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PSP Price Drop Official

Posted by Zonk on from the now-more-reasonably-out-of-reach dept.

GamesIndustry.biz reports that Sony has officially dropped the PSP price here in the US. Other markets will have to wait and see about a reduction in cost, but stores are already selling the portable console for $169.99, down from $199.99. "When asked if Sony has any plans to cut the price in Europe the spokesperson replied, 'We have no announcements to make about the PSP in the European market at this time.' The PSP competes in the handheld market with the Nintendo DS Lite, which has a lower price point of USD 129.99 / GBP 99.99. Last month Nintendo announced that more than 3 million DS units have now been sold in the UK, securing Nintendo a 68 per cent share of the market. "

16 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Lower price, but... by EggyToast · · Score: 2, Insightful

    So have they added a touchscreen or games that aren't just ports?

    Metal Gear Ac!ds and LocoRoco are cool, but aren't system sellers. I am amazed how much of a life WipeOut has in the UK, though...

    1. Re:Lower price, but... by coop247 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm sick of people bitching about the PSP being just ports. There are quite a few very good games that are not ports, off the top of my head

      Ratchet & Clank
      2 GTA stories
      Pursuit Force - The best game you've never heard of
      Call Of Duty
      Metal Gear
      SOCOM
      KillZone Liberation

      I'm not saying there aren't awful games (some of which are ports), because I've played some really bad PSP games. But at the same time, there are quite a few "great" games and tons of "decent" games. Try actually playing a PSP before trolling.

      BTW, did Nintendo add the ability to listen to music or watch movies when I'm not in the mood to play games...

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  2. Wow. Just.. wow... by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 4, Funny

    The Core pack includes a PSP, battery and adaptor, and retails for GBP 150 in the UK.

    150.00 GBP = 296.374 USD

    Jesus Christ, you must all be walking permanently bowlegged over there from such a pounding.

    1. Re:Wow. Just.. wow... by Quasicorps · · Score: 2, Informative

      I buy almost all of my electrical goods in America. Or Japan. I know enough people from around the world who come over here and are willing to bring me things.

      A couple of years ago I spent about $1200 on computer components, and my wily friend managed to avoid all customs charges.

      England has to wait months to get anything released here, and when they are, they tend to be about twice the price. Even when you take into account how the economies differ, and how we earn more, it's still an unreasonable markup.

    2. Re:Wow. Just.. wow... by CAIMLAS · · Score: 2, Informative

      Half again? Not hardly: 1 U.S. dollars = 0.507047967 British pounds

      So the actual cost is closer to 4 times as much than twice, VAT excluded.

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      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
  3. $170 could be a Great Deal by lmnfrs · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If the versions currently being sold run a BIOS version that's been dumped and hacked. If not, it will probably only take a few weeks. I don't care how great the DS is (I have one, it's pretty great) because a big shiny 16:9 handheld that plays PlayStation games is _sweet_. You don't have to be interested in any of the other stuff it can do (which is a lot) if you ever liked the PSX.. Pull out your old PSX discs and spend $50 on a big MSPD and you'll be the most badass kid on the bus.

  4. Will this... by lanceleader · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Really have a dramatic effect on the PSP sales? Sure, it will spike for a while but, will it have a long term effect? Personally I see not enough good software to make it worth my money. Even if it is $40 less.

    1. Re:Will this... by sottitron · · Score: 2, Insightful

      $199.99 - $169.99 = $30 less and not $40.

  5. Only two apps I want for it by Krishnoid · · Score: 3, Funny

    Plucker and adobe reader. If I could take the floorplan of my house in acrobat format, carry it in to the local hardware store, and zoom in to get the measurements of various areas, good enough for me.

    1. Re:Only two apps I want for it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      If I could take the floorplan of my house in acrobat format, carry it in to the local hardware store, and zoom in to get the measurements of various areas, good enough for me. Sorry man, I'm not baiting...but...if I'd sat and thought for a week I could not possibly have come up with a duller use for a PSP...
    2. Re:Only two apps I want for it by dannycim · · Score: 3, Informative

      Just dump the pages as large JPG, view in the photo viewer, which does a mighty fine job of zooming in&out, rotating, etc...

    3. Re:Only two apps I want for it by _egg · · Score: 2, Informative

      People commonly export eBooks and similar stuff to images, and stick them in the images folder.

      The image viewer has pan and zoom, so you can pretty much do as you described, minus the PDF format.

  6. Re:Price drop?... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    $30 is even less enticing.

  7. Re:PSP sits collecting dust. by nutshell42 · · Score: 2, Funny
    I have a PSP. I've used it one time when I got it in another state, and used it during the flight.

    And that was when I wasn't using my IPOD. I have movies which I've watched already, and a few games that suck.

    Lucky you! I have ten of them lying around. Never even booted them up, they just look so shitty!

    I'm glad to see that I'm not the only person who buys stuff he doesn't want and then keeps it just so he can troll about it on /.

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    Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
  8. Puzzle Quest! by CaseM · · Score: 3, Informative

    Pardon my enthusiasm for this title, but Puzzle Quest is everything it was hyped to be and then some. It's currently my favorite game on the PSP, and I don't see it getting dethroned any time soon.

    Give it a try for some seriously fun and addictive hand-held gaming goodness. There's even a PC demo if you want to try before you buy.

  9. Re:Yeah, like the DS doesn't live and die by ports by toolie · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Since when does 'more functionality' mean the same thing as 'innovative'?

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