Nintendo Counters PSP Announcement

Sony finally unveiled the European release date and pricepoint for the PSP this morning, and Nintendo was quick to react with a stinging barrage of sales figures and new game release dates.
The PSP will go on sale across Europe on September 1 (full details here), a full six months after the DS's release on March 11. Nintendo has already shifted over 200,000 units in the UK alone, with the worldwide DS sales figure now nudging 3 million.

Nintendo seems unphased by the forthcoming arrival of the PSP: "Nintendo believes that competition is healthy and vital to industry growth," said David Yarnton, managing director of Nintendo UK. "The Nintendo DS is out now; retailing at £99 and with over 200,000 consoles sold in the UK in just over six weeks, the Nintendo DS has firmly cemented itself as firm favourite with UK gamers."

We're tempted to say "Oooh, hark at 'er," but then we love a bit of cross-company sniping. It's just a shame we have to wait until September for the handheld wars to kick off in earnest.
And to really rub salt in Sony's delay wounds Nintendo announced release dates for three new DS games that will hit shelves months before the PSP launches. Retro racing game Ridge Racers DS will be available from June 3, quick-on-the-draw stylus masher Pac-Pix will launch on May 20, and touchscreen and mic-bothering RPG Another Code: Two Memories will be out on June 24.

Other high-profile DS game launches include Yoshi Touch & Go on May 6 and Need for Speed Underground on May 27. Nintendogs, the puppy training game that has us wagging our tails every time we see it, doesn't have a release date yet but Japanese magazine Famitsu has just given it a coveted perfect score. Good boy!

We'll bring you the latest on the handheld showdown as it happens.