In the Tri-State, you may be in luck. We checked with the Walmart Supercenter on Burkhardt Thursday afternoon, and they told Newswatch they had a few left.