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Portables (Games)

1 Million PSPs Confirmed for U.S. Launch 52

Posted by Zonk from the a-lot-of-spider-man dept.
GamesIndustry.biz has the word that Sony has one million PSP units queued up for the U.S. launch on March 24th. Their hope is to ship over three million units by the end of their fiscal year, a somewhat daunting task as the EU launch has been pushed beyond the end of Sony's fiscal year-end. From the article: "The company had previously said that it would manufacture a million units for the North American launch, but it hadn't been clear how many of those units would actually be on shelves, and how many would be stuck further back in the chain - in factories, warehouses or transit."
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1 Million PSPs Confirmed for U.S. Launch More

1 Million PSPs Confirmed for U.S. Launch

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  • Wait.... (Score:2, Funny)

    by ben0207 ( 845105 )
    Does that mean theres a chance of people actually getting to buy one? Thatll do no good for hype, surely Sony?
  • So when exactly does Sony get to claim these 1 million units have been sold. Can they do it now, or do the boxes actually have to be moved to stores first?
    • Good point. More interested in your sig, though. :)

      You're throwing a 20b into a convertable? Niiiice. I'll be sure to follow your progress. How much do you figure all of this is going to cost? I've got an '88 RX-7 (second one I've owned and had a '79 before the first one) and have always wondered how hard and expensive it would be to toss a 20b in it.

  • Sittin On The Hands (Score:5, Insightful)

    by blueZhift ( 652272 ) on Thursday March 03, 2005 @11:32AM (#11834194) Homepage Journal
    As hard as it will be, I'm going to be sitting on my hands for this one. I want to see how many of them break in the first batch and I also want to see how the software market develops for the PSP before committing any cash. Oh and let's not forget about the hacks that will develop! Hopefully it won't be too hard to get some homebrew software running on the PSP.
    • I remember those times when people wanted to buy 1st generation hardware because it proved to be more durable and with better components. It happened with the Ataris, the NES, Genesis, SNES.... Anyone cares to share about the newer hardware?

  • 1 per customer (Score:3, Interesting)

    by scottind ( 838186 ) on Thursday March 03, 2005 @11:37AM (#11834264)
    My gamestop called me a couple days ago and told me that i couldnt pre-order 2 PSPs, so now i have 1 PSP completely paid off and about $80 worth of store credit. I think its their strategy to ensure more customers will get one. Needless to say i am pretty pissed off.

    WEll, with this 1 mil news, i'm wondering about how good or bad the ebay "fervor rush" is going to be, i was originally hoping to sell my 2nd PSP to help cushion the purchase of the first.

    • Re:1 per customer (Score:4, Interesting)

      by IntergalacticWalrus ( 720648 ) on Thursday March 03, 2005 @12:26PM (#11834865)
      That's hardly surprising. Nowadays whenever something big comes out, some fucker buys all units he can find so he can immediately resell them back at a much higher price on eBay.
    • Well that's only one of the reasons Gamestop will only sell one unit per person at any one given time (you planning on turning around and selling it). It makes sense they'd rather get the system into hands of "legitimate" customers than be sold out because Mr. X bought up half a shipment. In any case, they also do this with new systems as well (one person customer).
    • Give it a few days. They'll call you again and tell you, because of demand, they won't let you have your PSP unless you also buy into their "product protection racket."

      However, as I learned recently, there are reasons for the evilness (though they don't mitigate or justify the evil in my book): stores make pretty much no money on hardware and next to no money on software. Most of their money comes from books and accessories, both of which they try to bundle with the stuff you actually want, forcing you

  • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday March 03, 2005 @11:46AM (#11834367)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • FUD (Score:3, Insightful)

      by oGMo ( 379 )

      You clearly have no idea what you're talking about. "No software" may be a problem with the DS for the foreseeable future, but there are 24 launch titles [about.com] for the PSP, and more (such as GTA) during launch week/launch month.

      These are far more titles with far bigger names than the PS2 had at launch; now with a million PSPs promised, and with a price not significantly higher than the Nintendo DS, they should have the critical mass they need.

      Remember, this is Sony, not Sega; they're good at the marketing th

      • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

        by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
        Comment removed based on user account deletion

        • Re:FUD (Score:3, Interesting)

          by oGMo ( 379 )

          The price of the PSP is ONLY $100 more

          Are you Canadian? Because in USD, the DS is $150, and the PSP is $185. That's $35 more.

          but the games cost $10 to $20 more than the DS games (depending on the DS game) and $20 to $30 more than GBA titles (depending on the GBA game).

          Like hell. New GBA titles are $30-35 [ebgames.com], as are DS titles (click the tab at the top). New PSP titles are $39-49, which is $5-15 more.

          The UMD movies are going to cost in between $20 and $30 dollars

          Maybe you're psychic, since

          • Are you Canadian? Because in USD, the DS is $150, and the PSP is $185. That's $35 more.

            I thought the PSP price was revealed at $250 [sony-psp-review.com]. That's $100 more. Did it drop when I wasn't looking, or are you still using 2004 Analyst Guesstimate numbers?

            • Re:FUD (Score:2)

              by oGMo ( 379 )
              This is a PSP "Value Pack", which means they charge you more for a few accessories. I believe they will introduce the non-value-pack version shortly thereafter. Even if not, this value pack comes with a memory stick and Spider Man 2 on UMD, so basically you have a fully-functional unit for even less than I said.

