European PSP release date

Rew

March 25th 2005

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000547022221/

Yep, that Spong gang is ever so crafty, peaking at an official Sony document. And while the release date really ain’t a shocker, it’s nice to know, you know? Oh yeah, about that date…

monument

http://news.spong.com/detail/news.asp?prid=8057

Retr0gamer

I see sony are doing the PS2 tactic and not releasing enough units to satisfy demand. They can then sell there story to the papers about the PSP selling out on release. With the PS2 the christmas it was released here it sold out but the Dreamcast outsold it 5:1 during the same time period.

AthAnRi

Any words on a price yet? Apparently it ain't gonna be as steep as was first expected. The price for it in Japan worked out to be around 140 euro. If it's that price when It comes out here I'll definately be getting one. It's only a pity about the battery life.

kinkstr

i cant see it being available for 140 yo yo's,your in ireland remember,the most expensive county in the universe.
Its battery life is a major topic of discussion on the net,so i wont be rushing out and buying one until sony sort this out

Rew

kinkstr wrote:

i cant see it being available for 140 yo yo's,your in ireland remember,the most expensive county in the universe.
Its battery life is a major topic of discussion on the net,so i wont be rushing out and buying one until sony sort this out

I agree, at least €200 and the battery ywould have to be decent. Even at that id have to see it in action with a few games.

sound_wave

even if it is €140 ill be waiting till they sort out the supposed battery problem until i buy one

[nicK]

sound_wave wrote:

even if it is €140 ill be waiting till they sort out the supposed battery problem until i buy one

battery problem? it's a beast of a machine.. that's why it has a battery problem!
so keep your gameboy advance if you want to play games that won't eat up your battery life.

also, a spare battery pack can be bought for feck all these days.. and with the growing number of places available to charge batterys (cars, pc's etc) who cares if you only get 2hrs playing out of a quality game.. you can charge it up on the move or stick in your spare battery!

this whole *battery problem* won't be causing any trouble for sony.
well, it won't be stopping me from eventually getting mine anyway!

Hugh Hefner

http://storeone.net/kcstore/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi

PSP on preorder for £285.00! And that's without any games or built in software *coughpictochatcough*.

[nicK]

jeez, might invest in their one of their nintendo ds's... 190GBP is all. i don't mind waiting until they get their next batch in of course.. :rolleyes:

monument

[nicK] wrote:

well, it won't be stopping me from eventually getting mine anyway!

Do you have a GB/GBC/GBA/GameGear/N-gage/Java phone you play games with/etc/etc or have you played one? And if not, why do you want a handheld console now?

Will you be buying a handheld because you want to play games away from your console/PC? OR Will you be buying a handheld as a fan of a brand?

[I'm not trying to attack you here, all just out of interest]

Rew

[nicK] wrote:

jeez, might invest in their one of their nintendo ds's... 190GBP is all. i don't mind waiting until they get their next batch in of course.. :rolleyes:

My DS cost me €120/£80GBP

[nicK]

Rew wrote:

My DS cost me €120/£80GBP

not bad..
i think the psp's retail price comes in at around 165euro when converted over.. again, not bad, considering the hardware inside..

Do you have a GB/GBC/GBA/GameGear/N-gage/Java phone you play games with/etc/etc or have you played one? And if not, why do you want a handheld console now?

had a gameboy and gamegear.. a bit outdated now.. gba/ngage etc never appealed to me..

Will you be buying a handheld because you want to play games away from your console/PC? OR Will you be buying a handheld as a fan of a brand?

a fan of the brand? .. definately not.. although i hope to be!

Rew

I think at this stage all the specualtion is done (and not doing us any good) and we only have about 9 days to wait to see the turth about the PSP. I have yet to see a thread about either the DS or the PSP that hasn't turned in to a one is better the the other then.

To be fair the PSP has potential to be great and so does the DS alot of people are talking about having both. PSP will have PS2 gfx in a handheld device (as well as mp3 and video) and the DS can support decent FPS and proabably RTS games in a handheld. Alot of people think that you cannt compare them directly at all.

