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[xexex]

well, the basic pack premiered in Japan for $185... however Sony possibly screwed themselves by making Spider-Man 2 a "limited" inclusion on the value pack.

So what to do? They can keep packing in SM2 as standard (makes sense), then just remove everything but the AC adapter from the unit and sell it for $199.. If I were them I would probably still throw in the 32MB MS, otherwise people will be forced to pick up a $50 MS (128MB is the smallest I've seen recently in-store). So $199 for a PSP and 32MB MS. That isn't bad at all.. honestly that is what I would have purchased (and saved $50... grumble).

If sony takes any other action, including no action and leaving it at $250 and/or removing spider-man 2 from the boxes (supposedly SM2 was only supposed to ship with the first million), they will have an extremely tough uphill battle vs. Nintendo this year.

totally agreed. the $250 price point and not having a cheaper option is what is hurting PSP at the moment.

this is exellent news for me. as Sony will no doubt drop the price of the current package to $199 by E3, and also offer a more basic package for maybe $149 also. if not, all by christmas without a doubt,

 

[turok4n64]

this may sound farfetched, but i believe if the PS2 from the get go used small DVDs like the GCN, and the PSP used the same format and played ever single game from the PSP, then sells of the PSP would be bigger..

people are like OMG thats a ps2 in your hand, and then are like shit..my ps2 games wont work..its a huge turn off from alot of people i have showed the PSP to. They love it, but they want to play THEIR games on the system, not PSP games.

 

[sol5377]

totally agreed. the $250 price point and not having a cheaper option is what is hurting PSP at the moment.

this is exellent news for me. as Sony will no doubt drop the price of the current package to $199 by E3, and also offer a more basic package for maybe $149 also. if not, all by christmas without a doubt,

I'd jump at the value pack @ $199 or the basic pack for $179 (with mem card) even. I'm usually an early adopter with cool videogame tech, but I have the patience to sit this one out.

 

[turok4n64]

totally agreed. the $250 price point and not having a cheaper option is what is hurting PSP at the moment.

this is exellent news for me. as Sony will no doubt drop the price of the current package to $199 by E3, and also offer a more basic package for maybe $149 also. if not, all by christmas without a doubt,

im not too sure about that...they would be literally loosing 100+ each sale of the PSP...with software sale ratio being low on handhelds, it would take years and possibly never to get that money back when sony is already billions in debt.

 

[quin]

Its a good thing I didn't go into marketing or become an analysis because that looks to be a crowded field

 

[Dragmire]

But PSP has Ridge Racer and Wipeout! How can this be?

 

[Spazbiohaz]

HAha, get this guys, ive been calling circuit cities pretending to be Sony, those shmuck associates believe anything haha.

And...updates, what did they say. We need the whole MAF experiance.

 

[turok4n64]

i think the true war will be determined when Pokemon Emerald is released in May and see how the sales of the PSP are doing after that...and then especially when Pokemon is released on the DS.....I own the PSP and love the system, but Pokemon is a huge factor for the handheld market, and if you can't see that, then you are truly blind.

 

[Porridge]

I wonder if retailers were suprised when 3DO didn't fly off the shelves either.

 

[GaimeGuy]

i think the true war will be determined when Pokemon Emerald is released in May and see how the sales of the PSP are doing after that...and then especially when Pokemon is released on the DS.....I own the PSP and love the system, but Pokemon is a huge factor for the handheld market, and if you can't see that, then you are truly blind.

I think it'll be when Pokemon & GTA are released for the DS & PSP.

 

[Razoric]

i think the true war will be determined when Pokemon Emerald is released in May and see how the sales of the PSP are doing after that...and then especially when Pokemon is released on the DS.....I own the PSP and love the system, but Pokemon is a huge factor for the handheld market, and if you can't see that, then you are truly blind.

Things change... we'll see what happens when GTA comes out for PSP and Sony actually advertises online gaming / browsing. I don't think either handheld device has it in the bag yet but if I was a betting man I'd say Sony will have a very good christmas this year.

 

[ge-man]

This isn't really shocking at all. I said in another thread that for the price of admission, the PSP should pretty much be a complete PS2 replacement. It needed to be a lot cheaper if it wasn't going to use the same media as the PS2.

Things are far from over right now, but I don't think the PSP is going to be steamrolling anybody as many had hoped. It will be a solid seller among the afluent and techy crowd, however.

Japan might be a different case, though. It will be interesting to see how things are a year from now.

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

I think we should wait for actual numbers before we decide how bad the PSP is doing.

