Sony's PSP To Launch For $500?

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Some industry insiders are expecting Sony's PSP to cost $500. While others are expecting it to cost $299 to $349. Until Sony itself announces the price all we can do is guess based on what the PSP offers. Still Sony needs to price the PSP accordingly to Nintendo’s GameBoy which dominate the handheld market.

Some industry insiders think half a grand will be the price of the "21st Century Walkman"...

The most recent edition of Game Over, CNN Money's gaming related editorial column, states that some industry insiders expect Sony's newly announced handheld, the PSP, to debut at a cost of $500. The article focuses on Sony's failure to release specifics regarding the super-hyped handheld, and a quote from Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell reflects the industry's frustration with the lack of information. "What about the breakable aspects of it? If it breaks, can you bring it back and get another one for free? What about the movie strategy? The wireless strategy? The MP3 downloading? We don't know. What about the connectivity issues? We don't know. What about the video output? We don't know."

While Bonnell hopes to learn more about Sony's plans for the PSP, he's got his own ideas regarding the system's price point. "$500 to start would be my guess." says Bonnell, a price point that is significantly higher than other industry analysts like Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst who predicted a launch price between $199 and $249 back in January. Most analysts however think Sony will bridge the gap between the two expectations and deliver their next-generation handheld system somewhere in the neighborhood of $299 to $349.

News source: GameDAILY

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#1 aitf311 on 10 Jun 2004 - 15:57

they think that extreme graphics are taking away from gaming?

why dont they start with the price of these things, holy crap, if things keep going this way, the only people who will have an xbox next or ps3 will be the president and his peers

(2 replies) #2 MEMO.INC on 10 Jun 2004 - 15:59

500.. I hope it's speculation because I am planning to get one of those.

#2.1 cracell~ on 10 Jun 2004 - 16:05

haha if it is, psp will barely sell more then n-gauge

but i doubt it, it won't be over 350

#2.2 imtoomuch on 11 Jun 2004 - 04:11

It is speculation and that's why this is not a news story. This kind of **** shouldn't be posted on Neowin.

#3 jaffa™ on 10 Jun 2004 - 16:12

i hope they throw in a PS2, some games, maybe a Minidisc player and some other sony stuff.. cause other then that.. im not buying it

#4 jeavis on 10 Jun 2004 - 16:13

500 ..... Guess I'm not getting one of those

#5 manwohat on 10 Jun 2004 - 16:14

I would not pay $500 for it. If they think anyone would they are out of their minds. $300 maybe...but that extra little $200...

#6 Zepolcire on 10 Jun 2004 - 16:15

Why would you spend that much money on something like that? I doesnt make any sense to me. Even anything over 200.

(1 reply) #7 spIdeZ on 10 Jun 2004 - 16:18

I guess you guys have never looked at PDA's then

Often the high end models go for over $600. And PSP has a bigger screen, a UMD drive, and and all custom cpus. $500 is hardly out of the ballpark.

#7.1 radixvir on 10 Jun 2004 - 18:41

the difference is pdas let you put your own stuff on their. hell you can upload totally unauthorized stuff. what do they care. while sony first makes a format that is locked down and propritary. and sony will of course not allow you to do what you want to do with it. (ala NetMD).

(1 reply) #8 AfmomasTER on 10 Jun 2004 - 16:22

anything over 250 is nuts

#8.1 gflores on 10 Jun 2004 - 18:38

Anything over $200 is nuts. Hell, I just want a great portable gaming device, not all this mumbo jumbo (I like saying that

). I would just stick with the GBA at that price.

#9 Scorpio on 10 Jun 2004 - 16:26

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Analysts can think that all they want. I doubt it. Sony's already stated it will be a reasonable price. $500 is not reasonable.

(7 replies) #10 deiong15 on 10 Jun 2004 - 16:26

i think that guy is stupid for guessing that high a price. i think sony will allow themselves to take a hit on the price much like ms to conquer nintnedos poor showing so sony can replace them ontop i seriously doubt itll be 500. id guess 350

#10.1 NeoTrunks on 10 Jun 2004 - 18:55

The PS2 was half that price when it came out, if you're talking about USD.

#10.2 nullie on 10 Jun 2004 - 19:06

PS2 launched at $399 in the US.

#10.3 Mav Phoenix on 10 Jun 2004 - 19:59

$299...

#10.4 nullie on 10 Jun 2004 - 20:38

Wrong. PS2 didn't drop to $299 until Xbox and GameCube launched more than a year later.

#10.5 yert* on 10 Jun 2004 - 21:48

I believe it was 299...

#10.6 deiong15 on 11 Jun 2004 - 04:19

i bought one the day it came out only paid 299. maybe you got ripped off if you paid 399

#10.7 NeoTrunks on 11 Jun 2004 - 05:55

QUOTE

maybe you got ripped off if you paid 399

Definately

(2 replies) #11 ishtar on 10 Jun 2004 - 16:33

Don't worry those goofy gaystation users will think this is the second coming and pay whatever for mediocre graphics just so they can say they have one just like ipod. big deal

#11.1 Solarix on 10 Jun 2004 - 16:45

another unintelligent fanboy comment

#11.2 chick3n on 10 Jun 2004 - 17:20

i agree with his ipod comment.

