The PSP was first announced during E3 2003 and was later unveiled at a Sony press conference before E3 2004. The system was released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in the PAL region on September 1, 2005. The PSP was the first handheld console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc (UMD), as its primary storage media. The PSP had many features such as The Internet, Windows Vista and the idea that it could connect to PS3s and Other PSPs. The PSP has lagged in sales due to its main competiter the Nintendo DS.