Faceing facts Sony arn't going to knock Nintendo off the handheld king spot any time soon, they sold over 1.3 mil Nintendo handhelds oin just 1 week last week in the US. Thats over 4 times the amount of PSP's that Sony hope to sell in the next month.

So maybe we can keep the theads to pure PSP or DS talk for a change.

Anyone got the list of PSP launch games?

Peteee

Rew wrote:

Faceing facts Sony arn't going to knock Nintendo off the handheld king spot any time soon,

I seem to recall people saying that when the playstation came out!!

Havnt a clue of the launch games tbh, but i will be picking one up for gran turismo, just think, we can all play GT portable while in the car!!

That 285 yoyos for a psp pre order seems awfully steep

I hope to be picking one up with a GB memory stick, trying to kill the gameboy/video player/mp3 player in one stone!

Yuri

Remember our good friend Hugh Hefner said the psp was £285 thats like €415 and thats a lot!! :eek:

tck

enjoy the 3.5/4 hours battery life

DrEvil

check this out a, 'real' hands on with the PSP
lot's of pics and a few videos of the psp

http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-17-74-ox.html

yawnstretch

I've played a DS as Im sure some of you have and quite frankly (as I realised when I first got pics of the original design over a year ago) its ugly and awkward and the graphics aint that great - sorry.

I've an SP which I intend to keep because Nintendo do make fantastic games now and then, but trust me - when anyone sees a DS side by side with a PSP there will be zero doubt as to which one is tastier.

Just download a few Ridge Racers videos for the PSP and then checkout the DS Ridge Racer screenshots. Why the hell would you need a stylus for a racing game, and why would you choose pre N64 graphics when you could have Ps2 graphics?

My only concern regarding the PSP is that I'll probably get beaten to death by thieves 3 seconds after I've left the house.

Wait until you've played both - a few seconds loading and a couple of hours in battery capacity is a tiny price to pay for such beauty.

tck

Well the game gear was a good piece of kit, reasonably priced and some good games, it went thru 6 batteries in a few hours.. the gameboy (then monochrome) still kicked it's ass because of the games and battery life.

The psp is a nice system, no ones denying the gfx, but i don't think the gfx are enough of a selling point, people will care about getting 10/12 hours from their DS and only 4 hrs (and maybe even less as time goes on) for a game or about 1.5-2 hrs for a movie from their psp.

It's about portability, playing it on trains/cars/buses/holidays etc.. having to go re-charge it and that takes hours will piss most people off something awful.

Jim

Alot of people say to me their buying a PSP because of the movie playing ability.
Tbh I can't really see myself watching a movie on the bus. Even if I did the battery would run out before the end of it.
I wouldn't use it as a MP3 player, too big, and I wouldn't want to fork out the prices of the memory sticks to store the music either.

I'm in this for the games, so DS is my man. Full 3D view with the touch screen, nyom.

yawnstretch

F.Y.I. it is "continuous 4 to 5 hours for video viewing".
http://psp.ign.com/articles/560/560950p1.html

6 AAs for the Gamegear for an hour is no comparison to a lithium Ion rechargeable on the PSP which gives you between 4 and 6 hours of gaming.

No one is getting "10/12 hours" out of a DS. Real battery life for the DS has been approximated closer to 8 hours - not that Id be on a DS that long without permanent damage to my hands - have you tried to play a game on one for more than 30 mins? Most DS owners I know say the only comfortable way to play it is crouched over with the thing on your knees! Portable my ass.

Rew

Gamespot have a hands on as well

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/12/05/news_6114458.html?q=1&tag=gs_hp_topslot_click

Cannt read any of em in work thanks to poxy websense

tck

yawnstretch wrote:

F.Y.I. it is "continuous 4 to 5 hours for video viewing".
http://psp.ign.com/articles/560/560950p1.html

6 AAs for the Gamegear for an hour is no comparison to a lithium Ion rechargeable on the PSP which gives you between 4 and 6 hours of gaming.

No one is getting "10/12 hours" out of a DS. Real battery life for the DS has been approximated closer to 8 hours - not that Id be on a DS that long without permanent damage to my hands - have you tried to play a game on one for more than 30 mins? Most DS owners I know say the only comfortable way to play it is crouched over with the thing on your knees! Portable my ass.