#12 Rudy on 10 Jun 2004 - 16:43

thats just nuts, i was thinking of getting one but i sure wont be paying that much

#13 Ecander™ on 10 Jun 2004 - 17:08

#14 y_notm on 10 Jun 2004 - 17:18

didn't sony already say a long time ago that PSP would be "competitively priced?" 500+ isn't competitive

Or was that Nintendo with the DS?

#15 threetonesun on 10 Jun 2004 - 17:24

I remember a time when catridge systems went for $300 and games were $70 a piece.

But that was then, this is now. With such a competitive market, you've got to shot low. I mean, if kids get a PSP, and then the next year want a PS3 for another $300, that's crazy.

(2 replies) #16 xodlike on 10 Jun 2004 - 17:38

Screw PSP Im all out for DS.

#16.1 sumeet on 10 Jun 2004 - 19:05

me too

#16.2 MMX2004 on 11 Jun 2004 - 11:38

same here.. im just hoping they change the case tho... to alot of amature gamers, looks are what count..

#17 dougkinzinger on 10 Jun 2004 - 17:45

Morons in Sony Marketing. As if.

(1 reply) #18 S7R1K3R on 10 Jun 2004 - 18:12

that guy is not stupid for guessin that price because look when ps2 came out it was like $600 and compared to other systems it was like 3x more in price. I think in the beginning this is what the price is gonna be until the hype dies down or more supply kicks in

#18.1 Knox on 11 Jun 2004 - 06:36

when ps2 came out it was like $600

Try about $400, and yes, that analyst was stupid for guessing $500 for the PSP, I'm expecting $250 on initial launch.

#19 Fonze on 10 Jun 2004 - 18:14

my xbox on the day of release with 3 games and extra controler was $500 and people thought it was insanely expensive......
I can't imagine anyone spending $500 on one of these, unless they are some rapper and want to wear it arround their neck as some bling bling...

(1 reply) #20 obake on 10 Jun 2004 - 18:34

That's gotta be 100% bull. Hell, the Saturn launched at $400, and look at how successful that was.

I'm guessing a launch at $199. Maybe $249, but anything more than that is akin to taking a gun, shoving it up your ass, and pulling the trigger.

#20.1 rbet on 11 Jun 2004 - 02:46

$199 yeah!

(1 reply) #21 aitf311 on 10 Jun 2004 - 18:44

this makes no sense, there is currently only ONE handheld...so theres no competition, and its selling for 90 bucks on sale....but when another one is introduced it jumps up to 300-500??

#21.1 ghos on 11 Jun 2004 - 13:43

Well the PSP does contain significant upgrades in graphics, screen size and speed over the GBA so a higher price is justified. It also costs more due to having a motorized drive for its UMD's.

#22 rpgamer on 10 Jun 2004 - 19:55

$150 is the highest id go for a handheald system..i dont care how powerful it is..

(1 reply) #23 Enders on 10 Jun 2004 - 20:15

Its not going to cost $500. Anybody who thinks that or believes that is a complete moron. For one thing Sony announced that it took out a few speculated features to keep costs down...like Wireless LAN support. If it was going to cost $500 they would have easily kept that feature. Its not going to cost more then $249, period. I would be willing to bet $199. And its not really competing with the Gameboy Advance or the DS...it plays games with graphics that match the PS2...and in some areas even better then the PS2, not to mention it will play movies so 199 is definitely reasonable and I would easily pay that.

#23.1 hafu8 on 11 Jun 2004 - 03:17

Give me MOVIES! Wow, proprietary discs that can be bought with (probably overpriced and hard to find) movies on them that only work on my overpriced ubercool PSP...please. Seems like sony has been wanting to do this for awhile and needed something bigger to hold the movies on. I can hear it now, "hey, i bet that if we could have marketed minidiscs with movies on them it would have definitely caught on!". I just can't use this weak playback feature as justification for buying the PSP if it costs over the $199-$249 range.

Although...if i was sony i would certainly sell the PSP at $500 for 2 to 4 weeks and then lower the price. I would even annouce this to the public. They would sell more than a few at $500. Once the "gotta have it, gotta have it, all is lost if i don't have it" crowd is exhausted they can safely lower the price to a more reasonable level to appeal to the masses. It's good business and new technologies can always be milked for the maximum. See the Pretec 12 GB Compact Flash card, all yours right now for a measly $14,900!

#24 spiegelman85 on 10 Jun 2004 - 20:23

dam crack prices wow

(1 reply) #25 Cryptic_Night on 10 Jun 2004 - 20:43

I pray Enders is right and this won't be $500. I am really looking forward to this.

I also live in Canada so it will be 600 + up here.

