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Psp - Price Point

CouldBeWorse

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CouldBeWorse

CouldBeWorse

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New comments made by recently promoted Sony Europe president Chris Deering regarding the PlayStation Portable have hinted at a price point in the £250 range, while Japanese retail sources quote figures in a similar range.

Deering stated that the system would diverge from Sony's traditional console business model by being sold at a price which would make a profit on hardware alone, and suggested a price "closer to £200 than £300."

This comment ties in with information from Japanese retail sources early last week, who told us that a price point around 50,000 Yen was being bandied about in Tokyo - in fact, the most exact figure we were given was 48,000 Yen, almost exactly £250.

Quoted in UK trade paper MCV, Deering said that "the feeling is that this product should generate profit on hardware alone. We want to make it affordable for publishers to produce a wide range of entertainment and so royalties will be lower down in the mix this time round."

A move to reduce royalties on the system would be a major boost to third party support for the PSP, especially since for many publishers, the last experience they had of handheld gaming was Nintendo's GBA - where high royalty and manufacturing costs mean that very few companies other than Nintendo itself make a profit from the system, despite the fact that Nintendo also makes a profit on hardware sales.

Early last week, Deering stated that the company was aiming for a global launch for PSP in November of this year, although that figure was quickly revised to mid-December by SCE vice president Masutsuka Saeki, who gave the new estimate in an interview with Famitsu.

£250 not bad. lets hope for some decent launch titles.

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The Shadow

The Shadow

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Completely overpriced. Considering you can currently get an Xbox and a PS2 for that price and with GBA SP retailing at £89. I know it's the trend to start off high and then drop the price and I know millions of suckers will buy it at that price. I won't be one of them though.

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Sprite Machine

Sprite Machine

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Completely overpriced. Considering you can currently get an Xbox and a PS2 for that price

Can you play on them whilst on the bus though?

..and with GBA SP retailing at £89. I know it's the trend to start off high and then drop the price and I know millions of suckers will buy it at that price. I won't be one of them though.

It does a fair bit more than just play games, remember.

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The Shadow

The Shadow

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Can you play on them whilst on the bus though?

It does a fair bit more than just play games, remember.

Fair points. In theory you can play them on the bus, but fellow passengers might not appreciate the generator and widescreen TV.

What else does it do then? MP3 player?

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PaB

PaB

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Completely overpriced.

Only if people don't buy it.

If, as I suspect will happen, people buy it in droves - The price point will be exactly right, as of course, it should be precisely what people are prepared to pay for it, and not a penny less.

I hope no one buys it, and therefore see the price reduce rapidly.

However, it is all speculation, and it entirely depends on how they market it. If they puch it primarily has a handheld gaming device, then they can't afford to go too much higher than the SP.

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Dude Ranch

Dude Ranch

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Can you play on them whilst on the bus though?

On this subject (kind of) I'm a bit concerned that planes don't let you use anything disc based (CD, DVD, MD etc.) which would mean PSP is not plane friendly. The only time my GBA gets a regular outing is when I go away.

On the price, it's way too high and I'd never buy one at that price regardless of what it can do and how good the games are. Roughly translated that means I'll crumble and get one on launch day.

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JPickford (retired mod)

JPickford (retired mod)

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Completely overpriced. Considering you can currently get an Xbox and a PS2 for that price and with GBA SP retailing at £89. I know it's the trend to start off high and then drop the price and I know millions of suckers will buy it at that price. I won't be one of them though.

The thing is, the Xbox and PS2 (& GC) are massively UNDERpriced.

Look at Pocket PC prices for an idea what the PSP *should* cost.

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Steve007

Steve007

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£250 not bad. lets hope for some decent launch titles.

What do you mean not bad! £250!!!! *faints*

I've said it before (probably on 'Radar) but if I can play games such as PES and Ico on the bog and I could be tempted to part with the money, but I was expecting a much lower price point for the machine to be honest :angry:

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The Shadow

The Shadow

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The thing is, the Xbox and PS2 (& GC) are massively UNDERpriced.

Look at Pocket PC prices for an idea what the PSP *should* cost.

Hey, you should be on OUR side. Xbox and PS2 are fairly priced, GBA SP should retail at about £50, and all games should be £9.99.

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Fry Crayola

Fry Crayola

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Would I spend £250 on a machine? I haven't before. Especially not one that I know little about.

I'll wait for the games first off, like most people. If I can see ten games that require purchasing a PSP, games that I can't get in similar fashion for my SP, then I'd consider it.

Of course, at a much lower price point, it'll be a more likely venture, but for me it needs to offer what the SP doesn't.

Edit: not concerned with the video bit, but certainly music (I'm assuming MP3s, or even mini-discs) is a good proposition. Wasn't there talk of an MP3 player for the GBA?

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footle

footle

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I was expecting a much lower price point for the machine to be honest :angry:

Why?

Consider the technology. Consider the market for small things (mobile phones without contracts spring to mind, ipods etc.). Even just consider the *general* console market, without the software subsidy.

Besides, if it's cute enough, loads of us will buy it.

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dam_aks

dam_aks

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I will not be spending £250 on a PSP.

As for the pocket PC comments, I think Sony are hoping to sell a few more than the ammount of PPC's sold. Its insanity to expect mass-market penetration on something that will universally seen as another GameBoy.

It will require some crazy marketing - and if anyone can pull it off, Sony are the ones.

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