PSP Release Date Announced

[Red Devil]

Sony have announced the Japanese launch date and price for the PSP... and its going to be here much sooner than expected. Many people were expecting a March release with a price up to £300. However, Sony have announced that it's out in Japan on 12th December for 20,790 yen... which is about £107! Apparently, Sony decided on this price by asking the people in the Sony offices how much they'd pay for one. Genius!

However, Sony have kept things vague over USA and European releases. They predict early 2005. A good bet would be a March US release with the european release shortly after. However, Sony have confirmed that the PSP games are region free, so you could buy one on import and still play the games when they are released in your area.

The basic PSP pack comes with a battery pack and an AC adaptor for charging the battery. However, for an extra £34, you can get the value pack, which also includes a 32mb Memory Stick Duo, a pair of headphones (with built in remote control) and a carry case.

Sony have also confirmed the battery life of the PSP. It's good for around 6 hours of gaming and 5 hours of video. However, this figure assumes that you are using headphones at half-volume and your not using the wireless multiplayer capabilities. No figures have been released for battery life with wireless on, but expect it to be a massive power drain. Might be worth buying another battery...

This is how the PSP compares to other handhelds in battery life...

GBA SP...........10 hours
Ipod................8 Hours
DS..................6-10 hours
PSP.................4-6 hours

There will be 21 launch titles when the console debuts in Japan and there will be more when it reaches the US and Europe. The biggest games at lauch are...

Metal Gear Acid
Need For Speed Underground: Rivals
Tiger Woods PGA Tour
Dynasty Warriors
Puyo Pop Fever
Hot Shots Golf
Puzzle Bobble Pocket
Lumines
Vampire Chronicle: The Dark Tower

Other titles coming to PSP include...

Crisis Core - Final Fantasy 7 (another spin off??)
Oni
Viewtiful Joe
Fifa 2005
Revenge of the Sith
Pro Evolution Soccer
and Gran Turismo 4

[Sharpshooter]

£107 ! I'm going to get one. Thats about £100 lower that what i would have estimated when i'd seen the power the PSP has. Its got a great launch line-up as well and with games such as GT4, Burnout and Pro Evolution Soccer to follow, Nintendo will have to make the DS launch big.

Looks like the battery life will be the biggest problem though, as it was the N-gage. Looks like i'll be buying a spare battery.

An earlier PSP topic - with a few links to other sites- can be found here

[sasimi]

Well... for future reference can u put that into american currency since all of here arnt european... but yea i might get one since i figure its about 125 $ in american money.

[HuRRiCaNe22491]

The battery life is around what I've heard and expected, but I still think that's the weakest point for the PSP.

And I used an online converter, and it said that it would be approx. $144.

[Sharpshooter]

Originally Posted by sasimi

Well... for future reference can u put that into american currency since all of here arnt european... but yea i might get one since i figure its about 125 $ in american money.

I'd say your estimate is a bit off sasimi, since £1 is worth about $1.85 at the moment. Anyway, according to a currency converter:

20,790 YEN = $203.75 (appox.)
£107 = $207.98 (app.)

[Red Devil]

Hmm funny. I work it out at $197.95. What exchange rates are we all working on here?

Sasimi, I didn't have put the price in $ as I didn't have time to go looking for an exchange rate. I'm well aware that not everyone is from the UK... most of the active members here aren't. But still, it wouldn't hurt for someone else to find the American price if I don't put it, as it's not always possible for me to find it.

Anyone know a site that lists the current exchange rate?

[sasimi]

if u mean tax rate it varys where u go.. in california they have about 10+ different tax rates.. and delaware has none. it all depends where u go that varies it. but your right it is not a big dea just that i woud like to know instead of goin fishing

[Red Devil]

No I mean the exchange rate between Dollars and Pounds. As in the rate that you use convert pounds into dollars or vice versa. I don't have a clue what you mean by Tax rate.

[sasimi]

lmao not to be rude but u dont know what taxes are? well in america we have something called sales tax , income tax... and about 20 different types of taxes but when every we buy something we get sales tax. which varies where ever u are but as sharp said it is something like 1.89% for every pound u guys have.

[Sharpshooter]

I think red devil means that we dont call it tax rate over here. Anyway, doesnt the stock exchange change currency rates? We know what taxes are: we only get charged an extra 17.5% for almost everything we buy (VAT as its known). We do have council tax, etc.