Sony PSP US launch a failure?

[Xab]

Yeah honestly, I was surprised at the lackluster launch. I went to Wal-mart at midnight and was #6 in line. We all walked out with PSPs and they had over 50 left. I went to Best Buy later in the day, like 2pm, not expecting them to have a single one since they opened early and hyped it up. The sales guy eagerly gave me ticket #70, and said they had plenty left. The two I bought for eBay are getting returned. I miss the days of the $800 N64 :p

[kennyout]

While commonly referred to as a "defect," Sony says the off-colored pixel problem is common in all LCD screens. "A very small number of dark pixels or continuously lit pixels is normal for LCD screens, and is not a sign of a malfunction,"

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/03/25/news_6121092.html

lmao

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

the price is just so damn high. The psp is neat and everything, bringing it to school, but I will get bored of it the first week or two and would play it inside my home...what is the point of that when thers the ps2?

585672868[/snapback]

exactly.. xbox is stationary at home, and you can use it over and over, and never get bored, since it will run forever :) sony PSP, is all hype. handhelds are over, and xbox 360 and playstation 3 are gonna be the new wave of 2006.

[Island Roots]

I walked into Best Buy later in the afternoon on Thursday and Best Buy still had a whole cart full of PSPs; I'm not sure if they had any more in back aside from that cartful.

[sevastopol]

well psps is cool, but it has only 3 hours battery life and graphics are same quality as ps2. i think ppl want somethin revolutionary, like ps3 or xbox360

[Island Roots]

well psps is cool, but it has only 3 hours battery life and graphics are same quality as ps2. i think ppl want somethin revolutionary, like ps3 or xbox360

585675115[/snapback]

Perhaps you missed the point. The PSP is a portable gaming device. To have PS2-quality graphics on a portable is revolutionary.

[Mystical112]

its prolly the price... its almost 400 dollars CDN... thats a lot to dish out for a portable system.. i rather just save for the next console...

[TheWahbinator]

Do people hate it for the price only, or how defected they can get by just taking it out of the box? :unsure:

[GFM]

I saw little to no advertisement for the PSP in my area. Plus the games are way too expensive for a portable, $50!! I went to Toy R Us last night and some guy was looking at one but the dumb clerk had to hold it, they wouldn't let the guy even touch it, ridiculous.

[Elliott]

Perhaps you missed the point.  The PSP is a portable gaming device.  To have PS2-quality graphics on a portable is revolutionary.

585675124[/snapback]

But they're not quite PS2 quality. Better graphics than the DS, but the DS also has two screens to power. I wouldn't call PSP at all revolutionary. It's just a PDA / PS 1.5 hybrid.

[emel]

also I guess its high maintainance price.. say you buy a PSP for $250+ one game $30+ 512mb Memory Stick $70-$80 = $360 easily.. but consider 4 hour battery life.. ONly if they give "0 dead pixel guarantee" and lower th eprice under $200.. I will be interested.. why would anyone buy $250 handhelp when they can buy PS2/xbox/DS $149..

[randomnut]

The bottom line is that the PSP is sh*t. I mean for that price youre just getting a stripped down PS2. Nintendo has the right idea with charging ?99 for the DS, which is all about innovation, and in theory i would have throught the pricing would be the other way around.

They say the PSP is supposed to be portable, but where could you take it and get a good amount of gaming out of it? Playing it on the train to work the battery would die before you got there, let alone playing it on the way back haha

[Gelob]

well psps is cool, but it has only 3 hours battery life and graphics are same quality as ps2. i think ppl want somethin revolutionary, like ps3 or xbox360

585675115[/snapback]

Maybe you should provide info on that 3hrs. I played all last night on battery power for about 5-6hrs. Then i charged it for about a half hr and i was up at 50% battery life from 2%

I saw little to no advertisement for the PSP in my area.  Plus the games are way too expensive for a portable, $50!!  I went to Toy R Us last night and some guy was looking at one but the dumb clerk had to hold it, they wouldn't let the guy even touch it, ridiculous.