#25.1 lexor on 10 Jun 2004 - 20:45

try $700, that's how it is with $500USD geforce6800U, exchange doesn't always dectate local price (just ask brits around here)

#26 altermind on 10 Jun 2004 - 21:02

not 500... I don't think so....

try a max of 340 canadian

(1 reply) #27 EmuZombie on 10 Jun 2004 - 21:23

ermm.... The price is what kept most people away from the N-Gage...... at least the people I know...

#27.1 Jstphish on 10 Jun 2004 - 23:51

That and it wasn't anywhere near widescreen. Their aspect ratio sucked. Plus, the way you had to use the phone sucked even more.

#28 badall on 10 Jun 2004 - 22:17

$500 = about £250 errrmmmm vaporware methinks

#29 Blurb on 10 Jun 2004 - 22:24

Man we have some stupid analysts and "insiders"...

(1 reply) #30 digitallaughter on 10 Jun 2004 - 23:26

500!!!!! THATS GARBAGE!

#30.1 Jstphish on 10 Jun 2004 - 23:52

QUOTE (#29.0)

Hahaha, that's exactly what one of my friends would say if he heard about this.

(1 reply) #31 supersaiyanjericho on 11 Jun 2004 - 01:24

chill people

that's only the price AT launch. the price will drop after a few months

#31.1 dysan on 11 Jun 2004 - 03:10

After a few months? I don't think so. More like a year or two.

#32 apu95 on 11 Jun 2004 - 04:57

500 actually seems like a price that would go with the psp. lcd screens are in short number, which is what sony and nintendo are having trouble with. second, PS2 gfx at such a small size has to cost a lot. third, if u want wireless lan and/or gps and/or any other wireless capability ur adding at least 100 more to the price. now mp3, aac and possible wma will add s'more to the cost. keep adding and u got yourself 500. mind u, 500 wouldnt be bad as long as it is actually worth it. if sony wants to pull its proprietary crap again then theyre gonna be screwed. if they wanna charge 500 then at least let us put our own media in with mini cd-r's or somethin. umd is just another crappy move by sony to restrict stuff and make their product less worth the big 500.

for 500 u can get a ds with a good amount of games prolly. not sayin that the ds doesnt have bad stuff tho, cuz it wont play previous gb games, only gba ones. likewise, nintendo's havin the same problem with screens cuz of little supply of them.

so far my vote's with nintendo cuz they will release the ds at a far lower price than 500 for sure....lets hope sony follows suit

#33 Mav Phoenix on 11 Jun 2004 - 06:19

I smell another flop if this is true.

#34 Groovedude on 11 Jun 2004 - 08:18

Well time will tell...

#35 njlouch on 11 Jun 2004 - 08:33

$500? Crikey - that's ridiculous! That price precludes a massive market portion

#36 genericism on 11 Jun 2004 - 13:16

only sony could launch a console/handheld at $500 and get away with it. they could just keep it at $500 for a month or so, so that all the fools who absolutely must have this new shiny object straight away go out and spend all their cash and make sony a bit richer. i remember a friend of mine at highschool paying something like $800AUD for a playstation when they first launched here. $500 is ridiculous, but yeah, people will pay for it. after all, it says sony on it. the only thing that could sell even more units (fanboy-wise) would be an apple logo.

#37 altezza on 11 Jun 2004 - 16:06

Way too expensive...ripping off customers. If Sony going with that price, they could lose to Nintendo DS.

#38 Spamcan on 11 Jun 2004 - 17:53

The CEO of “Atari” says it'll be $500 and the CEO of EA says half that. Sony may not even have a concrete price point set on the device yet. If Bonnell is uncertain about so many aspects of the device why is he confident enough to throw out an estimated price? "What about the movie strategy? The wireless strategy? The MP3 downloading? We don't know. What about the connectivity issues? We don't know. What about the video output? We don't know. Yet despite all that we think It's going to cost around 500 bucks. What are we basing that on? We don't know." This type of ill-informed price speculation does little more then confuse and create more fodder then the fanboys.

(1 reply) #39 Optimus Prime on 11 Jun 2004 - 17:57

$500 ?

They're out their rabbit-assed minds!

#39.1 jago_lfn on 12 Jun 2004 - 09:01

indeed and agreed

#40 Ajapi on 11 Jun 2004 - 19:15

lol, if they make it $500, they7 will sell like 3 units a month....They'll never charge that much. Why pay 500 bucks for that instead of a AMD64 3400+?

#41 Mav Phoenix on 11 Jun 2004 - 19:57

Only the 5 richest Kings shall have a PSP.

#42 fdlazarte on 11 Jun 2004 - 21:22

$500 is too much! id rather buy PS2 console

#43 XP_2003 on 11 Jun 2004 - 21:37

Those prizes are getting out of hand. €500/$500 for a handheld is just insane. C'mon people it is and it will always be a toy that get replaced by something new within a few years.

#44 jago_lfn on 12 Jun 2004 - 09:00

no way am i paying that, not that i would anyway. I'm sticking to my GBA SP.

#45 cocklea on 15 Jun 2004 - 16:38

WTF $500 bucks!! Thats 2000 malaysian ringgit! Are they crazy???

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