The Shrine

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Today during an early-morning press conference, Sony finally revealed the price point and release date for its first portable gaming device, the PSP. The PSP will launch for a suggested retail value of 38,624 Yen, or 349.99 dollars in the USA.

Talk of a "competitive price point" quickly dissolved with news of this shocking price point. In its statement, Sony commented that the PSP is "not meant to compete directly with the market targeted by the Nintendo DS" and that it is "appropriately priced for its expectations and target demographic." Sony noted, however, that they hope to "bring new consumers into the world of portable gaming" noting that the PSP is "the most advanced handheld device for gaming ever conceived."

Also of importance during the press conference was the target release dates for Japan and USA.

Sony announced that it plans to launch in Japan on December 21st with "at least 12 games" and in the USA during the month of March, although it's interesting to note that they did not set a specific day for this event. The PSP is expected to launch with at least 8 games in the USA, but Sony says "it expects even more than twelve", including the new Need For Speed Underground.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt ; text-align: left; '>It's a nice system but I'll definately have to suck Nintendo's giant BS and get the DS.</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Well, it won't be that much here. Under no circumstances will it be more than $300, Sony's not that stupid. If consoles can't be prices over that here (75% drop-off in interest if it is, according to survey), neither can a handheld. Still, twice the price of the DS?</div>

<div style='font: 10pt Tahoma; text-align: left; '>Thats rediculous, i havent bought a Ninteno product since the SNES days, but it looks like i will jump on the DS bandwagon, too.</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>'Cube is a great secondary system, especially for the price</div>

<div style='font: bold 9pt ; text-align: left; '>I'm sorry, even with as good as the PSP looks, if it releases at $300, it's already lost a ton of customers.</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '><b>Link:</b> <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/news/news_6 ... l">here</a>

No so fast.....</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>So the question remains, who will win the second spot in the handheld wars, PSP or N-gage? I predict it will be a very tight race =)</div>

<div style='font: 12pt ; text-align: left; '>are you kidding. the psp even at 300 will outsell on opening more than the n-gage sold in it's lifetime. That thing sells so poorly it's almost funny</div>

<div style='font: bold 9pt ; text-align: left; '>He was joking.</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>It won't necessarily be $300. Read my link below</div>

<div style='font: 10pt "EngraversGothic BT", "Copperplate Gothic Light", "Century Gothic"; text-align: left; '>I'm noticing a disturbing trend in the console/portable market to try to jack the price of the systems as much as possible. I remember back in the day when consoles were $100-150 NEW. Now, you'll be lucky to get that price 3-4 years after its release.</div>

<div style='font: 10pt verdana; text-align: left; padding: 0% 10% 0% 10%; '>When was this? I remember the SNES debuting at $200, and the PS debuting at $300.</div>

<div style='font: 11pt ; text-align: left; '>$350 with Ridge Racer, and the Saturn was $400, let's not get into the NeoGeo's price tag, for the system and it's games.</div>

<div style='font: bold 9pt ; text-align: left; '>I bought my SNES for $200 with spare change my brother and I had scraped together. :)</div>

<div style='font: bold 9pt ; text-align: left; '>I really hope it isn't, cuz I'm going to want one of these too. :)</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Um, no. Even the Atari waaaay back in the day was like $200 US. I bought my SNES brand new from California for $200 3 days after release. Consoles have actually gotten cheaper. Many debut at $200 now when the PSX was $300</div>

<div style='font: 9pt ; text-align: left; '>Sony might not have a choice, but if they delay it to next Xmas, it might come out at $200, at which point you'll see the DS at $100</div>