After the debut of PSP ($250) in late March, and selling more than 3 million PSPs in North America, Sony Corp is now on track to double the number of PlayStation Portable video game players sold in North America to around 6 million at the end of its first holiday season this year. The game getting the most buzz — and the one analysts predicted could drive device sales — is “Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories”, part of the best-selling and very controversial urban action game franchise.

PSP’s closest rival, Nintendo Co Ltd’s Nintendo DS ($130) targets a younger and more female market. Now in its second holiday season, the DS has sold 2.7 million units in the United States while the PSP’s U.S. sales were 2.5 million as of the end of November, according to NPD Funworld.