USA PSP RELEASE DATE (24th march)with only Value Pack ?

[London Geezer]

What's EVEN MORE DISTURBING are places like EB Games and GameStop taking advantage of what they assume will be rabid demand (or perhaps they were paid off by Nintendo to try to make the PSP more unappealing? ) by only selling the PSP in their OWN forced bundles! WTF is going on here?

Could, perhaps, this all just be a part of the pre-order process, and maybe some sanity will return in time for the launch? Sheesh...

You will get your 32MB Mem Stick whether u like it or not!!! even if u open the box and throw it away, they'll send you one at home!!! U'll never be safe!!

 

[wco81]

The bundling is only at EB and GS online stores. The brick and mortar stores are taking deposits for just the unit, typically $20. However, one demanded $50 and I said the hell with that.

There are bigger chains which should have good supplies. However, you can reserve a unit so it's first come first served.

IIRC, bundling started with the Xbox launch and it was MS that kind of pushed that to make sure a lot of games would get sold. Then later, they made just the console available as a separate SKU.

I don't think anyone other than EB and GS are requiring bundles so it's not a Sony thing, it's an EB and GS thing. And only for their web site orders.

 

[Ali-G]

If the value pack really does have an extra battery then its going to find a home right next to my DS in March!

 

[Ty]

HDMI is compatible with DVI 8)

http://hdmi.com/

Not only that but it's better than DVI and not just because it can also carry audio. It has better colorspace as well and some other things I forgot.

 

[London Geezer]

HDMI is compatible with DVI 8)

http://hdmi.com/

Not only that but it's better than DVI and not just because it can also carry audio. It has better colorspace as well and some other things I forgot.

Sound is carried over the same cable? Sounds a bit packed-up... But hey, this is the first time i hear about it so i can't really talk.

 

[cthellis42]

The bundling is only at EB and GS online stores. The brick and mortar stores are taking deposits for just the unit, typically $20. However, one demanded $50 and I said the hell with that.

Ah... whew! Thanks. That was getting me nervous.

I don't think anyone other than EB and GS are requiring bundles so it's not a Sony thing, it's an EB and GS thing. And only for their web site orders.

Oh, I know it is. I just didn't want others getting any ideas.

 

[Evil_Cloud]

Great, if it's $39.99 for a PSP game in North-America, it's between 50 and 60 Euro's in Europe. We can expect the same pricepoint for PSP as well... in Euro's. :/

I think Sony didn't go any lower because they simply cannot afford it.

 

[wco81]

I think Sony kept prices high because they are only shipping 1 million to North America in March and they will probably sell out all of them. Also, if they're outselling the DS in Japan, they probably are no longer afraid of the competition.

Also, it sounds like most games will be $50, not $40. That is probably why publishers are so enthusiastic. They have another platform to amortize their game costs while commanding the price premiums of consoles.

 

[Geeforcer]

HDMI is compatible with DVI 8)

http://hdmi.com/

Not only that but it's better than DVI and not just because it can also carry audio. It has better colorspace as well and some other things I forgot.

In a few cases it will be much worse then DVI because it also has copy protection that disables/degrades output if connected to a recorder. HDMI is industry's ploy to DRM into every room by slapping copy protection and audio transmission onto DVI and hoping that consumers swallow it.

 

[Ty]

In a few cases it will be much worse then DVI because it also has copy protection that disables/degrades output if connected to a recorder. HDMI is industry's ploy to DRM into every room by slapping copy protection and audio transmission onto DVI and hoping that consumers swallow it.

If there is content protection though, how will DVI display it whatsoever if it doesn't have HDCP?

 

[PC-Engine]

In a few cases it will be much worse then DVI because it also has copy protection that disables/degrades output if connected to a recorder. HDMI is industry's ploy to DRM into every room by slapping copy protection and audio transmission onto DVI and hoping that consumers swallow it.

If there is content protection though, how will DVI display it whatsoever if it doesn't have HDCP?

The same way HD DVD drives for PC can output it to a DVI equiped LCD.

 

[Ty]

The same way HD DVD drives for PC can output it to a DVI equiped LCD.

