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Portables (Games) PlayStation (Games)

PSP North American Launch Date 202

Posted by Zonk from the not-a-lot-of-detail,-there dept.
captain writes "According to PSP411, Sony C.E. President and CEO Ken Kutaragi announced today at CES 2005 that the PSP will have a North American launch in March, followed by Europe around the same time. In Japan, the near-PS2 quality portable gaming device sold only about 500k units on account of GPU shortages. While the price and exact date aren't entirely clear, the USD equivalent of the Japanese sale price is a little under $200USD. Some are speculating that the price could be even lower to contest Nintendo DS's long-held portable gaming throne even further." Some good writeups about the announcement at Gamespot and 1up.com.
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PSP North American Launch Date More

PSP North American Launch Date

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  • Messed up link (Score:5, Informative)

    by Grant29 ( 701796 ) * on Thursday January 06, 2005 @01:04PM (#11277936) Homepage
    The original link was messed up. Here is the correct link: Link [psp411.com]. I also got a mirror [dealsites.net] if needed.
    --
    199 Gmail accounts! [retailretreat.com]

  • I will never buy a sony launch platform (Score:4, Insightful)

    by MakoStorm ( 699968 ) on Thursday January 06, 2005 @01:07PM (#11277999)
    Because I was one of the massess that felt the sting of the PS2 Disc Read Error monster.

    Sorry Sony, I am going to wait 2 years before I will buy it.

    However I love my Nintendo DS :-)
    Nintendo Hardware = Tank.
    • I'll agree:
      I got the Disc Read Error (which eventually led me to buy the Xbox, so yay!) with my PS2 and I got one of the first runs of the PS, you know, the one where the laser focus was a micrometer off and caused FMV to skip like mad and back in the day I bought an original Walkman that got recalled later because of battery issues.

      So as bad as I want a PSP, and as much as I want a PS3 to replace my PS2, I've learned my lesson and am going to wait at least 9 months before I pony up the dough.

      Fool me once
    • Errr...provided they come with a warranty, what's the problem?
    • Yeah... Remember that article a few hours back about 'borrowing' power from airports and Starbuck's? Well, if you buy a PSP, prepare to be tethered...

    • Nintendo Hardware = Tank.

      Oddly enough, the first console I had to send back to the manufacturer was a Gamecube. It was a first-run model, though, so I guess it's to be expected nowadays (sadly). All my other Nintendo consoles still work (even the NES).
    • Nintendo Hardware = Tank.

      I guess everyone's experience is different. I've had 1 PS (admittedly hardly used), 1 PS/2 (used regularly), 1 XBox (again, not used that much yet), and 4 N64s - the first 2 dying within a couple of weeks of their warranty running out. I had to keep buying new ones though, as virtually every game I played at the time was on the N64.

  • Oh, Good. (Score:3, Informative)

    by ackthpt ( 218170 ) * on Thursday January 06, 2005 @01:08PM (#11278018) Homepage Journal
    Now if I could just find a game on this that I consider worth playing.

    A friend is returning from Japan and was contemplating joining the hordes selling the Japanese model on ebay, for up to $400 each. I explained the logistics and other troubles he may encounter and thankfully he elected to drop the scheme. Though he is bringing in the Capcom Travel version of Settlers of Catan [capcomshop.jp] for me 8^)

    • I hear your pain, the list of games currently available is a little timid. But that's always the case in the first few months. You should be optimistic though, there are already a host of RPG's , puzzlers, fighting games, FPS (Ghost in the Shell - http://www.psp411.com/show/product/34) and plenty more planned. Check out this list of games [psp411.com] for more. Or goto the frontpage of the site for the latest. Also, you can find cheaper prices for the PSP using our handy import price watch guide [psp411.com]. Currently there are so
      • Damn. It sucks that I can only find like 1 real Mah Jongg computer game here, but there appear to be two for a system that's barely out.

        And no- the tile-matching crap that almost everyone instantly thinks of when you say 'Mah Jongg' most definitely does not count...

    • That's a boardgame ? Or is it a videogame ?

      If the first ; I never knew that Capcom also dealt in boardgames.

      • That's a boardgame ? Or is it a videogame ?

        Board, with little magnets(!) to hold pieces in place.

        If the first ; I never knew that Capcom also dealt in boardgames.

        I don't know the history of CapCom, but I wouldn't be surprised to see they originated somewhere other than video games, like board games, ceramic capacitors, bicycles, refridgerators or aircraft.

        A version of SoC for PSP would probably be enough cause for me to buy it, but only if it's a really good version of the game. Knowing Sony it'll

    • I thought the same.. until I read about this

      Lumines - Bandai - 2005

      Take one part puzzle game with one part musical experience and tack on some trippy visuals and you've got Lumines, the brainchild of Tetsuya Mizaguchi (the man behind Rez). We've managed to get our hands on the Japanese version of the game and needless to say, we have to do everything in our power not to play it all day long.

