So I got my hands on not one, not two, but three Sony PSPs yesterday, as well as a solid selection of software. The best of the lot was Lumines, a Tetris-like puzzler that has proven to be very addictive.

I secured the first PSP by standing in line outside Best Buy for one-and-a-half very chilly hours, which wasn't half as bad as it sounds. The other two I purchased at Circuit City, where the lines were a lot shorter, and where they still had some in stock yesterday evening. Lesson learned: Go to Circuit City. Apparently, no one else does. Those who tried their luck at either GameStop or Electronics Boutique were out of it. (Luck, that is.) They'd pre-sold every single unit, and laughed mockingly at anyone who dared to walk in and ask for one.

So how is it? The screen is magnificent. It's sharp and clear and oh-so-susceptible to dust, fingerprint, and scratches. The whole unit feels very expensive and high-end. The buttons are solid, though the analog 'nub' will take some getting used to. The speakers are adequate, but headphones are a prerequisite. The games? They look like PS2 games, no question about it. This is one powerful system. The DS will, unfortunately, languish in handheld ghetto - at least until Nintendo come out with some better games. I don't know if I'll be using the PSP for movies; I'm definitely not going to buy any on UMD, though I might transfer TV shows to a Memory Stick. (If you have a Mac, I can recommend PSPWare. It's a great - and cheap - applet for transferring music, videos, and photos to your PSP.)

Ultimately, the PSP's future will depend on the games, and it looks like that's as close to a sure thing as it gets, with games like Grand Theft Auto on the horizon. Nintendo must be shaking in their pants.  ¶ 17:55