Ever since the Sony PlayStation Portable ( PSP) was announced at E3 in May 2004, we have been eagerly anticipating the hottest console launch ( sorry Nintendo DS) this year, even if it is only for the Japanese market right now. We were fortunate enough to get a unit to test a mere five days after the Japanese release date and have been playing with it all weekend. The Sony PSP features a large 4.3-inch 16: 9 widescreen LCD TFT screen with a 480x272 resolution, button layout similar to the PlayStation with a digital control pad, an analog stick, circle, square, triangle, x, and 2 shoulder buttons, USB 2.0 connectivity ( via mini-USB) , a Memory Stick Duo media slot, and 802.11b WiFi support. It uses Sony’s proprietary Universal Media Disc, which stores up to 1.8GB in a format reminiscent of MiniDiscs. The Japanese launch release date was December 12th and the first shipment of PSPs quickly sold out.