Sony Reveals More Plans for PSP

[Alpha]

Sony Corp is hoping the portable version of its PlayStation home-use, stand-alone game consoles will help it bolster its share of the US$3.6 billion global market for portable game consoles, a segment currently dominated by the Nintendo GameBoy series.

 

Since its launch 10 years ago, PlayStation and PlayStation 2 have achieved global sales of 100 million consoles, said Ken Kutaragi, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Sony Computer Entertainment is the game unit of Sony Corp.

 

Sony Computer unveiled the PlayStation Portable (PSP) at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, the world's largest game trade show, in May.

'Walkman of the 21st Century'

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"We would like to make the PSP a portable game format which can last at least five years and hopefully 10 years," Kutaragi said, who once said he would like to nurture the PSP to be the "Walkman of the 21st century."

Kutaragi, who is also executive vice president of Sony, said his firm will launch PSP in Japan before the end of 2004 and introduce the product in the US and Europe from around spring of 2005, in line with the most recent target.

 

Game developers and retailers who gathered at the annual PlayStation Meeting today also hope the launch of the PSP revives the dwindling game industry in Japan.

Three PSP Titles Planned

 

Keiko Erikawa, chairman of Koei Co Ltd said: "I really hope that the PSP revitalizes the Japanese game industry which is now downhearted."

"For us, the launch of PSP should give a greater business opportunities," Erikawa said.

 

Koei plans to release three titles for PSP.

According to the most recent survey by the Computer Entertainment Suppliers' Association, the Japanese stand-alone computer games market contracted for a third consecutive year in 2003, with the market size dropping to only 60 percent of the level seen in 1997, when the market peaked.

 

"Firstly, it is positive that Sony Computer did not revise the release schedule, as there has been rumor that the launch may be delayed," said Hirotoshi Murakami, analyst at Mitsubishi

Credits: http://www.ecommercetimes.com

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I read it in Emulation Gaming Monthly magazine that the Sony PSP will probabaly be better than the Nintendo DS, it's a good read. It's also about 8 pages, so it should be at your news stands if you want to read it.

[Gryph]

Let's just hope these handheld consoles will be emulated as quickly as Gameboy Advance was.

[i l l m a t i c]

More news...prolly old tho

 

Sony's PlayStation Meeting 2004, which has just taken place in Tokyo, launched an impressive barrage of third-party developer and publisher support for PSP with the unveiling of a massive list of over 70 games that are currently in production.

While many of the games are unlikely to see a release outside Japan (although we are quite taken with the twin concepts of Ninja Bunny Warriors and Habitrail Hamster Ball), the fact that heavyweight companies like Konami, Activision, EA, Eidos, Ubi Soft and Atari are on board is a sign of just how much clout PSP is likely to have when it launches early next year.

Highlights include superb arcade-style racers Burnout and Need for Speed Underground, classic puzzler Bust-A-Move, Professional Wrestling from SmackDown! developers Yuke's and Tony Hawk's Underground 2. There's also mention of Winning Eleven 8 - the Japan-only game that will form the basis of Pro Evolution Soccer 4 - so it appears as if Pro Evo is indeed PSP-bound.

These are in addition to the previously-revealed list of PSP games that includes Metal Gear Acid, Ridge Racer, Wipeout Pure, WRC, This is Football 2005, Gran Turismo 4, Everybody's Golf, Formula 1 '04 and Ape Escape. There is, literally, something for everyone.

Meanwhile, Sony have confirmed that PSP's wireless network support will allow up to 16 players to connect together without needing a hub although, underwhelmingly, Dynasty Warriors will be one of the first games to support this feature. The handheld will also be able to hook up to PS2 via the USB port.

Also on the specs front, the machine will boast 32MB of RAM - four times greater than the 8MB that PSP was originally pegged as having and a figure that puts it on a par with PS2. 

Finally, Sony also unveiled Talkman (see photo), a new application that transforms your PSP into a multilingual translator. The tool, which will be a launch title, will be able to cope with nine different languages and uses voice recognition software that can transcribe what is spoken into the headset as well as translating it into other languages. An educational language game was demo'd at the Sony event although Talkman will also be used for a variety of 'entertainment' applications. 

