For many, the PSP has seemed like an impossible dream. Is it possible for a console to look so good, perform so well and offer so many functions? It does take a user several days to actually understand what the device, Sony’s inaugural handheld games machine, truly represents.

Good news today for the tangibility-disenfranchised US gamers then, with SCEA announcing full launch details for the PSP, settling nerves that had generated summer release chatter in some quarters.
Hitting on March 24th, the US will see the much coveted (though actually not that good) Value Pack for $249.99 in the United States and C$299.99 in Canada, which adds the Japan-beating lure of a copy of Spider-Man 2 on UMD disc. No stand-alone unit will be offered at launch.

24 titles were promised “within the launch window” which means essentially within the first week on sale. Metal Gear Acid, Need for Speed Rivals and of course the well-received Ridge Racers were all name-checked.

SCEA echoed comments made by PlayStation overlord Ken Kutaragi earlier in the week, announcing an expected ship into the US of around one million units.