"These numbers, according to SCE, were determined with the system's luminance set to maximum (180 cd/m2) and minimum (80 cd/m2), volume set to half the maximum level, headphones used instead of speakers and wireless LAN not in use (note that the maximum luminance value rises to 200 cd/m2 when playing through AC power)."

first off, i aint going to trust what SCE says - they are going to say its higher than it really is, vol at half and using earpieces ? and no wifi in use?

these aren't proper statistics

yawnstretch

There are hundreds of articles about PSP battery life because of the fact that it like an MD player has moveable parts and optical storage media.

Obviously battery hours can vary depending on how something is used. My digital camera for example has 3 levels of brightness and I always have it on the lowest setting, I dont need to blind myself and I get extra hours from it - and whats wrong with using earphones? I don't see myself using external speakers on a bus/train/car/luas myself.

Edit: Also, if you read it again I think they are saying it's external speakers at half volume, or else using headphones - which makes more sense.

Not proper statistics? Show me a better source of information than the company that makes the product.

Retr0gamer

Show me a better source of information than the company that makes the product.

This is the company that created the bull**** emotion engine hype and gives theoretical performance values for all its products. However pratically ever electronics manufacturer does the same. The best information is from hands on previews and reviews from respectable magazines and websites i.e. not bribe monkeys like IGN or 'official' websites and magazines.

tck

yawnstretch wrote:

There are hundreds of articles about PSP battery life because of the fact that it like an MD player has moveable parts and optical storage media.

Obviously battery hours can vary depending on how something is used. My digital camera for example has 3 levels of brightness and I always have it on the lowest setting, I dont need to blind myself and I get extra hours from it - and whats wrong with using earphones? I don't see myself using external speakers on a bus/train/car/luas myself.

Edit: Also, if you read it again I think they are saying it's external speakers at half volume, or else using headphones - which makes more sense.

Not proper statistics? Show me a better source of information than the company that makes the product.

well john pickford says its between 90-120 mins at the moment

so i'll trust him over power saving stats from SCE

yawnstretch

You might want to give us a bit more than that please?

evad_lhorg

[nicK] wrote:

not bad..
i think the psp's retail price comes in at around 165euro when converted over.. again, not bad, considering the hardware inside..

well lets see. the ds which when you do the exchange from dollars works out at about 115 euros but when it's released here it will cost about 160. if the psp converts to about 160 then it will be around 200 when released on these shores.


and dont say youre not a fan of the brand you were the lad suckin sony off in another thread about whoch console is best when clearly you hadnt even played the others properly.!


the psp has absolute pants games so far on the line up except the final fantasy VII game but you wont be able to enjoy it cause FF is a series where you play for a few hours at atime and the psp wont be able to handle it. metal gear wil probably be full of fmvs which means the battery wil be gone before the first cut scene is done!

tbh both conosles have pretty rubbish games at launch but at least the ds has a better selection. and sony are muppets. they are gonna purposely not make enough so everyone will hear it sells out and theyll think it must be amazing like the amazing ps2. it's ridiclous. and you complain about "the next batch of ds" whenever it arrives. it sold out because it was a cool machine not cause Nintendo decided to not make enough.

monument

"This apparent response to concerns over the battery life of the system - which is quoted as around 10 hours for music and two hours for movie playback - places the problem firmly in the developers' court."

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/news.php?aid=4667

"two hours for movie playback" if it can even work that long how many films are longer? And Sony's power restrictions on games (link above) doesn’t sound too hopeful.

I’ll be sticking to my MP3 player for music, buying a DS for games, and when on a bus/train/aeroplane I’ll be trying to do some of this crazy reading stuff.

But when Sony (or anyone) does get around to making a decent music/games/film(/phone/tooth brush/knife/microwave oven) player, (with a decent battery life, and a decent built-in storage for MP3s at the very least) I’ll be getting it.

evad_lhorg

we've all seen how ipods are. they start off with about 8-12 hours battery life but that gradually gets smaller and smaller the more use it gets. it will be the same for psp. i know there is replacement batteries for sale but i dont wanna buy something and then have to replace the battery to get slightly better but still **** battery life.

yawnstretch

Well - I think everyone is blowing the battery thing way out of proportion but whatever.

