So claims Amazon.co.uk, which has now begun taking pre-orders for the in-demand handheld games console.

Admitting that "release dates are subject to change", the online retailer nevertheless states: "This item will be released on March 18, 2005. You may order it now and we will dispatch it to you when we receive it from our supplier."

As yet there's no date, or pre-order opportunity, on the site for Nintendo's DS handheld console.

The PSP, meanwhile, has already reach number 24 in Amazon's sales chart.

Amazon's date is a week ahead of the most recently suggested launch window, 25 March. That date was said to be the one given in Sony's own PSP-related sales and marketing documentation.

Interestingly, a report from way back in May last year put the release date as 18 March.

Nintendo is expected to announce its own UK launch plans later this month, but it is widely believed to name a late March date for the arrival of DS, possibly on the same day as Sony's.