Sony will offer the first million buyers of its PlayStation Portable (PSP) game machine in the United States copies of the Spiderman 2 movie as it aims to grab a slice of the handheld market dominated by Nintendo.
The PSP, promoted as the game machine that will appeal to a wider audience, will go on sale in the United States on March 24 at a price of $249 each, Sony Computer Entertainment said in a statement on Friday.
The first million consoles will include the Spiderman blockbuster on a universal media disc, a sort of mini DVD played on the PSP.
Sony has reported strong sales since its December launch in Japan of the PSP, which plays CD-quality music and DVD-quality movies in addition to games. More than 800 000 units have been sold.
Sony is the leader in home video-game machines with its PlayStation series but Gameboy maker Nintendo remains by far the king among portables.
Nintendo late last year launched its latest offering, the DS, a console with a touch-sensitive double-screen billed as user-friendly, particularly for children.
Nintendo released the DS in both the United States and Japan in time for holiday shoppers and has already sold about two million units, with a goal of five million by the end of March. – Sapa-AFP