585675538[/snapback]

Not all games are $50 most are 39.99

[ahfunaki]

I work at best buy, it was horrible...

We had 140 in stock, we sold about 16 of them at 8am ( we opened two hours early for it ) and maybe 10 more during the remainder of the day...

I think it's the price and advertising that made it such a poor launch.

I never saw any commercials on tv for it till after the launch, and I'm assuming it's because it did so bad I am seeing them now...

[Help]

Sony is in a double-edged sword type of situation, cause if they advertise about the PSP, no one will buy the PS2. And if they lower the price or allow the sale of just the PSP (no value pack), which is just a little more then the price of the PS2, then they'd not only screw themselves, they'd also screw all the other consoles...(xbox, PS2, GC, DS) and the game developers. and everyone will get ****ed at them...

yup its a rip-off. ps1 in my hands. how boring. rather listen to my ipod =P

585672957[/snapback]

You're misinformed... it's PS2 graphics

The bottom line is that the PSP is sh*t.  I mean for that price youre just getting a stripped down PS2.  Nintendo has the right idea with charging ?99 for the DS, which is all about innovation, and in theory i would have throught the pricing would be the other way around.

They say the PSP is supposed to be portable, but where could you take it and get a good amount of gaming out of it?  Playing it on the train to work the battery would die before you got there, let alone playing it on the way back haha

585675653[/snapback]

stripped down PS2??

Wait... since when can my PS2 have to ability to play movies, pictures, and music from a memory stick?

DS, which is all about innovation

'innovation' as in two screens? with one touchscreen?

how's that more innovative then cramming the power of PS2(NOTE: THE DEVELOPERS HAS TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, and run the psp at FULL SPEED, most of them DON'T.), with multimedia capabilities and possibility of PDA like features (word pad, spreadsheet.. office apps)?

They say the PSP is supposed to be portable, but where could you take it and get a good amount of gaming out of it?  Playing it on the train to work the battery would die before you got there, let alone playing it on the way back haha

There is gonna be a battery pack avaliable for the PSP.

Edited March 26, 2005 by Help

[Gelob]

There is gonna be a battery pack avaliable for the PSP.

585676410[/snapback]

Not that you would need it lol.

[TheLegendOfMart]

The bottom line is that the PSP is sh*t.  I mean for that price youre just getting a stripped down PS2.  Nintendo has the right idea with charging ?99 for the DS, which is all about innovation, and in theory i would have throught the pricing would be the other way around.

They say the PSP is supposed to be portable, but where could you take it and get a good amount of gaming out of it?  Playing it on the train to work the battery would die before you got there, let alone playing it on the way back haha

585675653[/snapback]

Your a fool, lets analyse your post:

Stripped down PS2: Nope, its compareable in power with the PS2, not to mention the added picture viewer, movie player, mp3 player, portability.

Nintendo Charging ?99: Because thats all its worth, its basically an overpowered calculator. Sony has the superior tech, why would they drop the price to below the DS is beyond me, just because DS has 2 screens doesnt mean its all powerful.

NDS has 2 CPUs ARM-9 running at 67MHz and an ARM-7 running at 33MHz and is barely capable of rendering passable 3d Graphics and has 4MB of shared ram. PSP has 1 CPU running at 333MHz (currently at 222MHz) and 32Mb of main memory with not 1 but 2 dedicated Graphics Cores. Now look again at the prices, id say thats pretty fair considering what you are getting.

PSP not being portable: You are a fanboy listening to all the DS fanboy rumours, 3 hours is WORST CASE SCENARIO, i know people with PSPs that can play for 5 and a half hours on 1 charge.

[hadiz]

i think the price is a big turn off for people. 200 bux may be okay, but 250 is just too much. plus you have to think about the extras that you have to get.

585672920[/snapback]

Well put. I'd go with a DS first.

[corrosive23]

All 3 best buys near me have stacks of them no one bought. As do the compusa's and circuit city's. Seems it was mostly the sony fans that ran out and bought them. If sony had been smart enough, they would have released this bitch in september for xmas.

