PSP Delayed till early 2005!

[Sigma]

It looks like we will have to wait till around March 2005 for Sony's heavily hyped "Walkman of the 21st Century". However importers will be able to snatch up the Japanese PSP by the end of this year.


It seems like Sony's plans to release their PlayStation Portable by the end of this year are going full steam ahead... in Japan only. According to CNN/Money, Sony's PSP (or as they like to say "walkman of the 21st century") won't launch in the U.S. or Europe until 2005.

"The reason we pushed it out here is we wanted to be sure there's a reasonable amount of software titles to launch with hardware," said Teresa Weaver, a spokesperson for Sony Computer Entertainment.

Of course, as you know it's not uncommon at all for Japanese companies to launch products in Japan first, before releasing the product in other territories. "With many of the roots of the gaming industry being in Japan, it's traditional to pay homage and release a hardware product there first and then release in the U.S., even though the U.S. is a bigger market," said P.J. McNealy, an analyst with American Technology Research.

Sony has indicated that the PSP will ship globally before the fiscal year comes to an end, which is March 2005. Therefore it's only a delay of 2-3 months really. Nevertheless, you may see a big grin on the face of one mustachioed plumber right about now.

[Jaguar]

Well, can't say I'm surprised.

[Lord Dalek]

By that point the Game Boy will have exceded the PSP in technological quality. Smooth Sony, real smooth.

[DonkeyKongSnes]

The only system i was looking forward to. I don't think that gameboy is able to target the audiences that sony is. Sony is able to target theirs at the mature gamer. That is what the case is usually. While gameboy is usually for the teens and younger. At least that is what I think.

[Bound High]

I don't see this delay giving Nintendo an advantage.

[Nimbleness]

Curses! That wacom tablet is looking even more tempting than ever.

[The Jinjo]

I don't see this delay giving Nintendo an advantage.It gives Nintendo some more time to improve its next game boy, and also lets Nintendo's GBA have more time to be the only one on the market,and to make more money (althought a 3 month period will only take in so much money).... and.............. I'm pulling reasons out of my *****.

[Behonkiss]

Wha-whaaaa?!

Geez. Just because the N-Gage bombed doesn't mean PSP would, Sony. Digging your own grave if you do this.

[SSJPabs]

This could mean they are upgrading it a bit, or maybe even altering the way they produce the components thus making the PSP cheaper to be more competative.

[Sigma]

This could mean they are upgrading it a bit, or maybe even altering the way they produce the components thus making the PSP cheaper to be more competative.It will still be out in Japan by years end. Sony says the reason for the delay is so they can get more high quality launch titles for the PSP. Im still going to say the PSP will cost $200.

[DonkeyKongSnes]

I heard the PSP is going to have a camera upgrade and cellphone upgrade to it. If that is true I'll be willing to spend 200 dollars on it if it has good games and is not as bad as the n gage.

Hurray 100 Posts :sweat:

[Beat]

They saw what happened with the N-Gage launch, and decided that improving the software selection was needed for a successful U.S. launch. A solid stragety if you ask me.

[Lord Dalek]

Eh, Gameboy is the longest running console on the face of the Earth. "New software" will not knock it off it's perch.

[Bound High]

Gameboy isn't a console.

[Invader_Spooch]

Arg, more Sony and Nintendo fanboys squabbling. Lets end this pissing contest, kiddies.

Both GBA (or future gameboys) and the PSP will be equally good, im sure. (Just like their console brethren) Sony knows what they're doing, and I am sure an N-Gage incident will not occur. Odds are, Sony and Nintendo will be the only two handhelds on the market, and this will just cause Nintendo to put more effort into their work. A little competition never hurt anyone (hopefully this will get better games for the GBA, mine is collecting dust).

[Bird Boy]

Arg, more Sony and Nintendo fanboys squabbling. Lets end this pissing contest, kiddies.

I didn't realize there was all that much squabbling going on in this thread...but, ok...

The thing I don't get, is they're releasing it in Japan first to pay "homage", but not in the US where the market is bigger (so says the article). If that's the case, maybe they're not so much paying homage, but testing it in Japan first, that way if it's a failure, they fan fix what's wrong with it before bringing it Stateside--thus not tarnishing the Sony name...