              • Re:FUD (Score:2)

                by Zigg ( 64962 )

                So basically, you're spreading your guesses around as fact.

                Bravo. I think you've got a job as a gaming sycophan^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hjournalist!

          • And you have an actual selection of games to pick from, not... Mario64 DS.

            Out Now:
            Mario 64 DS
            Feel the Magic
            Ridge Racer
            Madden 2004
            Tiger Woods
            Asphult Urban
            Zoo Keeper
            WarioWare Touched!
            Sprung
            Urbz
            Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits
            SpiderMan 2
            Robots
            Ping Pals

            Out by the end of March:
            Yoshi's Touch and Go
            Pokemon Dash
            Rayman DS
            Atari Classics

            That's 18 not including the Metroid demo or Pictochat. There are plenty of releases in April too. We'll see how many of those 24 PSP games meet their release dates. Gran Truismo went gol
      • Is it just me or do most of those games sound like cut down Playstation2 games? Nothing there really makes me want to go out and spend 250 bucks on the PSP. Too bad the Nintendo DS is having similar problems.

        • Re:FUD (Score:2)

          by oGMo ( 379 )

          Is it just me or do most of those games sound like cut down Playstation2 games?

          At first glance---perhaps. But (at least the ones I'm interested in) seem to fall into one of two categories:

          • Extended versions of the PS2 game.
          • Games that are more appropriate for a handheld than a console

          For instance, THUG2 is an extended version of the PS2 version, and has wireless play and the like. Others, like Mercury, Lumines, and Metal Gear: Acid, are great concepts, but wouldn't really be suitable for sitti

          • Man, Disgaea would have been awesome portable... that, and the original FF Tactics...

            Mmmm... sweet tactical goodness on the road.
            *tires screech*
            *metal crumpling*
            *sirens drown out the sound of the FFT victory theme*

            Disclaimer: This post is intended to be humerous. Performed by a virtual driver on a non-existant course. Do not play video games while driving. Void where prohibited. Must be 8 or older. No purchase necessary.

      • Re:FUD (Score:3, Interesting)

        by sl3xd ( 111641 ) *
        Remember, this is Sony, not Sega; they're good at the marketing thing.

        Oddly enough, I seem to remember Sega being the company to beat before the days of the Saturn; in fact, I remember quite clearly when the Game Gear was impossible to get, because they were completely sold out.

        And I've seen far more people playing games on a Nokia system (not n-gauge) than on any gameboy; I've seen people who wouldn't be caught dead playing on a console playing games on a Nokia phone. Nokia isn't inexperienced in the g

        • Re:FUD (Score:2)

          by oGMo ( 379 )

          I'm no fanboy of either; the PSP has a large screen of supposedly great quality. Nintendo's answer to such a large screen was to have two smaller screens (one of them a touch screen). Both have wireless networking/multiplayer. I would give the durability nod to Nintendo -- both for its games and for the system itself.

          Definitely, and I agree with your sentiment about Nintendo making the only truly successful portable gaming unit so far.

          However, where I think they're failing is the games. This could

      • but there are 24 launch titles for the PSP

        And all just as boring as the available DS games.

        Oh Sunsoft[0], where art thou? Deliver unto me portable RPGs!

        [0]Responsible for the timely re-release of the Final Fantasy Legend series back in the GB days.
    • I'm buying it to dump video to a memory stick and watch it on my commute. If there's some games I want for it, it'll be a nice bonus.

      TTFN,
      Tim.

  • WHAT ABOUT EUROPE? (Score:1, Offtopic)

    by slot32 ( 815657 )
    Hello... Sony... You seem to have forgotten a large portion of the F**KING planet...

    Can Europe/UK have the release date, and price CONFIRMED please? We're all waiting!
    • The original poster is not offtopic at all.

      Sony is well known for deliving exactly just enough of whatever the suppliers ask. That's why there is such a ridiculous supply/demand problem. Europe and UK probably won't see it until it is a guaranteed success in the US after Japan. Sigh...

  • If you look at the past, they would be smart to have plenty of them stuck in the queue...if they are harder to get, for some reason people want them more. If there are tons of them, everyone points at how many are on shelves and how it is a failure. That will discourage people who were thinking about getting them. This is assuming it doesn't suck...if it sucks, even a limited supply won't sell out.
  • I just saw a pile of PSP boxes in a Circuit City. Were those just empty pre-order boxes? They sure felt heavy...
  • ...all of the display units at Wal-Mart that will be smashed or stolen? What a waste. The DS at my local store has a cracked, mutilated, unusable touch screen that somehow still lights up.
  • Those of you out there comparing the DS to the PSP saying which one kicks the other's ass are a bunch of idiots, you know that?

    It doesn't matter which system is better. It matters which system you personally will have more fun with. You're buying a TOY. Buy the toy that's more fun for you, or buy them both! I don't care. It doesn't matter. The video game market is huge. There are things the DS does that the PSP can't do and vice-versa. Big freaking deal.

    We've gone through this crap since the days of Colec
  • I almost always get new gear and consoles on release day, but $250 (EB Games) for a hand held system is too much, especially since the games also cost $40+. That is next gen console prices there, not low-res-same-as-I-have price. No worries, the price will drop to $140-$200 before end of summer most likely, especialy if Nintendo does indeed anounce a new GB 3. Maybe by price drop time there will be some actual games out for it.

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