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1 Million PSPs Confirmed for U.S. Launch

Posted by Zonk on from the a-lot-of-spider-man dept.

GamesIndustry.biz has the word that Sony has one million PSP units queued up for the U.S. launch on March 24th. Their hope is to ship over three million units by the end of their fiscal year, a somewhat daunting task as the EU launch has been pushed beyond the end of Sony's fiscal year-end. From the article: "The company had previously said that it would manufacture a million units for the North American launch, but it hadn't been clear how many of those units would actually be on shelves, and how many would be stuck further back in the chain - in factories, warehouses or transit."

52 comments

  1. Wait.... by ben0207 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Does that mean theres a chance of people actually getting to buy one? Thatll do no good for hype, surely Sony?

    --
    cmd-q.co.uk - some sort of stupid fucking internet bullshit
  2. I, well a friend, bought my DS and... by PhilippeT · · Score: 0

    I'm not falling for it again I'm waiting until I see some games for this system... stupid Nintendo paperweight DS.

    --
    A psychopath can't tell the difference between right and wrong. A sociopath knows the difference - he just doesn't care.
    1. Re:I, well a friend, bought my DS and... by Mr.Dippy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I love Mario 64 DS but god damn I want a new game! Wario Ware looks good but It's not a must have item for me so I'll wait. But hey, remember when Nintendo 64 came out and for like 2 months there was nothing but Mario and Pilot Wing? I'm looking foward next month to getting a copy of Metroid and sometiime this year the mario kart and castlevania games will be coming out.

      --


      -Dipster
    2. Re:I, well a friend, bought my DS and... by PhilippeT · · Score: 0

      Thing is they should be looking for Quick Wins... O god I used a management Term! What's happening to me!!!... Back on track... they should be looking at porting games... ie Zelda's GoldenEye... Hell I would by both those in an instant.

      --
      A psychopath can't tell the difference between right and wrong. A sociopath knows the difference - he just doesn't care.
    3. Re:I, well a friend, bought my DS and... by FinestLittleSpace · · Score: 1

      Yeah good luck getting a decent goldeneye, considering most of the geniuses behind that f'd off whilst rare was still a half decent company.

    4. Re:I, well a friend, bought my DS and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i'd probably say don't bother with warioware. i bought it on a sunday and my fiancee beat it the next evening (and she works full time). she was pretty dissapointed with how short it is. i've found tha twe both pick it up to play them like mini games or challenges, and we aren't sure if it's 100%'d yet. though it makes me wish i had picked up LOZ: the minish cap instead :/
      e

    5. Re:I, well a friend, bought my DS and... by Psiven · · Score: 0

      Yep. The core dev team for Goldeneye and Perfect Dark left and went on the make Free Radical Games. Then lead project designer from those games left Rare and started up Zoonami Games. Only Free Radical have published anything yet. Apparently Zoonami is as careful as Rare when they publish anything.

    6. Re:I, well a friend, bought my DS and... by Zigg · · Score: 1

      Touched! really isn't a game that you "beat". You've unlocked it all when you've cleared the last stage, but it's really all about playing and getting better scores and such.

      Truth be told, as a fan of the original WarioWare, I was a bit disappointed myself in the length of the unlocking, but I'm having ridiculous amounts of fun just playing the different game mixes to see if I can beat my old score. That and the minigames, like Orbit Ball or Pyoro T.

    7. Re:I, well a friend, bought my DS and... by Zigg · · Score: 1

      Whoops, I misspoke. You don't unlock everything, exactly, by clearing the last stage. There are score challenges on each game (generally 30, I think) and also score challenges on most minigames that will further unlock, as well as the album.

      But yeah, none of the unlocking is really all that difficult.

  3. Umm... daunting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But fiscal years end the March after, don't they? So that'd give Sony a whole nother year to put out just 2 million PSPs.

    This is assuming they break the trend of every other hardware launch ever by actually coming through with even half of what they promise to have. They couldn't even get the PSTwo out.

    Too bad they're so intentional and smarmy about it, trying to drive up "market hype." Bastards. No wonder Nintendo has no chance, actually selling so many consoles so quickly and then satiating the demand.

  4. Or.... by chrisbeatty · · Score: 0

    I hope they'll be able to get all of the buttons working on the new revision of the hardware.

  5. Sold by Neon+Spiral+Injector · · Score: 1

    So when exactly does Sony get to claim these 1 million units have been sold. Can they do it now, or do the boxes actually have to be moved to stores first?

