Sony introduces 'PSP Go' to challenge Nintendo DS

Sony Corp. has introduced a handheld video-game player without a disk drive to compete against Nintendo Co.'s top-selling DS and meet the threat posed by Apple Inc.'s iPhone.

The PSP Go, using a flash drive instead of storage hardware, is 50 percent smaller and 40 percent lighter than the existing PSP 3000, Kaz Hirai, who heads Tokyo-based Sony's game and network business, said Tuesday at the Electronic Entertainment Expo industry event in Los Angeles.

The new device, available Oct. 1 in the U.S. and Europe, allows users to download music and movies. Sony is lowering the price of PSP's software development tools to encourage new applications, following the lead of Apple, whose iPhone has become a force in music, video content and games. Nintendo's DS player has sold more than 100 million units since being introduced more than four years ago, to PSP's 50 million.

Sony also showed a motion-sensing controller being developed for the PS3 console that will be released in the U.S. spring of 2010.

PSP Go won't replace the existing PSP, Hirai said. The new player will cost $249 in the U.S., 249 euros ($357) in Europe, and will start selling in Japan on Nov. 1.

PSP titles that will start selling this year include "Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker" and "Resident Evil" for the first time.

Sony is also working with Walt Disney Co. on a "Hannah Montana" bundle and a lilac-colored PSP that will ship in July, Sony said.