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[neptunes]

If they believe their device is the future of handhelds, it shouldn't matter when they launch it.

but that's just suicide!

Though many people would allow it if it made the psp any cheaper.

 

[kaching]

*i kid*

No worries - it's such a nice picture, it'd be a shame not to use it.

If the PSP gets delayed, DS sales go *down*?

Now I've heard everything.

Just trying on some secondhand logic. I agree, it doesn't fit, but it certainly seems popular with a certain crowd who doesn't think it can work against them.

I wouldn't exactly be shocked if the PSP was delayed. It's already been bumped past Christmas - another couple of months to get the software finalized wouldn't be catastrophic now.

That would put it into the next fiscal year though and with Sony projecting 3 million sold before the end of this fiscal year, I doubt they'd like to see that entirely disappear from their bottom line for this year.

 

[Kobun Heat]

True on the fiscal year thing. Still not out of the realm of possibility though, especially if it makes a tangible difference in their launch lineup, availability of units, etc.

 

[Scalemail Ted]

they're delaying it until they can afford to make the damn thing.

Unitl then, they'll just keep telling us about it.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Stage 4. Stay on course with the Japanese launch and shaft the loyal fanbase royally.

You know you will be there, waiting in line early in the morning and you will buy the system, all the gadgets that are available as optionals and all the games launching with it .

 

[DCharlie]

"they're delaying it until they can afford to make the damn thing afordable for the respective market.
Unitl then, they'll just keep telling us about it."

Altered - that could well be the truth.
The Japanese will pay over the odds for a Sony product.

I had the joy of trying out the new Vaio media player.

I have to say , the screen is fecking glorious and the whole unit looks great.
Control was very fiddly and the price was just stupid!

Was supposed to be 180,000 yen ($1650) but was reduced to 168,000 ($1540).

Ouch.

"You know you will be there, waiting in line eqarly in the morning and you will buy the system, all the gadgets that are available as optionals and all the games launching with it "

Of course i will. I'm a games slut, i can't resist it.*





*i'm actually only buying it so i can bitch about it.**



** not actually true

 

[Panajev2001a]

*i'm actually only buying it so i can bitch about it.**



** not actually true

Yes, but you love bitching about it .

[Kelly Byndy's voice]What can I say... that is why I fell in love with him***.[/Kelly Bundy's voice]

**No, I am not gay****.

****No, really not "hatering", I just am not.

 

[sonycowboy]

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=dev&aid=3711

...

However, Sony Computer Entertainment America responded to the memo by saying that " we are on track with the launch timeline disclosed at E3 2004" - which calls for a launch in Japan before the end of this year, and US and European launches in Q1 2005 - and indeed, certain aspects of McNealy's note don't hold up well to further scrutiny.

For a start, while many studios don't have final PSP development kits as yet, they have been working with emulation toolkits and - in some cases - early development hardware for some time, and quite a number of games for the platform are already well-progressed.

Although obviously developers would prefer to be working with final development systems, conversations with those working on technology and titles for the new handheld suggest that the emulation systems are perfectly capable as a development platform - at least in the early to mid-stages of the cycle.

The argument that movie studios need development kits also assumes a number of things; firstly, that they actually need SDKs to build their content onto the UMD discs (they'll certainly need some information and hardware, but this is likely to be much simpler than the game software development kits), and secondly, that they don't already have those products. The procedure for porting a title from DVD onto UMD is also an extremely simple one compared to game development, and shouldn't take more than a few days - so the timescales are far less pressing.

As for the music studios, it seems increasingly unlikely that they'll be asked to put their content onto the UMD disc format. Our money would be on Sony pushing the PSP's music functionality as a part of its Connect Music Store - an existing service, similar to Apple's iTunes, which would allow users to purchase music tracks and save them onto the Memory Stick storage in the PSP for use as a portable player.

= McNealy Pwned! LOL.

 

[DCharlie]

I wonder if they`ll package a decent size memory card with the PSP?

I mean, even 128 meg is on the skimpy side if it`s going up against the Ipod surely.
If you have to fork out for the mem stick , that would kind of suck.

And thank god the DVD -> UMD process is so simple and straight forward. Hopefully that will mean low cost movies on the go from sony and not rip off prices like 3000-4000 yen.

As for the emu - can anyone else comment on the performance of the emus ?

I don`t think anyone has been owned yet - until i see that PSP in my hands , i`m still skeptical that they`ll reach the launch date - especially the JPN one.

 

[sonycowboy]

I wonder if they`ll package a decent size memory card with the PSP?

Not a chance in hell.

 

[Kobun Heat]

Not a chance in hell.

Yeah, you'll be lucky if they package the L and R buttons in there and don't sell them as a seperate accessory.

 

[Fafalada]

I mean, even 128 meg is on the skimpy side if it`s going up against the Ipod surely.
If you have to fork out for the mem stick , that would kind of suck.