But that's wild speculation on my part. I quit giving a crap about hand helds after I bought a GBA--mainly cause I never played the thing.

-BB

[Andrew T. Hingson]

I'm not suprised at all but it is a bad move on Sony's part to delay it any further. Nintendo is always working on something new afterall. I expect PSP to be the stiffest competition the Gameboy has ever faced (WARNING fanboy opinion coming)... but you mess with the best and you go down like the rest. :p

Unlike the console biz back when Sony tromped Nintendo and all other competitors with the first PlaySation... Nintendo knows exactly what they are doing when it comes to handhelds and not even Sony's popularity can stand up to Nintendo's legacy when it comes to handhelds.

I do think the PSP will be pretty awesome stuff though, but I hope they don't try to do too much with it or it will meet the fate of the N-Gage for sure.

[SSJPabs]

So HL, just hypothetical with me, for a bit. What if the PSP DOES annihilate whatever iteration of the gameboy it faces? What'll you say then?

[guinaevere]

Arg, more Sony and Nintendo fanboys squabbling. Lets end this pissing contest, kiddies. ::looks around:: Where? Did I miss something?!


A little competition never hurt anyone (hopefully this will get better games for the GBA, mine is collecting dust). True about competition, no doubt. But have you played any of the games that have come out recently? Mario & Luigi? Metroid? FF? Some of the titles that have come out on GBA over the past year and a half or so are terrific fun!! I can't believe there are no GBA games out that you wouldn't enjoy.


The thing I don't get, is they're releasing it in Japan first to pay "homage", but not in the US where the market is bigger (so says the article). That quote you're referring to was absurd. It appears that P.J. McNealy with American Technology Research (what? Institute? Foundation? Is it really just called American Technology Research? That doesn't sound right at all...) is either an idiot, or a complete outsider to the video game industry.

I did a little digging and it turns out that ATR is sometimes referred to as American Technology Research, and sometimes American Technology Research, Inc. They are independant and employee-owned. In reading some of their releases, I have come to this conclusion: I wouldn't pay them a dime for any of their research/findings.

[Invader_Spooch]

True about competition, no doubt. But have you played any of the games that have come out recently? Mario & Luigi? Metroid? FF? Some of the titles that have come out on GBA over the past year and a half or so are terrific fun!! I can't believe there are no GBA games out that you wouldn't enjoy. I have both Metroid Fusion and Zero mission, and they were good. I bought FFTA, but was severely dissapointed, considering how good FFT's story was. I haven't touched M&L outside of demos at Gamestop, and I didnt really care for it. I dont know why.

So all in all, you suggested that 3-4 games make a great system. I only liked two of them, and the only thing I am waiting on is Kingdom Hearts:CoM, otherwise I probably would have traded my SP in already. I just dont like the selection.

[Bound High]

Odds are, Sony and Nintendo will be the only two handhelds on the market, and this will just cause Nintendo to put more effort into their work. A little competition never hurt anyone (hopefully this will get better games for the GBA, mine is collecting dust).
The same 3rd parties who have been developing games all along will be developing for the psp. If one has had a problem with the game industry in general so far then expect more of the same bullflop just on a machine with higher specs.

America is probably the largest market because we have a larger population than Japan and the PAL territory isn't a single market.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

So HL, just hypothetical with me, for a bit. What if the PSP DOES annihilate whatever iteration of the gameboy it faces? What'll you say then?
Something along the lines of... NINTENDO IS DOOMED, but I don't forsee that happening.

[DonkeyKongSnes]

I think the psp will bring more mature titles to the handheld market, I also agree with Bird Boy's opinion how they are going to test the system in Japan before bringing it over the U.S and Europe.

[RAINMAN]

Funny that sony would delay the PSP after N announce the DS. :sad:

[randomguy]

Funny that sony would delay the PSP after N announce the DS. :sad:
I don't think that has anything to do with it, because I wager that the DS and the PSP are going to be intended for completely different audiences. The PSP is an upscale electronic device... it plays music, takes pictures, etc. The DS is a straight gaming machine, or at least that's how it looks right now. I'd be more concerned about the DS and the GBASP eating into each other's market shares.

