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[Dagon]

Has it been confirmed whether or not the PSP is going to be region-free for games?

On GamerTV just now, they had an interview with Izumi Kawanishi, and he said that since the PSP is a portable machine that can be played anywhere, it should be able to play games from anywhere.

Sounds like a confirmation to me.

 

[Defensor]

PSP will be region free for games. Now for UMD movies and music? That hasn't been decided yet.

 

[teiresias]

How many times are people going to ask this question?

 

[Dagon]

How many times are people going to ask this question?

Can you please link me to the story where a Sony official says in no uncertain terms Yes, the PSP will be region free?

 

[Defensor]

http://psp.ign.com/articles/561/561098p1.html

PSP adopts both a "worldwide" and "regional" code system," explains Molly Smith of SCE America. "For games on PSP there is no region code. However, due to language and system issues, quality assurance procedures are done in each territory. Therefore, we recommend purchasing both the hardware and corresponding software in the same market/territory."

PSP will not be entirely open to import collectors, as the options for region encoding on UMD Video releases is still undetermined. Region encoding on DVDs are still a sticky situation that the manufacturers are holding tightly to and consider vital to the format. With PlayStation Portable being capable of running high-resolution video, movie makers may not be comfortable with allowing the handheld to play movies from anywhere. However, we would guess that a Region 0 would be included in the PSP spec as it is on DVD players, or the option could be turned off for movies that do not require the feature.

 

[Dagon]

Thank you.

 

[Miburou]

How can a system be region-coded for music?

 

[Wario64]

Best place to preorder a PSP for cheap, anyone?

 

[Midas]

How can a system be region-coded for music?

Yeah, I cant understand why they would do such a thing.

 

[Lyte Edge]

Best place to preorder a PSP for cheap, anyone?

It's probably too late to get one now; pre-orders have been going on at import sites for a few months already.

Also, while sites like NCS (they closed pre-orders already) are saying it will be around $255, there's supposed to be a shoartage of units at launch and I'd expect price-gouging to make it sell for around $400 or more when it first ships.

I pre-ordered, but $300 is my LIMIT on this thing...I don't expect the system to affordable until sometime next year, perhaps even closer to the U.S. launch (if it's still March)

 

[mrklaw]

Best place to preorder a PSP for cheap, anyone?

Find a friendly guy in Japan. Play-Asia closed their preorders this week.

 

[Lyte Edge]

As much as I'm enjoying my DS, I'm actually considering selling it off now to get some cash towards a PSP and then buying another DS later on once more games have been released next year.

But I guess that's probably not worth it...

 

[Dagon]

And even then you might be out of luck. There's going to be a shortage of PSPs on launch day, so it's definitely a seller's market.

Welcome to 1999.

 

[Lyte Edge]

And even then you might be out of luck. There's going to be a shortage of PSPs on launch day, so it's definitely a seller's market.

Welcome to 1999.

Forget 1999. How about November 1998, when Dreamcast systems were selling for OVER $1000? Or PS2 systems that went for $600+ shortly after launch in April 2000?

And I'm not talking about eBay sales here. That's how much my store was paying to get these systems WHOLESALE.

Demand for the PSP seems insanely large and the shortage of units is definitely going to have the system at a high price for a few months. I'll be shocked if it's actually selling for $300 or less from importers in a few weeks.