PSP date announced

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In an announcement made this morning, Sony confirmed that the stylish handheld will be available from 1 September as part of a PlayStation Portable Value Pack and will carry a

lol, i was waiting for someone to post this
its expensive and a long time to wait, but at least its been given a date before the year is over

the interesting thing is that Australia and New Zealand are getting it on the same day...

You may like to take a look at this site *clicky, clicky*

Good news really

That translates to somewhere over $400AU, twice the DS; Sony had better hope they can convince customers that it is woth it...

Yep, well in New Zealand its a confirmed $470 NZ$ price point, so id say australia wouldnt be to far away from that, so definitely $400+

Shit.

I honestly don't think that Australians will go for it at that price.

1st of September at

1st September? What're they playing at? Absolutely, incredibly stupid move by Sony in my eyes, as Nintendo are sure to capitalise on this by getting more DS games out before and around the time of PSP's release to dent sales, AND possibly get the online network up to rain it's parade even more. The price tag is about what I expected, maybe a little more, and is too expensive for a handheld.

Bad move by Sony, but it's good news for those who've been waiting for a definitive launch date.

Exactly, just look at Q3/4 (and even the games out before).

# Q3/Q4 2005
# Mario Kart DS
# Metroid Prime: Hunters
# Advance Wars DS
# Nintendogs
# Castlevania DS (working title)
# The Sims 2
# Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
# NFS: Most Wanted

When Nintendo announce Animal Crossing and the online infrastructure at E3, which I guess will hit sometime in the summer (hence the lack of confirmation at present), and then get Mario Kart and Hunters out during Q3 before September, then they'll be in a strong position over Sony.

Just think Q3 is Jul/Aug/Sep so that gives the big N a two month window to speed up development and plans (now they know what Sony are doing) and give Europe some serious PSP thunder stealing delights.

Online Mario Kart anyone

< Edited by nin10do on 2005/4/26 15:25 >

Sony have had no choice, they cant make them fast enough, they are burning a BIG hole in their profitability, the games arent selling that well...

The price is simply the only way they can afford the short term cost of the things.

RobTheBuilder wrote: Sony have had no choice, they cant make them fast enough, they are burning a BIG hole in their profitability, the games arent selling that well...
The price is simply the only way they can afford the short term cost of the things.

Very true. Latest report suggest Sony will record their weakest quarter (Q4 of FY 04/05) in over two years. And considering they have had some mildly bad ones this could be a serious dent - they've even recorded a loss or two for the FY as it is.

Edit, just to be clear by weakest quarter that means biggest operating losses.

< Edited by nin10do on 2005/4/26 15:28 >

sony will fail and ninty will remain king of video games.

Sony wont fail.

But the hype over 360, their lack of financial stability, their licencing issues over dual shock, and the increased status of Nintendo over the DS are all pointing to a much smaller margin of error for PS3 than they had for PS2.

Absolutely, incredibly stupid move by Sony in my eyes

why? a couple of months later its christmas and with decent advertising (this is sony afterall) PSP will be the word on everyones tongue. it is afterall a very slick looking multimedia device, who, in the general public, wouldnt want one. were not just talking about games here, people could, and probably will, invest in it for its ability tp play mp3s and movies, the fact that it an play games aswell is a bonus.

I've actually turned off the prospect of hype and the 360, I honestly don't think it's that big. I mean we get the hype from the net, where 1+ Million Live users are around to spread hype everywhere but that hype doesn't make it anywhere near the casual market.

And Sony wont fail with the PS3 either, they are sitting so strong that it'll take more than some net hype and an earlier release date to chew away any of Sony's mainstream userbase.

Pretty much business as usual for next gen consoles, the only worry for Sony may be the PSP which has a much harder time ahead, they wont exactly be going bust any time soon .... unless they sort the other faltering aspect of the company that is.

Yes, it's near Christmas. That's a good point. Unfortunately, all the killer apps will have started pouring out for the DS by this time, which is going to affect their sales figures. They should quickly get it out at the end of May or in June after a swift E3 announcement - they could easily make it work with their advertising, so long as they actually advertised well and didn't just hope it'd sell itself like in America.

They DID have a choice. They could have sent over half the shipment from America for Europe for the mean time, hell, even a quarter of the shipment. They had left over units and these could have easily been used for Europe. Instead, they decided to neglect the important third territory and may pay the price to a degree. They'll still do well, but it doesn't deny the fact that they've given Nintendo a far bigger lead than was necessary.

We've got to remember the 360 should be here by Christmas, which will be the bigger rich kid present?

360 should come out by x-mas?

Wow, microsoft really seems to want to win this next-gen battle.

Btw, unique, can you take away that basketball sig. It slows down my comp.

which will be the bigger rich kid present?

We've got to remember the 360 should be here by Christmas

quite possibly, but the keyword there is should. we dont know for certain, unlike the PSP. its also a completley different type of console, your not gonna carry round your 360 listning to music, or watching a film...

< Edited by >>Unique<< on 2005/4/26 15:56 >

People aren't going to get both for Christmas though unless they're incredibly spoilt/rich. They're going to have to make a choice, and it could affect the sales of both consoles.

I'm pretty sure it will be though Unique mate, Microsoft are really pushing this one, have a final build, have likely had games in development for a while etc, and ultimately being the only next gen console for Christmas is quite and advantage - especially if its cheaper than

Btw, unique, can you take away that basketball sig. It slows down my comp.

awww but its sooo damn sweet.

could affect the sales of both consoles.

good point, i know which one i would buy though.

It's a real shame the XBOX was such a failure

financially certainly, in terms of games though its easily on par with the cube.

It's a real shame the XBOX was such a failure

In what sense what is a faliure? Is all you can think about statistics and cash? Look at the great collection of games available, and Xbox Live, which is fantastic, a real step forward in online console gaming. If there was no Xbox I'd be very bored with the games available on the PS2 and Cube, nice single player adventures, but not much in the way of multiplayer greats.

nin10do, microsoft said they were releasing the 360 for christmas, but i dont believe they said where..thats probably in the USA.
(I could be wrong though)

As for the PSP; sorry but its actually pretty good value. You guys are just looking at it from a gamers perspective, but something that can function as a web browser (especially with the keyboard peripheral, which also acts as a screen protector), can be used to carry movies, acts as essentially a portable dvd player, and plays what most people believe to be ps2 quality games or similar, would normally retails for far more than this. Its not just a games device; the multimedia stuff is pretty impressive, having played around with one. And to be honest

financially certainly

Yup, and as an XBOX owner are you not a bit pissed that a console you just bought (and wasn't that old) is being replaced so soon?

In what sense what is a faliure? Is all you can think about statistics and cash?

Please look at the context in which I posted.

It was a massive financial failure and hence why Microsoft are so eager to dump it, did I for once say it didn't have good games

nin10do, microsoft said they were releasing the 360 for christmas, but i dont believe they said where..thats probably in the USA.
(I could be wrong though)

I'm pretty sure they did talk dates, or was it a bloody analyst :-/

As for the PSP, sure if you're going to use it for all those other things the initial price is good, but not when you consider the price it costs to actually make it even semi competant at such things - is so you're talking