Sony plans to launch its PlayStation Portable in the United States and Europe in March, according to a company executive. The date comes on the later side of an estimate provided by the company late last year. The unit was introduced in Japan in early December, and shipped over a half-million units by month's end.

"It will probably be March," Sony's Ken Kutaragi told reporters. "We'd like to launch in Europe during March as well. You've got Easter." Sony hopes to be able to even the playing field with Nintendo, which so far has dominated the portable game player market. Nintendo's latest unit, the DS, was launched in the U.S. and Japan late last year.