Sony is working on improving its gaming sales as of this fall by introducing the new PlayStation Portable  handheld entertainment system to the Japanese market. The company’s computer entertainment division rolled out the PSP-3000 with advanced high-contrast LCD and a built-in microphone, which will become available on October 16th for 19,800 yen (including tax), same as the current PSP.

In addition to that, Sony also announced three upcoming bundle packs that will include PSP titles: “Mobile Suite Gundam Gundam” from Namco Bandai Games Inc. (release date: November 20th; RRP: 24,840 yen), “Dissida Final Fantasy” from Square Enix Co. (release date: December 18th; RRP: 25,890 yen) and “Patapon 2 Donchaka♪” from Sony (release date: November 27th; RRP: 23,800 yen).

Sony also announced the future availability of a new network service that will allow direct connection to the PlayStation Store for PSP users. This way, users will be able to download content without transferring it through PlayStation 3 or PC. The launch, expected this fall, will include new PSP game content, such as “Mainichi Issyo Portable.”

PSP-3000 will come in three colors, “Piano Black,” “Pearl White,” and “Mystic Silver,” is approximately 169.4 x 18.6 x 71.4 mm in size, and weighs approximately 189g. The 4.3 inches (16:9) display offers 16,700,000 colors, with TFT drive and a 480 x 272 pixel resolution.

Sony is clearly preparing for the holiday season, especially considering the sales figures that show Nintendo DS atop of almost all lists. PSP is lagging over 35 million units behind the DS, and Nintendo maintains the lead in Japan as well, outselling the PSP by 13 million units.

PSP-3000 was first unveiled in August, and it is expected to reach the European and American market as well, as soon as this fall. The company expects the PSP-3000 to improve sales in Japan, especially considering that the PSP did pretty well in recent monthson the Asian market.