Neowin.net

$249... Ouch, that's expensive.

I'd be interested for $200. I mean, it's not like it's something I need.

$250? Wow. I was worried for Nintendo for a bit. What are they thinking? It costs less than $200 in Japan. Those extras aren't really worth the additional price. 32MB of memory is worthless for anything other than saves.

Last edited by 28670 on 04 Feb 2005 - 00:20

Hmm, that is a shame. It probably means they are gearing up for a £200 launch in the UK

eh.....i was gonna buy one....but damn $300 bucks? wowsers. imma wait till price drop

I could see them using this price at first, but 3 months later theres gonna be a giant price drop and then i'll get one.

229.92 Canadian dollars after the conversion

probably going to be rounded up to $250.. that always happens. then you add tax (GST & PST). and you almost pay $300 :|

i wonder what accessories i should get

Damn. $300 Canadian? Looks like I got some more saving up to do.

Man that's expensive. It's $100 more than a Nintedo DS (in Canada).

Should I buy this?

PSP Accessory Suite

$54.99

The Mad Catz Accessory Suite holds all essential accessories that will enhance your PSP experience. Durable aluminum case has specific slots for each product and complete with a see through window. Mad Catz promises you high quality, innovative products for all your gaming needs.

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/255788.asp

I know why it's so pricey.
because you can rip music and video on it and everything, the psp is almost like a media center!

For a portable gaming system, that really is expensive. I'd much rather spend $250 for a console system than that much for a portable. I don't see why Sony doesn't pull a Microsoft and keep the starting price low (losing money on every PSP sale in the process), but pulling in a lot more buyers in the process.

I'm sure the PSP will make a lot of money, but with that hefty price tag (for a portable game system), I don't think it'll sell enough to compete with the DS, at least not until the price comes down.

who gives a crude about spiderman
they should throw in a full game.

Originally it sounded like they were going to introduce it at a price that would be competitive with the DS. At $249 they will find a lot less buyers than at $199. I really doubt most people want such a bundle. Sure some of it you'll get anyway, but to me it isn't the way to bring out a new product.
Strange that Sony would do it this way. Nintendo has shown that a product with less power, etc can beat better systems simply because of price.
I suppose only time will tell, but I think Sony is sinking the PSP ship even before it has sailed.

$249 for Sony junk, no thanks. Sony makes a killing off of stupid people, don't be a part of that club.

i think EB games is asking $400 for the psp...

w00t! PSP rules! I can't wait! w00t!

I think I'll wait and see if this is worth selling my iPod for. Looks nice - just hope it performs that way too. The PSP has some really KICKA** games coming out so I hope its good.

The fact that it comes with a nonplayable UMD full of videos seems like another mistake to me. It says to the hardcore person willing to pay that much that games may not be that much of a priority for the system. Which might be reasonable if it had a 4 GB HDD or something in it. 32 MB makes it a pretty worthless media player.

If Nintendo is smart they should either drop the DS price to 120 or keep it at 149 and throw in Mario or something. It might not be a bad idea for Nintendo to release a few more games beyond the launch titlles by then too lol. Actually I just looked it up and here is what comes out on DS in March:

Sonic DS, Bomberman DS, Dynasty Warriors DS, Rayman DS, Yoshi Touch and Go, Pokemon Dash, NFS Underground 2, Mobile Suit Gundam, Egg Monster Hero from SquareEnix, and 4 or 5 games that will probably suck. It looks like Nintendo is as smart as we think because a lot of those games come out on the first. This makes it look like there are a lot of DS games on the shelves when people go to compare the systems.
The only other big factor I see is that form looking at articles on the net it sounds like Sony might really try to get 49.95 for the games. I'd be freaked out if I was a parent and saw this. Many of the games are just protable versions of something you paid 49.99 already for. So as a parent maight as well assume I need to pay 100.00 for every big game that my kid wants. That's crazy the games should be cheaper to make then DS cartridges. Adn since many are ports the programming should not be that bad either.

But its got a CLEANING CLOTH!!! WTF is that about!

thats a little bit too expensive for me

What I dont understand is why ebgames.com is setting the PSP price to $399.99.

