The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed by Sony. Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004. The system was released in Japan on , 2004, in North America on , 2005, and in the PAL region on , 2005. It primarily competed with the Nintendo DS, as part of the seventh generation of video games.