I don't know anything about how DRM works. But if, say a movie with DRM comes out, I thought that the system would need to have HDCP regardless of the physical connection. Is this wrong then? Does DVI-D or whatever NOT need HDCP to display a movie like this?

 

[PC-Engine]

Macrovision and HDCP are different. Macrovision constrains the resolution to 480p on the Component output. HDCP is for the DVI output. If a DVD is HDCP, and the player is HDCP, the player will detect the HDCP flag on the DVD and encrypt the output stream at the DVI port. If the TV is HDCP, it will decrypt the stream and you will see the movie. If the TV is not HDCP compliant, you will see snow. If the player is not HDCP, it will not encrypt the stream, thus passing the content to the TV unencrypted.

 

[pahcman]

To be honest, i don really indulge in the gaming idea of PSP, could be i got tired of games, stiill I do like the idea of PSP, but rather it focus more on media than games playback.
Now PSP and games prices seem higher, guess no curious buy for me.

I alway felt since Sony want to bite the bullet by aggressive priced PSP, they could do away with those fast mulitple cpus, UMD drive, but slap in a 10-20GB hd playing most formats, while keeping the sexy form factor. Thats right, "PSP" will not play games, but a plain but better meda player. 249-299, i would be first on the line.

Sony may find it hard to get back profits since no licensed UMD sales from this "PSP", but still have memsticks sales, more non gamers will buy it, Sony real Ipod killer, everything eventually lead to Sony Connect. Kutaragi also said before in built parts contribute to PSP cheapness.

I wonder how well will licensed UMDs sell in the 1st place. PSP games arent exactly flying off in japan.

This sound blasphermous to Console Forum users, but imo such media player has higher needs priority than playing mobile PS2 games. Either that or PSPii with built in microdrive.

What you think?

 

[one]

What you think?

HDD = fixed high price

 

[StefanS]

Surprising that Europe is adopting the same HDTV standards as the US. Well, except for 50 Hz.

What happened to the "if it's not invented here..." syndrome? What happened to PAL and GSM?

PAL has some significant advantages over NTSC that's why it was used, not because it was European...

 

[Evil_Cloud]

How big will the impact be of the titles that appear on both PlayStation 2 as PlayStation Portable? Sony's line-up consists of mainly existing games; ports, slightly altered versions or titles based on previous incarnations but with new features.

Will PSP take away PlayStation 2 sales by offering about the same titles, but cheaper? Will PSP titles sell relatively bad because they're also available on PlayStation 2, often cheaper since they've been already available for quite some time?

 

[PiNkY]

Hi, since we Europeans will obviously have to wait another 2+ months for our launch, would a US Resident please be willing to pre-order and ship a psp to me? Just drop a PM if possible

 

[Deepak]

From MB:

Japanese Console Hardware Chart
From: Jan 24 - 30, 2005

System Sales this week Total this year
PlayStation Portable 74,405 267,602
PlayStation 2 58,673 304,285
Nintendo DS 43,226 249,922
GameBoy Advance SP 11,589 114,046
GameCube 8,214 40,751
Xbox 467 2,650
GameBoy Advance 399 2,038

********

But surprisingly there are no PSP game in top 10....

Top 10 Japanese Console Games
From: Jan 24 - 30, 2005

Rank Game Title Developer System Genre Units Sold Total Sold

1 Another Century's Episode Banpresto PS2 ACT 180,885 180,885
2 Radiata Stories Square Enix PS2 RPG 174,281 174,281
3 Biohazard 4 Capcom GC ACT 142,025 142,025
4 Catch! Touch! Yoshi! Nintendo NDS ACT 63,733 63,733
5 Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2 Atlus PS2 RPG 51,246 51,246
6 Death by Degree Tekken: Nina Williams Namco PS2 A.AVG 36,683 36,683
7 Monster Hunter G Capcom PS2 ACT 26,206 154,052
8 Gran Turismo 4 Sony PS2 RAC 23,524 907,909
9 Sawaru Made in Wario Nintendo NDS ETC 22,817 628,561
10 Super Mario 64 DS Nintendo NDS ACT 19,824 638,601

 

[cthellis42]

Hrm... Why is it that the Top 10 chart and the Dengeki chart don't line up for that week?