Sales of portable hardware -- the Nintendo DS, the latest incarnation of its GameBoy, was a big seller last Christmas -- were up 10 percent in 2004 to nearly $830 million nationally. If Sony sells a million PSPs, as expected, that's $249 million out of the gate, Frazier says.
"The acceleration of all this technology in our lives is truly amazing," she continues. "Who knows what it's going to mean down the line?"
Nathan Weishaar, a college student in Olathe, Kan., and the Sony PSP that he got last month on eBay, well in advance of its official launch today.
(Craig Sands For The Washington Post)
|
_____Multimedia_____
•
Video: The Washington Post's Jose Antonio Vargas reviews the new PlayStation Portable handheld video game device.
|
| |
_____Random Access_____
•
A Real-Life Pause Button: Electronics stores across the nation opened at midnight so jonesing hordes of gamers could score Sony Corp.'s latest mind parasite, prompting the question: Are we being played?
|
| |
|
Gillis, a junior at the University of Maryland, College Park, sounds a little conflicted about his passion for such a frenetic existence.
"I think we're just afraid of being bored. People my age always complain about being bored. If they're not doing something every second of the day -- talking on their cell phone, typing an IM, listening to their iPod, or playing on their PS2 -- then they're bored."
Then, he adds, "I've outgrown the GameBoy. The only people I see playing GameBoys are my nieces and nephews. The PSP is like the iPod. It's a cool image to be seen with."
For the past two weeks, he's logged on regularly to IGN.com, a popular gaming site with more than 20 million unique visitors a month.
Some of the postings that appeared in recent weeks in anticipation of the PSP:
"Should I sell my iPod? Need your opinion."
"PSP: Soon to be the most stolen product in schools everywhere."
"Don't Miss the New York PlayStation Portable Meetup Group." (Hector Martinez, the 30-year-old corporate trainer who posted this, said in a phone interview that the group has 31 members -- 10 of whom will meet tomorrow at the Manhattan Mall on Sixth Avenue and 33rd Street to play against each other.)
