the PSP price has been officially announced as $60

if there were any doubts I was getting this before, they're gone now

And granted, this is a couple weeks old, but it's the first I've heard of it where a definite price was involved.

http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/345/C2209/

Wednesday November 5, 2003 12:15 PM EST
Source: The Register





Sony Electronics has recently detailed plans to release an all-in-one handheld gaming device that includes a digital music and video player and could even act as mobile telephone.

The $60 device is set to rival Apples iPod device. A prototype will be available by the end of 2004 and will look similar to Nokia's N-Gage.

The "concept model" shown by Kutaragi, Sony's executive deputy president and head of its gaming business, was a one-piece device designed to be grasped in two hands, with a bright, color screen roughly 4.5 inches (11.4 cm) in diameter.

See press release below.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sony Details Gaming-Music Player, iPod Rival

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Japan's Sony Corp. on Tuesday detailed plans for a much-anticipated all-in-one handheld gaming device that includes a digital music and video player and could even act as mobile telephone.

Officials of the world's largest consumer electronics maker also said Sony would launch a rival to Apple Computer Inc's iPod digital music player next year for as little as $60.

Sony described a prototype for its PSP gaming device -- due out before the end of 2004 -- during a presentation to U.S. investors that reiterated plans to restore profitability at the company.

"PSP will be the Walkman of the future," declared Ken Kutaragi, Sony's executive deputy president and head of its gaming business, comparing a PSP prototype to Sony's highly successful earlier generation of music players.

PSP is designed to rival Nintendo Co. Ltd's Game Boy handheld game player, mobile phone maker Nokia Oyj's N-Gage wireless gaming device and Apple's iPod and iTunes music download service.

Sony plans to eventually add telecommunication features, Kutaragi told a news conference afterward, lending credence to speculation PSP devices would also serve as mobile phones.

Sony currently envisions a device that looks somewhat similar to Nokia's recently introduced N-Gage gaming phone, but with a bigger display that makes it looks more like a handheld television.

The "concept model" showed off by Kutaragi was a one-piece device designed to be grasped in two hands, with a bright, color screen roughly 4.5 inches (11.4 cm) in diameter, he told Reuters.

"PSP will not be one kind of product," Kutaragi said. Rather, it is a platform of related devices with the capacity to add or subtract features, he said, while stressing that final design details are not expected to be revealed until later.

While crediting Apple and its chief executive, Steve Jobs, for the success of the iPod, Sony officials said the PSP would allow consumers to watch music videos as well as listen to digital tunes.

"We are taking on iPod with our new device," another Sony official said. "We are coming at him (Steve Jobs) on that front."

Sony executives said that next year it will introduce versions of a rival music player to the iPod for as little as $60, a price only one-quarter or less than the $200 to $400 Apple charges for various versions of its sleek product.

Apple's lead in innovating in the portable music sector practically invented by Sony has been highlighted as typical of the problems at the Japanese company, which last month reported a 25 percent drop in quarterly profits.

Only $60 for Sony's handheld? Look out Nintendo.

That's frickin sweet, especially if the prices for the games are gonna be what I heard, ($15-20).

for some reason I highly doubt the PSP will be only 60 bucks. If it is, the games will probably be overpriced.

This topic has already been beat to death on other message boards; they're not talking about just one thing throughout that article. In fact, it's about both the PSP ~and~ a rival to Apple's iPod (which is the thing that will cost about $60). It's a very poorly written article because most people are mislead when they read it:

"Officials of the world's largest consumer electronics maker ~also said~ (notice they are talking about a different thing) Sony would launch a rival to Apple Computer Inc's iPod digital music player next year for as little as $60."

Sorry to disappoint

Yeah, if I read it right, the $60 their talking about is the accessory to PSP that would play MP3s..hence ipod killer.

Yeah that article is a bit misleading...it doesnt directlysay the PSP will be 60

yea the way I read it was that Sony's I-pod killer was going to be 60. Also Sony lies alot so I would still expect this to be an expensive machine(150-199)

I think sony would be stupid to sell this @ $60 a pop at release, if they can really sell it that cheap, they would probably price it around the same as a gbasp. No way this system will be $60 at release.

Still though, the PSP is starting to look better and better.

:lol: 8) :? :shock: :x

They are going to have difrent add-ons which do diffrent things. you buy the base model (60$) then you buy your addon for games or if u want to listen to music or watch movies you buy that add on.

somtin like that and shut up bout ma shitty spelling

Your spelling sucks.

In the new EGM, they list the "official" expected MSRP at $299........which I don't think I'll fork out right away...

Yea....according to EGM it'll be around 300 bucks /

Looks like people will be waiting around for a price drop. XD

it does look nicer than the n-gage though :shock:

The N-Gage was a horrible attempt at a handheld. It wasn't even practical as far as changing games / (you have to take out the battery to change the game....)

Looks are the least of the N-Gages problems.

HAHA! Yes, the party for the N-Gage must have been a hoot!

The Ngage is such a joke.

It's funny, whenever I see one advertised, I always think to myself "they're still making that thing?"

Seriously, who would buy a game system that costs more than a Xbox/Ps2, and THREE times the price of a GC (well it did before it's price drop anyways...), and that only plays ports of outdated games that were on the playstation?

WHO?

[quote name='JoeySweredoski']The Ngage is such a joke.

It's funny, whenever I see one advertised, I always think to myself "they're still making that thing?"

Seriously, who would buy a game system that costs more than a Xbox/Ps2, and THREE times the price of a GC (well it did before it's price drop anyways...), and that only plays ports of outdated games that were on the playstation?