If you live in fairy land maybe.
Try buying a 700$ PPC and see what kind of Memcard you'll get with it... If any.

Consider that 128M MS (regular) retails for around 40$ if you know where to look. PSP however uses DUO PRO, which is not nearly as cheap.
But hey, maybe if we're lucky someone will hack up a slot converter so you can plug non DUO cards into your PSP one day (fat chance, given that DUOs are 2x smaller then regular/PRO MS).

Anyway, IMO we might hope for something like 64MB MS being included - I wouldn't bet my life on it, but it's possible (we're still 6months off, and prices are falling, and let's say Sony is feeling generous...).
This of course, under assumption that PSP will retail for LESS then 500$ at launch.

 

[GaimeGuy]

Is it just me, or are people overlooking perhaps the biggest problem with the PSP: the fact that it uses optical based media, and has moving hardware makes it much less durable. If you drop the PSP once, you're fucked. Unless Sony comes up with some miracle engineering, I think the PSP is going to be very easy to break. If it gets a decent amount of users, though, who break theirs, and rebuy them, Sony will be able to inflate sales numbers, much like they've done with the Ps and PS2 (The PS and PS2 are both clearly hardware leaders, but there's no way the PS has sold 100 million and the PS2 has sold 75 million to unique users, like Sony says. Heck, the PS and N64 were pretty much tied until 1998. I'd put the sales more at 50 million PS, and 30-35 million PS2s.)

But I digress. The PSP seems like a nice piece of hardware: The problem is, I don't think Sony's designed it correctly to fit the handheld market. They're making a very complicated, high-cost, power-consuming, undurable machine that will need external storage, due to the use of optical media.

Sony's problem isn't that the PSP isn't a good piece of hardware: It's that Sony isn't adapting it to the handheld market. I don't think Sony knows exactly what it's doing.

 

[SolidSnakex]

"It's that Sony isn't adapting it to the handheld market. I don't think Sony knows exactly what it's doing."

They know what they're doing. They've already said they aren't aiming for the existing handheld market they want to create a new one that's made up of older games. Yah it's a risk, but they definetly know what they're doing. Whether they can actually get it done remains to be seen.

 

[Fafalada]

I'd put the sales more at 50 million PS, and 30-35 million PS2s

Yes yes, and an average PS2 owner also buys around 4x more games then an GC/XBox owner does.
I guess since their console breaks so often, after they buy another one, they feel inclined to rush out and buy a couple more games to make themselves feel better.

 

[ourumov]

Sony's problem isn't that the PSP isn't a good piece of hardware: It's that Sony isn't adapting it to the handheld market. I don't think Sony knows exactly what it's doing.

I think they are doing the right thing...Just bring the handhelds to where they need to be at sXXI ...
Nintendo thinks that sXXI means a SS as a portable...Sony thinks it means sth between DC-PS2. Two different approachs. We'll see who wins.

 

[kaching]

Is it just me, or are people overlooking perhaps the biggest problem with the PSP: the fact that it uses optical based media, and has moving hardware makes it much less durable. If you drop the PSP once, you're fucked.

I've dropped various portable CD playes, minidisc players and portable harddrive jukeboxes over the years...once, twice, three times or more for some of them. Not everyone survived such treatment, but most did. The statement "Drop once and your fucked" certainly isn't based on experience.

 

[Panajev2001a]

If you live in fairy land maybe.
Try buying a 700$ PPC and see what kind of Memcard you'll get with it... If any.

Consider that 128M MS (regular) retails for around 40$ if you know where to look. PSP however uses DUO PRO, which is not nearly as cheap.

I know where to look and for around $49 I can get you a 128 MB Memory Stick Pro Duo:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...TN0X0/new/ref=olp_tab_new/104-8375702-9135960

.

 

[Fafalada]

Thanks Pana, didn't check on prices lately.
It kinda works to support my suggestion that we could possibly see a 64MB Duo ship with the unit.

If PSP is a success it will have the positive effect of driving Duo prices down, and being smaller, Duo is the better of the MS formats available.
But you can't help but feel sorry for anyone that may have shelled out for 512+MB Pro stick right now, and won't be able to use it with devices like PSP.

The statement "Drop once and your fucked" certainly isn't based on experience.

I've dropped a PS2 and it didn't break either

 

[Defensor]

When I had my psx vertical on a table 2 years ago, my sister pulled the controller cord and my psx fell from the table and the game ejected out on the floor. I thought my psx was a dead for sure but when I put it back on the table and hit the power button, it worked fine

 

[kaching]

But you can't help but feel sorry for anyone that may have shelled out for 512+MB Pro stick right now, and won't be able to use it with devices like PSP.

It's a shame they're not supporting the standard Pro format in addition to the Duo Pro. They're locking themselves out of some of the good feeling they'd generate by supporting something people already have. Duo Pro and Standard Pro are supposed to be able to share essentially the same physical reader slot, but so far I don't think I've seen any Sony products that enable that option.