    1. Re:Sold by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right now, God, it's a new Sony gaming machine. I hear they have jaggy mapping in hardware this time. T&L/JM. Oooh, even the jaggys have jaggys. They might as well claim 1 million sell through cause I'm gonna buy a million myself.

    2. Re:Sold by samdu · · Score: 1

      Good point. More interested in your sig, though. :)

      You're throwing a 20b into a convertable? Niiiice. I'll be sure to follow your progress. How much do you figure all of this is going to cost? I've got an '88 RX-7 (second one I've owned and had a '79 before the first one) and have always wondered how hard and expensive it would be to toss a 20b in it.

  6. Sittin On The Hands by blueZhift · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As hard as it will be, I'm going to be sitting on my hands for this one. I want to see how many of them break in the first batch and I also want to see how the software market develops for the PSP before committing any cash. Oh and let's not forget about the hacks that will develop! Hopefully it won't be too hard to get some homebrew software running on the PSP.

    --
    To the making of books there is no end, so let's get started
  7. 1 per customer by scottind · · Score: 3, Interesting
    My gamestop called me a couple days ago and told me that i couldnt pre-order 2 PSPs, so now i have 1 PSP completely paid off and about $80 worth of store credit. I think its their strategy to ensure more customers will get one. Needless to say i am pretty pissed off.

    WEll, with this 1 mil news, i'm wondering about how good or bad the ebay "fervor rush" is going to be, i was originally hoping to sell my 2nd PSP to help cushion the purchase of the first.

    1. Re:1 per customer by IntergalacticWalrus · · Score: 3, Interesting

      That's hardly surprising. Nowadays whenever something big comes out, some fucker buys all units he can find so he can immediately resell them back at a much higher price on eBay.

    2. Re:1 per customer by nicksthings · · Score: 1

      Well that's only one of the reasons Gamestop will only sell one unit per person at any one given time (you planning on turning around and selling it). It makes sense they'd rather get the system into hands of "legitimate" customers than be sold out because Mr. X bought up half a shipment. In any case, they also do this with new systems as well (one person customer).

    3. Re:1 per customer by Guppy06 · · Score: 1

      Give it a few days. They'll call you again and tell you, because of demand, they won't let you have your PSP unless you also buy into their "product protection racket."

      However, as I learned recently, there are reasons for the evilness (though they don't mitigate or justify the evil in my book): stores make pretty much no money on hardware and next to no money on software. Most of their money comes from books and accessories, both of which they try to bundle with the stuff you actually want, forcing you to buy them. They're not exactly losing any money by not letting you buy a second PSP, since they're not making money on the sale of PSPs reguardless.

  8. I got to be honest by falcon5768 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I really am having a hard time justifying buying one, at least for the time being with no software out for it.

    Granted I bought a Gameboy a long time ago and have bought them since, but in this case unlike that gameboy of years ago, I have problems with this one catching on for even as well as the GameGear did, which while short was still longer than say the Lynx or NGage.

    --

    "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

    1. Re:I got to be honest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No software? Apparently you can't count to 24.

    2. Re:I got to be honest by falcon5768 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      thats 24, Gameboy might only have 12 or so DS titles but they have all the advance titles which makes it much easier to justify since you have well over 100 of those

      likewise of those 24, most of them are sports games. I would not be buying a PSP just to play soccer which at the moment is all the PSP seems good for.

      --

      "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

    3. Re:I got to be honest by oGMo · · Score: 2, Insightful
      hats 24, Gameboy might only have 12 or so DS titles but they have all the advance titles which makes it much easier to justify since you have well over 100 of those

      Maybe it justifies it if you don't already have a GBA SP. Maybe. Especially since you can't play multiplayer GBA games with the DS, or hook it up to your Cube (one of Nintendo's major GBA accessories).

      likewise of those 24, most of them are sports games. I would not be buying a PSP just to play soccer which at the moment is all the PSP seems good for.

      Most? Even if you count THUG as a sports game (which it's not), that's still 14 non-sports titles; that's more than half. Racing games aren't sports either, although there are only 3 of those, all very different.

      Soccer is all the PSP is good for? There are RPGs, shooters, fighters, puzzlers, racers, sports, x-sports, all at launch. Big-name titles like Metal Gear, Tony Hawk, Twisted Metal, Wipeout, Dynasty Warriors, etc. What else do you want here exactly?

      The DS has Mario64. And that one Metroid demo. And PictoChat. If you want to play GBA games, get an SP.

      --

      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    4. Re:I got to be honest by falcon5768 · · Score: 1
      your just as ignorant of the Ds titles as your trying to say I am of PSP titles, since you named 3 out of 12.

