Quote:So how much will the Sony games handheld cost?
By gamesindustry.biz
Posted: 11/01/2004 at 23:30 GMT
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New comments made by recently promoted Sony Europe president Chris Deering regarding the PlayStation Portable have hinted at a price point in the £250 range, while Japanese retail sources quote figures in a similar range.
Deering stated that the system would diverge from Sony's traditional console business model by being sold at a price which would make a profit on hardware alone, and suggested a price "closer to £200 than £300."
This comment ties in with information from Japanese retail sources last this week, who told us that a price point around 50,000 Yen was being bandied about in Tokyo - in fact, the most exact figure we were given was 48,000 Yen, almost exactly £250.
Quoted in UK trade paper MCV, Deering said that "the feeling is that this product should generate profit on hardware alone. We want to make it affordable for publishers to produce a wide range of entertainment and so royalties will be lower down in the mix this time round."
A move to reduce royalties on the system would be a major boost to third party support for the PSP, especially since for many publishers, the last experience they had of handheld gaming was Nintendo's GBA - where high royalty and manufacturing costs mean that very few companies other than Nintendo itself make a profit from the system, despite the fact that Nintendo also makes a profit on hardware sales.
Last week, Deering stated that the company is aiming for a global launch for PSP in Novemberthis year, although this was quickly revised to mid-December by SCE vice president Masutsuka Saeki, who gave the new estimate in an interview with Famitsu.
Note -- 250 pounds is $462, and 48,000 Yen is $450, using the currency converter on this link. http://www.xe.com/ucc/
While in Japan, everyone who buys it, whatever time, gets a free link cable, here in the US you have to reserve it to get that free cable. I know I am, because even though I already HAVE one, not everyone I know does, and it's good to have extras.
For those who don't know, Warp Pipe is a PC app that allows you to hook up to another gamecube online by making it think its a lan hookup. Anyways I wanted to know if any of you play. Supported games as of now are MK: DD, 1080 Avalance, and Kirby's Air Ride.
Warppipe also plans on making all games that support LAN compatible with warp pipe.
THQ releases the first information on Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon for the Game Boy Advance. First screens inside.
THQ has today released the first information on Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon for the Game Boy Advance. Currently in development at Sega, the game is the latest in the long-running Shining Force series of role-playing games that debuted on the Sega Genesis back in 1992.
Resurrection of the Dark Dragon features a story that was written by staff that worked on the original Shining Force and will boast a number of improvements over previous games in the series. Battles in the game will be even more tactical than those in previous titles and will employ a new Unique Card System. Resurrection of the Dark Dragon will also feature three characters that have never appeared in a Shining Force title before.
THQ plans to release Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon in Europe in April. No North American release date has been announced at this time. We'll bring you more information on the game as soon as it becomes available.
Well, sounds good... April in Europe? That's pretty soon! Let's hope that it comes here around then too. :) Well, the GBA sure is heavy on the tactical strategy games... Tactics Ogre, FFTA, and now Shining Force... after how the first two generations had almost no strategy games, it's a great turnaround and really shows how the GBA has expanded the GB's age market past just kids. Which is a very good thing.
Ack! None of the old skins work! And this one is so ugly! I dislike a lot the giant bar on top of the post with the name in it. Sidebar! Sidebar! And it's so big! And I love TC3.0... or any of the skins... and they don't work... bah. Stupid "upgrade".
Oh yeah, and in the 'new reply' area there's the box you type in then a complete page blank before the area ends and the post buttons are... and also the smilie box is broken, two rows and very long...
It just has big spaces between everything on the skin, and large boxes everywhere. Quite unpleasant. Conclusion is that it is bad.
![[Image: shiningforce_screen001.jpg]](http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/news/01/09/shiningforce/shiningforce_screen001.jpg)