I've said it in another thread, and I"ll say it here, anyone who thought that the PSP was going to sell 1 million units in March was clearly deluding themselves and drinking the Sony Kool Aid. No system has ever had that kind of succes in that short of a time span. Certainly not one that cost $250. The PSP is a great system, and I think it has a bright future, but no way was it going to sell out so quickly.

It should also be said that not selling a million units is not an indication of how well it's doing. If it sells 500,000 units in March, that's a hell of a launch. It's just that a lot of people, including many here at GAF, had blown the expectations way out of line.

I'll be interested in seeing what the software attach rate is as well. I think the people who did buy the PSP ended up buying a number of games as well.

 

[Deku]

So both sides were right.

The PSP supporters who tend to look for good signs picked up only the good sales from the spcialty stores and the naysayers who tend to looked for bad signs picked up on the slow sales from the mass merchandisers like Wal-Mart.

Unfortunatelly, in terms of sales, places like Wal-Mart > EB.

It's just that a lot of people, including many here at GAF, had blown the expectations way out of line.

That's not really an excuse. The GAFFers who blew expectations out of line was in part overcompensating for a great DS launch and they had managed to convince themselves in their narrow minded bigoted way that if an inferior platform like the DS could do so well, the clearly (not so clear to me) superior PSP ought to do way better. The only problem is, not everyone sees it in quite the same terms as they do.

 

[Oxymoron]

Well, if they had sold 1 Million, they would have announced it.

I do think that the lack of PR releases regarding the PSP sales is pretty damning.

 

[Kseutron]

I think we should wait for actual numbers before we decide how bad the PSP is doing.

I've said it in another thread, and I"ll say it here, anyone who thought that the PSP was going to sell 1 million units in March was clearly deluding themselves and drinking the Sony Kool Aid. No system has ever had that kind of succes in that short of a time span. Certainly not one that cost $250. The PSP is a great system, and I think it has a bright future, but no way was it going to sell out so quickly.

It should also be said that not selling a million units is not an indication of how well it's doing. If it sells 500,000 units in March, that's a hell of a launch. It's just that a lot of people, including many here at GAF, had blown the expectations way out of line.

I'll be interested in seeing what the software attach rate is as well. I think the people who did buy the PSP ended up buying a number of games as well.

well many people here thought that sony would sell "every single psp they'll be able to produce" and "it's not selling millions because of the shortages"

(including me)

 

[DeEJaYMiND]

Everyone who thinks Sony is going to drop the price by E3 is insane. Try to explain that to the guys that spent 250+games a few months ago :lol

Everyone who thinks PSP is going to be HOT by xmas is also insane. The hot toy is gona be the new XBOX. MS got BILLIONS and is gona steal the show for sure...

...just my 2 euro cents...

 

[nubbe]

PSP could have sold anything from 200k to over 500k but the lack of a “momentum” PR kind of indicates sales didn't live up the shipment PR.
As it looks now, PSP will most likely be a slow burner until a price drop comes.

 

[djtiesto]

As long as they keep putting out good games, I don't care how well either DS or PSP sell...

 

[Kung Fu Jedi]

well many people here thought that sony would sell "every single psp they'll be able to produce" and "it's not selling millions because of the shortages"

(including me)

That's what I'm talking about. Sony said they were shipping a million PSP's and if you thought they were going to sell all of them then you were among the deluded. What other console has come close to selling 1 million at launch? The GBA? And it was a lot less money.

 

[madara]

At that price with no real compeling must have launch titles, yeah alot folks may wait it out year or so.

 

[Speevy]

Guh?

What if I want a PORTABLE PS2? That plays movies? And music. And has built-in wireless internet functionality? And is in most respects, more flexible, convenient and useful than the console in my house? And serves a different purpose, at different times and in different locations?

Your argument is like claiming that buying a car is senseless because it's more expensive than a chair you can sit in at home.

Then you'll buy a PSP. But in the end, all of that stuff would be worthless if the PSP didn't deliver current generation visuals.

Think about it. PSP with PSOne graphics + all the features you just named. Who really wants that? Heck, one might as well just buy an N-Gage. It's a phone!

When Sony says they're bringing handheld gaming out of the ghetto, they don't mean because of the other media capabilities. THey're mainly talking about the fact that you don't have to settle for SNES graphics and sound anymore. That beautiful screen producing those awesome visuals is what makes the PSP valuable. Its other features aren't really the point. The PSP is a games machine, first and foremost.

EDIT: And I agree that the PSP is different things in different situations, but so are a LOT of gadgets. What sets the PSP apart are its gaming capabilities.

 

[Deku]

...just my 2 euro cents...

