PSP Set to Release on March 24

[mikeetler]

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050203/sfth050_1.html

[WanganRunner]

Ack! We can't buy it by itself? We have to get the damned value pack?!?

That sucks....They had better change the contents then. I don't want cheeseball headphones, that's what I bought $300 Grados for.

[kainemaxwell]

Sony could always release just the system itself later. *shrug

[klausien]

That price definitely sucks. I was thinking that they were going to pull the rug out from under Nintendo at $150. I guess they really don't care about the DS. Oh well, I'll end up getting one anyway.

[le geek]

The value pack seems a little pricey to me. But it does come with a demo disc and UMD Spiderman 2...

Now if they stick with software being $39.99 or so that's a good move on there part...

I'm sure early adopters will snatch it up. I can wait...

[tholly]

ill be preordering this weekend if stores have preorders for the value pack, i want to get one of the 1st million to get the spiderman umd......gotta love easter presents like this..ahhahah

[slip81]

$250 is way too much IMO. Now it would be fine if you had the option of just buying the system.

I was thinking about getting one around launch, but if this is the only option I definately won't. I also don't understand why so many people are preordering at that price, especially given Sony's track record with launch hardware.

[jslithy]

Wow, that's a lot for a portable, especially since it doesn't come with a game. After you add the cost of a game, a decent sized memory stick and tax, you're looking at over $350.

[unbroken]

yea i would rather buy it just by it self, as you can find cheaper memory cards online. but i guess a remote control is kinda cool.

[GobopopRevisited]

yea i would rather buy it just by it self, as you can find cheaper memory cards online. but i guess a remote control is kinda cool.

Yep... A remote control is Soooo worth the extra $100

They NEED to release a basic version, They can't hope to win solely on the Multimedia device approach.

[PDorr3]

If this is the situation I am no longer preordering or picking one up at launch. it will cost $350 just to be prepared to play one game

[Querjek]

The value pack includes a 32mb memory card.



Now... does anyone know of a place online where I can preorder the system alone? Or, at most, with 1 game?

[MegaDrive20XX]

Sony Computer Entertainment America announced the US launch details of PlayStation Portable, the PSP Value Pack will launch on March 24, for US$249.99, which comes with the PSP, 32MB Memory Stick Duo, Headphone with Remote Control, Battery Pack, AC Adapter, Soft Case, Cleaning Cloth and an UMD Demo Disc. The first one million units of PSP Value Pack will also come a special UMD version of the movie Spider-Man 2. Sony expects to ship one million units of PSP by the end of March 2005.

http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm <--- source

[Nature Boy]

That price definitely sucks. I was thinking that they were going to pull the rug out from under Nintendo at $150. I guess they really don't care about the DS. Oh well, I'll end up getting one anyway.

Uhhhhh, I'm *guessing* that the PSP costs more to manufacture, since it has more to it, so there was *zero* chance it would sell for less than the DS to start. They want to make some of their initial production costs back off the early adoptors. Just like *every* consumer electronics manufacturer does (they don't start price wars until *later*).

[SoulBlazer]

Read the stuff that comes with the system, people. It's either all stuff you're going to NEED or stuff that 99 percent of consumers are going to buy. I'd want the headphones, the carrying case, and the AC Adapter, and you need the memory stick.

So yeah, with all that stuff, $250 seems like a good price.

And I have a list of games that will be out with the system -- no information on prices, I'm thinking around $40.

Don't worry, I'm sure Sony will release the system and JUST the system for $200 later. They just want to get the bundle out first since it's going to be all critical stuff anyway.

My local EB said they allready filled up their first quota and am also at the end of the second quota.

[vincewy]

Another ?? is price of games, $40-$50 for a portable game? Given the price of current console games, which will keep me really busy for a long time, common sense dictates that you don't buy the system now. Wait! I guess a lot of people don't use common sense, consider current state of economy, on eBay, I just scored a lot of deals (actually bargains) and am amazed at current down turn of the market for sellers.

