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Sony Announces PSP Launch Date

Posted by Zonk on from the brace-for-impact dept.

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."

32 of 520 comments (clear)

  1. with this price by Prince+Vegeta+SSJ4 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I assume they are shooting for a niche market, and therefore will not have to compete with the Nintendo DS (at least not yet). If they can get a foothold in the handheld market, this may be a way for a top down sort fo approach.

    1. Re:with this price by EpsCylonB · · Score: 3, Interesting

      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.

    2. Re:with this price by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 5, Insightful
      The Game Boy, while succesful, has always been seen as a childs toy.

      No, the Game Boy has always been seen as the undisputed king of handheld gaming. If you wanted handheld gaming, you got a Game Boy; that the market for handheld gaming systems has traditionally been saturated by younger consumers is not the fault of the Game Boy.

      There has yet to be a single entry that has even come close to challenging Nintendo's dominance in this arena; while the PSP may stand the best chance yet, let's not re-write history to make the Game Boy seem like something it really isn't.

      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 biggest reason the 15-25 male demographic has been the "big" demographic in video games has more to do with the relatively short history of video gaming in general than anything. You're seeing so many 15-25 year-old males because they're the ones who were playing Nintendo and Sega Master System back when video games really were considered toys for little boys--and by and large the only people playing them were little boys. Now that video games are becoming more mainstream--now that they're no longer seen as the exclusive domain of small children and nerds--you're going to see a much broader market for this kind of thing. Heck, we're seeing it already.

      I'm not saying that PSP isn't going to become a serious force--it may yet, I honestly don't know--all I'm saying is that you're making some erroneous assumptions. The world of video games looks radically different today than it did ten years ago, and a lot of the old assumptions really aren't valid anymore.

      (On a tangent: I'm not convinced that the "playstation-style games" are going to go over as well on a handheld-sized screen. Part of the reason handheld games so often look cartoony is that it is very, very hard to do the realistic, highly-detailed game environments we've come to expect from consoles on a small screen. What looks stunning on a television often looks cluttered, nondescript and smudgy on a handheld screen...)

      --

      Obliteracy: Words with explosions

  2. Buzzwords by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    including multiple non-interactive game demos

    Wow... I never thought a marketing drone would be able to come up with such a convoluted way of saying 'commercials'.

    1. Re:Buzzwords by dr_dank · · Score: 3, Funny

      I never thought a marketing drone would be able to come up with such a convoluted way of saying 'commercials'.

      I'm sure the same drone will see to it that the "fickle spinning disc of death" from the Japanese models will be renamed "unannounced projectile gaming episodes".

      --
      Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
  3. If they haven't by the_skywise · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.

  4. Meanwhile, over at El Reg ... by SpooForBrains · · Score: 4, Informative

    Some intrepid explorer has travelled to the US and has posted a pretty thorough (and glowing) review of the aforementioned device.

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/01/review_son y_psp/

    --
    "The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
    1. Re:Meanwhile, over at El Reg ... by rkischuk · · Score: 4, Insightful
      I lost faith in the article after reading, "the PSP is the most important thing to happen in the video game industry since the launch of the original PlayStation".

      The LAUNCH of the original Playstation was a first-mover swipe to beat Nintendo with hardware originally developed FOR Nintendo as a SNES add-on. It had plain-as-grits graphics on a controller that was half-baked at the time (the non-lettered approach to button-naming confused almost anyone who had played any previous console). It was saved by severe screw-ups by both Nintendo and Sega. Sega beat Sony to the market with the Saturn, but the $399 price was WAY too high, and their rush to market meant that nobody had any time to develop games for it. Nintendo pissed off third-party developers by acting like a bully, and limited game size and (developer) profit margins with small and space-limited cartridges. The Atari Jaguar was still-born.

      Sony won that generation of gaming with games, and with CD technology. The CD Audio wowed consumers while Nintendo had their characters speaking in noises like Charlie Brown's teacher. Their developer-friendly attitude left Nintendo scrambling for 3rd party games. Cheaper game manufacturing let them cut game prices faster amd lower than Nintendo. If Nintendo releases a CD-based console and treated its developers with respect, the PSX would have come in a distant 2nd.

      That combined with his ignorance of Madden and SSX as A+ launch titles for the PS2 erode his credibility with me.

      --
      Seen any BadMarketing lately?
  5. Pre-order on Amazon.co.uk by danormsby · · Score: 4, Informative

    Here is the link. Unfortunately the UK price for the basic version is £180 or about $340. :-(

    --
    Omnis amans amens
  6. Re:$250 for a handheld? by SilentChris · · Score: 4, Informative

    I don't think so at all. It's not just a game console: it's an MP3 and movie player (MPEG4s). Granted, the big limitation for awhile will be storage (memory sticks don't hold much), but you shouldn't be comparing it to Nintendo's machine. Personally, I'd compare it to any of the various video players out right now. For a screen like that, it's a steal.

