It's "official"-$350 PSP

Chris Bardon · 09-28-2004, 12:06 PM

From Evil Avatar today:

Quote:

Nintendojo passes along word that the PSP has been priced. Rather than an offical statement, "Sony confirmed to various members of the press that the PSP would indeed retail for 38,624 Yen in Japan and $349.99 here in North America."

Can't say that I'm surprised. Guess I'm definitely not buying one of these things now...

Marc Bax · 09-28-2004, 01:33 PM

No way, that's insane. Count me out.

Ken Chui · 09-28-2004, 01:39 PM

A little higher than I expected, but I'm not worried. Why? This is the projected MSRP for the Japanese market. I don't know if it's still the case, but Japanese consumers aren't as aversed to paying a premium for being early adopters of technology, when compared with their N. American counterparts. I'm fairly confident that when the PSP is ready for launch in N. America next year, the MSRP will be lower (US$329 is likely, though $299 may not be out of the realm). Everyone knew the price point would be higher than the Nintendo DS, but it does offer more in just about every aspect, i.e. not as one-dimensional as the DS.

I'm hesitant to commit $349 as well, but for < $300, I'll bite (* this is contingent on how it fares sales-wise in Japan, online reviews and whether any features will be permanently dropped for the N. American release. I haven't forgotten the PSX debacle.)

CaseyL · 09-28-2004, 03:18 PM

I'm afraid that's just not gonna happen for me. Too much money for those of us on a budget

Ken Chui · 09-28-2004, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Too much money for those of us on a budget

I'm on a budget (of sorts) as well. I plan to scale back the number of titles for my consoles once this Christmas shopping season passes, so that I'll have the necessary funds set aside for a PSP, some launch titles and maybe an accessory or two. This was the approach I took to prepare for the Dreamcast's launch in '99, as well as the PS2 in '00. My last handheld was an NGPC (rest its soul

), so I'm really looking forward to the PSP.

**HTF Ads**

David Williams · 09-28-2004, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Nintendojo passes along word that the PSP has been priced. [SNIP] Sony confirmed to various members of the press that the PSP would indeed retail for [SNIP] $349.99 here in North America.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

So much for the PSP being the Gameboy Killer.

The PSP might do really well, but not well enough to compete against a portable 60% cheaper, features be damned. What are the Sony execs smoking?

Joe Szott · 09-28-2004, 06:12 PM

PSP will die a fiery death at that price.

I could buy a DS and a console at that price, forget it Sony.

JamesCB · 09-29-2004, 10:20 AM

The PSP is basically a portable PS2. Actually a very powerful processor with a high-resolution widescreen display. You are comparing that to Nintendo's 32-bit DS? IMO, not a fair comparison. The price fits the PSP for starting out. Remember, the PSOne was $400.00 when it was introduced. The PSP price will come down within a year.

James

Jeremy Stockwell · 09-29-2004, 10:29 AM

Quote:

The PSP is basically a portable PS2

BrianB · 09-29-2004, 10:46 AM

No & no.