By default of the current exchange rate, your 2 euro cents count for the most and thus you win.

 

[thorns]

Sony fell victim to their own arrongance, they thought people would buy like crazy, judging by the response to the japanese launch and ridiculous prices people were buying the PSPs at.. Why would they allocate 1 million to US otherwise and delay the european launch? Still, for this kind of electronic device, the sales are going to be pretty good, just that it won't be comparable to something like gameboy in terms of number of units, simple due to price.
PSP also lacks a "killer app" imho.

 

[GaimeGuy]

When Sony says they're bringing handheld gaming out of the ghetto, they don't mean because of the other media capabilities. THey're mainly talking about the fact that you don't have to settle for SNES graphics and sound anymore.

Bullshit. They're saying "Now it isn't for the poor kiddies!!!11 We're making it hip for the suburban gangstaz!"

 

[WordofGod]

I doubt you can attribute that to one single factor. Many other factors will weigh in on the PSPs success. One being the competition.

Competition has nothing to do with the PSP in my view. The 16:9 screen, Movie, Music, Game, Photo, & Internet player all for $99 bucks? Nintendo cannot match this unless the copy sony and then some. The look alone of the system will drive sales way beyond 40 million with a $99 price tag.

 

[DyersEve]

All you have to do is go to ebay to see who bought alot of PSPs, theres like 9 pages full of people selling them trying to get more than what they bought for them, hell they even had one guy selling 15 at one time for about $3000. Hopefully i can get one for $199 with a game.

 

[Father_Brain]

The GAFFers who blew expectations out of line was in part overcompensating for a great DS launch and they had managed to convince themselves in their narrow minded bigoted way that if an inferior platform like the DS could do so well, the clearly (not so clear to me) superior PSP ought to do way better. The only problem is, not everyone sees it in quite the same terms as they do.

I think "bigoted" is a tad too strong a word when you're talking about video game systems.

 

[Deku]

I think "bigoted" is a tad too strong a word when you're talking about video game systems.

You obviously haven't seen the bitter, fanatical hate spewed in the last few months. The words used would be right at home in a KKK meeting talking about colored people.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Competition has nothing to do with the PSP in my view. The 16:9 screen, Movie, Music, Game, Photo, & Internet player all for $99 bucks? Nintendo cannot match this unless the copy sony and then some. The look alone of the system will drive sales way beyond 40 million with a $99 price tag.

If sony drops it to $99, they'll be losing like 300-400 dollars per system.

Every million systems they produce AND sucessfully sell, they would be losing 300 to 400 million dollars on the hardware alone!

How the hell do you expect them to make that up?

 

[WordofGod]

If sony drops it to $99, they'll be losing like 300-400 dollars per system.

Every million systems they produce AND sucessfully sell, they would be losing 300 to 400 million dollars on the hardware alone!

How the hell do you expect them to make that up?

1 1/2 to 2 years from now you really believe Sony will still be losing that type of money on the PSP?

 

[Speevy]

You obviously haven't seen the bitter, fanatical hate spewed in the last few months. The words used would be right at home in a KKK meeting talking about colored people.

One screen power! The two screened handheld is an abomination. Screens mixing with screens, rubbin' stylus pens all over each other. It ain't the way God would want it to be.

 

[GaimeGuy]

1 1/2 to 2 years from now you really believe Sony will still be losing that type of money on the PSP?

They will still be losing several hundred millions of dollars on the hardware alone at $99 in one or two years.

 

[ecliptic]

I'll buy a PSP if it hits $100, thats where I stand.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I do think that the lack of PR releases regarding the PSP sales is pretty damning.

Agreed. It (the launch) just came and went. I stll see GBA's and DS's at work, yet to see a PSP

 

[Smiles and Cries]

This is strange news did everyone drop the bundle idea?

I have to get mines soon... My problem is I don't like any of the games I see for launch

I think I will go with Wipeout Pure

 

[GaimeGuy]

This is strange news did everyone drop the bundle idea?

I have to get mines soon... My problem is I don't like any of the games I see for launch

I think I will go with Wipeout Pure

If you don't see any games you want currently out, then why the rush?

 

[OneFiftyOne]

You obviously haven't seen the bitter, fanatical hate spewed in the last few months. The words used would be right at home in a KKK meeting talking about colored people.

Welcome to the fucking Internet. So many people here feel the need to be brash and deliberately offensive. They might be this way to compensate for their being too cowardly to be expressive and hard-hitting in real life.