  7. Re:This should be exciting. by dfj225 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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?

    --
    SIGFAULT
  8. It's all about the form factor. by bennomatic · · Score: 4, Interesting
    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.

    --
    The CB App. What's your 20?
  9. Metal Gear Acid, eh? by xXunderdogXx · · Score: 4, Interesting
    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.
  10. Only 3 things missing by digitalgimpus · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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!

    1. Re:Only 3 things missing by Drey · · Score: 4, Informative

      From the specs at the end of the article, reformatted to pass a /. whitespace lameness filter:

      Main Input/Output
      -----------------
      IEEE 802.11b (Wi-Fi)
      USB 2.0 (mini-B)
      Memory Stick Duo(TM)
      IrDA
      IR Remote

      Looks like it has Wi-Fi.

  11. "Or you could use PS2 and PS1 games..." by Nomihn0 · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...which cannot be used with the PSP?

    This is not the Playstation 3. The PSP is a portable media player designed to play last-generation games in a compact form factor. Compare it to the Nintendo DS.

    Assuming you knew this already, I suppose you meant that Sony will port older games to the new architecture? PS1 games may be ported to PSP, but licensing issues and a general lack of funding tend to limit the selection of titles.

  12. Pricey still by sosuke · · Score: 4, Informative

    $250 isn't a bad price considering what the system can do, but where it starts to hurt is the memory sticks that it uses! 1GB Sony Memory Stick is ~$200USD 4GB Sony Memory Stick is ~$900USD those prices are insane where as you can buy and entire PVP, MP3 player, and handheld game system (NDS) for cheaper cost per GB of storage if they brought their memory costs down this would be a killer piece of hardware

  13. How about a game by Telvin_3d · · Score: 5, Insightful

    With all that bundled in, it would be nice if it came with an actual game. I am not buying the PSP to watch Spiderman.

  14. A portable mini-entertainment center by jangobongo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Looks to me like they are marketing this as a portable mini-entertainment center. By including the Spiderman 2 movie, they are differentiating themselves from other handhelds.

    I'm wondering how much the UMD disc movies will cost. Will people really want to buy yet another version of their favorite movies for $19.99 (price amount is just a guess)?

    --

    Sig cancelled due to lack of interest
  15. Re:As a best buy Employee... by e2ka · · Score: 5, Funny

    None of the Best Buy employees I have ever seen have had any product knowledge anyways.

  16. Re:This should be exciting. by jxyama · · Score: 3, Informative
    >one would think they'd charge less at first and ramp the price up as more games are released

    um, can you name me a single gaming device (or any electronics device, for that matter) where the price started low and went up without improving the specs?

    you always start "too high" and then lower the price as the demand picks up.

  17. Re:Thanks Sony, Now I'm Officially Not Interested by radish · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

    --

    ---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"

  18. Re:$249? Ouch! by KDR_11k · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hammer. Available at every decent tool shop.

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  19. My take by jvmatthe · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Here are the factors that stand out to me:
    • Minimum of $250 for system with memory stick, headphones with remote control, battery, ac adaptor, soft case, cleaning cloth, and a demo disc.
    • First 1,000,000 buyers also get a Spider-Man 2 movie that plays on the PSP.
    • Launch titles that are mostly franchises and remakes, including a whole pile of EA Sports games.
    • Low-end games cost $40, with others presumably costing more. (Wal-mart's online store shows $49.92 for many games.)
    That prices me right out of the market at $250, even with all that bonus crud thrown into the box. But that's not the worst of it, since the big stores, the ones most likely to have anything to sell, will be selling bundles that include two or more games and other needless crud. As of right now, EB Games has one way to buy the PSP and it's a bundle that costs $400. GameStop's got bundles that range from $380 to $480.

    Look, all I want is basic system with a charger, a (small) memory stick, and one game. I don't need headphones or a remote control or a soft case or a cleaning cloth or a demo disc. I don't have any desire to tote around Spider-Man 2 to show off to friends. I don't doubt that the folks who can afford the PSP will think it's the bee's knees, and I'll even envy them their new toy, but I've got better uses for my gaming cash. With the robust used GBA game market, I'm going to get a much better fun-for-dollar return sticking with my 'burning GBA.

    Sorry, Sony, you lost me on this one.

    --
    Curmudgeon Gamer: Not happy
  20. Re:handheld gaming by tgibbs · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yea, Nintendo DS is fine, if you're a TEN year old. What a load of crap.

    Well, as a 50+ year old gamer, I see it exactly the other way around. The DS offers some real innovation, with features such as dual screens and touch/stylus control that aren't available elsewhere. The games aren't all just rehashes of console games. And it looks like it will have a good mix of 3D and 2D games, especially since it plays GBA games (in fact, you can have a GBA and DS game plugged in at the same time), while the Metroid demo demonstrates that its 3D capabilities are good.

