Sony PSP worth its weight in gold... almost literally.
 

Rumors from the Tokyo Game Show say that Sony is pricing the PSP at the initial amount of $349.99. This hasn't been announced officialy, but several reputable sites have relayed it in its preliminary state. What do you think, are you willing to pay that much for a PSP? Given that the DS is priced 200 bucks below, it appears that the intended market for these devices will be radically different. TGS has revealed some cool details about the PSP, it's gonna be sweet... but i'm unsure about paying so much for a handheld system.

http://www.nintendojo.com/infocus/vi...php?1096322808

I know this is a very simplistic way of putting it, but I look at it this way. If a PS2 is $199, then a comparable, smaller gaming system that plays the same games should be worth the same or less. Meh.

psp cant play ps2 games it plays ps1 type games

It technically _could_ produce games that look the same, but I highly doubt that'll happen.

thats a damn alot of money for a handheld. Alot alot

The PSP looks great and all, but that is way to much. Even if it was Sony's next home console system I wouldn't pay that much.

Edit: Logged into friend's account and forgot about it. Oops.

If is just a foolish game to play if they think they will gain any sales even if the price is over $200.00 let alone $349.99. I'd buy the new PS2 form if I wanted a smaller gaming console that has better graphics then the PSP anyways.

Then again I never liked any other portable gaming system other then the GameGear.

They'll be missing the market on this one. I'm afraid your diehards will buy, but then the flow will stagnate, causing fringe developers to stop production because of the poor ongoing sales.
The decrease in software will discourage the fence-sitters activating an "oh shit" price cut, further spreading bad press- then VOILA' a cool system with four or five good games and a bunch of jaded consumers!

Or...not.

my GBA rocks. I can play the great new games that have come out for it over the past few years, and it can play all the badass classic Gameboy game.

I wouldn't buy a handheld over $200. Only spoiled/rich kid would buy it. I'll wait until its around 200 before I'll get one.

$350? Are they crazy? I hope if this is official then they'll drop the price to $200 or below after a month or so (so they can reap as much as possible during the initial high-priced month). I'd never pay $350 for a handheld system unless a dozen or so grade-A titles were released for it shortly after launch. Then I'd have to find a way of getting the money too. :thumbsup:

-Lasereth

That price is just downright ridiculous. DS is going to win this battle.

I wouldn't buy a handheld over $50.

$350 for a handheld? They've got to be out of their mind.

If they're going to open the PSP at $350, I shudder to think what the new Playstation is going to run when it debuts.

I bet the whole plan is that they are saying now that it'll be $350 but when it actually comes out they'll make it $200 or so and then compared to the original price that'll look pretty cheap getting more people to buy it. I don't think they could actually be that stupid as to charge $350. Shit, I wouldn't even pay $100 for a handheld but that's just me. I wouldn't even pay $350 for a full game system nor $300 for that matter.

rather buy an ipod

er ... actually, thats a tough call. they both cost too much money.

yeah, i'm betting the release price is in the 250-300 range. sony would be much better off imho by selling it below cost initially to get some market saturation... kinda like microsoft was during the xbox at first. either way, i see the psp as a potential gamegear repeat. average market saturation, good game support... but never achieves widespread success. truthfully, i'd like to see it succeed, but i think it is a device that will poorly oriented to the handheld gaming audience. but, the good lord above knows i've been wrong before.

Does anyone else find this strange coming from a website called NINTENDOdojo? When virtually no other website has mentioned a possible price for the PSP.

That's not entirely true, www.ihatesony.com had an article up too. ;)

it's certainly still just a rumor, but the article cites gamespot as its source.

Remember, wasn't the playstation 2 299 when it came out, people bought that one up, how much was playstation one 199? I know the Saturn was 299 when it came out. So I am not surprise that the would be in the 300 buck range for it. Then again I waited till the playstation was 99 bucks and the ps2 was 149 before I bought it.

the saturn launched at $399

http://www.sega-saturn.com/saturn/editorial/fight.htm

It will drop, they always do. Well it looks like for now Nintendo will still hold the market share of the handheld world.

It doesn't matter how much those systems cost because the PSP is a handheld system with sub-par performance compared to the current generation and next generation consoles. This is a handheld system. It's smaller and less powerful. In other words...it should cost less. Marketing the PSP at the price of a regular console is a bad idea unless they have something really, really tricky up their sleeves (like every single launch title being a must-buy).

-Lasereth

I agree, but no one ever said the corporate world wasn't gready. I bet it would sell pretty decently, I was one of the dumbasses who spent 399 on a Saturn

Apparently the PSP is having major problems with its transistors heating up too much, as well as a current battery life of about 90 minutes. There is absolutely no way the PSP is going to succeed with 90 minutes of battery life. They had better take some time and figure out a way to bump that up to at least 5 or 6 hours if they want to have a chance to compete with Nintendo.

May have to go some as nintendo are the major player in handhelds. Should look to put out reasonable to get a foot hold, not really on playstation name.

You're exactly right. My Advance SP will last 12 hours even using the backlight. I hear the DS is gonna have a similar battery life. Sony better crank up the battery life from 1-3 to at least 6 hours if they want to compete.

-Lasereth

349!! the psp better be as handy as the new sidekick then. i wont pay that much for a portable system. 150 or maybe 200 is the most i would play for a portable gaming system.

I really can't justify paying more than $100 for a handheld gaming system when I can buy a far more superior full system for the same amount of money. The question must be asked: Do I really need to play videogames THAT badly? I just can't answer yes to that.

Never mind that I have an iPod... that's different. :hmm:

Depends on the software... People pay that for pocket PCs with less power. If the software is their so will the market.

I would be reasonably sure you wont see a price over $199 in the states tho.

I think that you guys are forgetting about Japan and Korea! There are a crazy amount of people who's entire lives are dedicated to owning the newest gaming system despite the cost!

Sure we have that here in N America, and Europe, but not nearly on the same scale! Sony knows their home-town public, they're gonna make a mint wether or not they sell a single one west of India or east of the Pacific.

Sony PSP to be released in Japan December 12th at $185.

PSP Price

Battery life is 4-6 hours for both games and watching video, with an extra battery pack available for $45.

PSP Battery Life

That's definitely good news. I'd like a longer battery life, but the price range really blew me away. I'll definitely consider buying it now.

-Lasereth

Haha, Sony is going to lose so much money.

That's pointless unless you have an opinion to go with it. Why are they going to "lose so much money?" They just dropped the price of their console from $350 to $185. I don't think that's a move that'll result in a loss of money. On top of that, their handheld plays movies (I don't care) which many people will love. It's a great system with a competitive price.

-Lasereth

That's because the PS2 is relatively cheap to manufacture, its basically using 4 year old technology. Here, you have the PSP, with all these new bells and whistles, with its screen, proprietary disc drive, etc, which sony is marketing at a cheap price. Obiviously it is good for consumers, but bad for Sony...at first. Microsoft went through the same thing when the Xbox was launched, they were losing a ton of money at first, but now that the Xbox has gained some recognition, it has started to churn a steady profit off hardware sales, rather than making the majority of your money off software.

Dont know bout everyone else but the DS seems to be a better deal to me. It allows for me to purchase other games for my Xbox, such as the new PoP which I hear owns.

I dunno. From what I've read, the DS seems like a useless novelty to me. I dont see many games being worth buying a new handheld for. Hell, I dont even own a GBA. The PSP seems more like the better investment of the two. Decent power, ability to play movies and respectable price.