Check it out here: http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/product/520683.asp

" PSP Starter Bundle

After launch titles and accessories are confirmed by publishers, we will send you an email requesting your choice of three games available at launch ($39.99 - $49.99 each) and an accessory ($29.99-$149.99). The price of $399.95 assumes you choose three $39.99 games and one $29.99 accessory. Actual price of this bundle may be higher, depending on the games and accessory you choose.

Orders will be shipped on a first-come, first serve basis. We cannot guarantee availability at launch.

You may cancel your order at any time up until 10 days before the PSP launch. To expedite processing, your credit card will be charged 10 days before the PSP launch."

They dont even mention the regular bundle that is talked about in this news post. SO do u think that u have to buy ebgames.com PSP bundle at $399.99? That is if u decide to by it at EB.

$249? Yyyyyyyyikes. No thanks, Sony. Your stuff isn't THAT good...

Oh how I hope they ship the base sku to australia

*scratches head*

I'd complain, but I only play handheld games with emulators anyway.

People Just wait a year then til they They take $100 Off.

250, is not bad, I will be purchasing one as soon as I can!

considering I only like playing portable games when I'm sitting on the crapper, i'll stick to my Game Boy Color w/ Tetris for now

this its what i call strategy sony it increase the price because they know that people will still buy it. thats the point people are sony and playstation fans so that means more earning and it leaves with a lot of possibilities to reduce the price later and again they dont lost money with this.

Many will fail to this but wise persons would wait a little to get one. Personally i think that the DS its more affordable and it will bring very good games at cheaper price in contrast sony will bring us a very powerful nice all in one expensive machine that somehow the games will look like ps2 ports or a game that it was been released to ps2 but adapted to a psp.

the psp would really rock as a media center if you could buy empty umds and umd burners so you could put movies there and some other things that would rock!!
There is a small chance for that to happen.. cross your fingers

BTW i dont think its that expensive and i hope the price is the same, or lower in europe €194 is not that expensive

Ive been saving money since christmas to buy psp, come to me come to me!!!

I'm just curious: does anyone know how this PSP stacks up against the fastest PDAs now? No doubt which one will play games better. But if you consider that the fastest PDAs are in the $500 to $600 doesn't make the PSP price look so bad.

UK price will be £199.99, not sure if thats the unit or the value pack.

Is UMD writable?

What Price Does the "DS" Retail for??

Well that does it.
I now know if I ever decided to get a handheld, it will definitely be a DS, and it definitely will not be a PSP.

cheapa$$

Cool, it's coming out next month. I gotta start saving up!

I don' likes i-ther.

The DS is huge and heavy; the PSP is expensive, of poor construction.
The PSP does have 1 advantage: Game library (sans GBA games, of course).

249! geez I rather have an xbox

too expensive

Don't worry, in Japan they release a bundle unit and also offered the base unit for a reduced price, expect the same deal for North America in a few months after the release. Sony is doing this to recoop some losses from the Japan launch. Everyone knows that the tech heads will buy the PSP regardless of price anyway. The PSP will be sold out for a few months and then Sony will release a base model for $199.99.

But $250 for the PSP is a good deal considering the hardware. Remember Sony's main priority is to sell this to an untapped audience, adults. It's what they did with the playstation, if kids look around and see an adult playing a PSP the kid will think its cool, so they'll go cry to their mommy's and ask for a PSP, when that kid gets it he'll show his friends and then they'll go cry to there mother's. Its a trickle effect that works, as we've seen before.

Fux that.. $250... They're fuxing nuts!

im a big sony/psp supporter and i dont give a rats a$$ about this competing with the DS or the gba sp, And i think $250 might be a little too high... please sony bring down to $199 sooner rather than later- u also have to keep in mind that this uses mem cards that can hold mp3s and divx video! its like buying a multimedia machine for $250 (but id rather buy it at $199! )

i think the psps is an awesome machine, games look amazing and such but its too expensive...$300 with a game included and that does not include a 512 mem stick 4 games and music. i think i'll wit a few months till they drop this value pack nonsense. sad cos i really wanted one as soona s it came to the states and already have $250 on my eb edge card. well i'll have to wait.