When will the PSP have a price drop???

[FAMOUS]

You thought i had the date, nope sorry... I was wondering when or if ever it will happen? For a 50-60 bucks more you can get a 360!! geeeeeze. So i was wondering if someone knows if the psp will be lowering there price anytime soon?

[Leo_A]

No one except Sony knows.

[Muscelli]

nobody knows and it isnt happening soon

[FAMOUS]

damn sony, makes you think if they made the psp so damn expensive whatcha think the ps3 is gonna cost, but thats been discussed tons so i dont wanna start another thread, but think about it??

[luffy744]

Pure speculation on my part, but from all that I've read and observed, the systems are still selling relatively well in both the US and Japan (no idea about Europe), and game support seems to be ramping up. Combine that with how much it must cost to manufacture the things, I doubt we'll see a price drop this year.

[D-Lite]

Sony has to drop the price this year because once the DS Lite comes out it will absolutely crush the PSP in quality and sales. The thing is gorgeous and eliminates most issues people had with the original.

[Leo_A]

It does nothing of the sort, it's a incremental upgrade that just makes some minor improvements.

[Poofta!]

luffy: the psp isnt selling well in the US by any standards.

d-lite: DS lite was released in japan, and was sold out just about everywhere within the first couple hours.


judging strictly for a business strategy point of view, the drop will come either around june/july (usually the lowest grossing point in the fiscal year) or closer to the holidays. something tells me it might happen this summer, or maybe its wishful thinking, nobody knows for sure.

[Lozza]

It does nothing of the sort, it's a incremental upgrade that just makes some minor improvements.

Nothing of the sort? Other than graphics and ability to play various media, the DS Lite is better in every possible way. Mostly games and price... The main selling points.

[Mayhem]

I think Leo Ames hasn't seen an original DS and a lite next to each other. Trust me, the difference is staggering.

Though the sellout in Japan was partly due to lack of overall stock in general, hence the rush to buy (in a similar way to any console launch).

[FullCircle]

I think the Lite will be a big improvement except for mic placement. I liked it where it was because you could watch both screens while directing speech toward the mic. Now you have to "blow" on the center of the system and get your spit flying onto both screens and maybe even fogging it up for a time.

[FAMOUS]

Im gonna hope for the best a wish the psp price drop will happen this summer say, late may early june.. That would be a good way to kick the summer off, plus have the ps3 launch date official! heaven

[heybtbm]

Price drop? How about a price drop on the games? $40 to $50 per mediocre game is ridiculous. How companies get the balls to charge $39.99 for SFA3 or a collection of early 80's arcade games in 2006 is beyond me.

$19.99 for Capcom Classics Collection (PS2/Xbox)
$39.99 for Capcom Classics Collection (PSP)

...what the hell?

[Trebuken]

I believe Sony is expected to release a new model PSP. This could drive down the price of the original. The PSP is supposed to have connectivity with the PS3, so there could be an incentive for people to buy both. I would be surprised with a price drop though because they are going to lose so much money pn PS3 hardware that they would not want to add any additional losses.

Later,
Trebuken

[dbiersdorf]

luffy: the psp isnt selling well in the US by any standards.

What are you talking about? NDP reports show that the PSP outsells the DS consitantly every month since it's release over the DS (yet gets crushed by the GBA). Not only that but even with the DS' four month head start in the US (DS launched November, 2004, PSP launched March, 2005) DS only holds a meer 100,000 lead in overall sales.

Currently:

NDS in US - 3,972,665
PSP in US - 3,814,434

NDS in Europe - 3,700,000
PSP in Europe - 2,440,000

The PSP is actually doing the best in the US compared to any other region in contrast to the DS. Nintendogs skyrocketed DS sales in Europe, which explains the lead there. While Japan has a massive 3,000,000+ lead on the PSP simply because they cannot get enough of the DS and it's software (Animal Crossing, Brain Train 1, 2, Mario Kart, Pokemon).

Don't make comments like that when you obviously have no idea about what's going on.

