PSP launched in Japan!

[Stoo]

Best to wait for the new year at least..

- Only "Value Packs" for $529 (EUR 398/GBP 275) can be shipped currently

- Only Ridge Racers or Vampire Chronicle can be shipped ($59.90)

- Please confirm which game you want us to ship, or if you want both of them

- Other games will soon be ready seperately (Free Shipping Worldwide)

- Due to the shortage, the PSP price will NOT drop before next year

- Only insured UPS shipping is available ($30-$40 depending on location)

- Credit Card or Telegraphic Transfer (T/T) to HK only (payment in US$)

- Other items in your order will be separated & process within 5 to 14 days

Ouch..

That comes to £328 for the value pack, 1 Game, and postage.

Then you'll have to factor duty and VAT on top of that as I very much doubt you'd be able to get around that..

[malfunction]

It's worth remembering that almost all of the competing handheld systems were technically MUCH more capable than the equivalent gameboy of the time but sucked in terms of battery life. The only comparable systems for battery life were the Neo Geo pocket (never really made it) and the Wonderswan (only ever released in Japan). If Sony are even slightly switched on to how the handheld market works they should be more than aware of this. Oddly enough I'm a big nintendo fan but couldn't stand the original gameboy - the screen just did my eyes in - I could cope with Tetris but anything else was painful - I always wanted a game gear (even though it was bigger than a house brick and weighed twice as much - and the batteries - all 6 of them IIRC - didn't last more than an hour and a half).

[Stewart]

Best to wait for the new year at least..



Ouch..

That comes to £328 for the value pack, 1 Game, and postage.

Then you'll have to factor duty and VAT on top of that as I very much doubt you'd be able to get around that..

Double ouch. You can get lucky on eBay for less than that, with a mad mark up from the seller.

[malfunction]

Whilst I will happily admit that it still looks quite a bit better than the DS I reckon these shots look more like a PS1 game with higher res textures than the PS2 quality everyone's been saying it was:

http://www.gamespot.com/psp/driving/...s.html?page=10

As direct a comparison as I could manage:

PSP: http://www.gamespot.com/psp/driving/...ns.html?page=4

DS: http://www.gamespot.com/ds/driving/r...s.html?page=18

[Stoo]

Double ouch. You can get lucky on eBay for less than that, with a mad mark up from the seller.

Yup, I'm going to keep a close eye on ebay, then if the price drops a bit next year, use my preorder and flog it on ebay

[Stewart]

Just had a look at some footage of Ridge Racers running, took me back to when I first had my Playstation and was playing Ridge Racer - looked a lot better on the PSP, but the same classic gameplay.

Pretty much the games seem to fall about 75 - 25, in favor of the PS2. They are not quite as good, but far better looking that PS1 games. I expect the system, in the right hands, is capable of most things the PS2 is, but as its a handheld, some games will be toned down.

The port of Gran Turismo 4, for instance, is said to have all the content, but probably with some textures reduced.

Looking very interesting.

[Stoo]

Having said what I did re psp prices on ebay, they've actually shot up overnight (hmm, selling on ebay before they knew the prices.. naughty naughty..) to, in a couple of cases £500, with the majority of them being at ~£350.. *without* a game..

[Marcos]

It's worth remembering that almost all of the competing handheld systems were technically MUCH more capable than the equivalent gameboy of the time but sucked in terms of battery life. The only comparable systems for battery life were the Neo Geo pocket (never really made it) and the Wonderswan (only ever released in Japan). If Sony are even slightly switched on to how the handheld market works they should be more than aware of this. Oddly enough I'm a big nintendo fan but couldn't stand the original gameboy - the screen just did my eyes in - I could cope with Tetris but anything else was painful - I always wanted a game gear (even though it was bigger than a house brick and weighed twice as much - and the batteries - all 6 of them IIRC - didn't last more than an hour and a half).

Yes, i worked out what happened with the past competition. They were trying to take out Nintendo by trying to beat nintendo at their own game. The difference now is that times have changed dramastically especially in the last 5 years. Kids no longer want to be kids, they want to be adults as soon as possible, and thats were things are going to go wrong with Nintendo here if they dont put a good effort in.