[link1110]

$250 with $40 games is alot for a handheld, and Sony's none too bright for releasing it at that price. I can't wait to see how many of those EB presells get cancelled now because of that price.

While you can't get it at this price yet, the Japanese PSP alone sells for about $180 there. Maybe once PSP's are plentiful in Japan, you'll be able to import one for about $200. Supposedly they are going to be region-free, though I'm waiting to find out if that's true or not.

[zektor]

Yes! It comes with the official Sony cleaning cloth! I'm in!

Seriously, I'll wait for *just* the system to be released. All of the other optional junk can be purchased later...if I even want any of it. It just seems to me that it's a cheezy way of getting rid of carry cases and cloths because they know the PSP will sell.

[SoulBlazer]

And I still say all of that extra stuff is stuff you either need with the system, stuff I would buy anyway, and stuff I would evenutuly pick up.

I'm not going to pre-order it though due to lack of games I want.

[Wavelflack]

"headphones with remote control"

In case you can't reach the PSP that is in your hand...

[Querjek]

...I cracked.


I preordered at EB. After seeing that Lumines is slated to be a US launch game, I just had to go for it.

[Mitch_Naz]

Aw, $299.99 (CDN) for a PSP is too much for me. I'll just wait until they sell the unit itself and a price drop (whenever that may be) and stick with my Nintendo DS.

[Algol]

And I still say all of that extra stuff is stuff you either need with the system, stuff I would buy anyway, and stuff I would evenutuly pick up.

True, but it seems like Sony would at least TRY to compete with Nintendo on price by releasing the system alone. $250 for a handheld is very steep, especially when there's another system $100 cheaper available. Or, maybe they decided not to compete with Nintendo because they realized they could never beat them in the handheld market. LOL

Another thing that bugs me is the UMD movie discs. Sony is going to have a hard time convincing anyone to release anything on these things. This is the exact same thing that killed off Betamax, if I'm not mistaken.

[Crush Crawfish]

wow, that's really pricey....I'm kinda tempted to buy one, but I really don't have the cash. I'll just wait for a price drop and some more games to come out before I take the plunge.

[Maddrox]

Woot. My tax returns will pay for this :)

[Lord007]

So do any of you think there will be a big sellout/shortage around launch to the point where people are buying them on eBay for twice the cost?

[Muscelli]

no, i think it will have a shortage, but not as big as the dses shortage

[Cmosfm]

Personally, I think 250.00 is just fine for all we're getting. Who DOESN'T need a case? 32MB memory card is perfectly fine. You also get Spider-Man 2 movie and a Demo Disk. Headphones and other stuff make this a well priced system at 250.00

The games though, at 40-50 is pretty high, but maybe we can expect a price drop soon. I have mine preordered....and I will preorder about 3-5 games with it.

I want a PSP, what can I say?

[Cmosfm]

Personally, I think 250.00 is just fine for all we're getting. Who DOESN'T need a case? 32MB memory card is perfectly fine. You also get Spider-Man 2 movie and a Demo Disk. Headphones and other stuff make this a well priced system at 250.00

The games though, at 40-50 is pretty high, but maybe we can expect a price drop soon. I have mine preordered....and I will preorder about 3-5 games with it.

I want a PSP, what can I say?

[CreamSoda]

$250 for that?!?! X_x

Damnit, if Twisted Metal is a launch game I might still have to buy it!

lol

[swlovinist]

$250???? Not for me. While I think the PSP will have enough die hards to buy their system......dam that is alot of dough. I think I will wait.

[Muscelli]

its a pretty bad deal, man... i was looking foward to this

[abdul]

i preordered this the day after it came out in Japan. I think it is a great Idea to just sell the value pack.

