PSP Skyrockets In UK

Chart-Track– a research company that monitors the sales of music, videos and software through retail in the UK and Ireland — believes Sony’s PSP takes over the All Formats chart this week with the biggest software launch for any console. According to Chart-Track, 20 out of the 24 PSP launch titles enter the All Formats Top 40. Rival handheld, the Nintendo DS, only sold 87,000 in its launch week in March.

However no figures are available for the Australian market because the gadget went on sale in Europe and Australia in early September, nine months after it hit Japanese stores and six months after the US. Five million PSPs have been shipped by Sony since its launch in Japan late 2004 and in the US in March this year. Sony says it expects to ship 13m by March 2006.

However Sony has warned PSP owners about a known issue which came to light in the days following the PSP’s March launch in the US. Many gamers returned their devices after the LCD screens appeared to be missing pixels. Sony said in accompanying literature to the device that the “stuck pixel” problem is characteristic of LCD technology.