…the different colored PSPs? Sony showed us a rainbow of PSP colors—white, red, blue, yellow, and more—when it first unveiled the system. But for now, black is the only option. We think the other colors will come out eventually, but it will probably take at least a year (it took over three years for the PS2 to get some color, after all).

…the hardware problems? You might have heard about the troubles Sony was having with defective PSPs in Japan. Many models shipped with “dead pixels” (dots on the screen that don’t light up or always remain one color), sticky square buttons (as you can see, it’s shaped a bit differently than the other buttons since it’s so close to the screen), and plain-old dead units. One or two dead pixels isn’t uncommon with LCD screens, unfortunately—as many Nintendo DS owners already know. As for the square button problem, Sony says it’s been fixed. Still, check your system closely when you first get it.

…the accessories? Sony showed us lots of ideas for future PSP add-ons: a digital camera, an attachment that turns the system into a phone, an external battery pack, etc. None of these have been officially announced, so they may just be pie-in-the-sky mock-ups that never come to fruition (see also: the PS2 monitor, keyboard, and mouse Sony promised years ago). But then again, Sony did bring out the EyeToy….

Copyright © 2005 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in Electronic Gaming Monthly.