This thing looks delicate, so I need a case. Memory stick to save games, and all the other junk for the hell of it.

it looks great, I am gonna go to EBX today to prepay my system in full ( with the largest possivke warrenty. 8-) )

[tholly]

Personally, I think 250.00 is just fine for all we're getting. Who DOESN'T need a case? 32MB memory card is perfectly fine. You also get Spider-Man 2 movie and a Demo Disk. Headphones and other stuff make this a well priced system at 250.00

The games though, at 40-50 is pretty high, but maybe we can expect a price drop soon. I have mine preordered....and I will preorder about 3-5 games with it.

I want a PSP, what can I say?


exactly....$250 isnt that much at all

a lot of various accessories are included, plus the hardware itself is a lot more advanced that say a DS or a GBA, so you have to expect that it will be a bit higher

plus, it can do a lot more than just play games....we can have mp3s and videos on a cd based portable gaming system

i preordered mine last night....now, the only problem is the wait

[Muscelli]

come to think of it, its a pretty sweet deal... think of it, a multimedia player retails for 500 or 600, ur getting a psp with tons of extras for 250..

I will get one later, as i dont feel like spending lots of money at the moment

if i can get this with a warranty, instead of a case... now that would be good... how much do warrantys run for

[ubersaurus]

My game gear vibe continues off of the price, the battery life, and let's be frank here-do you really want to kill your PSP's battery just to watch Spiderman 2, a movie you can easily just get on DVD?

[tholly]

My game gear vibe continues off of the price, the battery life, and let's be frank here-do you really want to kill your PSP's battery just to watch Spiderman 2, a movie you can easily just get on DVD?


its not like you cant just recharge the battery

[goatdan]

Just a few comments...

For everyone saying these are all things that you get with the system anyway, doesn't the DS and GBASP come with an AC adaptor to recharge their batteries with too? Or am I wrong? I've never bought one, but that doesn't seem like a huge addition to me if they have it. It seems it would have to come standard.

It's more expensive because it is more powerful? I don't buy that until we see it in action. The GameCube is more powerful than a PS2, but the PS2 is more expensive. Other things go into that, including consumer perception of the power. We'll see if it lives up to that hype.

The things included seem odd to me -- A carrying pouch - Okay, I would rather carry the system in my pocket if it's portable. I'm not going to strap a carrying pouch to me to walk around with it. That might just be me, but that doesn't seem so neat.

A 32MB memory card? I thought it wasn't going to use a proprietary format for storing music and stuff, or am I wrong on that. If that's the case, I just bought myself a 512MB one for $27.00. At that cost, this memory card is worth about $2.70 to me, less because I would just get one bigger one and wouldn't want to carry around the old one.

Spider-Man 2 on UMD? I can get the special edition of this for only $15.77 at Target when it is on sale. Why would I want to watch the movie only on the tiny screen instead? I'm sorry, but I only see this as a way for Sony to try to force people to try watching movies.

A game demo? Again, the DS comes with this. You can't count that as a feather in its cap.

So you've got a movie, a memory card and a carrying pouch upgrade for $100.00, essentially. Is it worth it? Personally, I'm thinking even less about it. We'll have to see.

Also, with the odd problems that have been associated with the X button, and Sony's refusal to say anything but "cope" to gamers and programmers, it just seems to me that Sony believes they are a juggernaut that can do no wrong. I'll admit -- they might very well be just that. We'll have to see how sales are. Like I've said in the past, I would like the PSP to succeed because it would force Nintendo to continue looking at beefing up their handhelds... but I'm unsure of how it will do. At $150, I think it would sell like crazy. At $250, I think it makes the DS look a lot better.

[petewhitley]

I'm severely disappointed that a bare-bones version won't be available at launch. I have a MemoryStick Duo and could honestley care less about Spider Man 2 (I don't even want it in my collection). That said, with 24 GAMES AVAILABLE AT LAUNCH (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/psp/launch/two-dozen-psp-games-at-launch-032040.php) and a system that is now OFFICIALLY AS POWERFUL AS THE PS2 (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/playstation/2005/02/psp_officially_as_powerful_as_ps2.html), I still think Sony is on the fast track to owning the portable market. And yep, I'm still buying one at launch.