    A portable PS2 missing one of the analog sticks just doesn't excite me. I don't do that much gaming on the go, and if I want to play PS2 style games, I'll play it on my big screen TV and PS2 at home. Nor am I all that interested in watching movies on that little tiny screen. If I want to watch a DVD while traveling, I'd rather watch it on my laptop, which at least has a decently sized screen. But I think that the PSP will sell well with the kiddies. Features like movie play that aren't that appealing to adults will be more successful with kids who don't have their own TVs, laptops, and DVD players. I can imagine a parent setting a kid up with a movie on a memory stick to keep him quiet on a long auto trip.

  21. Re:What's the best strategy.... by Impotent_Emperor · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I hope eBay will not reward you for your speculatory activities.

  22. GameGear by White+Roses · · Score: 3, Interesting
    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.

    --
    Do not touch -Willie
  23. Official Launch Lineup by mackman · · Score: 3, Informative

    Ape Escape®: On the Loose, Sony Computer Entertainment America
    ATV Offroad Fury®: Blazin' Trails, Sony Computer Entertainment America
    Darkstalkers Chronicle(TM): The Chaos Tower, Capcom
    Dynasty Warriors®, KOEI
    FIFA 2005, Electronic Arts
    Gretzky(TM) NHL®, Sony Computer Entertainment America
    Lumines(TM), Ubisoft
    Metal Gear Acid(TM), Konami
    MLB(TM), Sony Computer Entertainment America
    MVP Baseball, Electronic Arts
    NBA, Sony Computer Entertainment America
    NBA Street Showdown, Electronic Arts
    Need for Speed(TM) Rivals, Electronic Arts
    NFL Street 2 Unleashed, Electronic Arts
    Rengoku(TM): Tower of Purgatory, Konami
    Ridge Racer(TM), Namco
    Smartbomb, Eidos Interactive
    Spider-Man 2(TM), Activision
    Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®, Electronic Arts
    Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix, Activision
    Twisted Metal: Head On(TM), Sony Computer Entertainment America
    Untold Legends: Brotherhood of the Blade, Sony Online Entertainment
    Wipeout® Pure, Sony Computer Entertainment America
    World Tour Soccer, Sony Computer Entertainment America

  24. DS vs PSP by TheBeno · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.....

  25. Re:This should be exciting. by alan_dershowitz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

  26. Re:What's the best strategy.... by poofyhairguy82 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I hope eBay will not reward you for your speculatory activities.

    I hope that Ebay does what it was created to do- match an able buyer and seller. Who are you to cast aspersions towards this entrepreneur? If someone is willing to pay him a higer price for the unit on ebay because they did not take the steps neccesary to get a unit before it was released, then why is it negative for this person to offer such a product? Why is making money a bad thing?

    In all truth, the parent posters plan probably won't work- but not because some enitity (such as EBay) decieds that his plan is too immoral to succeed. It won't work because this sort of speculative buying is best for shortages, which with Video Game products usually only happens around Christmas. There will probably be enough units for early adopters when it releases, and the parent will most likely have to sell the units at a price lower than they were aquired. But this failure will be a result of the parents lack of understanding regarding the Video Game economy, and not because what he/she planned to do was immoral.

    If you think selling game systems on Ebay is immoral, how do you survive in a world where a lot of Wall Street money is procured through much more evil means? (such as insider trading) Do you not buy anything for big companies, for fear that that product is provided in an immoral fashion (such as slave labor)?

    --

    Open Source Sushi

  27. Re:Thanks Sony, Now I'm Officially Not Interested by incom · · Score: 3, Informative
    "Battery life has been measured at 5.5 hours when playing Ridge Racers (one of the more disc intensive games)."
    Umm... how about no:
    Q: How long does the PSP's battery last?
    A: The short answer is that it depends on what you're doing. The longer answer is that Sony has stated that the battery should last around six hours. With simpler-looking games, like Lumines or Mahjong Fight Club, that definitely seems to be the case. But with more graphically intensive games, like Ridge Racers, the battery doesn't last quite as long. Based on our estimates and a few battery-draining tests, Ridge Racers seems to last somewhere between 90 minutes and three hours. Playing with the wireless networking switch flipped on will also further reduce your battery life. The system has an auto-sleep function that stops the wireless drain, but that switch is there for a reason. Turn it off when you're not using it.

    "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."
    I wonder what led to the discovery of the problem then, if it wasn't during the course of normal use.
    "The square button is something which some people complain about, but most don't even notice."
    http://www.gamersmark.com/news/2005/01/1/5166/ Thousands of PSP returns out of only a few hundred k psp's sold? Sounds pretty serious. And it also sounds like there are no plans to fix the problem.
    "Personally, given the US launch price of $250, I'm even more glad I imported mine from Japan for $350 and got it early."
    It's too bad that sony didn't have prices as low as the japanese launch prices here, with thier basic pack working out to $185USD, $250 minimum at US launch looks pretty high.
    --
    True genius is grasping a situation like a peice of fruit, and peircing it just right so that it drains dry.