Tikkabik

Ever since I saw Sony's portable gaming system, the PSP, at E3 earlier this year I've had a couple of nagging questions: How much will it cost, and how long will the battery charge last? It seems that Sony has built a tremendous amount of sophisticated hardware and functionality into its Game Boy Advance competitor. Now some of those questions have been answered, as Sony has taken the wraps off its planned rollout of the PSP in Japan.

Turns out the box itself is going to roll out on Dec. 12 -- which just happens to be my birthday, for anyone looking for a hint of what to buy me this year -- and it'll cost ¥19,800, or about $185 at today's exchange rate. I figure when the PSP rolls out in the United States early next year it'll probably cost $199, or about $50 more than Nintendo's new Game Boy DS box. That's a really good value, considering the PSP sports built-in Wi-Fi support, can play movies and more.

As to battery life, Sony reps at a trade show in Tokyo said last September that it would last about two hours, and that seems to be about the right track if you're watching a movie -- but for gaming, with the screen set at half-brightness, they're now saying you should be able to get about four or five hours out of it, which seems a bit more reasonable.