In a series of interviews conducted by Famitsu magazine, Sony Computer Entertainment vice president Masatsuka Saeki and a number of game publishers have commented on their plans for Sony's handheld PSP console. The PSP is currently scheduled for release toward the end of this year.

　　"The second quarter of 2004 will be about how to promote the PSP. We will definitely release it within 2004," said Saeki. "December 3 will mark the PlayStation's 10th anniversary, so we want to get it out by December no matter what."

　　"There seems to be an interest in the PSP's LAN capabilities amongst the developers. It should be interesting to see what they can create by using the system," added Saeki. "With the PSP's release coming up at the end of the year, we plan to make announcements at E3 and at the Tokyo Game Show. We're currently working hard to develop [game] software for it, and a few of them should be ready in time for E3 or the Game Show."

　　A number of third-party publishers have confirmed that they plan to have games ready for the launch of the PSP. The first to announce software development was Koei, which revealed last year that it will be releasing three titles simultaneously with the portable console. Other major publishers have also recently announced similar intentions.

　　Namco plans to release two to three titles for the PSP at its launch, although there are chances that the games may end up being ports of existing titles. "We are aggressively developing for the PSP, and we hope to release two or three titles on its launch," said Namco's consumer software president, Youichi Haraguchi. "An original title meant for the PSP may come out a bit late, but it's a hardware that's getting a lot of attention."

　　Capcom, which has previously released games for just about every platform in existence, is also aiming to have at least one game ready in time for the PSP's release. "This new portable game machine comes as a big chance to liven up the industry, since it runs under a different concept from other existing handheld machines. By figuring out what kind of potential this machine has and what kind of business method we should conduct for it, the [game] market should grow even further," commented Haruhiro Tsujimoto, executive manager of Capcom. "The PSP is high-spec, and when you think about its capabilities, it should be able to satisfy users in ways that other handheld game machines can't. To talk about it further, [we] think that it is an important machine that can bring back users that have grown bored of video games."

　　Like Capcom, Konami has revealed plans to have a game ready in time for the launch of the PSP and has spoken about the reasoning behind its decision. "The specifications on the PSP aren't concrete yet, so we can't say anything too loud, but if our development makes it on time, we'd like to release a title simultaneously with the console," said Kitaue Kazumi, CEO of Konami Digital Entertainment in LA. "People who are thinking of going into games for the first time right now have too much software to choose from, whether it be for the PS2, GameCube, or GBA. But with the new machines--such as the PSP, Nintendo's new machine, or Microsoft's next machine--there's only a small library to choose from at the time of the game machine's launch, so it should be easier for users to pick the titles."

　　Looking to take advantage of the PSP's multimedia capabilities, Sega appears to be planning more than just game development for the handheld machine. "If it's an entertainment machine that can run games, we won't dwell on just making games for it--we will also provide digital entertainment contents. We hope that we can make some announcements on this at the [Tokyo] Game Show in the fall," said Sega consumer sector chief Hideki Okamura.

　　Unlike many other major publishers that are jumping in to get the first piece of the PSP pie, Square Enix's plans for PSP development are cautious and would appear not to include any ambitions for the system's launch lineup. "We can't grasp the user base and what we'd like them to play on the PSP just yet. Currently we are still in the stages of reviewing what kind of software we should develop if we decide to expand into the platform. If we do create a title for the PSP, we have no plans to make it a port [from previous game releases]," commented Square Enix president Youichi Wada.

　　In addition to the gaming capabilities of the PSP, SCE vice president Saeki also gave an example of how the machine can perform other functions. "It [the software] doesn't always have to be a game. For example, car navigation systems are really high tech and employ 3D animations. Since that kind of data is available in a digital format, we might be able to adopt it towards the PSP." Saeki also drew attention to the proprietary disk that the PSP will be using, commenting on Sony's aims to market it as a new worldwide standard. "When looking at the PSP, it's also important to notice the small disc that it uses. When CDs first came out, they were just meant for audio machines. But a variety of other standards for the CD came out later, and it was used for numerous other machines such as the PC and the PlayStation. A similar revolution in technology will probably happen again. The UMD disc has the potential to be used in a wide variety of machines."

　　In other Sony-related news, Saeki also supported the statements made by SCEE executive vice president of development Phil Harrison in December, when he said that "future generations of PlayStations will include motion-sensor and camera hardware similar to that found in the EyeToy." However, Saeki specifically mentioned the PlayStation 3 console, where Harrison only made suggestive remarks.

　　"We don't have any news releases on the PS3 at this time. Of course the project is still moving along. If there's one thing that can be said, the EyeToy actually goes one step ahead from the PS2 and closer to the concept behind the PS3. That might serve as a hint."