It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, and is the first handheld installment in the PlayStation line of consoles.

[19] The first concept images of the PSP appeared at a Sony corporate strategy meeting in November 2003, and featured a model with flat buttons and no analog joystick.

[20] Although some reviewers expressed concern about the lack of an analog stick,[21] these fears were allayed when the PSP was officially unveiled at the Sony press conference during E3 2004.

To address this, Sony implemented power management strategies, including restricting the CPU to two-thirds of its full speed for the first few years.

[31] Despite these concerns, the PSP's North American launch was a success;[32][33] Sony said 500,000 units were sold in the first two days of sales,[34] though it was also reported that this figure was below expectations.

[39] All stock of the PSP in the UK sold out within three hours of its launch, more than doubling the previous first-day sales record of 87,000 units set by the Nintendo DS.

The front of the console is dominated by the system's 4.3-inch (110 mm) LCD screen, which is capable of 480 × 272 pixel display resolution with 24-bit color, outperforming the Nintendo DS.

The system also has two shoulder buttons, a USB 2.0 mini-B port on the top of the console, and a wireless LAN switch and power cable input on the bottom.

The back of the PSP features a read-only Universal Media Disc (UMD) drive for access to movies and games, and a reader compatible with Sony's Memory Stick PRO Duo flash cards is located on the left of the system.

Other features include an IrDA-compatible infrared port (this was discontinued in PSP-2000 and later) and a two-pin docking connector; built-in stereo speakers and headphone port; and IEEE 802.11b Wi-Fi for access to the Internet, free online multiplayer gaming via PlayStation Network, the ability to purchase games from PlayStation Store (now discontinued), and data transfer.

Included with the bundle was an Ice Silver PSP with a Daxter UMD, the Family Guy : Freaking Sweet Collection, and a 1 GB Memory Stick for usage.

Several special-edition consoles were colored and finished to sell with certain games, including Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (ice silver engraved), Star Ocean: First Departure (felicia blue engraved), Gundam (red gloss/matte black), and Monster Hunter Freedom (gold silkscreened) in Japan,[118] Star Wars (Darth Vader silkscreened),[119] and God of War: Chains of Olympus (Kratos silkscreened) in North America, The Simpsons (bright yellow with white buttons, analog and disc tray) in Australia and New Zealand,[117] and Spider-Man (red gloss/matte black) in Europe.

System Software updates have added many features, including a web browser, Adobe Flash support, additional codecs for various media, PlayStation 3 (PS3) connectivity, and patches against security exploits and the execution of homebrew programs.

[146] It launched in the United States and in English-speaking PAL countries on December 16, 2009, though the first issues of Aleister Arcane, Astro Boy: Movie Adaptation, Star Trek: Enterprise Experiment and Transformers: All Hail Megatron were made available as early as November 20 through limited-time PlayStation Network redemption codes.

Hackers were able to run protected software on the PSP through the creation of ISO loaders that could load copies of UMD games from a memory stick.

The best selling PSP game is Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, which sold 8 million copies as of March 2008.

[163] During E3 2006, Sony Computer Entertainment America announced that the Greatest Hits range of budget titles were to be extended to the PSP system.

These titles included Ape Escape:On the Loose, ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails, Hot Shots: Open Tee, Twisted Metal: Head-On, and Wipeout Pure.

[176] Official accessories for the console include an AC adapter, car adapter, headset, headphones with remote control, extended-life 2200 mAh battery, battery charger, console carrying case, game carrying case, accessories pouch and cleaning cloth, and system pouch and wrist strap.

[183] To overcome the problem of PSP games being displayed in a small window surrounded by a black border, the LKV-8000 has a zoom button on the connector.

CNET awarded the system 8.5 out of 10 and praised the console's powerful hardware and its multimedia capabilities but lamented the lack of a guard to cover the screen and the reading surface of UMD cartridges.

[188] PC World commended the built-in Wi-Fi capability but criticized the lack of a web browser at launch, and the glare and smudges that resulted from the console's glossy exterior.

In 2008, Time listed the PSP as a "gotta have travel gadget", citing the console's movie selection, telecommunications capability, and upcoming GPS functionality.

[190] The PlayStation Portable was initially seen as superior to the Nintendo DS when both devices were revealed in early 2004 because of the designers' emphasis on the technical accomplishments of the system.

It was mainly criticized for its initial pricing; Ars Technica called it "way too expensive" and The Guardian stated that cost was the "biggest issue" facing the machine.

[197] Wired said the older PSP-3000 model was cheaper and supports UMDs, and IGN stated that the price increase made the PSP Go a "hard sell".

[195][202] The controls received mixed reviews; The Times described them as "instantly familiar" whereas CNET and Stuff called the position of the analog stick "awkward".

[224] In a 2009 interview, Peter Dillon, Sony's senior vice-president of marketing, said piracy of video games was leading to lower sales than hoped.

[232] Sony came under scrutiny online in December 2006 for a guerrilla marketing campaign in which advertisers posed as young bloggers who desperately wanted a PSP.

[234] The character, Marcus Rivers, was played by child-actor Bobb'e J. Thompson, and started as the publicist of the PlayStation Portable division of Sony, responding to "Dear PSP" queries.