[Andrew T. Hingson]

GBA:SP will already have had it's reign by then so to speak but I'm certain IT will fare quite well even when the DS is around.

They really ought to just make the PSP a gaming device and nothing else (though going online would still be nice) otherwise it will cost to much and likely have too many buttons and fail like the N-Gage.

[RAINMAN]

I think the psp will bring more mature titles to the handheld market


That makes no sense what so ever.:rolleyes:

[MattThomasM2B]

Nintendo should've stayed behind the Game Boy advance and plowed on through the PSP. Whatever. It's their money they're blowing.

[Bound High]

for the GBA:

Everyone:488 games
Teen: 67 games
Mature:7 games

The psp games will probably vary more in their ratings which will eventually result in them having more teen and mature games than the gba.

Matt you make it sound as if DS is the successor to the SP but it is not. Nintendo thinks the market can support two of their handheld devices.

[Artemis]

for the GBA:

Everyone:488 games
Teen: 67 games
Mature:7 games

The psp games will probably vary more in their ratings which will eventually result in them having more teen and mature games than the gba.

Matt you make it sound as if DS is the successor to the SP but it is not. Nintendo thinks the market can support two of their handheld devices.
Well, once I take over the world, I will abolish the current rating system and create a new rating system that'll consist of only two ratings: "F" and "NF" meaning "Fun" and "Not Fun", because THOSE ARE THE ONLY RATINGS THAT MATTER! Spluh.


They really ought to just make the PSP a gaming device and nothing else (though going online would still be nice) otherwise it will cost to much and likely have too many buttons and fail like the N-Gage.
I really don't see what's so hard about that. It's all that fancy shmancy crap that jacked up the N-Gage's price and caused it to fail. Everyone already has a cell phone. The only "Extra" I'd care about on the PSP would be the ability to play MP3s, otherwise just keep it a gaming system.

[SSJPabs]

t's all that fancy shmancy crap that jacked up the N-Gage's price and caused it to fail.I love it when people devolve into using "schmancy." Wasn't it supposed to play mpeg-4 video or something too? Weren't there rumors Square was going to port Advent Children over to it?

[Artemis]

Can I ask why you consider my choice for a colloquial word to be "devolving"? :rolleyes: Nevertheless, it fits the situation.

[Bound High]

Even without the extras you should have expected to pay a pretty penny. The psp isn't just a portable snes like something else we all know. State of the art technology ain't cheap.

[Roman Legion]

Even without the extras you should have expected to pay a pretty penny. The psp isn't just a portable snes like something else we all know. State of the art technology ain't cheap.

Last I knew, the SNES wasn't powerful enough for people to port Quake I & II over to it... Blame the developers for not making more games that take full advantage of the hardware.

Though, if you're talking about the abundance of SNES ports there are for the GBA... well... I'm expecting the PSP to wind up with its own fair share of PS1/2 ports, in due time. It'll happen.

Anyway, being "state of the art" is no guarantee of success. You're right, it isn't cheap. That may be the whole problem. Part of the gameboy's success is being affordable enough for a single family to end up buying multiple systems (which rarely happens with regular consoles). At a higher price, the PSP won't be able to manage this as well, if at all. Easy math, there.

I wouldn't be surprised if the PSP gets Sony's foot in the hand-held market's door, but I can't see it becoming the potential "Gameboy Killer" others have made it out to be.

--Romey

[guinaevere]

So all in all, you suggested that 3-4 games make a great system. I only liked two of them, and the only thing I am waiting on is Kingdom Hearts:CoM, otherwise I probably would have traded my SP in already. I just dont like the selection.
No, I recommended what I thought were their better more recent titles; titles which have a fairly broad appeal to many gamers, and yes, titles which I've enjoyed greatly, myself.

I didn't imply that a handful of titles, or any number of titles make a great system. The console itself is responsible for that. Either a system is good, or it isn't. I believe the GBA is a great little system. (I also enjoy a large selection of fun and interesting games available to it.)

Now, if you had gone back to the original comment I was replying to, you'll see the context my statement was made in.

A little competition never hurt anyone (hopefully this will get better games for the GBA, mine is collecting dust). Again, competition is good. That doesn't appear to be the issue here...