[SoulBlazer]

Come on, people --

Even if it was JUST the system, it would STILL sell for $200

There's just NO WAY Sony can sell it for less then that and make any money!

[jonjandran]

Come on, people --

Even if it was JUST the system, it would STILL sell for $200

There's just NO WAY Sony can sell it for less then that and make any money!

Umm Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft have NEVER made money on a system. They always sell it at a loss and make their profit on the software sold. :roll:

[SoulBlazer]

Okay, point taken.....

But MY point still stands.

Consider how powerfull this system is going to be. Then do a mental add-up in your head of how much the included stuff with the bundle pack (minus the Spider Man 2 movie) is really worth.

It would'nt sell for less then $200. I'd stake my life on it.

[Cmosfm]

Come on, people --

Even if it was JUST the system, it would STILL sell for $200

There's just NO WAY Sony can sell it for less then that and make any money!

That's what I'm saying.

I keep hearing "100.00 more", "for 100.00 you get X" etc, etc. Yes, 100.00 more than a DS, but Sony never said the PSP was gonna be 150.00 by itself, Sony never gave an official US price until now and all there was to go on was speculation.

The system is 250.00 with a bunch of goodies that you will need, not 100.00 more than a barebones system. It's simply 250.00, take it or leave it.

I'll be taking it. :D Hell, I personally am more hyped than ever! Now I gotta figure out what games I want to get with it.

[jonjandran]

Well the way I see it...... With the technology it has, Screen Size and Quality, UMD Disc, 3D Capabilities, etc, etc. This is about a $500-600 piece of equipment.

So yea, it's worth $200-$250. But then again, No portable system has sold for this much and lasted very long.

But like I've always said, It's all about the games. With Awesome games it will be just as popular as the PS1 and PS2.

[boatofcar]

Another thing that bugs me is the UMD movie discs. Sony is going to have a hard time convincing anyone to release anything on these things. This is the exact same thing that killed off Betamax, if I'm not mistaken.

Remember when artists tried releasing albums on minidisc? I remember Billy Joel's River of Dreams sold in MD format. You think Sony would've learned their lesson by now...

[petewhitley]

Another thing that bugs me is the UMD movie discs. Sony is going to have a hard time convincing anyone to release anything on these things. This is the exact same thing that killed off Betamax, if I'm not mistaken.

Remember when artists tried releasing albums on minidisc? I remember Billy Joel's River of Dreams sold in MD format. You think Sony would've learned their lesson by now...

When are people going to realize that the UMD isn't meant to set the North American market afire? Remember, this system is being released all around the globe, and in other markets UMD makes sense. It just so happens to NOT make alot of sense in North America. MiniDisc was and is hugely successful in Japan. It's laughable here. Sony DID learn their lesson; that's why they put UMD functionality in this thing.

[soniko_karuto]

I'm severely disappointed that a bare-bones version won't be available at launch. I have a MemoryStick Duo and could honestley care less about Spider Man 2 (I don't even want it in my collection). That said, with 24 GAMES AVAILABLE AT LAUNCH (http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/psp/launch/two-dozen-psp-games-at-launch-032040.php) and a system that is now OFFICIALLY AS POWERFUL AS THE PS2 (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/playstation/2005/02/psp_officially_as_powerful_as_ps2.html), I still think Sony is on the fast track to owning the portable market. And yep, I'm still buying one at launch.

Holy shit! sony must be kidding me! I mean, their ps2 is like 100 dreamcasts!!! they said so on the prelaunch hype!!11!1one1!!!!

