Don't you guys think Sony knows anything over $200 is a death sentence? Do you actually think they are so out of the loop in the game market, that they don't see the problems with an expensive competitor to the GBA?

Actually, $300 would have been the low end of my estimate for the PSP introductory price. It's more or less a portable console in terms of its capabilities. Obviously, a lot of people here wouldn't buy it at that price, but there are a lot of other people who would and they're mostly the type that wouldn't even consider buying a Gameboy type product at any price.

These are the type of people who buy $300 or $400 iPods. Or $500 Archos video players. At $300, an audio/video player that also plays games can be viewed as a bargain by these types.

I'm sure they see it as competition with Ipods and portable DVD players more than the GBA.

I mean, they invented their own format and plan to release "DVDs" specifically for the PSP. Everything about it screams "wonder-do-it-all-machine!!!"

$300 bucks...minimum.

Got this info from the new Game Informer from an interview waith Kaz Hirai (Sony's president).

Battery life will be 8-10 hours for audio only. Game battery life will be 2.5-3 hours. The reasons stated were the same as I listed earlier in the thread.

Here's a link to the info from Game Informer. The magazine itself has more info.

Bad estimations on their part. Check out the editorial over at PSPInsider (link)for an indepth explanation on battery life. On reason for the bad estimations is that audio will require the UMD to spin at all times, which is not needed during game play.

As for price, some market analyst just published a report that the PSP will be $250 and games will be $30. Its over at GameSpot. I don't think that's right, but it is another guess at a price.

For $200 I would also buy one. For $250 I would consider it based on games and other features. I do not see myself buying one at a $300 or over price point.

I couldn't see myself paying more than $100 for a portable gaming device.

Especially the PSP. I just don't think 3D games will play well on the small screen, as it will be hard to see details like "hidden" items in games like Sly Copper etc.

It's too big for a mp3 player, as the only time I'd want to use an MP3 player is when running. And I have no interest in rebuying movies in a portable format. My laptop plays movies for when I travel anyway.

It will be interesting to see how this sells at either a $200 or $300 price point.

Ah, but the major difference with an iPod or Archos video player is that your existing library of content (downloaded or converted from your CD/DVD collection) can be used with it. With the PSP, you will probably have to buy all new content for it, and that makes it not a bargain IMHO compared to those other devices. The PSP lacks a hard drive, so even if you will be able to buy blank discs to put files on and/or put files on memory sticks, those are additional expenses.

I think you are missing the point people... Let's put it this way:

"Price independant, would you want a PSP?"

Is the answer is yes, then Sony has done their job. So the device comes out in March and with the worldwide LCD shortage, they are only able to produce 700K to 1M of them. I guarantee you that the initial shipment will sellout and that ebay will be littered with people selling these for a premium (Hell I may even try to do that!). The hype generated from this will raise awareness of the PSP even more. Then by next christmas, if Sony is able to reduce the PSP cost by say $50, even more people will buy them, and so on. Even if the price is prohibitive for mass consumption when it first comes out, I know plenty of gearheads who will buy one just because it's such a cool looking device with cool features. If Sony can then steadily lower the price, I think they can charge a $50 to $75 premium over Nintendo's gameboy portables and still make a significant dent in the market.

Also if the UMD devices works out to be more cost effective than cartridges for developers (as is generally the case with optical media versus solid state) and reduces the royalties they have to pay, I'm sure they'll be all over this as well. More devlopers means more games means more variety of games ("mature" included) and more interest in the teen to 34-year-old segment.

I think I'm right in saying that lots of people want one, it's just a matter of at what cost.

It's not as clear cut as that, making something so somebody wants it is not enough, it has to be affordable. 3DO anyone?

I'd still say no, as I'm not big into portable gaming and only bought at GBA (which I've hardly touched since getting the GBA player) to play new 2D games. I don't think 3D games will work well on a portable, don't want to rebuy movies in another format, and it's too big for a mp3 player to use while running.

But you can't look at it independent of price, as desireability and price work hand in had to determine a products success.

Thus Sony will only have done their job if they make a product that people want and are willing to buy at the price point it retails for.

That about sums it up for me, I wouldn't pay ~$300 bucks for a gaming device that is also a large mp3 player with no storage, and plays proprietary movies. They could be onto something with their game media, but that won't matter unless it sells. I think it will sell out initially (talking first shipment) because of the name, but they need more than just the early adopters to purchase it. It can't just be a techie machine to succeed IMO. I am still interested to play one though, and if they succeed in price/performance/battery etc. I would probably buy one.

It will play UMD movies and music, but more importantly, will use Memory Sticks. Don't forget that it will be able to decode MPEG-4, which means you will be able to download an infinite number of movies for it. Think about it, you download Divx movies now. The only thing that would change is that the movies would be encoded for the screen size of the PSP. Also, MP3s are easily stored on Memory Sticks. I already have a Sony digital camera, so I'll just be using that stick.

You usually have to purchase memory cards for consoles, why not for a portable? Too many people have been spoiled by the Xbox.

