Premature Roar for PSP?

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We all make mistakes. Last night, when a MarketWatch headline claimed that Lions Gate (NYSE: LGF) would be developing games for the new Sony (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation Portable, I was intrigued enough to read more. The Investor's Business Daily site duplicated the story. Oh, if only it had been true.

I mean, the headline and accompanying brief made perfect sense to me. Saw was the kind of creepy, blood-curdling thriller that would translate well into a macabre video game. And although the brat-pack 1988 Western Young Guns seemed like a peculiar choice to get a video game makeover, I could see that it just might work.

But the company's official press release didn't mention game titles at all. The company is still going to release products for this month's rollout of the highly anticipated PSP system, but according to the release, they're nothing more than movies that gamers can play on the disc-format game system.

Maybe I'm wrong, and these games will come around. That would be great. I think movie studios will grow into even stronger entities in the future because content trumps all. Marvel (NYSE: MVL) is a perfect illustration. (Pun intended.)

But the reason this press release could be misinterpreted is that portable systems haven't been designed to play full-length feature films before. Sure, your Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) Xbox and Sony PlayStation 2 can play DVDs, and that Nintendo (Pink Sheets: NTDOY.PK) Gameboy will play some grainy animated shorts -- but full-length movies?

That's why the PSP will challenge Nintendo and its recently introduced DS. Sony may well be educating the next generation of palmtop users with its new multimedia device. Although the smaller discs lack an established user base and the pickings will be slim at first, Sony is shipping a million units stateside later this month. That will have the developers -- and eventually other film studios besides Lions Gate and Sony -- rushing to get hot titles to market.

More related content on the Sony PSP:

• Get up to speed on the PSP.
• Sony has high hopes for its grown-up handheld.
• The PSP stacks up well against the Nintendo DS.

Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz does have a Nintendo DS lying around the house -- though his kids rarely give him the chance to check it out. He may have to buy a PSP and keep it out of their reach. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.