Sony shows off the specs for it's new portable "gaming system" at E3 and I, for one, am impressed. It features a 333MHz processor, some 32MBs of RAM, 4MB DRAM (listed as "Embedded DRAM" - will we see another DRAM add-on pack a-la the N64?), a 16 million color, 4.3 inch screen at 16:9, stereo speakers (no replacement for good headphones, but good try), and a host of connectivity options (802.11b, USB 2, Ir). Before going any further, I'd like to note that it will have a faster processor than the iBook I use day-to-day. That said, the PSP looks like it may be the begining (or slightly after the begining) of the console-as-computer revolution. Game systems have had a long history of add-on ability and companies had always dreamed of being able to harness the power of peripherals for their console systems. The PS2 has space for a HD although it's rarely used. The XBox is the first to really break the console-as-computer barier with at least mildly used 'net play and a built in HD but what do you really expect? It's a Microsoft product. The key is that these things have always been planned as add-ons and either not fully supported at launch or way too much extra cash to go along with an already $150+ system. The PSP will hopefully ship with all the features listed and be one of the first systems to put all this interconnectivity to good use. Download saved games with ease by plugging it in to your PC via USB - this has been available to various game systems before but only through a third-party memory card dock. The USB connector strikes me as one of the most interesting new features of the product because it's so easily connectable to the PC and this can only mean one thing - software mods. We've got 802.11b and space to program and so I expect to see a ton of wi-fi enabled features either built-in or free from interested programmers.
I've never been really interested in the handheld market up until now. A machine just for playing games is worthless if the graphics aren't better than my PC. A portable machine with original PS graphics, interconnectivity and room for more than just games is getting a lot better. I look forward to hopefully getting one of these when it comes out.