PSP sales reach 70 million units worldwide

Sony has announced that PSP's cumulative worldwide sales have reached a total of 70 million units as of April 27, 2011.

The handheld, which debuted on December 12, 2004 in Japan, March 2005 in North America, May 2005 in Asian countries and regions, and September 2005 in European and PAL territories, was updated in 2008 with the ability access the PS Store via wireless Internet.

This was followed by the launch of the video delivery service which was launched in the United States in July 2009, followed by Japan and Europe in November 2009. In October 2009, "minis" offering a range of all-new downloadable games for PSP became available exclusively via digital distribution on PlayStation Store, whilst the digital comic service was launched in Japan, the United States and Europe in December 2009.

On the games front, more than 3,200 titles on UMD are available worldwide, with cumulative software sales reaching 298 million units to date. In addition to packaged games, many games have become available for download via PlayStation 3 or PC. Currently, a total of over 2,180 titles, ranging from PlayStation Network exclusive games to "Game Archive" titles featuring the original PlayStation games, and downloadable version of UMD titles are available for download.

Inheriting the basic functions and the design philosophy of PSP-1000, slim and light PSP (PSP-2000) was launched in September 2007, and SCE introduced PSP-3000 to the world in October 2008, featuring an LCD screen and a built-in microphone, while maintaining the form factors of PSP-2000. PSP go was launched in October 2009.

Sony will release PlayStation Vita at the end of the this year.