      The idea I simple: match up four colored blocks to that they form a square. But add to mix a unique music-based com
    • Your friend shouldn't have listened to you.

      I live in Tokyo and managed to get three PSPs on launch day and a fourth one a week later during the next shipment. Three of them went up on Ebay and I made just over $700 profit.

      Because of that, my PSP (with 4 games) and my DS (with 3 games) were essentially free. ^.^

      The Ebay prices have levelled off in the few weeks since the launch and the huge profits aren't there anymore, but it was great while they lasted.

    • Why would anyone buy it off eBay when you can get it from Lik Sang for 400USD? Not to disparage the majority of eBay sellers but there is no way I'm sending some random punter two hundred quid on the off chance he'll send me the console. I ordered my PSP from Lik Sang on 2005/01/02 and it arrived at my office in London two days later - unlike the few things I've ordered off eBay which have never arrived in less than a week (from such remote locations as Stoke and Gillingham).

      On a vaguely off topic note -

    • I ordered mine from http://www.wanpakuusa.com/index.php for 300$ and it came with that golf game.

      It was totally worth it. So far, I've got no complaints. batterylife isn't THAT bad (although I do wish it was a little better). I managed to almost run the thing out once between taking the train to work, showing it off at work, and playing it on the train home again.

      I just got a 512mb MemoryStick and have had no luck whatsoever getting pr0n to play on it. But Jpegs and Mp3s work fine. =)

  • Price (Score:5, Insightful)

    by telstar ( 236404 ) on Thursday January 06, 2005 @01:23PM (#11278185)
    Sony will likely take a big loss on the device in order to challenge Nintendo, just like Microsoft did with the XBOX to challenge Sony. The difference between the two is that the XBOX could be used with standard non-proprietary media and converted to a stand-alone media center ... bringing no more revenue to Microsoft. The PSP, as I understand it, requires that users either use Sony's new disc format or Sony's memory stick. They're almost guaranteed to derive at least some profit from the sale of games or memory for the device. Seems to me that Sony can afford to take a huge hit in device price to encourage more users to buy.

    • Re:Price (Score:3, Informative)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 )
      The same is true of the PS2, which requires a fairly sophisticated (and thus expensive) modchip to play the latest copy-protected games. The modchips require a whole lot of soldering so people either have to buy premodded, pay a lot for shipping, or drive somewhere that they can find someone to do the mod in most cases. Xbox is trivial to mod even in the new versions, though now you do have to buy a modchip for the latest couple of revisions since they took away the pads to enable flashing TSOP. There's not
    • Sony could finally have a chance to capitalize on it's proprietary formats. The PSP uses a memory stick and if enough people purchase memory sticks this will indeed encourage them to purchase more products that use the memory stick because they already own the media. Similar to the reasons Nintendo customers love the reuse of there gameboy uno games, and the playstation 2 appeased to playstation 1 owners.

      Sony has a great opportunity to take a chunk of the electronics market if it can successfully lure new
      • So can you see a bit of yourself in this comic [penny-arcade.com].

        They do make sexy hardware, but somehow I managed to shake it off before I got really enthralled. And Nintendo was waiting for me in the curve and they're the ones getting my money.

  • Processor Shortages and Sony (Score:4, Interesting)

    by TarrVetus ( 597895 ) on Thursday January 06, 2005 @01:23PM (#11278186)
    In Japan, the near-PS2 quality portable gaming device sold only about 500k units on account of GPU shortages.

    If I recall correctly, the PS2 had a similar problem on its launch--there was a shortage of CPUs.

    Who supplies Sony with these processors, and why can they never meet demand?

  • Erm.. (Score:3, Informative)

    by Turn-X Alphonse ( 789240 ) on Thursday January 06, 2005 @01:31PM (#11278294) Journal
    I thought we'd already heard how the PSP is poorly made, ha sno battery life and we shouldn't touch it incase it falls apart/gets scratched.

    Seems we may as well wait for the PSportable in a couple of years fine and hopefully they will have fixed these problems.
    • Who wants a portable system that only lasts an hour and a half with a game that actually uses the processor for 3d? I can see the Japanese being suckered into it, but not the USA. They didn't have any idea how awful the system life was on these things when they came out.

      Now that we all realise it's just another Gamegear in another case. I'll pass.

      • I keep hearing 3 to 3 hours and a half.

        You have to set it to medium brightness, and yes, medium brightness is brighter than it's DS counterpart.
        • No offense, but even 3-3.5 hours is still really weak for a portable system. The Gamegear actually lasts longer regardless. You could get 4 hours out of that sucker.

          And yes, I was aware you can get longer life by screwing around with settings. But why should we have to? We shouldn't.

