The Digital Reader service will go live in December, and will give users access to hundreds of comics and graphic novels from publishers such as Marvel.
Users will be able to download the comics straight to their PSP Go using its built-in wireless capabilities, and can read stories page-by-page or zoom in to read them frame-by-frame.
Among some of the early titles available are Spider-Man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four, as well as Star Trek.
Sony, which also produces a dedicated ebook reading device, the Reader, could eventually expand the library to include other titles and novels.
"This is a great new service that offers PSP owners even more options for entertainment on the go and makes PSP a must for comics fans," said Isabelle Tomatis, European marketing manager for Sony’s gaming division.
Sony is facing increasing competition in the handheld gaming space from the likes of Apple, which offers an excellent portable games experience on its iPhone and iPod touch devices, as well as a host of donwloadable applications for those gadgets, such as ebook readers.
The Japanese electronics giant is hoping to counter this threat with the launch of Minis, small games, such as Tetris and Sudoku, that can be bought from Sony’s online shop and downloaded on to the PSP. Around 35 developers have already signed up to create Minis, and Sony expects to be able to offer a library of around 50 games by the end of the year.
That number is sure to grow if companies such as Electronic Arts, which develops new games specifically for the iPhone and iPod platforms, diversifies in to the Minis market.
The PSP Go, which was unveiled at E3 in June, goes on sale in the UK on October 1, and is expected to cost around £150. The device is half the size and weight of the original PSP handheld games console, and features 16GB of flash memory, allowing users to store thousands of songs, photos and games on the device. It also has a slide-out control pad, and integrated Bluetooth, as well as a memory card slot to expand its storage limit.
However, the PSP Go does not have a UMD disk slot, and is therefore not compatible with previous PlayStation Portable games.
No comments:
Post a Comment