Playstation Portable Goes On Sale Today

[george]

Gamers line up for PSP

Sony expects quick sell-out for portable gaming device.

NEW YORK: -- Gamers and gadget hounds gathered around the country throughout the night to celebrate the North American launch Thursday morning of Sony's PSP (PlayStation Portable). Most of the crowds, which ranged from several hundred people in New York to a couple dozen in San Diego, went home happy. Consumers hoping to wait a day or two before picking up the device, though, might be disappointed.

Sony shipped one million units of its $250 handheld gaming (and movie and music) device to retailers, but expects those to sell out fast. The company said it's working to meet consumer demand.

"We expect to see a sellout within the first week," said Andrew House, executive vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment America, in an interview. "The early indications were that pre-orders were very high. But, we have a very good product flow... into April and beyond. Production started at 150,000 units a month and we're ramping up to double that very quickly."

Hardware sell-outs aren't uncommon for a new product launch in the gaming world. And the PSP is Sony's first new gaming product in North America in five years, which has only served to increase interest in the product. In Japan, where the device went on sale in December, more than 1 million units have already been sold.

"The commitment is to ship 3 million units worldwide (by March 31), so between Japan and the U.S ... all systems are go to meet that commitment," Kaz Hirai, chief executive of SCEA told Reuters.

The PSP is currently sold only in a bundle pack that includes a number of accessories. The first million units also come with a copy of the film "Spider-Man 2". Stand-alone units of the hardware, which sold in Japan for roughly $186, were not offered in North America – nor are they expected to be offered anytime this year.

"I would say never-say-never, but the response to the value pack has been overwhelmingly positive," said House. "I would say it will be some iteration of the value pack (on sale) through the holidays."

Games, at present, are the overwhelming focus of the PSP. Within the next couple of weeks, 24 titles will be available for the system – with 18 on store shelves Thursday. On deck for the coming months is a new "Grand Theft Auto" game built for the PSP. And House hinted the developers behind hit PS2 titles "Jak & Daxter" and "Ratchet & Clank" would announce PSP titles in May at E3, the annual games industry trade show.

But movies and music will play a larger role in the months to come, as well.

"Spider-Man 2" is the only film currently available for the PSP, but Sony (Research) will put five more on the market April 19. Other film studios, including Lions Gate Films and the Walt Disney Co. (Research), have also committed to supporting the PSP's film library.

"By the fall is when we want to have a strong library of UMD movie titles," said House.

Music plans have not been officially unveiled yet.

"I don't know if you can expect to see pure audio music on UMD (Sony's proprietary storage medium for the PSP)," said House. "What you will see from artists is fan-based music video products. ... I would say you'll see that within the next 2-3 months."

Tokyo-based Sony, which recently named Howard Stringer as its first non-Japanese chief executive, is counting on the PSP and its hugely successful PlayStation franchise to keep the company profitable while it overhauls its core electronics and movie businesses.

Sony cut its annual operating profit forecast by 31 percent in January, saying cost-cutting efforts could not keep pace with tumbling prices of DVD recorders, camcorders and flat TVs.

Underlining the scale of the task it faces, incoming president Ryoji Chubachi said Thursday the company will struggle to reach its target for profit margins next year.

Analysts who cover the video game industry have been particularly bullish about the PSP.

"The story of the PSP is it's not a gaming device as much as it is a portable entertainment device," said Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities.

Pachter said he expected Sony to sell about 10 million PSPs in enough time to rival Apple Computer Inc.'s (Research) iPod portable music player.

--CNN 2005-03-24

[Ian_B]

For anybody who has the Japanese PSP, the US PSP Games have just arrived in MBK.

I've been starved of good PSP games since the Japanese launch so I picked up 4 US games this afternoon:

Wipeout

Tony Hawk

Twisted Metal

Ape Escape

They all work perfectly on the Japaneses PSP as the games are not region-coded (only the UMD Movies are)

Oh and the games are all great by the way!

Edited March 25, 2005 by Ian_B

[bkk_mike]

They all work perfectly on the Japaneses PSP as the games are not region-coded (only the UMD Movies are)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Really - I avoided buying a PSP at MBK last month because I was unsure if I'd be stuck with Japanese games...

[Joey Boy]

how much are the games in MBK?

[Ian_B]

I paid 2000THB each, but they had just got them in so inflated the price as most grey importers do. I would expect them to fall to around 1700-1800'ish in a few weeks

Of the 4 games I got Wipeout & Tony Hawks are the standouts - they look fabulous and play EXTREMELY well

[waldwolf]

........"The commitment is to ship 3 million units worldwide (by March 31), so between Japan and the U.S ... all systems are go to meet that commitment," Kaz Hirai, chief executive of SCEA told Reuters.....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sony announced yesterday that European release of the PSP is being delayed in order to meet North American demand. It is rumered the European release has now been rescheduled to June.

[Heng]

(bump)

Has anyone seen Madden 06 for the PSP around town (Bangkok). Been all around MBK and Pantip and can't find anyone who has it (or perhaps I've missed a shop)? Please post or PM.

thanks!