PSP

[LOL]

Wait, what? The DS supports 802.11, but they released it with no TCP/IP support? Are you serious?

Come on, this is Nintendo.

[Diff-chan]

RoleTroll: The PSP is coming from nowhere. The DS is coming from a company which has established itself in the handheld arena for over a decade. Even if this generation closes and Sony only has 30% market share that'd be pretty damn good... but like I said, these past 3 weeks *could* be showing a momentum shift towards the PSP. If I was in Nintendo HQ on February 1st I wouldnt be happy with the PSP outselling the DS the past three weeks in a row.

[Rumpy]

In the US, the DS has a much longer head start, the price difference is a much larger $100, and the American consumer is less willing to pay high prices for game systems than the Japanese. It'll be interesting to see how the PSP sells through in the U.S. this year.

Does the price difference between the Yen and the Dollar really matter in this case? Like I don't think the Japanese public cares what the daily exchange rate would be when they plunk down the money for games and shit. It would be competivly priced with compairable electronics there.

[piku]

Wait, what? The DS supports 802.11, but they released it with no TCP/IP support? Are you serious?

Yeah I know its retarded.


And I agree that ripping DVDs is probably is too complex for most people, though movies do fit pretty well on 512 meg cards.

I really don't get what Sony is thinking with UMD... the only thing I can think of is that I heard in Japan DVDs didn't go over as crazily as they did here and now maybe Sony is trying to turn UMD into a movie standard? I really have no clue, I mean I guess it is a nice bonus to have for the handheld but really who is going to buy them?

[RoleTroll]

Rumpy, it's not the exchange rate that's the problem, it's making us buy the "value pack." In Japan, they allow you to buy the stand-alone unit for ~$185 or the "value pack" for ~$235. In the US, we can only buy the $250 value pack... for now.

Maybe they are desperate to push the UMD format in the US to recoup development costs. Maybe Sony is taking a loss on each unit, and it's willing to sell fewer units to report better short-term profits to shareholders (like Microsoft did initially with the Xbox). Or maybe the market will bear $250 and I'm just wrong about it.

[Rumpy]

Rumpy, it's not the exchange rate that's the problem, it's making us buy the "value pack." In Japan, they allow you to buy the stand-alone unit for ~$185 or the "value pack" for ~$235. In the US, we can only buy the $250 value pack... for now.

Maybe they are desperate to push the UMD format in the US to recoup development costs. Maybe Sony is taking a loss on each unit, and it's willing to sell fewer units to report better short-term profits to shareholders (like Microsoft did initially with the Xbox). Or maybe the market will bear $250 and I'm just wrong about it.

Is everyone doing that? I'm sure you could roll into a Best Buy or Toys R Us and get just what you want. And if not, fuck 'em and wait. There is a solution to everything.

[James]

Would it be stating the obvious to say that the UMD format for movies is going to be barely a blip on the radar? I don't want to say it'll bomb entirely, although I'm pretty sure it will, but the whole format strikes me as uesless. Good for games, but I'm thinking we won't be seeing a whole lot of movies for it.

James

[Dyne]

Rumpy, it's not the exchange rate that's the problem, it's making us buy the "value pack." In Japan, they allow you to buy the stand-alone unit for ~$185 or the "value pack" for ~$235. In the US, we can only buy the $250 value pack... for now.

Maybe they are desperate to push the UMD format in the US to recoup development costs. Maybe Sony is taking a loss on each unit, and it's willing to sell fewer units to report better short-term profits to shareholders (like Microsoft did initially with the Xbox). Or maybe the market will bear $250 and I'm just wrong about it.

but is the forced value pack because of the retailers being greedy or is it SONY's fault?

[LOL]

I don't want to say it'll bomb entirely, although I'm pretty sure it will, but the whole format strikes me as uesless.

This is what I say about the DS.

[EvilMog]

but is the forced value pack because of the retailers being greedy or is it SONY's fault?

Its SONY's fault since its the way they are shipping and supplying them.
I bet most retailers HATE the value pack since it leaves less options for consumers to buy useless but high markup add ons.