Its obvious now, and ever since the playstation came out, that people want playstation games on the go, the PSP will deliver that and i think that has a strong value to today's gamers.

We can argue all we like now but the figures will talk in 5 months time, if they havent already.

[Stewart]

Well, the figures are Nintendo have sold 120 million GameBoys and 500 million games.

Personaly, I'm not buying into the whole image thing, I'm going with the system that gives me what I want - good games on the move. Currently that leaves me undecided - Nintendo have Advance Wars DS, Metroid Prime: Hunters, and the like, and Sony have Metal Gear Acid, GT4 Mobile, etc.

You see, you have to understand - Nintendo do not pander to image, they just make good games, put them on a good system, and, in the case of handhelds, sell by the bucket load. Sony can use their 'cooler' image to sell a few more units to chavs, kiddies and the sorts of people who go for that sort of thing, but to sell to real gamers, they are going to need - shock horror, good games.

Personaly, I think they have got good games, and I think we should credit Sony with the muscle to take Nintendo on where it matters - quality of games, rather than being style over substance, and having to rely on the brainless masses buying to look cool.

It should be very interesting, in Japan paticulary.

[Stewart]

As for talking figures:

'Independent research firm Arcadia Research reports that the PSP sold less than 65,000 units across the whole of Japan after its first day of retail. This is vastly smaller than Sony expected and while much better than the disasterous N-Gage this is hardly what Sony or their fans could have been hoping for.

Sony representatives could not validate or dispute this dismal sales figure, however they have stressed that the initial figures are inaccurate and that the end result is likely to be a lot more. If these results are truly accurate, it would coincide with earlier reports (now confirmed) that the PSP sold approximately just 2,000 units in the entire Shikoku and Honshu regions.

Price may be a major factor in the PSP's reported poor sales numbers. At price 20,790 yen with tax -- at current US exchange rates, that's $197.155USD , the PSP is currently the most expensive game system among the crop of major handheld consoles (including DS, Gameboy Advance and the Nokia N-Gage). A relatively short battery-life was another issue which has caused concern among the Japanese public. However the PSP has a large fanbase behind it with Playstation fans the world over and we are sure it will soon pick up speed and become a major player in the handheld market in the future, and remember, these reports may be completely inaccurate. Whatever the case, we are quite sure it will greatly outsell the Nokia N-Gage QD.'

[Stoo]

It wouldn't surprise me that they've only sold 65,000 units across Japan, with large import/exporters like Lik Sang having trouble getting hold of the units, I don't believe that there are actually many more systems than that out there in the first place.

Some retailers are only selling the consoles with games as well, which pushes the price up quite a bit..

[Marcos]

Yeah, those figures are obviously warped if they were in plentiful supply then we wouldnt see PSPs selling for $1200 on ebay. Yep, $1200

[Stoo]

especially when you consider the yen price works out ay about £99 at the moment..

*slight* mark-up..

[Nacrisa]

As reported by BBC...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4090555.stm

(the guy looks kind of creepy, but maybe it's because he's been queueing overnight!)

[Gunbuster]

I had an Atari Lynx II that was a battery munching monster. The games were quite fun, but never really sucked me in. Never owned a Gameboy etc. I might consider a PSP for a combined music and game player, but as with so many 1st version Sony consoles it's worth waiting for the next revision. Looks very nice though, much better than the original PS2 design. Sony must have realised looks count for a lot in the portable device market (iPod, Mobile Phones). The DS I probably won't buy, for the main reason that I'm not currently interested in the games.

[Bunjiweb]

Well the DS has been doing fine, sold over 650,000 units in America in its first week and around 500,000 in Japan in its first week. This knocks the PSP for six....

So whilst the PSP looks the better machine, people are buying DS' in their droves. I expect when the PSP and DS arrive in the EU, we will see massive sales of both consoles, although i suspsect the PSP to have the slight edge as in England especially, anything with Playstation branding sells. Despite what many are saying about the dismal battery life.

One thing to point out is that there are extra batteries available for £10 each, which is fairly cheap, although you may be looking at it the same way as me who thinks that Sony should have concentrated on portability and not a snazzy screen..... this is where the PSP will blunder...

Ben