I was simply astonished that out of the vast GB library, that any persons GBA could be sitting around, getting no love at all.

Obviously, there, I'm wrong. But I think that's kinda sad. Advance Wars... oh, the list is too long to even start... but there are a buncha carts out there that are great plays, and I'm surprized that they hold no interest to y'all.

[RAINMAN]

Nintendo should've stayed behind the Game Boy advance and plowed on through the PSP. Whatever. It's their money they're blowing.

And sony is not whit putting all this useless stuff on a portabile system that may not sell well?:sad:

[Znath]

anyone seen the price on these guys?
An estimate I saw was predicting 200-250 about. Which for what you get
I think is pretty good, (especialy compared to the Ngag)

And also I saw on the same site something about some new Nintendo DS
which appearently won't replace the GBA, just be some new... thing

course neither are expected to be out for some time now, so woopie we get to wait

[randomguy]

They really ought to just make the PSP a gaming device and nothing else (though going online would still be nice) otherwise it will cost to much and likely have too many buttons and fail like the N-Gage
Well, I'm kinda operating under the assumption that Sony is a better hardware developer than Nokia, so the PSP will be a better-designed system. I'm not too concerned about the PSP/N-Gage similiarities. Sony has proven itself to be a LOT smarter, so I don't think they'll make the same mistakes.

Plus, it'll probably have better games. And it doesn't need to worry about being a cellphone.

The thing is, the PSP having all that extra stuff is kinda smart because it differentiates it from the Game Boy and causes it to target a different audience. As many have observed, taking on the Gameboy directly is like going after Goliath. With all the extra doodads, the PSP can be marketed as as a fancy gadget as opposed to a gaming machine, which means it'll attract the attention of the lucrative Palm Pilot demographic.

The real wild card in this whole portable-system battle is the DS. Nintendo says it won't compete with the GBA, but if they're both 100% gaming machines, than I don't see how that could be the case. I would think a certain amount of overlap would be inevitable. We'll see, I guess. I'm certainly curious to see what kind of stuff we learn at E3.

[Bound High]

So all in all, you suggested that 3-4 games make a great system.
I have bought consoles and handhelds for fewer games.


I didn't imply that a handful of titles, or any number of titles make a great system. The console itself is responsible for that. Either a system is good, or it isn't. I believe the GBA is a great little system. (I also enjoy a large selection of fun and interesting games available to it.)
The machine is only as good as the software developed for it. imo there aren't definitively great, good, or bad games/systems.


Obviously, there, I'm wrong. But I think that's kinda sad. Advance Wars... oh, the list is too long to even start... but there are a buncha carts out there that are great plays, and I'm surprized that they hold no interest to y'all.
I never finished Advance Wars because I got bored in the middle of it.



And sony is not whit putting all this useless stuff on a portabile system that may not sell well?
If nintendo was doing this then you would be all for it.


As many have observed, taking on the Gameboy directly is like going after Goliath.
Remember it only took one stone to vanquish Goliath.

[guinaevere]

I never finished Advance Wars because I got bored in the middle of it. Says the fella who stated that World Wars were trivial.

Not that Advance Wars are quite in the MoH line, but obviously, even the simplest of battles can't hold your attention.


The thing is, the PSP having all that extra stuff is kinda smart because it differentiates it from the Game Boy and causes it to target a different audience. As many have observed, taking on the Gameboy directly is like going after Goliath. With all the extra doodads, the PSP can be marketed as as a fancy gadget as opposed to a gaming machine, which means it'll attract the attention of the lucrative Palm Pilot demographic. Ike, you're wonderful. The only thing I might disagree with you on is the Palm Pilot money. But this is only out of ignorance on my part. Are PDAs still raking in the bucks they initially did? It's seemed as though their novelty has worn, and now are generally purchased by those a) who actually need them as PDAs or b) like to show off gadgets and have nothing better to spend their money on.

[Bound High]

Says the fella who stated that World Wars were trivial.
Knowledge of past wars is just more trivia most don't need.


Not that Advance Wars are quite in the MoH line, but obviously, even the simplest of battles can't hold your attention.
Maybe that was the problem. They were too simple.