      And yes racing games ARE sports games im sorry to say.

      --

      "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

    5. Re:I got to be honest by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      When someone says sports games, they don't mean racing games. They mean sports which are more obviously physical. Most people don't realize how much physical exertion is involved in racing... sort of like riding a horse sometimes. Anyway beyond that digression, racing games are in their own class, even if they are WRC or NASCAR or something else which is clearly labeled "motorsport".

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    6. Re:I got to be honest by Zigg · · Score: 1

      The DS has Mario64. And that one Metroid demo. And PictoChat.

      I'm convinced. You're either an idiot, or an astroturfer.

    7. Re:I got to be honest by timftbf · · Score: 1

      I'm buying it to dump video to a memory stick and watch it on my commute. If there's some games I want for it, it'll be a nice bonus.

      TTFN,
      Tim.

  9. I'm Seriously Tempted to Buy One... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    After seeing some video footage of different PSP gaemes, I'm seriously tempted to get one. However, since they're pretty expensive I'm going to wait and see what the game reviews are like, how reliable they are, what the battery life is actually like, etc. before buying one.

    Also, I can't decide if I should get a DS and a PSP, or just a DS or just a PSP. Or maybe I'll wait for the next GameBoy. Jheez! These gaming companies are really making me feel overwhelmed!

  10. WHAT ABOUT EUROPE? by slot32 · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Hello... Sony... You seem to have forgotten a large portion of the F**KING planet...

    Can Europe/UK have the release date, and price CONFIRMED please? We're all waiting!

    --
    Visit London Scalextric Club
    1. Re:WHAT ABOUT EUROPE? by superpulpsicle · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The original poster is not offtopic at all.

      Sony is well known for deliving exactly just enough of whatever the suppliers ask. That's why there is such a ridiculous supply/demand problem. Europe and UK probably won't see it until it is a guaranteed success in the US after Japan. Sigh...

  11. FUD by oGMo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You clearly have no idea what you're talking about. "No software" may be a problem with the DS for the foreseeable future, but there are 24 launch titles for the PSP, and more (such as GTA) during launch week/launch month.

    These are far more titles with far bigger names than the PS2 had at launch; now with a million PSPs promised, and with a price not significantly higher than the Nintendo DS, they should have the critical mass they need.

    Remember, this is Sony, not Sega; they're good at the marketing thing. This is also not a dying Atari or an inexperienced Nokia.

    --

    Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    1. Re:FUD by r00td43m0n · · Score: 2, Informative

      The price of the PSP is ONLY $100 more, but the games cost $10 to $20 more than the DS games (depending on the DS game) and $20 to $30 more than GBA titles (depending on the GBA game). The UMD movies are going to cost in between $20 and $30 dollars and the SanDisk memory cards required to play music cost between $55 (256MB) and $150 (1GB). The cost of buying the PSP and everything needed to take advantage of the PSP's features is well over double the cost of the DS.

    2. Re:FUD by oGMo · · Score: 2, Interesting
      The price of the PSP is ONLY $100 more

      Are you Canadian? Because in USD, the DS is $150, and the PSP is $185. That's $35 more.

      but the games cost $10 to $20 more than the DS games (depending on the DS game) and $20 to $30 more than GBA titles (depending on the GBA game).

      Like hell. New GBA titles are $30-35, as are DS titles (click the tab at the top). New PSP titles are $39-49, which is $5-15 more.

      The UMD movies are going to cost in between $20 and $30 dollars

      Maybe you're psychic, since no movie prices have been announced; but based on the other "facts" you've listed, you're not a very good one.

      SanDisk memory cards required to play music cost between $55 (256MB) and $150 (1GB)

      256MB memory stick pro cards are under $40 on Amazon.

      The cost of buying the PSP and everything needed to take advantage of the PSP's features is well over double the cost of the DS.

      While the EB site is forcing you to get a "bundle", that's not the only place you can get them. I've got a PSP alone on order from an EB store for $20.

      Assuming you don't want to just use pictochat or play the Prime demo, you'll want a full game; that'll be an extra $30, putting your DS at $180. Double that is $360, so we've got some money to play with... $185 for the unit, $40 for the memstick, $50 for a game. That's $275, which is definitely more than your DS bundle, but then again you've got an MP3/movie player in the bundle too. Definitely not double the price.

      And you have an actual selection of games to pick from, not... Mario64 DS.