 

[Lyte Edge]

I suppose you can count my store as a "specialty retailer," and we have yet to sell out with only a few units in stock at each store. Of course we are selling systems for the rip-off price of $270 for the value pack alone and $350 for the system and two games (which is a normal price, at least), but what generally happens with every system is that people come to us last once everyone else has sold out, and that hasn't happened.

I have had a few people tell me that it's sold out locally; seems to depend on where you are and how many units the stores in your area received.

As for the lackluster sales, guys...it's a portable system debuting at a price of $249.99. There hasn't been a handheld system released in over a decade that's gone for any more than $149.99. Factor in the March release (there are many consumers still "recovering" from the holiday shopping season and not looking to spend so much), and the PSP is not going to be selling as well as it could have had it released in November of this year at a price of say, $199.99 for the system by itself.

There's no doubt that the PSP is going to take off; give it some time, and perhaps a price drop, and it's going to be success a year from now.

 

[chinch]

a price drop has to be coming once production is plentiful... Sony must surely realize that whatever zealot "had to have a PSP" already bought theirs.... now they need to appeal to mass-market and impulse decisions from places like target, walmart, etc.

March-Oct is a terrible time to launch an on overpriced console... shades of $ega $aturn $tupidity. :lol

 

[Smiles and Cries]

If you don't see any games you want currently out, then why the rush?

Well that has been the reason so far... I do feel if I don't get one soon I may never get one.
I am trying to wait for new colors, TALKMAN, and software price drops

I would get one to play movies but my 17" Powerbook spoiled me

PSP is a sexy looking gadget but I am shocked I am not hyped to getting it as I thought I would be

 

[GaimeGuy]

Well that has been the reason so far... I do feel if I don't get one soon I may never get one.

Why? It's not like they're just going to disappear and sony's going to stop producing them. :lol

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Why? It's not like they're just going to disappear and sony's going to stop producing them. :lol

Well I wanted a PS2 and they still make them so why I never got one?
I think the answer to that may answer the reason I may pass on the PSP if I don't go on impluse and buy now.

answer:
My left testicle belongs to Nintendo and my right belongs to Shigeru Miyamoto


shame I know but I am a loyal slut

 

[DopeyFish]

Here in canada, it seemed like a soft launch.

imo that is.

I saw one newspaper advertisement.... and that's all i saw.

 

[GDGF]

Soothsayer!




(That said, even I plan on buying a PSP as soon as something personally interesting is released and the price goes down...but who knows when that will be.)

 

[Roland Hood]

Here in canada, it seemed like a soft launch.

imo that is.

I saw one newspaper advertisement.... and that's all i saw.

Speaking of soft launches, I'm reminded of the Saturn's 'suprise' launch.

I'd just bought and modded a Japanese Saturn because I didn't want to wait, then literally the next week they launch the US System for a couple hundred less.

Good ole' Sega. Guess times have changed a bit.

 

[Folder]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2002223024_psp29.html

Reiteration: Specialty stores are doing well, mass merchandisers aren't.

The Seattle Tims is the lead news source for anti-PSP news. Someone at either Microsoft or, more likely, Nintendo, (both Seattle-based) has done a good job convincing the news team that PSP is failing somehow.

 

[GDGF]

The advertising (tv campaign, anyway) was pretty shite too. I was actually surprised by the generic 90's vibe of the adverts. They kinda dropped the ball there. This stuff was way too 'eXtreme' for '05.

 

[Roland Hood]

The Seattle Tims is the lead news source for anti-PSP news. Someone at either Microsoft or, more likely, Nintendo, (both Seattle-based) has done a good job convincing the news team that PSP is failing somehow.

Oh I don't know about that. They ran a nice story on the front page of the entertainment section on launch day, starting with this paragraph

The Roman aqueducts. The steam engine. The splitting of the atom. The Sony PSP.

The feverish anticipation and boundless hype mark today's launch of the latter as a watershed event in human technology — at least for anyone even remotely into video games.

After getting my hands on one, I can tell you that Mario and his posse ought to be sweating. But there are a few things that might give you pause — even if it's just a nanosecond — before you race to buy a PSP. That is, if there are any left to buy.

Comparing it to the steam engine hardly seems anti-PSP.

I will agree that Steve Kelley sucks, however.

 

[kaching]

I do think that the lack of PR releases regarding the PSP sales is pretty damning.

PSP could have sold anything from 200k to over 500k but the lack of a “momentum” PR kind of indicates sales didn't live up the shipment PR.

Nintendo didn't say anything about initial DS sales for more than a week...

Nov. 21 - DS launches

Dec. 1 - Nintendo issues a press release

So I assume you guys were thinking something similar during that 10 day period when Nintendo had nothing to say about initial DS sales...