Sony Announces PSP Launch Date

Today we have word that Sony has announced a U.S. launch date and price for their upcoming PSP handheld. The date? March 24th, and the unit will retail for $249.99 when it hits the street. From the article: "the PSP Value Pack contains ... [a] 32 MB Memory Stick, headphones with remote control, battery pack, AC adaptor, soft case and cleaning cloth, movie/music/game video sampler UMD disc including multiple non-interactive game demos, and for the first one million PSP Value Packs shipped, a special UMD video release of the feature film Spider-Man(TM) 2 from Sony Pictures Entertainment."

Comments

If they haven't

[the_skywise]

fixed their japanese launch problems
(like "launching" disks and the flakey square button)
I don't feel the need to preorder... I'll wait for the 2nd generation.

Re:This should be exciting.

[dfj225]

How would being able to "take advantage of object-oriented development methodologies" make any difference to the consumer or the way the games look/play?

It's all about the form factor.

[bennomatic]

Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me I've seen a bunch of gaming devices with this sort of form factor come and go over the years, and for whatever reason, they just don't catch. I call it the curse of the wide, center-screen game systems. Well, I don't, but I'm sure there's some curse that could be ascribed to this phenomenon.

It just doesn't seem very comfortable or thought out. In a time when systems are getting smaller, more portable and comfortable to hold, this looks like something designed in the 80s. It may have great games, but how is it going to sell if it doesn't look cool? Maybe I'm suffering from too much iPod exposure, but there is definitely something to good packaging, and my $0.02 says that the PSP just doesn't have it.

Metal Gear Acid, eh?

[xXunderdogXx]

Sony said around 24 titles would be available at launch or in the days following, representing all of the industry's major game publishers and genres. Games include "FIFA 2005," "Metal Gear Acid," "Need for Speed Rivals" and "Twisted Metal: Head On."

Sony to Release PSP March 24 in North America

Metal Gear Acid: Best Played While Tripping.

Only 3 things missing

[digitalgimpus]

1. Video Out (how cool would an S-VIDEO port on there be). Hook up an S-VIDEO --> RCA adapter, and hook it into any TV, and play full screen. Oh how life would change.

2. WiFi instead of IrDA. Come on, what were they thinking? IrDA sucks, WiFi has so much more going for it. IMHO that was a poor choice.

3. Drop Memory Stick Duo and use Compact Flash. Lets face it... I'm a Clie owner myself. CF is the better of the two. It's price per MB is much cheaper. Not to mention you can buy them anywhere, and they are improving in capacity and speed.

I'm sure it will be a success regardless, but if it had those 3 things, it would be the ultimate killer device. A must have for anyone.

I'm curious how long it will take until someone gets Linux running on this thing. Sounds like a good device for it. Then we could (perhaps) use a WiFi or Bluetooth USB adapter!

Re:Thanks Sony, Now I'm Officially Not Interested

[radish]

Battery life has been measured at 5.5 hours when playing Ridge Racers (one of the more disc intensive games).

The flying disc thing is something you can _make_ it do if you try really hard. It's not something which happens in normal use.

The square button is something which some people complain about, but most don't even notice.

Personally, given the US launch price of $250, I'm even more glad I imported mine from Japan for $350 and got it early.

Re:with this price

[EpsCylonB]

Three handhelds will be with us this year, the DS, the PSP and an outsider, the Gizmondo.

Out of the three I think the PSP is the most likely to succeed. Sony's strategy is very similar to that of the first playstation, they don't want Nintendo's market, they want to open up handheld to a new more mainstream demographic. The Game Boy, while succesful, has always been seen as a childs toy. The PSP with its sexy design, playstation type games and ability to play movies will appeal to the same 15 - 25 male demographic that has made the playstation so successful.

The DS will also be succesful due to the current large Game Boy fanbase. However I predict that as Sony open the market up Nintendo's dominant share of that market will decline an they may well lose customers to the PSP if it gains enough momentum.

It would be easy to write the Gizmondo off but its GPS features (cheap for its price) mean it could well find a market amongst older people. It could open up a new 25 - 35 year old market, people who use its navigation functions but also want games, music and film. However I do think there is a risk of the Nintendo and Sony marketing machines making the Gizmondo seem invisible.

There are other factors which could affect the outcome of this handheld war. Most notably there are question marks over the PSP's battery life and loading times, these are things that shouldn't be underestimated.

GameGear

[White Roses]

The last handheld I had was a Sega GameGear. Bought it in the UK, and bought a bunch of games to go with it. The main game I played had the secret code of 2-1-2-down-up. I really enjoyed the color graphics, as compared to my sister's GameBoy (first gen - she still has it). Alas, my GameGear died about 2 years ago. Not even the venerable Halley Wars would load.

PSP looks like it'll have better developer support than the GameGear ever had, and a huge leap in graphics over Big N's current offerings. I might just have to get a new portable game platform.

DS vs PSP

[TheBeno]

youre all being absolutely ridiculous saying that the DS, priced at $180, is better than the PSP at $250. I've owned both systems and the DS simply has nothing on the PSP right now. It doesnt have a single game or anything good coming out down the line. I owned my DS for like 3 weeks and then put it up on eBay. I've had my PSP for a few days and I'm blown away by it. The screen is huge and bright, the games use REAL 3d, the speakers are loud and crisp, the interface is simple and elegant, it plays Mp3 audio and Mp4 video flawlessly and the design is fantastic. I've got Hot Shots Golf and Ridge Racers and both of these games have already given me several hours of fun. I'm looking forward to Metal Gear Acid, Gran Turismo and some great looking 3d platformers. The Nintendo DS has NONE of this. I wish it did. I'm an old school Nintendo guy who has bought every Nintendo system since the NES, but seriously, Nintendo is gonna have to really work to win this battle. The PSP is just that much better than the DS. I think Sony's only flaw here is in not announcing a bare bones package with just the system. Mine cost 19,000 yen which works out to around $180 and I certainly didn't need a small 32MB card or a set of headphones.....

Re:This should be exciting.

[alan_dershowitz]

You can't even program in C++ for most of the other handhelds, which is a PITA if you are used to programming using OO. There's no compiler, or it's 8-bit and precludes having a C++ compiler, etc.

The GBA can have stuff compiled in C++, but if you start actually USING the functionality, you bog it down with virtual method tables and RTTI and it's slow as crap.

So, by virtue of being significantly faster and having more storage than most other handhelds of the past, it can take advantage of C++, where the others could not.

I'm certain that's all that it meant.