      --

      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    3. Re:FUD by StocDred · · Score: 1
      Are you Canadian? Because in USD, the DS is $150, and the PSP is $185. That's $35 more.

      I thought the PSP price was revealed at $250. That's $100 more. Did it drop when I wasn't looking, or are you still using 2004 Analyst Guesstimate numbers?

    4. Re:FUD by oGMo · · Score: 1

      This is a PSP "Value Pack", which means they charge you more for a few accessories. I believe they will introduce the non-value-pack version shortly thereafter. Even if not, this value pack comes with a memory stick and Spider Man 2 on UMD, so basically you have a fully-functional unit for even less than I said.

      --

      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    5. Re:FUD by SetupWeasel · · Score: 1

      And you have an actual selection of games to pick from, not... Mario64 DS.

      Out Now:
      Mario 64 DS
      Feel the Magic
      Ridge Racer
      Madden 2004
      Tiger Woods
      Asphult Urban
      Zoo Keeper
      WarioWare Touched!
      Sprung
      Urbz
      Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits
      SpiderMan 2
      Robots
      Ping Pals

      Out by the end of March:
      Yoshi's Touch and Go
      Pokemon Dash
      Rayman DS
      Atari Classics

      That's 18 not including the Metroid demo or Pictochat. There are plenty of releases in April too. We'll see how many of those 24 PSP games meet their release dates. Gran Truismo went gold before it's 3 month delay. Even Rayman DS was supposed to be a DS launch title.

    6. Re:FUD by Phudman · · Score: 1

      Is it just me or do most of those games sound like cut down Playstation2 games? Nothing there really makes me want to go out and spend 250 bucks on the PSP. Too bad the Nintendo DS is having similar problems.

    7. Re:FUD by oGMo · · Score: 1
      Is it just me or do most of those games sound like cut down Playstation2 games?

      At first glance---perhaps. But (at least the ones I'm interested in) seem to fall into one of two categories:

      • Extended versions of the PS2 game.
      • Games that are more appropriate for a handheld than a console

      For instance, THUG2 is an extended version of the PS2 version, and has wireless play and the like. Others, like Mercury, Lumines, and Metal Gear: Acid, are great concepts, but wouldn't really be suitable for sitting at a console and playing for hours. They work great in the handheld environment, though. So in essence, the lineup complements the console selection nicely.

      (There are already a number of PS2 games I thought should have been handheld... Wizardry, Disgaea, and some others, for instance. Now there's a platform available for them.)

      --

      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

    8. Re:FUD by sl3xd · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Remember, this is Sony, not Sega; they're good at the marketing thing.

      Oddly enough, I seem to remember Sega being the company to beat before the days of the Saturn; in fact, I remember quite clearly when the Game Gear was impossible to get, because they were completely sold out.

      And I've seen far more people playing games on a Nokia system (not n-gauge) than on any gameboy; I've seen people who wouldn't be caught dead playing on a console playing games on a Nokia phone. Nokia isn't inexperienced in the game market -- they honestly have higher penetration than Nintendo has with the GameBoy Advance. It's just that their purpose-built game-phone makes its owner look like an IDIOT when he is using it as a phone; this alone kept many from buying it.

      I look at it this way: I've seen many portable systems by many talented companies.

      Only one has ever been sucessful: Nintendo.

      I'm no fanboy of either; the PSP has a large screen of supposedly great quality. Nintendo's answer to such a large screen was to have two smaller screens (one of them a touch screen). Both have wireless networking/multiplayer. I would give the durability nod to Nintendo -- both for its games and for the system itself. And durability is rather important for a portable system. The disc the PSP uses will definately reduce the playtime per charge. I've seen this show before, and it always goes very badly for Nintendo's competition.

      --
      -- Sometimes you have to turn the lights off in order to see.
    9. Re:FUD by Zigg · · Score: 1

      So basically, you're spreading your guesses around as fact.

      Bravo. I think you've got a job as a gaming sycophan^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hjournalist!

    10. Re:FUD by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      Man, Disgaea would have been awesome portable... that, and the original FF Tactics...

      Mmmm... sweet tactical goodness on the road.
      *tires screech*
      *metal crumpling*
      *sirens drown out the sound of the FFT victory theme*

      Disclaimer: This post is intended to be humerous. Performed by a virtual driver on a non-existant course. Do not play video games while driving. Void where prohibited. Must be 8 or older. No purchase necessary.

    11. Re:FUD by geminidomino · · Score: 1

      but there are 24 launch titles for the PSP

      And all just as boring as the available DS games.