[chrisbid]

Price drop? How about a price drop on the games? $40 to $50 per mediocre game is ridiculous. How companies get the balls to charge $39.99 for SFA3 or a collection of early 80's arcade games in 2006 is beyond me.

$19.99 for Capcom Classics Collection (PS2/Xbox)
$39.99 for Capcom Classics Collection (PSP)

...what the hell?

thats proprietary media for you, all the shitty loading times of DVDs and CDs without the cheap price





back on topic, i expect sony to keep the price point, but add features.

the rumored flash version of the PSP with 8GB of flash memory would be a great improvement, if sony has the sense to allow you to load UMDs directly to flash. This will save on load times and power consumption, and allow sony to remove the processor cap that was placed to conserve battery life.

but i doubt they will do that, with their overstated piracy fears and what not

[Leo_A]

"Sony has to drop the price this year because once the DS Lite comes out it will absolutely crush the PSP in quality and sales. The thing is gorgeous and eliminates most issues people had with the original."

Slightly smaller dimensions, and a better screen, while no one complained about the original screen. Relocated power switch that only current DS users would care about if they've occasionally hit the wrong button. And different styling, and a few other tweaks like mic placement and button types.

The biggest change is the screen, but when the original was launched, everyone loved that screen, so it was hardly a complaint. In fact, for the few that were even aware of the backlit SP and Micro screens outside of online gaming boards, it seems they all just assumed it used the DS screens. Yeah, that's going to be making the DS2 fly off the shelfs...

"Nothing of the sort? Other than graphics and ability to play various media, the DS Lite is better in every possible way. Mostly games and price... The main selling points."

Not even sure what you're trying to say here. Price is going to be more than the original by all accounts (Which is still going to be made, shows you how huge of a improvement the DS2 really is). And your post makes it sound like the DS2 won't have the same graphical and media capabilities as the original, care to explain? And games and price being the selling point? You do realize this plays the same games as the DS1, for a higher price, don't you?

Edit - I reread what you said, and see what you were trying to say now. My fault, but my points I made about the playing the same games at a higher price still stands.

"I think Leo Ames hasn't seen an original DS and a lite next to each other. Trust me, the difference is staggering. "

Nope, I have. Definitely a very nice upgrade to the screens. But the average American consumer would have to be aware of this to have it matter. Most don't even know there is a better GBA out there now...

Sorry guys, but you're not in Japan. Don't expect the redesigned DS to accomplish much more than the original is doing in the US (Which isn't too bad if you think about the success it's having). Happy to see it thanks to the improved brightness of the screens, but it's very much just an incremental upgrade over the original. And expecting this to sway DS/PSP market share is wishful thinking in my opinion.

Plus rumors point to a redesigned PSP as well (I've even heard it may have the capabilities to hook up to a television out of the box without 3rd party modifications, which probably would sway me to buy it if it has a controller port for PS2 pads). So I see the handheld market staying pretty much the way it is for the near future, with any increases the DS and PSP see coming out of a dying GBA market.

[Joker T]

Leo_Ames is right.

DS Lite is the same basic thing. For example my friend doesn't like DS because he isn't a fan of using the touch screen. DS Lite isn't going to make him change his mind.

[petewhitley]

luffy: the psp isnt selling well in the US by any standards.

As dbiersdorf already pointed out, you:

A) don't know what you're talking about

and/or

B) are just plain ignoring the sales data

This is the kind of ignorance that is rampant on these boards in regard to the PSP. Nintendo raised me as well but I moved out of the house for chrissakes.

[dbiersdorf]

Plus rumors point to a redesigned PSP as well (I've even heard it may have the capabilities to hook up to a television out of the box without 3rd party modifications, which probably would sway me to buy it if it has a controller port for PS2 pads). So I see the handheld market staying pretty much the way it is for the near future, with any increases the DS and PSP see coming out of a dying GBA market.

They won't do that. You'll see a camera before you see a hook up to TV feature.