That list in full then...


Action Girlz Racing (Data Design) 
Activision Anthology (Activision) 
AI Series: Mahjong (Marvellous) 
AI Series: Igo (Marvellous) 
AI Series: Shougo (Marvellous) 
Autobahn Crossroads (Resolution) 
Axel Impact International (SCEK / Axis) 
Azaya: Jungle Bowl Champions (Jungle Peak) 
Battle Blades (Data Design) 
BBG (Seed9) 
Big Choppers (Eutechnyx) 
Big Mutha Truckers 2 (Eutechnyx) 
Board Game Gallery (Phoenix Games) 
Burnout (Criterion) 
Bust-A-Move (Taito) 
Card Shark 3 (Phoenix Games) 
Car Jacker (Eutechnyx) 
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Buena Vista) 
Cloud of Verruca (Success) 
Clusterball 2 (Resolution) 
Crazy Racing Kart Rider (Nexon) 
Dance Mat Challenge (Data Design) 
Derby (SCEI) 
Doraslot (Dorat) 
Fighting Spirits (SCEA) 
Formula One 04 (SCEE/Evolution) 
Free Running (Eidos) 
Generation of Chaos (Idea Factory) 
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (SCEI) 
Habitrail Hamster Ball (Data Design) 
Harvest Moon (Natsume) 
Infected (Planet Moon) 
Intelligent License (Now Production) 
Joe (HumanSoft) 
Junior Sports Basketball (Data Design) 
Junior Sports Hockey (Data Design) 
Koron (CyberFront) 
Legend of River King (Marvellous) 
Mahjong Kakutou (Konami) 
Mahjong Taikai (Koei) 
Mercury (Ignition) 
Metal Shell (Tantalus) 
Myth Makers Karting (Data Design) 
Need for Speed Underground (Electronic Arts) 
Ninja Bunny Warriors (Data Design) 
Offroad Xtreme (Data Design) 
Pilot ni Narou (Marvellous) 
Popolocrois Monogatari (SCEI) 
Professional Wrestling (Yuke's) 
Project S (Sega) 
Rig Racing (Data Design) 
Romance of Three Kingdoms (Koei) 
RS Revolution (Spike) 
Shingata (Sunrise) 
Shin Mojibittan (Namco) 
Shin Tenmakai (Idea Factory) 
Sparrow Merit (Success) 
Sprint Madness (Resolution) 
Sticky Balls (Warthog) 
Super Star Studio (Coong) 
Talkman (SCEI) 
Technic Cute (Arika) 
Tengai Makyou (Hudson/Red) 
TGM-K (Arika) 
Tokyo Xtreme Racing (Genki) 
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (Activision/Neversoft) 
Transformers (Atari/Melbourne House) 
Twisted Metal: World Tour (SCEA/Incog) 
Vegas Casino 2 (Phoenix Games) 
Volcanus Online (Zepetto) 
World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 (Konami) 
World Tour Soccer 2005 (SCEE/Studio Soho) 
WRC (SCEE/Evolution) 
Zero Hour (Argonaut) 
Zooo (Success)

Edited July 18, 2004 by Xx1LLMAT1CxX

[Jiggs]

I have to agree with GryphonKlaw. The GBA was so funny.

 

Does anyone remember how PE2000 posted a direct link to Super Mario Advance (U) a full two weeks before it was released?

[Agozer]

I have to agree with GryphonKlaw. The GBA was so funny.

 

Does anyone remember how PE2000 posted a direct link to Super Mario Advance (U) a full two weeks before it was released?

I do. I actually downloaded the rom back then and istill have it. PE2000 was a damn good site.

[solidius23]

psp will whup ds keister in the handheld wars, but nintendo is coming out swinging game as low as 29.99 at the start or maybe it was 39.99 for the holidays , and then they are lowering the price of Gamecube games to 29.99 for christmas. so they arent going out like punks for christmas , even though i think sony,xbox,and pc will win with GTA,halo2,doom3, and all the other kick a@@ titles coming out for the holiday season, will be interesting to watch to say the least,