      Oh Sunsoft[0], where art thou? Deliver unto me portable RPGs!

      [0]Responsible for the timely re-release of the Final Fantasy Legend series back in the GB days.

    12. Re:FUD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's a FFT for the gameboy. It wasn't as good as the original, until I played the original and realized it wasn't as good as I used to think.

      It's still pretty decent.

    13. Re:FUD by oGMo · · Score: 1
      I'm no fanboy of either; the PSP has a large screen of supposedly great quality. Nintendo's answer to such a large screen was to have two smaller screens (one of them a touch screen). Both have wireless networking/multiplayer. I would give the durability nod to Nintendo -- both for its games and for the system itself.

      Definitely, and I agree with your sentiment about Nintendo making the only truly successful portable gaming unit so far.

      However, where I think they're failing is the games. This could even be their downfall; I think it's the reason the N64 and Cube are both 2nd-place contestants. There just aren't enough games. They should be churning them out left and right like with the SNES. NES, SNES, Gameboy... you knew there would be games, lots of them, because it was Nintendo, and Nintendo = Games.

      Now it's different though. The GBA is a failure in the sense that the number of good original games are minimal; the best ones are just ports, and the rest are mostly franchises. I long for the glory days of the SNES and 2D gaming just as much as Nintendo seems to, but... why aren't they doing anything about it? What are they doing?

      These days, Sony = Games. The PS2 has the widest selection and the most names. This is why the PSP might be the first new handheld to truly succeed.

      Also, I want them to seriously knock Nintendo into gear, so they stop resting on their laurels and make some damn games.

      --

      Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage

  12. Well.... by brkello · · Score: 1

    If you look at the past, they would be smart to have plenty of them stuck in the queue...if they are harder to get, for some reason people want them more. If there are tons of them, everyone points at how many are on shelves and how it is a failure. That will discourage people who were thinking about getting them. This is assuming it doesn't suck...if it sucks, even a limited supply won't sell out.

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  13. Wait... by DaveJay · · Score: 1

    I just saw a pile of PSP boxes in a Circuit City. Were those just empty pre-order boxes? They sure felt heavy...

  14. Hmm... by musicman2059 · · Score: 0
    One million units. Hopefully history won't repeat itself, seeing the unit-shortage horror with the DS at launch. (Despite Nintendo denying it, I still say there was a shortage just by looking at the GameFAQs boards in the first couple of weeks.)

    The way I see it though is that the PSP probably won't sell as fast as the NDS, making it a lot easier to get. Not to mention a decent line of launch games, compared to the craptacular DS launch line, save Super Mario DS and a couple of others.

    All I can say is this is that I think Sony is gonna give Nintendo a run for its money. This will be interesting to see. Sony beat out Nintendo in the console department as far as I know, and the NDS might just become a self-inflicted wound for Nintendo, and the Game Boy might just fall.

    --
    When you need great justice, take off every zig.
  15. Does this include... by likewowandstuff · · Score: 1

    ...all of the display units at Wal-Mart that will be smashed or stolen? What a waste. The DS at my local store has a cracked, mutilated, unusable touch screen that somehow still lights up.

  16. Here we go again... by Aggrazel · · Score: 1

    Those of you out there comparing the DS to the PSP saying which one kicks the other's ass are a bunch of idiots, you know that?

    It doesn't matter which system is better. It matters which system you personally will have more fun with. You're buying a TOY. Buy the toy that's more fun for you, or buy them both! I don't care. It doesn't matter. The video game market is huge. There are things the DS does that the PSP can't do and vice-versa. Big freaking deal.

    We've gone through this crap since the days of Colecovision vs. Atari. Yeah true, eventually one system makes it big while the other system fades into obscurity. But arguing about what system is superior is a waste of time. What are you guys in Sony's marketing department or something?

    This "my toy is better than his toy" crap is rediculous. Be young. Have fun. Drink Pepsi ... or whatever.

  17. Times really change. by Metroid72 · · Score: 1

    I remember those times when people wanted to buy 1st generation hardware because it proved to be more durable and with better components. It happened with the Ataris, the NES, Genesis, SNES.... Anyone cares to share about the newer hardware?

  18. Too expensive... by Taulin · · Score: 1

    I almost always get new gear and consoles on release day, but $250 (EB Games) for a hand held system is too much, especially since the games also cost $40+. That is next gen console prices there, not low-res-same-as-I-have price. No worries, the price will drop to $140-$200 before end of summer most likely, especialy if Nintendo does indeed anounce a new GB 3. Maybe by price drop time there will be some actual games out for it.