Regarding the ipod - I've heard of loads of issues with its battery component dying a year after purchase etc but an ipod isnt a psp.

All I know is that if I went into Game with a PSP or a DS I know which would get more of a reaction and I know which has impressed me more from what I've researched for the past year and a half.

Nintendo had a good idea but it was poorly implemented - Im not sure how it might have been better designed but the fact remains that it leaves a lot to be desired. I think my disappointment with the DS style coupled with sonys fantastic creation makes the decision an easy one.

Had there not been a PSP I still wouldnt buy a DS. I love metroid but I dont feel like carrying "My First Computer" around the place with me.

evad_lhorg

if you walked into GAME you think the psp would get more of a reaction? well you should've seen the reaction when one of the grafton st lads came over to dawson st with his ds. we crowded around like school children!

ill agree the psp looks super slick and i think the ds shouldve been released black but thats nothin to go on. they just need to get more 'real' games on the ds and not just mini games showing what the stylus can do but i fear that's all it will be good for apart from fps.

projectmayhem

the psp battery is clearly a bone of contention but apparently it's been resolved, with an extra hour being sucked out, but they're releasing a cheap peripheral to plug in somewhere to give it another few hours worth of gaming

steviec

tck wrote:

Well the game gear was a good piece of kit, reasonably priced and some good games, it went thru 6 batteries in a few hours.. the gameboy (then monochrome) still kicked it's ass because of the games and battery life.

The psp is a nice system, no ones denying the gfx, but i don't think the gfx are enough of a selling point, people will care about getting 10/12 hours from their DS and only 4 hrs (and maybe even less as time goes on) for a game or about 1.5-2 hrs for a movie from their psp.

It's about portability, playing it on trains/cars/buses/holidays etc.. having to go re-charge it and that takes hours will piss most people off something awful.

The thing about the Gamegear was that you had to keep buying normal AA batteries for it, or god awful AA rechargeable batteries that you had to buy a separate charger for and took longer to charge than they did to waste.

That's not an issue anymore. 4 hours battery life in full use seems grand to me. I honestly can't think of an example when I'd ever be sitting down in one place with no access to anything I can charge from for more than four hours playing a game. Maybe if we lived in a bigger country you'd need it for train journeys but not in Ireland.

koneko

I loved my Game Gear. I really did. But after a while, I got sick of the battery life. I used it on the power outlet most of the time, I might aswell have been playing MegaDrive games (within reach!) at the time instead. So I sold it. I never once missed it.

Some PSP videos and things here:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-17-74-ox.html

I was stuck on flights to the US recently. 8 hours. Imagine if I had a PSP, play it for 2 hours, then what? Boredom. Instead I listened to music (my MP3 player has 24 hour battery life, I charged it once throughout the whole trip) and read books.

The PSP is going to be have to be pretty frelling good to convince me to buy one, and nothing I've seen so far has convinced me.

Retr0gamer

the psp has absolute pants games so far on the line up except the final fantasy VII game

I don't hold too much hope for that. Hironobu Sakaguchi has left and Square enixs output has been less than stellar ever since.

steviec

koneko wrote:

I loved my Game Gear. I really did. But after a while, I got sick of the battery life. I used it on the power outlet most of the time, I might aswell have been playing MegaDrive games (within reach!) at the time instead. So I sold it. I never once missed it.

Some PSP videos and things here:
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-17-74-ox.html

I was stuck on flights to the US recently. 8 hours. Imagine if I had a PSP, play it for 2 hours, then what? Boredom. Instead I listened to music (my MP3 player has 24 hour battery life, I charged it once throughout the whole trip) and read books.

The PSP is going to be have to be pretty frelling good to convince me to buy one, and nothing I've seen so far has convinced me.

Aren't gameboys and the like banned on aeroplanes anyway? I seem to remember my brother not being allowed to use his on a trip to Spain a while ago.
I could easily be wrong though, even if I am you'd want to be a pretty frequent flyer if that's the only time you can think of when battery life would be an issue.

