A Fun-Sized All-in-one Best Friend

Sony PSP, A Girl’s Best Friend. What more could a girl ask for — music, movies and video games in an all-in-one device that can fit into my purse. I couldn’t dream of anything better than this Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) that came out this week. It’s definitely more than just a game machine.

The PSP, also known as the “21st Century Walkman,” has a 4.3-inch LCD screen and can be used to listen to music, watch movies and best of all, play games with its ultra-compact size. It uses Sony’s new proprietary Universal Media Disc (UMD), which is only 60mm and has 1.8GB of storage space. The first release of UMD movies on April 19 include Spider-Man 2, Hellboy, Resident Evil 2, House of Flying Daggers and Once Upon a Time In Mexico. There are also around 100 game titles available for the PSP.

If you’re into multi-player game play, as I am, you can play via wireless Internet through your LAN or a Hotspot. The only drawback with using a Hotspot is that if you need to access it with a webpage, it will not work. You can also play wirelessly in the ad-hoc mode, which allows you to  hook up to 15 other PSPs in your vicinity. In addition, you can transfer software and other data wirelessly and store it onto a Memory Stick Duo.

The average retail price of the PSP is $250 and it’s available at either of the Toys N’ Joys locations (Kaimuki: 735-4546 or Pearl City: 487-8697) or at www.toysnjoys.com. You can also find it at one of the three Toyriffic stores (Waialae: 739-9677, Kapolei Shopping Center: 674-0880 or Mililani Town Center: 627-0077).

If you want one, make sure you call the retailers ahead of time. PSPs are in great demand and short supply, and there may be long wait lists. This game girl can’t wait to get her hands on one — I’ve been waiting over a year for it to come out!