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[Wario64]

http://1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3136818

Sony's PSP is going to be in short supply when it launches in Japan December 12, which means it's likely that some Japanese gamers will wind up paying a premium on top of the 20,000-yen asking price. As part of a special promotion, though, Sony's auctioning off 500 PSPs for shipment one week before the official launch date, so a select few can at least let themselves be gouged for a good cause.

The auction, held through Japanese retailer Rakuten, is a charity event, with the proceeds from the sale of 500 PSP Value Packs (including the new handheld hardware and several accompanying accessories) going to victims of the recent earthquakes in Niigata prefecture.

Rgistering a 6.8 on the Richter scale, the October 23 quakes caused severe damage to more than 20,000 homes in the northern region of Japan's main island of Honshu, as well as other buildings and much of the local transportation infrastructure.

Each of the 500 PSPs auctioned off will be engraved with the user's name and shipped out on December 5, one week before the official release date.

6.8 strikes again

 

[sonycowboy]

 

[neptunes]

Arghh!

I entered the thread thinking SCEA was going to do it!

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Nintendo started a trend, who knew...

 

[Gantz]

That's pretty pathetic that Sony is using the earthquake to sell the PSP.

 

[LowTecky]

lol. Nintendo donated some food? Fuck lets out do them!

 

[Smiles and Cries]

lol. Nintendo donated some food? Fuck lets out do them!

the DS was also featured on an EBAY Charity thing a few months back

 

[mrklaw]

Arghh!

I entered the thread thinking SCEA was going to do it!

Why don't the other regions do soft / silent launches? Just ship 10k units into the US and Europe to get the headlines, and early word of mouth going.

 

[neptunes]

Why don't the other regions do soft / silent launches? Just ship 10k units into the US and Europe to get the headlines, and early word of mouth going.

Why SCEA isn't marketing the psp yet is beyond me, coca-cola contests don't count.

 

[Wario64]

Why SCEA isn't marketing the psp yet is beyond me, coca-cola contests don't count.

It doesn't come out for a while in the US though...isn't it a bit early to market it?

 

[kaching]

Only gamers seem to expect electronic products to be marketed months in advance of their street date.

 

[Jonnyram]

It's not an engraving, the 500 purchasers get a special screen in the PSP menu system showing their name and the thanks message:

1772 bids so far - it's a blind auction so you have no idea what the current bids are, either. But I have to question the point in getting a PSP a week before street date if there are no games with it. You could play with the menu for a week? Or send it to some hackers to give them a head start on hacking the memory stick I/O.

 

[firex]

But will they reveal that terrorists bought 5000 PSPs and are planning to use them to make a worldwide terror network?

 

[neptunes]

It doesn't come out for a while in the US though...isn't it a bit early to market it?

It's never to oearly for a hype train.

 

[Trakball]

It's not an engraving, the 500 purchasers get a special screen in the PSP menu system showing their name and the thanks message:

that's pretty fucking cool, i have to admit

 

[DCharlie]

"That's pretty pathetic that Sony is using the earthquake to sell the PSP."

I don't think they need to use the earthquake to sell the PSP, given how hard it's been to get preorders.

Seems like a straight forward case of using their pull to get people to give to the Niigata fund. Good stuff IMO.

 

[AndriaSang]

Seems like a straight forward case of using their pull to get people to give to the Niigata fund.

The end result will be lots of cash going to the Niigata fund, but also lots of headlines for Sony and the PSP. The winner is everyone. Wish they'd have included a few games in the bundle -- that would make people bid even more.

 

[Jonnyram]

2685 bids now.
Bidding ends at midnight.

 

[AndriaSang]

I bet if you put in a big bid and had the message say something obscene instead of your name, you could get your money back with change on Ebay.

 

[DCharlie]

No one gonna take the plunge?

I assume the top 500 bids win?

Wonder if it's worth a few strategic bids?

 

[Brofist]

I woudn't go higher than ￥50,000..and even that might not be enough to get one. Figure if nothing else I could ebay the one I'll pick up at launch

 

[Arcticfox]

According to the auction site, the 400th highest bid a little past the halfway point was 40,000 so I think 50,000 will be close to the cutoff point by the end. Not much higher than what some people were expecting the retail price to be a couple months ago :lol