I can't think of anything good about the price. Yes, the machine may be worth it, but c'mon people, the charger HAS TO BE free of cost,

the original gameboy came with headphones right? CHECK
remote control for a handheld device? only if you have 20/20 CHECK
carrying puch? My gba came with one for free CHECK
memory card? you'll end up buying another one CHECK
a cleaning cloth? w00t i'm a selled whoree!!! woot! CHECK
Demo with system? a lot of past handhelds came with free complete games CHECK
movie? I don't like spiderman 2 CHECK


so, the value pack ain't that hot for me, i'd prefer a 100 dollar cheaper system rather than a 250 bag of extras.

[petewhitley]

Holy shit! sony must be kidding me! I mean, their ps2 is like 100 dreamcasts!!! they said so on the prelaunch hype!!11!1one1!!!!

Obviously you didn't click on the link I provided. x_x An independent firm that researches such things concluded that functionally, the PSP is as powerful as the PS2. There's more to it than that, but you'll have to actually read the link to find out.

[soniko_karuto]

Holy shit! sony must be kidding me! I mean, their ps2 is like 100 dreamcasts!!! they said so on the prelaunch hype!!11!1one1!!!!

Obviously you didn't click on the link I provided. x_x An independent firm that researches such things concluded that functionally, the PSP is as powerful as the PS2. There's more to it than that, but you'll have to actually read the link to find out.

actually i remember that when the ps2 was about to go out, magazines had comparisons, websites had studies, people talked about it, mtv said it was freaking powerful... and look what it is!!

Sorry, but after i see the same proof that those guys have on their page, from around let's say, 20 or 30 firms (wich did their own tests), then i'll start believing. As of right now, to me it's just a hyped up machine.

[Maddrox]

new bundles woot.
http://www.gamestop.com/productmerch.asp?groupid=196

[SoulBlazer]

@_@

Now THOSE bundles are what you want if you want to drop SERIOUS money on this thing! :eek 2:

[ubersaurus]

My game gear vibe continues off of the price, the battery life, and let's be frank here-do you really want to kill your PSP's battery just to watch Spiderman 2, a movie you can easily just get on DVD?


its not like you cant just recharge the battery

Well, you can recharge the DS and GBA's batteries too...and the game gear had a rechargeable battery pack, as well.

And those other bundles could be marketed as "The modern day Neo Geo!"

[buttasuperb]

If the Twisted Metal game for it turns out to be anywhere near as good as TM2, I'll have to get one. Plus Darkstalkers Chronicle will be good as well.

I dunno, it's a little pricey, but it would be nice to have for when work is boring, and of course for road trips.

[Wavelflack]

Are they actually touting the charger as a "bonus" or "freebie"?

LOL

"PSP Deluxe package includes system (with screen!), all buttons, complimentary plastic housing to keep the components together (no more loose circuit boards dangling from the bonus LCD screen!), and free electrons."

[chrisbid]

bah, 150 for a handheld is bad enough

obviously from reading this thread and others on various boards sony can slap a playstation logo on a turd, throw it in a box and it will still sell no matter what the price tag.

show me half a dozen must play ORIGINAL games, and ill be sold

[Barbarianoutkast85]

Preordered mine at EB today. It will be my 2nd console I bought on Release Day and my first handheld since the original Gameboy.

[arrrggghhh]

Soooooo... What's everyone's estimate as to when they start selling the PSP's alone?

[spoon]

I will guess it will drop down to 199.99.

but

It may stay at 250 if they sell well at that point, which I think they will. Sony wlil just say that was a limited time offer and tell us all to "Just deal with it"

Somebody needs to make a Sony Icon like the Nike- Just do it.
Sony- just deal with it.

[orangemage]

http://psp.ign.com/articles/585/585937p1.html

looks like it might be online at launch

February 7, 2005 - UPDATE: SCEA has been able to confirm that two more PSP games will feature network-enabled gameplay, bringing the grand total of online-play launch games for PSP to five. For the full story on these two additional PSP online games and further notes on how SCEA will be handling local and net play, follow up this 989 Sports article with our Twisted Net'al & ATV Online Fury news piece.