[smart001]

I bought one online, and it is on a couple of day backorder. I think more pwople bought them online than in the stores!

[christracy]

They say the PSP is supposed to be portable, but where could you take it and get a good amount of gaming out of it?  Playing it on the train to work the battery would die before you got there, let alone playing it on the way back haha

585675653[/snapback]

umm what train do you take to work? your train ride to work is 3 hours long?? hell u spend almost as much time on the train as you do working an 8 hour day.

its crazy how a lot people have changed their tune about the psp. when it was first announced and nintendo announced the ds everyone was down on the ds and up on the psp. now that it's(psp) here they are down on the psp and the pricing, i guess everyone likes an underdog and loves individuality. its just like apple vs. iriver/creative just with games. its just impossible to please consumers these days. even if they released it at $180US i'm pretty sure people would still bitch about the memory stick prices or the fact they got nothing with their 180 dollar purchase other than the hardware (with dead pixels at that!!) or the fact the games are 40-50 bucks.

[Rudy]

umm what train do you take to work? your train ride to work is 3 hours long?? hell u spend almost as much time on the train as you do working an 8 hour day.

its crazy how a lot people have changed their tune about the psp.  when it was first announced and nintendo announced the ds everyone was down on the ds and up on the psp.  now that it's(psp) here they are down on the psp and the pricing, i guess everyone likes an underdog and loves individuality.  its just like apple vs. iriver/creative just with games.  its just impossible to please consumers these days. even if they released it at $180US i'm pretty sure people would still bitch about the memory stick prices or the fact they got nothing with their 180 dollar purchase other than the hardware (with dead pixels at that!!) or the fact the games are 40-50 bucks.

585676761[/snapback]

people will complain about dead pixel no matter what the price, i dont care how much i pay, i would never stand a dead pixel

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

i want one, still do, it is just to expensive. bottom line.

[nomis_nehc]

yeah, really, i think the bottom line is the price. people will bag on it right now cuz they just can't afford to spend that 300+ dollars.

if psp costs 150-200, there's no doubt it would've sold out nationwide in like three days or something. 250 plus a game, a bigger mem stick duo, tax and all that crap easily amounts close to 400 bux. simply too much for most people to spend on a portable gaming device.

[thebigj]

Your a fool, lets analyse your post:

Stripped down PS2: Nope, its compareable in power with the PS2, not to mention the added picture viewer, movie player, mp3 player, portability.

Nintendo Charging ?99: Because thats all its worth, its basically an overpowered calculator. Sony has the superior tech, why would they drop the price to below the DS is beyond me, just because DS has 2 screens doesnt mean its all powerful.

NDS has 2 CPUs ARM-9 running at 67MHz and an ARM-7 running at 33MHz and is barely capable of rendering passable 3d Graphics and has 4MB of shared ram. PSP has 1 CPU running at 333MHz (currently at 222MHz) and 32Mb of main memory with not 1 but 2 dedicated Graphics Cores. Now look again at the prices, id say thats pretty fair considering what you are getting.

PSP not being portable: You are a fanboy listening to all the DS fanboy rumours, 3 hours is WORST CASE SCENARIO, i know people with PSPs that can play for 5 and a half hours on 1 charge.

585676485[/snapback]

Ok, first off im no nintendo fan boy, im considering buying a PSP just for movie playing capabilities. But you are most definately a sony fan boy. PSP graphics are in no way compareable to PS2 graphics. I've played Ridge Racer and while it looks good, it isnt anywhere near the looks of a PS2 game. Also, you cant compare the DS to the PSP, they are on completely different markets. The DS appeals to younger gamers and gamers interested in revolutionary technology. The PSP appeals to a larger age range and people that like the more western influenced games. Anyways comparing processor speed is just retarded. Go ahead, put 3ghz P4 against a 1.8ghz G5 and see who wins.

Dont go around saying fanboy when you are yourself one.