Sony breaks UK launch sales record with PlayStation Portable

The Sony PlayStation Portable went on sale in the UK on Thursday, September 1. In the three days following the release, more than 185,000 PlayStation Portables were sold. This sets a new sales record on game consoles. The record was previously held by Nintendo, who sold 87,000 Nintendo DS handhelds the first three days after its release. The PlayStation Portable is being sold for £179 in the UK.

Twenty of the 24 games launched with PlayStation Portable are in the top 40. PlayStation Portable games also occupy nine of the top 10 slots on the sales charts. The game Ridge Racer was the most popular, with one in every five people buying both the PlayStation Portable and Ridge Racer at the same time.

Sony's main competitors in the handheld gaming console market are Nintendo with the Nintendo DS and Nokia with the nGage. Like Nintendo and Nokia, Sony is marketing the device as being able to do more then just play games. The PlayStation Portable can play specially created versions of poular movies and surf the Internet wirelessly. Sony expects to sell a million PlayStation Portables in the UK before Christmas.