          • http://psp.ign.com/articles/574/574557p2.html

            In their test they got 3.5 hours with full brightness.

            If you lower it to medium, it should do much better, and at least for me it's not unreasonable to adjust the screen brightness in a portable system ... specially one with such a high quality screen.
          • How many people regularly need more than that between charges? This is a games system after all, not a phone or pda. And for those that do need amazing battery life, just buy another battery, they're not expensive.

      • misinformation? (Score:2, Informative)

        by astrokid ( 779104 )
        Where are you getting your information from?
        The PSP does not have as short of a battery life as you claim. It may not come close to the SP's 11 hours worth of play, but it is reported to be variable between 3~7 depending on the task. This value is close to the DS' 7-9 hour play time but it is no where near an hour and a half as you stated.

    • Re:Erm.. (Score:3, Insightful)

      by j.bellone ( 684938 )
      I thought we'd already heard how the PSP is poorly made, ha sno battery life and we shouldn't touch it incase it falls apart/gets scratched.

      And the Nintendo DS interferes with Television signals; what's your point? Every system has problems when it's first launched. Yes, you are right though, the major problem happens to be the battery life of the system.

      The damn thing is rechargeable, extra batteries are more than affordable, and I don't plan on playing this thing for more than an hour at a time (if
      • The damn thing is rechargeable, extra batteries are more than affordable...

        ...and besides, is there any doubt that Sony will come out with a compatible, improved, twice-as-long-lasting battery within a year of launching this thing? We'll never know, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if it turned out Sony purposefully gimped the battery in order to drive sales of additional batteries.

    • I've got both a PSP and a DS and the build quality on the PSP is far higher. The DS is a cool little machine and I can't wait for the new versions of Advance Wars and Mario Kart. But it looks and feels like a toy - it's clunky and made with cheap looking plastic. The PSP, as befits a machine costing 100USD more, looks and feels like a quality piece of consumer electronics. My machine has no dead pixels, twisting it doesn't cause the UMD lid to open and using it in public generates a crowd of interested obse
  • It was called the Neogeo pocket. Fantastic platform. Then the company threw a fit and pulled it from the US Market. Hopefully Sony won't be that way. Anyone want a used Neogeo Pocket with one game?
    • Then the company threw a fit and pulled it from the US Market.

      Actually the company couldn't sell them in the US or in Canada because everyone wanted a Gameboy. Can't blame them for pulling a product it appears that no-one wanted.

    • Actually the company wen't (or was going) bankrupt, the NGPC was it's last dying gasp. SNK is no more.

      I'll take your NeoGeo pocket, they're actually pretty cool and really hackable (a blank cart and writer are pretty cheap).
      • SNK is dead, long live SNK Playmore. Same developers, same properties, same core product focus. Which is to say, they make some of the neatest 2D games in a market where no one makes 2D games.
    • Golly! I've been trying to get my kid one with "Legend of sucess Joe" for five years! Please! Get me the details!
    • The thing that really annoyed me about that is that they didn't just pull the NGPC from the market... they sent out an order to pull all the games FROM THE SHELVES!

      Immediately it was next to impossible to find any games for this nice little system I had...
      • Exactly, They could at least have let the stores sell out the games they did have. Instead they pulled the games and player from the market practically overnight. It's not like they couldn't have at least left the games for those of us who recognized the platforms superior attributes and invested in it.

  • long-held portable gaming throne? (Score:3, Informative)

    by AC-x ( 735297 ) on Thursday January 06, 2005 @01:36PM (#11278365)
    "Nintendo DS's long-held portable gaming throne"

    The Gameboy as a brand certainly has a long-held portable gaming throne, I mean the 1989 original lasted virtually 10 years on its own...
    However I wouldn't say the DS had a long-held portable gaming throne, it's only really just come out!

  • Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday January 06, 2005 @01:39PM (#11278418)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I look forward to it so i can use it to play back media off a memory stick. If it supports divx I'll be all over it. I already have a cybershot camera, it'll be interesting to see how they work together. I don't expect it will play MP3s, but perhaps someone will create a game shark type cart that will allow divx, mp3, and other useful screen-on-the-go type applications. Does it have wifi like the DS?

    • It does play mp3s, and it does have wifi.

      I read that the firmware upgrades to it go through the internet, so you can connect to other PSPs, as well as a router.

      I have a cybershot too, the only thing that sucks is that my memory sticks won't work with the PSP ... because the PSP uses the smaller Duo memor sticks.

      So any new memory sticks I'll get in the future (if any) will be Duo for me, since you can make them work with my camera via the included adaptor.
    • It plays MP3s and MP4 encoded movies.
      No divx support though.
  • ..the christmas market has already been hit by nintendo DS. Kids are gonna buy what their friends have adn their friends have the DS. Especially when it's as cool as the DS. PSP is gona have some serious high quality features (divx mp3 etc.) if they want to pull this off. But if the PSP costs more you can hang it up.