Could it be that the PlayStation Portable will set the record as the first major videogaming system to launch in North America with internet play ready to go on launch day? Even online-ready game systems such as Dreamcast and Xbox left gamers waiting for the parent companies to roll out their major network plans, but we're about to see a handheld do on Day One what consoles took their time with. Sony has its gear together from the past two years of PlayStation 2 net development, and with its upcoming portable system capable of both local and hotspot-carried online connectivity, the company will have three of its sports games ready to connect and play online.

The three online-enabled PSP games confirmed by SCE's representatives are from the 989 Sports franchise -- we mentioned last week that Sony's 989 Sports division is experiencing a comeback year, and this effort to bring online features to the PSP versions of its titles shows how far they're coming around to make this happen. Of course, next year might be the rough ones if the battles between EA and Take-2 to buy up sports gaming rights keep going, but that's for then, and what's for now is that 989 Sports has, to our knowledge, the only online-enhanced PSP sports game. Those PSP games are:

* Gretzky NHL - 989 Sports / Page44 Studios
* NBA - 989 Sports / 989 Sports
* MLB - 989 Sports / 989 Sports

Gretzky and NBA are entirely new franchises from 989 Sports, divorced from the old FaceOff and ShootOut lines -- the PS2 Gretzky on which the PSP game is based came out this December and won back a lot of critics with its new development team and redesigned gameplay, while the NBA game for PSP uses new graphics and a wildly different control system for an entirely new b-ball game that's both sim- and arcade-styled. MLB continues on 989's strongest franchise from the PS2, and judging from the incredible MLB screenshots of the PSP version so far, it's got a good chance of continuing on that legacy. Each of these games will feature 2-player head-to-head play either locally or on the net, and while the feature set for stats and updates will not be as robust as the perpetually-online console versions, there will be a lobby match-up system and a certain degree of statistics features.

The PlayStation Portable features two modes of WiFi connectivity -- ad-hoc and intranet, or local and networked. The vast majority of PSP games so far have made use of the ad-hoc mode, which simply allows PSP systems to link together and play wirelessly. Network play was an unknown entity -- although PSP is ready to connect up online with what's in the box, the relative scarcity of net HotSpots (some of which charge for service) and the complications of designing such online features for launch titles seemed unlikely. However, rumors have arisen about early PSP net play since the very beginning. Gamers have been buzzing about the possibility of there being online features in PSP launch games for months -- early screenshots of the menu systems in certain games (including two of these games, in screenshots dating back to E3 2004) featured either 'Online' or 'Network' as menu choices for the wireless play, but these option headers were expected to be just placeholder images for the WiFi feature set. (Certain Japanese games also featured the term 'Network' on their menu, but no Japanese games featured online play.) It is unknown whether any other PSP game announced so far has online features in the works. 989 Sports' own fourth PSP launch game, World Tour Soccer, will unfortunately not carry online play features, and there is not any other word of other First- or Third-Party launch or near-launch games with online features in active development.

PSP online play is also already possible via online tunneling applications, which have already been successful in linking up players via their PCs and a home wireless router using masking techniques to trick LAN play into running on the net. Coders have already gotten deep into the PSP's networking features, and the tunneling technique is already functional and can be designed to work with just about any WiFi-enabled PSP game. However, this technique requires special software and home-bound hardware, whereas officially-included WiFi play would allow gamers to connect up and play anybody online at a coffee shop, library, trade show floor, or wherever else a HotSpot is available.

Online play will likely continue to be a rare feature for the PSP until development ramps up and SCE puts emphasis in the feature, but having these three online-ready at launch is an impressive start. We'll have some hands-on experience with these games in the coming weeks to let you know if they are ones you'll want to go online with, and we'll also be hitting up other developers to ask when they're expecting to take their own PSP games online as well.

For further details on all five of SCEA's PSP net-play-enabled games available at launch this March, follow the above link for the newest update.