I'm not complaining about having to get a memory stick for it, although I do think that has to be considered in the cost if you need one. I just don't think it's fair to compare it to a device with massive built-in storage like an iPod.

The storage capacity of a memory stick is limited, especially for video, and of course costs much more per MB than a hard drive does. You would have to have a large and expensive one to hold a movie with decent quality, and with the PSP you won't have the convenience of dumping 20-40 GB onto it like you can with an iPod and having access to all of that at once.

It's nice that it can decode MPEG-4, but unless you have a large enough memory stick to hold a feature-length movie you downloaded or converted from your DVD collection, you'll have to watch the movies on discs. Those discs are going to have to be purchased, and it's not like Sony is going to give us a discount if we already bought the DVD. Unless they are $10 or less, I don't have much interest in re-buying movies for the PSP.

You can download an infinite amount, but storing and playing those movies is another matter. I doubt many people will be buying memory cards that can store an entire movie, even with divx style compression, for their psp. I don't believe you will be able to burn UMD discs, right? So how are people going to get those movies on the psp without a lot of expense?

Storing game saves is fine, because they are small, but movies on a memory card just isn't feasible at memory stick prices, and most people probably wouldn't want to use memory sticks for mp3's with such a large player. If you are going to get memory sticks for music, I would get one of those really small mp3 players.

I don't think the Xbox has spoiled us for not having to buy memory cards for a portable. I don't remember any portable system that has ever made us do that.

This is my point exactly. Sony doesn't need to make it affordable to the mass market when the device is first launched. As long as early adopters gobble it up (which they will) then Sony can eventually lower the price as time goes on and it will erode into the GBA's market. They wont even have enough available at launch to meet demand IMO (Sony is a master of playing the "shortage" spin to generate hype). Anyway, the point is that if you want a PSP then at some point the price will be low enough for you to justify buying one.

On the flip side, I can't see myself ever getting a DS. I've owned a GBA and an SP which are great but the whole 2 screen gimmick and crappy stylus interface aren't appealing to me. Let alone the styling that looks like it's been in an 80's time capsule (sorry it reeks of "game and watch" styling which is not good).

All UMDs will be burned exclusively by Sony. All content is sent to Sony on a DVD which is then transfered onto a UMD by Sony.

It is an added expense, but is the only option. A hard drive is not practical for a portable gaming system (which the PSP ultimately is). Adding a hard drive would limit battery life significantly. That and the extra weight would be plan annoying. And then there is the fact of price - ouch.

The only logical option is flash media (or Sony's version, the Memory Stick). The more you "need" will determine the price you pay. Flash media is only getting cheaper, so who knows what the price will be when the system debuets.

As for UMDs with movies and music on them, they will be prices less than their CD or DVD counterparts. It is not unusual for a person (especially on this site) to "double-dip" on a DVD purchase. I will happily purchase my favorite movies on UMD so that I can watch my favorite movies on the go.

Not everyone will accept this initially. Eventually, they will have no choice if they continue to portable game.

Too bad Sony didn't use this strategy with their Sony Clie PDAs. Sony just recently announced their exit from the US/Europeon PDA market due to poor sales of their Clie PDAs. Hopefully they don't make the same mistakes with the PSP.

I don't understand this stuff about people willing to rebuy a bunch of movies on UMD just so they can watch them on a PSP.


The PSP will end up costing about as much as the price of the Nintendo DS (~150) and an inexpensive 7" Portable DVD player (~150) combined. And if you get the portable DVD player you don't have to rebuy ANY movies, and you get a larger screen.

I might be interested in the PSP, if it has great games.

I might be interested in the PSP, if it has a great mp3/audio playing system.

I might be interested in the PSP if it has decent battery life, comfortable controls, beautiful graphics, and an affordable price.

But I will not, under any circumstances, buy a UMD movie. If you can burn dvds you already have to blank UMDs, I may consider it, but I will never buy a pre-recorded movie on UMD format.

I agree, if it is a good gaming machine I will buy it, I just think they may be adding too many features at the expense of price.

I don't think the mass public will be willing to buy into a new media format for movies any time soon either. And I don't think UMD movies can survive on techie/early adopters, they have to be bought by the masses to be economically viable.

I agree. Sony has tried this tactic before when they tried to get us to rebuy all our music CDs on minidisc. Didn't work back then but we'll see what happens this time around.

Your link, while an interesting read, gave no solid information on battery life. It was a bunch of techno guess work that in the end provided no solid answer, and it came from an unreliable site.

I see no reason to believe the insider site, over Game Informer/other reputable sites.

P.S. You sure spam those PS3/PSP insider sites alot. My guess would be you work/write for them.

I use them as my main source of PS3 and PSP info. It should be no surprise that I am following these future Sony products as I have shown my love of my PS2. I have used these sites to base my information on since I can find no other sites which to do so (as of right now). When GameSpot starts doing some real coverage of the PSP, I will start using them as my main source. Until then, I have choosen.

If I worked or wrote for them, trust me, I would not hide it.