Rew

steviec wrote:

Aren't gameboys and the like banned on aeroplanes anyway? I seem to remember my brother not being allowed to use his on a trip to Spain a while ago.
I could easily be wrong though, even if I am you'd want to be a pretty frequent flyer if that's the only time you can think of when battery life would be an issue.

That policy is changing slowly but surly. There are a few threads here about it.

Retr0gamer

Most airlines allow them but not during take off or landing. A few ignorant such as aerlingus won't allow them at all despite allowing laptops and CD players.

steviec

Yea it doesn't really make any sense not allowing them. I haven't been on a plane in a good few years so wasn't aware they'd changed.

tck

I think another reason thats making developers walk away from it especially in japan is the cost of producing games.

The resources / people / and kit is very expenisve, approaching a Ps2 budget.
Some companies can't compete, they like the smaller production costs of the DS.

we'll just have to wait and see.

koneko

steviec wrote:

Aren't gameboys and the like banned on aeroplanes anyway? I seem to remember my brother not being allowed to use his on a trip to Spain a while ago.

They're not banned, at all.

I could easily be wrong though, even if I am you'd want to be a pretty frequent flyer if that's the only time you can think of when battery life would be an issue.

So you don't see any disadvantages to a portable unit having short battery life? Why have a portable unit at all then instead of just playing Xbox/Gamecube/PS2 games?

It should be the type of thing that works just as well as my mobile and MP3 player do. I use it, put it in my bag, use it again later, put it in my bag, use it when I'm waiting again for something else. With the PSP it sounds more like I use it a while, then again later, and Oopsy I'm out of battery.

Aer Lingus have no problem with them either, for the record. Flown with them several times recently and everything was allowed during the flight, but nothing during take-off and landing.

Cows With Guns

March 25th 2005, the day before my birthday. Parents, don't make me ask!

steviec

koneko wrote:

It should be the type of thing that works just as well as my mobile and MP3 player do. I use it, put it in my bag, use it again later, put it in my bag, use it when I'm waiting again for something else. With the PSP it sounds more like I use it a while, then again later, and Oopsy I'm out of battery.

A couple of hours of continuous use would kill your phone too, I play Ancient Empires(game a bit like advance wars) on mine and it doesn't last too long. That's never been a problem though, I've never ended up with a dead phone and not been able to charge it. If I'm at home there's a socket, if I'm in work there's a socket, if I'm in college there's a socket, if I'm anywhere else chances are I'm doing something more important than staring at a game for four hours or more. As I said plane journeys and train journeys are the only exception, but I don't know how many people, particularly in a country the size of Ireland, are frequently sitting on a train for that length of time.

koneko

You're not getting the point here, but there's no point in me repeating the same thing over and over again.

I don't want to have to charge a portable unit every 2 hours. I don't carry a charger around for everything I own.

yawnstretch

You're not getting his point either koneko.

Also its 4-5 hours video viewing, 4-6hours gaming.

Do you really think that you're going to be playing LAN with external speakers on full every time you play? - as that's all that will bring it under 4 hours.

koneko

The indications I've seen on the web are a lot less than 4-6 hours of gaming. We'll have to see what it's really like once it starts shipping and reviews end up on the web. It's hard to say in advance whether the unit is worth buying or not, I didn't end up getting a GBA until the SP was out for ages (and there were plenty of games available).

Oh and I get his point, I just don't agree with it.

Retr0gamer

Aer Lingus have no problem with them either, for the record. Flown with them several times recently and everything was allowed during the flight, but nothing during take-off and landing

Wasn't allowed use mine when going to New York. However that was a year ago.

koneko

Must have been a recent change so (last few months). They pretty much said they allow everything (including discmans which were banned on a lot of airlines), except at take-off and landing. Change for the better anyway

tck

yawnstretch wrote:

You're not getting his point either koneko.

Also its 4-5 hours video viewing, 4-6hours gaming.

Do you really think that you're going to be playing LAN with external speakers on full every time you play? - as that's all that will bring it under 4 hours.

4-5 by sony's standards

u WONT GET 4-5 hours for gaming out of the psp