PSP: Coming to a shinkansen near you

Macworld is reporting that bullet train passengers will soon be able to borrow Sony PSP’s and games for the duration of their trip:

Passengers on Japan’s high-speed “bullet train” will soon be able to play video games thanks to a service to be offered by Sony and train-operator East Japan Railway Co. (JR East).

From Oct. 1 through March 31, 2007, the two companies will offer customers in the first class compartments of the “Hayate” Tohoku Shinkansen trains the opportunity to borrow a PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld terminal and games for the duration of their journey. To keep the noise down, passengers will also be lent a pair of headphones.

To qualify for the service, customers must buy tickets at JR East ticket shops and obtain a coupon, which can be exchanged with the train guard to a PSP. The devices will be collected back 10 minutes before passengers reach their destination.

It’s pretty cool, but first class shinkansen tickets cost much more than unreserved normal seat tickets.  Regular bullet train riders might want to consider downgrading their ticket class for a few trips and buying a PSP with the money they save..