 

[jarrod]

Sony really needs to get PSP out in the spring for America imo, summer at the absolute latest. This fall the industry will refocus around Xenon and the coming next generation, PSP needs to slip in and get all the attention it can.

 

[sonycowboy]

Sony really needs to get PSP out in the spring for America imo, summer at the absolute latest. This fall the industry will refocus around Xenon and the coming next generation, PSP needs to slip in and get all the attention it can.

I think the launch of Xenon in the fall will be quite a whimper if they actually go through with it. Only a handful of titles vs Zelda, FFXII, GTA: SA (Xbox), and many others. There's also absolutely no chance of a Halo with launch so what would be the killer title. The more and more we discuss it, the less reason I can see for Microsoft to actually launch in 2005.

The PSP will get a lot of buzz, but it will fall into a similar situation. There will need to be compelling software for people to pay the big bucks for this system. However, I hardly think that it's DOA it it doesn't make it by date "x". They are completely seperate events.

 

[Fafalada]

Duo Pro and Standard Pro are supposed to be able to share essentially the same physical reader slot, but so far I don't think I've seen any Sony products that enable that option.

Well I imagine there would be some problem with Standard MS sticking out of some Duo devices because of size. Cameras and stuff usually can't accomodate larger stick then what they were designed for. But granted, with something like PSP that shouldn't be a showstopper, GBA is perfectly happy with larger GBC carts sticking several centimeters out...

They're locking themselves out of some of the good feeling they'd generate by supporting something people already have.

I wouldn't be surprised if some idiot behind those decisions feels that they generate extra profit by making people buy different MS for everything though. It's sad because they are running a perfectly good format into ground by these kind of decisions.

 

[kaching]

Either that or they could have taken the route of putting a standar Pro MS slot on the PSP - Duo Pro owners would then use one of the adapters that are available on the market to extend the Duo media to the same physical dimensions as standard Pro MS media.

The flash media manufacturers of the world don't seem like they're doing themselves much of a favor in general, through the proliferation of various formats and sub-formats (like MS Duo or mini-SD).

 

[Panajev2001a]

Well I imagine there would be some problem with Standard MS sticking out of some Duo devices because of size. Cameras and stuff usually can't accomodate larger stick then what they were designed for. But granted, with something like PSP that shouldn't be a showstopper, GBA is perfectly happy with larger GBC carts sticking several centimeters out...


I wouldn't be surprised if some idiot behind those decisions feels that they generate extra profit by making people buy different MS for everything though. It's sad because they are running a perfectly good format into ground by these kind of decisions.

Well, not exactly.

See, if you buy a Pro Duo card you can use it in devices that support it natively or with devices that only support Pro versions using an adapter: at the end I think the Pro Duo standard has more potetnial than the longer and less compact Pro format.

 

[jarrod]

I think the launch of Xenon in the fall will be quite a whimper if they actually go through with it. Only a handful of titles vs Zelda, FFXII, GTA: SA (Xbox), and many others. There's also absolutely no chance of a Halo with launch so what would be the killer title. The more and more we discuss it, the less reason I can see for Microsoft to actually launch in 2005.

The PSP will get a lot of buzz, but it will fall into a similar situation. There will need to be compelling software for people to pay the big bucks for this system. However, I hardly think that it's DOA it it doesn't make it by date "x". They are completely seperate events.

I agree with that but Xenon (like PS2 intitally) will be running mostly off hype and promise in 2005. It will be more about the "next gen" and as new hardware always does, shift the focus to newer stuff... even though PS3 & Revolution won't be on the market, you can be sure Nintendo and Sony will be talking them up. PSP needs to get out asap, especially if Sony thinks their PlayStation audience is the main target (lest PS owners decide to just wait for PS3). Targeting GCN and GBA at the same audience simultaneously was a huge disaster for Nintendo...

 

[Fafalada]

Either that or they could have taken the route of putting a standar Pro MS slot on the PSP - Duo Pro owners would then use one of the adapters that are available on the market to extend the Duo media to the same physical dimensions as standard Pro MS media.

Yeah that's what I hoped they would do too, but you know, DUO sticks sell for more

The flash media manufacturers of the world don't seem like they're doing themselves much of a favor in general, through the proliferation of various formats and sub-formats (like MS Duo or mini-SD).

Probably not, but they already have a larger portion of the market. The problem with the mess with Pro, and now with Duo, is that it shakes confidence in the format.
I mean, what next, 2 years later there will be ProTurboCharged for capacities over 2GB and it again won't work with existing devices like what happened with Pro...?

See, if you buy a Pro Duo card you can use it in devices that support it natively or with devices that only support Pro versions using an adapter:

I know, but regular Pro came first, and it's a fair bit cheaper (especially with higher capacity ones). And MS Pro's are already among the most expensive formats...
I do prefer Duo myself too(aside for the price), and if products like PSP take to mainstream it's clear which format is going to be here to stay (until they make another incompatible one at least ).