WHO?[/quote]

Yes but remember its more than a Game Deck, its also an MP3 player and a Tri Band GSM world phone. I got 2 unlocked GSM phones with the same capabilities of N-Gage cept their not game deck but supports JAVA games and both are around $200-250, of course they look much better..For its other functions N-Gage is still a great buy.

Yes but remember its more than a Game Deck, its also an MP3 player and a Tri Band GSM world phone. I got 2 unlocked GSM phones with the same capabilities of N-Gage cept their not game deck but supports JAVA games and both are around $200-250, of course they look much better..For its other functions N-Gage is still a great buy.

Click to expand...

lol
I actually forgot it did all that. Still, I don't see it sticking around for too long.

$60 or $300, dosn't matter really. Am I aloud to say "GAMEBOY KILLER" now?

Nintendo better have something huge planned for next year or you might be playing super mario 256 on the ps3!!!

ooo $300!? too steep for me i guess i'll wait for the 1st pricedrop

man thats a sweet looking handheld

Even with the Sony name a hand-held can not survive at 300 bucks IMO. That price will drop fast.

Damn,im getting it now that its really cheap

"Damn,im getting it now that its really cheap"

What do you mean cheap? It's not even out yet.

I think he thought the thing is $60.

This thread needs to be locked.

Nice looking handheld device? Yes. Gameboy killer? No. With the number of titles available for the GBA it will be hard to catch up. It's like starting from behind really. It's the same reason I don't think Nintendo will or should ever go online. Why go online when Sony and Microsoft are already doing it well? You'll only look like third fiddle to those guys.

The ngage was a joke. It really sucked and didnt sell to good. It will rot in hell as soon as the PSP comes out.

The N-gage may have had a plethora of options, but in the end, they were nothing more than gimmicks w/ little to no practical value.

Just like a TV w/ built-in DVD player or a receiver... it may be convenient to have the all-in-one package, but this almost always drops the overall quality of each unit. Take a $3,000.00 receiver and use that money towards a great preamp, power amp and tuner and trust me, the separates will usually blow it away in terms of performance. The other downside to having this all-in-one device especilaly if you use most of these features is the battery life. Listening to MP3s, calling friends and playing games? Say bye-bye to your battery life in no time flat. Take into account that the button configuration and overall design as a phone and handheld videogame are not intuitive at all, its "tallscreen" format and the ordeal to insert/take out a game just to name a few issues and you got yourself a headache that I'd gladly avoid at all costs.

On topic: Sony honestly seems to have the only chance of chipping its way into Nintendo's dominant handheld marketshare. Given its established PSX/PS2 userbase and their Sony name, I believe that they will make it in handheld videogame market and to be honest, they seem to be doing it right so far. I'm curious what the battery life will be for it though. It won't be a GB killer, however, IMHO. Gameboy/Nintendo brand name, rep for quality not to mention the handheld market and that extensive library of games backwards compatible and then the current games? Sony'll survive and probably chip into Nintendo's 90+% market share, but Nintendo won't have to worry. At the same time, Nintendo's been developing a counter, of course. ^^x

-Soujirou

$60?....there has to be a catch, like maybe the games being really expensive or something. But if thats true, there will be nothing stopping me from getting one

the SCEE president said the price is closer to 370 than 550

gamepro as the article here:

http://www.gamepro.com/gamepro/domestic/games/news/32669.shtml

$60 :shock:

If you believe that joke, call me. I'm selling a ski resort in Florida for $1000.

$1000 bucks?! I'll take it! Wait a minute...There isn't a ski resort in....oh...oh, you sly dog you.

Anyways, if you would have read the rest of the post, I guess it's supposed to be about an accessory that will attach to the PSP (yes funny how I'm guessing...I only read some of it too, but I got the gist of it ). PSP probably less than 370 bucks, and now you got to buy accessories to make it do the other things. I dunno, I'm not gonna call it a Gameboy killer just yet.

It going to come down to how well it can do all the things they plan to make it do to justify the price. Digital music player, game system, phone, etc. if any of these are substandard the price it going to end up dropping really fast.

I think in like a year at like wireless stores it will be like "sign up for $39.99 and recieve a free N-Gage" Then maybe I'll get it...

N-gage is a horrible attempt at a gaming portable system. I tried playing it in the store with the coil built into the wall at my local target, and within 2 minutes i was smashing the buttons trying to understand what the hell was going on. There are numbers, letters, little decimals and symbols everywhere, so my idea of a gaming experience isnt holding something that looks like a badly updated version of the nokia 3300 and shooting a 2 polygon guy on a screen with the *984&@(! button. I was about to break the thing.

As for PSP, it'll probably retail around 200-300$, with a few games out with the release right away. It'll definitely make a dent in the nintendo sales, but until it goes down to 149 im not getting it because, im a cheap ass and i shouldnt have to pay more for a handhold console then my gamecube and PS2 combined, IF you know what i mean. They said they'd port classic PS1 and PS2 games to the system, and some companies are working exclusively on sequels to titles just for the PSP (or so EGM says). The 60$ was the competitor to the iPod, there new device coming out sometime later. All in all for the PSP though, I can't say nintendo killer, but can you say, KICK-ASS!

The design looked nice, but I dont like the flat buttons. I might get one, but nned a lot more specific information on price, game quality, and battery life.

We should know at E3.

[quote name='PlatformPro']$60 :shock:

If you believe that joke, call me. I'm selling a ski resort in Florida for $1000.[/quote]

I hope that's a waterski resort.

[quote name='videogamejunkie']Nintendo better have something huge planned for next year or you might be playing super mario 256 on the ps3!!! [/quote]I wouldn't worry about that happening.

Holy shit! It's a megabump.

Wow, a thread that began before I joined many moons ago.