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Sony PSP - Pricing Hints Emerge?
Thanks to MCV for their interview with Sony Europe boss Chris Deering, in which it's mentioned again that Sony's PSP handheld "will be launched across the world in the final quarter of 2004." But Deering also talks price, suggesting that the PSP would launch at "closer to 200UKP [369USD] than 300UKP [554USD]" in England. Meanwhile, a Gamesindustry.biz article takes note of "information from Japanese retail sources earlier this week, who told us that a price point around 50,000 Yen [448USD], was being bandied about in Tokyo." Recent exchange-rate changes complicate U.S. launch pricing estimates, though - the PSP will likely launch at less than those raw dollar conversion rates Stateside, but is not intended to be a hardware loss-leader for Sony, with Deering suggesting: "The feeling is that this product should generate profit on hardware alone. We want to make it affordable for publishers to produce a wide range of entertainment and so [Sony-payable] royalties [on software produced for the PSP] will be lower down in the mix this time round."
True - just trying to make the point that you shouldn't necessarily think the PSP is going to cost 560 bucks in the U.S. :)
You can get a brand new GBA for $60. One of the reasons that many people get GBAs for their kids is that they are $60. Who would buy their 10 year old a $300 portable game system? I wouldn't trust one with something that expensive.
Sony is betting on selling the PSP to the market of teens-early 30 somethings, not as a toy for adults to get for their kids. That's what they think GBAs are for.
sigs are dumb.
As far as your comments about the PS1 and PS2, it seems to me that Sony has proven that they know how to fight in the console trenches and produce systems that people want. I think YOU are the one being cocky in assuming that Sony doesn't know what they're doing and is going into the portable gaming arena with blinders on.
In short, just because YOU think that the PSP is too expensive doesn't make it so to others. Frankly, if the PSP meets their lofty performance expectations (near-PS2 quality), they might not be charging ENOUGH compared to the "FAR, FAR outdated hardware" of the GBA.
But it looks like it's definately going to be over $300. The dollar isn't exactly strong right now, and Sony isn't a US based company. With the current lowest cost trends, I'd be deeply surprised if it wasn't in the $400 range.
It's all but dead in the water at that pricepoint. I just don't see it happening.
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Actually, I've seen the opposite. Or a parallel Gameboy purchasing evolution.
I've seen quite a few of the penetration testers and other folks I work with whom have to travel picking up a GBA SP for themselves - especially when they see the strategy games they can play. Advance Wars 1 and 2 have sold quite a few games all on their own from what I've seen.
So I agree with you - a lot of them go to kids, but don't be too surprised at the "older crowd" picking up what they might see as an "adult system".
I've already committed myself: if it's $149 and below, I'll get one. Any higher, and I'll wait to get one. (Unless Konami makes a Suikoden I and II remake on one disk - then we'll think about it.)
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This is just my thinking. Not 'real information.'
Sony is the company that makes consoles with more games than would fit inside the moons of Mars. Games have never been a problem for them, they're the clear winner in quantity, to such a huge margin that it doesn't even matter that (IMO) Nintendo always comes out on top in quality.
But now they suddenly need to keep royalties low? So low that they need to make a profit off the system itself? This implies one of two things, I think:
It's possible that they want to have a library to compete with the impressive GBA offering as soon as possible. This IS, in fact, vital for the PSP to have any degree of success at all. But somehow it doesn't seem likely to be the main reason for it in my mind. For some reason, possibility two seems more likely to me.
They may be having trouble getting developers to put in any decent amount of effort at all. If so, this is going to be a disaster. How can the more expensive system beat the cheaper one with more and better games?
I have no real reason for thinking that the latter possibility is the right one, so don't trust me on that. While I've heard of less companies jumping onto the PSP than I think Sony should be hoping for, I don't follow the news quite religiously, or know what companies AREN'T saying. But it does make me suspicious, and I'd at least pay attention to that if I were you.