$450 PSP?

[A Black Falcon]

You still don't get it. It cannot cost that much in the U.S. Not unless it plays DVDs on top of games. Sony would do a whole lot worse if it costs that much, at least until the price dropped.

Er... will you explain this super-special mystical reason that is why it is impossible to ask $400 for a system like the PSP while it's fine in the rest of the world? "Impossible"? Huh? That makes no sense... it's quite possible. Given all it does I'm not surprised at all that that's the price, actually. You aren't making any sense, except in the 'I am in denial' mode that you are currently in.

You've detailed nothing but speculation. Congrats.

Far more than just idle speculation... there is a lot more backing behind this than mere rumor.

Not necessarily? It costs a lot of money to make good N64 and SNES games. The IQue would have to be pretty damn successful to warrant original content. It would be all ports.

Nintendo is saying that within 3-5 years they expect the iQue to be very successful.

True, Nintendo and Sega being stupid sure helped Sony, but Nintendo has barely changed in their way of thinking so I don't expect it to be much different with the PSP. And that still has nothing to do with luck. Sony saw a chance and took it. Luck played no part in them becoming the leader of the market. Not a bit.

No, without Nintendo and Sega being idiotic Sony would be remembered as being better than Phillips and Panasonic but in that same category, I'm sure.

And Nintendo has changed more than you admit, but admittedly less than they should.

Right, PS2 games taking up almost all of the top ten software spots since the PS2's release is totally underestimating it.

In that latest Japanese chart Nintendo-console games are 7 of the top 10... yeah, Nintendo sure is failing. In the link I gave it had the top 50 (Japan). It was around 20 PS2, 20 GBA, and 10 GC...

But that's irrelevant. Given the massive size of the PS2 userbase of course it'll sell a lot of games. And given enough time people who bought it for the DVD player will get a few games. But it just won't sell as many games per system as a dedicated console would...

Anyway, I'll get to the point. Your denying that lots of people bought the PS2 for the DVD player and with the games as a secondary feature is utterly laughable.

Dorkus, I already know that. I know very well what Sony is calling the PSP, as I clearly explained before. But it doesn't matter what they call it. It's a PlayStation, and that means games to people.

True, but Sony is definitely pushing this 'PlayStation is more than games' thing pretty hard...

No, I lived in the country where Yugos were made for four years and never drove in one once.

What do you think, genius?

That's what I certainly would have thought. :)

But were they REALLY that bad?

They're still just that: rumors.

I disagree. I count things said by the head of a division of a company as more than just "rumor"... some stuff is just rumor but all the rumors seem to be agreeing and that says something.

"badly flawed"?

It was a good comparison, but the PSX with SNES is closer.

That list I gave isn't a complete one of the flaws in that comparison... and yes SNES-PSX is definitely closer but still different in some important ways (yes, the PS name's popularity is one of them).

Rumors and conjecture are "good enough"??

When you're hearing stuff from multiple sources over a course of months...

Yes, the head of SCEE is saying that the PSP will fail.
It's called being realistic, Brian. R-E-A-L-I-S-T-I-C! I don't like to lie to myself.

No he did not. Definitely not. He just said that they are aiming at a somewhat different market from the one you expected... that is not an admission of failure at all. Just saying the obvious that it's not quite in the same market as the GBA... (and I don't mean that just successwise, but 'who is this for' wise too)

Actually, Nintendo making handhelds look slightly more attractive to adults with the GBA SP will help Sony with the PSP. Adults are already starting to think "hey, this Gameboy stuff might be more than just kids' toys after all...". Now in comes Sony with a handheld that produces high-quality 3D graphics with a great picture and sound, and it's a PlayStation! That means it's cool!

You get the idea. It'll take an awful lot of screwing up on Sony's part for it not to be a huge success.

You are right that the GBA SP will probably help the PSP's chances... it does seem to be increasing the GB's popularity among adults and yes, that well might lead to more PSP sales among those people. The PSP's other market (the 'it replaces MP3 player/PDA/Whatever' group) is receptive to the thing too... they are used to these appliances and are the only ones used to such short battery lives, actually. They and adults who like the GBA-SP are probably the main two markets who the thing will sell to initially. Oh, with the PS name it'll be a popular thing among lots of people, for sure, and once the thing starts to improve and the price drops over time it'll definitely do well among younger (not children but teens, etc) too... but initially? No, it won't (be a big, GBA-killing, success, I mean), because of things like price and battery life.

Ask again two years plus after it comes out, and then we can talk about Sony ousting Nintendo in the handheld market.

Prices for consoles have always been generally the same across the three regions, so I really doubt they'd sell the PSP for 50000 yen in Japan and only about $300 or less in the U.S.

Well... the PSX was like $270 until a while ago in Japan I think, and the NGC is I think like $130 or $140 or something... so things are more expensive. But not like half the price, or two-thirds the price, or something like that, like OB1 is suggesting. No way. Europe... maybe, when you include all the taxes and how badly the companies have historically treated Europeans. But Japan? No.