Gran Turismo PSP bundle arrives October 20 for $200 [Joystiq]

[DP ServBot]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2009/09/pspsilvergtpack.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/photos/gran-turismo-portable/2252130/full/)
Click to embiggen.


SCEA has announced yet another addition to its growing lineup of PSP "Entertainment Pack" bundles. The upcoming Gran Turismo (http://www.joystiq.com/tag/gran-turismo-psp) pack joins Rock Band Unplugged (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/08/rock-band-unplugged-detailed-priced-and-dated/) and Hannah Montana (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/04/omg-lilac-psp-sony-says-girlz-play-too/) this October by packaging a "Mystic Silver" PSP-3000 with a UMD copy of Gran Turismo, downloadable white Corvette ZR1, 2GB Memory Stick, and vouchers for movie and music downloads from the PlayStation Store and Sony Music Pass.

At $199, the limited edition bundle seems like quite a bargain, especially when you consider how much cheaper it is than a PSP Go (http://www.joystiq.com/tag/psp-go). The announcement of yet another PSP-3000 package reaffirms Sony's stance on supporting UMD as a format (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/16/sonys-john-koller-says-tangible-disc-still-important/) -- but also places into doubt the viability of ending PSP piracy (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/31/sony-and-nintendo-increasing-effort-in-fight-against-piracy/) any time soon.
Gallery: Gran Turismo PSP (http://www.joystiq.com/photos/gran-turismo-portable/)
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2009/09/3865588147_3b405447b8_b_thumbnail.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/photos/gran-turismo-portable/2252130/)http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2009/07/gtportablecoverart_thumbnail.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/photos/gran-turismo-portable/2179660/)http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2009/06/1p_02_car_spec_04_thumbnail.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/photos/gran-turismo-portable/2056069/)http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2009/06/1p_02_car_spec_02_thumbnail.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/photos/gran-turismo-portable/2056068/)http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2009/06/1p_02_car_detail_02_thumbnail.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/photos/gran-turismo-portable/2056067/)
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif (http://www.joystiq.com)Gran Turismo PSP bundle arrives October 20 for $200 (http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/02/gran-turismo-psp-bundle-arrives-october-20-for-200/) originally appeared on Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com) on Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).



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[GrandAmChandler]

That game is about 2-3 years too late.

[Kid Ice]

So....now they're competing with their own product?

[Leo_A]

So....now they're competing with their own product?

How are they competing with their own product? It's all PSP portables and PSP games, all they're doing is providing options.

They've said all along that the PSP-3000 wasn't going anywhere and that the UMD format wasn't being abandoned.

All they're doing is giving consumers a choice if they'd rather purchase a PSP Go and download all their games, or purchase a PSP-3000 and buy UMD's. In the end, they're all PSP sales.

If your talking about price, I suspect the Go is so much more because 16 gigs (I believe) of flash memory is pretty expensive, and when combined with such things as the sliding screen make the PSP Go much more expensive even without a UMD drive to manufacture than a 3000. Providing a pack in game is pretty cheap, it's just a UMD disc in a cardboard sleeve.

Anyways, I forgot what my point was besides to express confusion over what you meant.

[Kid Ice]

How are they competing with their own product?

Because they're trying to launch a new system*. It's not the same thing as coming out with two bundles of the same system, or different colors or something like that. Yeah, we know they're still going to produce the UMD PSP, but why launch a new PSP bundle so close to the launch of the PSPGO? Dumb.

*yes I am calling the GO a new system.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I think they realize that people in the market for PSP GO are not market-casual 1st time portable buyers.

They've gone on record as saying that they know the GO is priced for "early adopters" (ie the people who have no problem with price, they just want what's new), and there's no denying that - while many of us aren't "early adopters" there are enough of them out there to make the GO a success alongside the more cost effective bundles.

And the PSP 3000 bundles all seem to be great product offerings that ARE targeted at people who haven't picked up a PSP yet.

Yeah, they're sort of competing with themselves, but either way I think they're going to cash in.

It's a damn shame that the screen on the 3000 still uses that vertical resolution on the blue pixels that makes screen tearing so evident to long-time PSP 1000/2000 owners ... though people who have only ever owned a PSP 3000 don't seem to notice it much.

[Kid Ice]

I just think that regardless of what market they're aiming for with the GO putting another PSP bundle out there is a distraction...especially one with what is arguably the system's biggest release.

[duffmanth]

GT is still gonna sell huge though, and people can bitch all they want about the PSPGO's price, but it'll still sell pretty impressive numbers I'm sure.