US retailers sell PSP software early as launch date looms

Keen gamers can already get their hands on US PlayStation Portable titles, according to reports from across the pond, with a number of launch titles already openly on sale - although the hardware itself won't be available until Thursday.

Although most retailers are expected to receive their stocks of the device today, they won't be able to sell it through to customers until Thursday - but the same rules don't apply to third party launch titles, stocks of which arrived at many stores last week.

As a result, consumers have been able to get their hands on titles such as Activision's Spiderman 2, EA's Need for Speed Underground Rivals and Koei's Dynasty Warriors well ahead of launch - which isn't much use if they're waiting around for the console to launch so that they can play them, of course, but it's worth noting that US game titles will play on Japanese imported consoles.

Adding to the hype around the launch of the handheld system in the USA, Sony Computer Entertainment America has also announced that it will be broadcasting a drive-time radio show dedicated to the device in five key cities starting on March 28th.

Hosted by well known TV presenter Carson Daly, PSP Radio will broadcast "PSP-themed content" to listeners in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Philadelphia for five days.

Sony has promised to ship a million units of the PSP hardware to North America for its launch later this week - hopefully avoiding at least some of the shortages which afflicted sales of the console in Japan before Christmas, when only 200,000 units arrived for launch day.

However, the provision of a million units for the USA has come at a cost - launches elsewhere in the world, such as Europe and South Korea, have had to be delayed significantly in order to focus the company's manufacturing resources on supplying the US marketplace.