    • Re:PSP will fail (Score:2, Informative)

      by rcs1000 ( 462363 ) *
      I am a gadget freak. I own both the PSP and the DS. I have owned every Nintendo Console and handheld since the original GB and the SNES.

      The PSP will win, unfortunately. It is the better machine. There really is no contest. The screen rocks. The movie playing rocks. Super Nintendo 64 DS has graphics slightly worse than the N64 version. Ridger Racers has better graphics than - the admittedly disappointing - Ridge Racer V launch title for the PS2.

      I will mourn Nintendo losing the handheld throne. They truly a

      • AFAIC, neither system is as good as the GBA SP. It has a great game library, excellent battery life, and it's extremely portable.

        BTW, you really need to do yourself a favor and buy the NES.

      • Super Nintendo 64 DS has graphics slightly worse than the N64 version.

        I own Mario DS, and the graphics aren't really worse. The textures are improved (mario's jeans have texture) but some things are simplified to be more visible on the small screen. I'd say they are just about the same, if not better.

        But /.'ers need to understand: once you've seen the PSP, once you've played the PSP, you'll want to own one.

        I'm sure the graphics rock, but sony has a less than perfect record of harware endurance compare

      • Mario 64 (Score:3, Interesting)

        by mcc ( 14761 )
        I'm not really so sure..

        The PSP will win, unfortunately. It is the better machine. There really is no contest. The screen rocks.

        The Game Gear was also clearly the better machine. Its screen rocked too. It didn't help. The problem is that what is "better" for a video game console may not be better for handhelds, since "better" comes with portability costs. So far Nintendo's been the only company to ever realize this, and this is the reason they've owned the market for so long.

        The movie playing rocks.
      • Wow, you've gotten so many replies I feel kinda bad for adding another one. But no one's addressed this point yet, so here goes.

        The PSP is not obviously the better machine. 3D graphics quality is better, but I think it could be said that means less on a portable. The smaller screen sizes make it a lot more difficult to judge rendering quality. This helps the PSP in comparasions with the PS2, but it also helps the DS.

        Also, due to the way the portable market has developed (almost completely all Nintendo
    • No self respecting 18-35 year old is going to start playing a DS on the train. It looks like a childs toy because, in essence, that's what it is. The PSP looks cool - I've yet to use mine without generating a crowd of admiring observers. In comparison I've had my DS for over a month more and it's never generated anything like the same interest.

      For the market Sony is aiming at the price difference is trival. They are after the kind of consumers who upgrade their phones every three months and happily spend

      • Ok, I'll bite...

        No self respecting 18-35 year old is going to start playing a DS on the train. It looks like a childs toy because, in essence, that's what it is.

        Which would mean you aren't self respecting of yourself, since you not only say you have a DS but have pulled it out in public, right?

        The PSP looks cool - I've yet to use mine without generating a crowd of admiring observers. In comparison I've had my DS for over a month more and it's never generated anything like the same interest.

        So, you

        • Which would mean you aren't self respecting of yourself, since you not only say you have a DS but have pulled it out in public, right?

          What can I say - I'm a geek, and a geek who collects games consoles at that.

          ... that's a pretty hefty amount of money for a system just to have it 4 months before UK launch. How many games do you have for it, too?

          I work in the City and so have a high disposable income. I choose to spend part of this income on games consoles, others spend it on coke - each to their own. Plu

    • Don't count Sony out yet, they started out behind the Dreamcast after all, but it didn't take long to make up for all that lost ground. The portable race this time is more competitive that the DCD/PS2 battle, though.
  • You'll see that this is the same news we heard yesterday. Only this site took the quote "probably be March" and made it into an announcement that it would be in March.

    Hell with the Gran Turismo 4 debacle (delayed after the announcement that it went gold) I wouldn't be sure it would come out in March if they had announced it.
  • The SoC (system-on-chip) of the PSP [extremetech.com] contains all processing units including 2 CPU cores, a graphics core, eDRAM, and other goodies in a single 90nm-process die chip, so what in short is not specifically GPU. Besides this main chip, a PSP unit has a wireless controller, a DDR-SDRAM chip and a UMD controller on the motherboard.
  • near-PS2 quality

    Getting a little ahead of ourselves aren't we? Both in specs and in previews people have likened it more to the original PSX than the PS2.

  • Does this mean... (Score:3, Funny)

    by MadAnthony02 ( 626886 ) on Thursday January 06, 2005 @07:16PM (#11282887)

    Does this mean that if I buy a PSP at Best Buy, they will try to sell me a PSP [wikipedia.org] for my PSP?

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