http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/27/sony_psp_launch_price/

Seemed to miss this one. Hell yes though, screw the DS, I can afford the PSP!

Not to mention a decent battery life. 5-6 hours, and also movies are going to definitely be released for it.

16 person ad-hoc sounds sweet too.

Awesome. That is a hell of a lot cheaper than I figured it would be.

the nintendo DS is only like $150

Has the DS's launch price been announced?

Yea that is true but Nintendo the DS cant play movies and such. Not saying that its a bad portable system but blah. Nintendo doesnt add things like DVD players into their systems. Such as the Xbox and PS2.

Sorry, but the DS isn't worth 150 when the PSP is 200, to me. 50 extra bucks for all the games I want, better graphics, 16 person ad hoc (which is an awesome feat for a portable), and also a sleek design AND movie/music compatibility? Hell yeah. Not to mention the graphics. Hell have you seen the video for NFS:U for it? Beautiful. And GT4. I could go on all night.

gee, a game console that only plays games. never would have seen that coming

I'm impressed at their announced price. However, I think it might be a gamble on Sony's part, because it seems to me that a suggested retail price of $195US would be causing them a loss just as the price for the XBox initially was for Microsoft. Keep in mind that you have to take the store's profit out of the suggested retail price to get how much Sony makes for selling each unit, then you can compare it to how much it cost Sony to build and package a single unit. Not that I'm saying it's a bad thing, but I do see this as a bit of a risky business maneuver by Sony.

I'm not dissing the DS for just playing games, I'm praising the PSP for doing more.

Told ya :p

I was worried for a while when I read the whole reports of 400 dollar sale prices in Japan.

Thank god that's a lie.

...but they don't use dollars in Japan, yes?

The equivalent. Something like 430 dollars.

I'm sorry, but if I end up getting a portable system this generation, it certainly will not be a PSP. I would suggest you take a look at some of the DS impressions currently available because they are quite extraordinary.

Yeah, the PSP does have better graphics (although the machine is not even close to as powerful as Sony has suggested. My excitement for GT4 PSP has died down enormously since a story on evilavatar.com stated the game is likely only going to support 4 cars on a track at the same time) and the ability to play movies and music is nice (although we shouldn't talk about battery life here, seeing as the 6-8 hour figure from Sony has been marked as bullcrap from developers since). And how the PSP is impressive Multiplayer wise when the DS comes with wireless multiplay, the ability to connect to the internet and the possibility of MMORPGs on the system is beyond me.

What it comes down to is the fact that good graphics do not make good games. Nowadays, with emulation programs, why the hell would I want to play handheld games on a handheld instead of a PC anyway (unless I travel a lot)? That is, of course, unless the system does something I can't easily get on my PC.

IMO, the Nintendo DS deserves success for one simple reason: because it tries something knew. Not the "Virtual Boy" kinda new but "hell yeah, this is different and fun" kind of new.

If I had a choice I'd pick neither and get a TV for my room. I don't like portable video games if I go outside I want to go outside not go outside and have games follow me everywhere I go.

I love the PSP's selection of games more than I do the DS', and the PSP has every bit as much of an ability to connect to the internet as the DS. Not to mention storage is easier, and I said 5-6 hours, not 6-8 (that's on the site, if you read it).

The only games that sell the DS to me are Goldeneye, and Animal Crossing. Call me a freak if you want.

You, sir, are a freak.

Actually, I've never played Animal Crossing, so I wouldn't know how much I might enjoy it, but from what it sounds like, I wouldn't care for it too much. Small-level simulations like that have never interested me. Play must be from either the individual, personal level, (as most games are) or at an incredibly grand level to have an appeal to me.

On a side note, I just hope that the DS is more powerful than would have been suggested. Although they're porting GC games to it, how much are they losing? After all, they're going from a system with 48MB of memory to a system with 4MB, with a tiny fraction of the former's processing power. (from a PowerPC-esque 485MHz w/200MHz ATI chip to having a 66MHz and 33MHz chips)

game boy pocket light SE edition from japan forever.

No ones ever going to wtch movies on the PSP. The idea is ridiculous. You'd have to buy the movie in the proprietary format!

Not really--they're coming out with a media player with UMD support, and probably UMD discs that can be burned. So it seems quite plausible.

But wasn't the UMD a format that Sony had created to succeed the CD, but it flopped miserably? I'v been wondering that ever since Sony released what type of media the PSP would use. And again, 1.5GB per disc would require a lot of compression, and would likely result in very noticable reductions in quality. Although I do admit to being amazed that Sony has tried to put so many capabilities into its PSP, I still can't help but wonder about many of its aspects... such as the fact that they claim it's practically as powerful as the PS2, yet it obviously seems to have considerably less processing power, and has only 1/4 of the memory of the PS2.

This is what people have said about a lot of things. "No one would want to play games on a PC. The idea is ridiculous. PC is suitable for work only." or "No one will buy movies on DVD."

I think it just comes down to which system has the games you want. I think the movie and music ability of the PSP is a nice gimmick. Cool if you like it but if I really want to take music or movies with me I'll use a music player, a portable DVD player, or a laptop. I could never bring myself to buy a movie in PSPs format.

There does happen to be a bit of a difference. Particularly with PC games. The large lack of games for the PC platform was due to the fact that there wern't any game drawing engines that worked similar to those sprite engines found on consoles, such as the NES. However, things changed very quickly once sprite engines were developed for the PC. (IIRC, John Carmack made the first DOS-compatable sprite engine, or at least he gets the credit for it) As for DVD movies, I didn't say they wouldn't catch on. After all, they are much more compact less costly than VHS tapes, and youd didn't have to worry about exposure to magnetism. The PSP, on the other hand, may be able to play movies on it, but onlike the other two advancements, PSP movies includes a backslide. Going from console to PC meant games that were larger than 512KB, and DVDs have become increasingly higher capacity, are writable much more quickly, and are more or less "random access." (as opposed to sequential access) The PSP, on the other hand, offers nothing new, only the (already not unique) ability to play movies on a mobile platforn, and isn't as good as more powerful devices for such a task. (even if it's cheaper) Don't forget what happened to the N-Gage; it was defeated by a primitive 32-bit two-dimensional mobile platform, the GBA.

PSP does have good third party support like the DS so it can be a contender.

You do know if you are touching the PSP, the Battery Life goes down considerbally?

If you are using the PSP, playing a game, with headphones on, the batterlife dips to about 1.5-2 hours.

The DS is the size of a moon!

....when its open.....when its closed its as small as the psp. and another thing, the DS has 2 screens, and it protects them, I dont see the psp having a hardcase...now do you? well im off I have to go.

I was talking about the Death Star..

I thought this was going to be about the Death Star too and whenever I see PSP i thnink paint shop pro.

Either you're being sarcastic, or you're touting bull****.

Also, I don't know how the PSP being a little less powerful (yes, a little. While the mem size is less, the bus speed is greater, and the chips aren't that bad. Besides, there are videos of the PSP in action.) than the PS2 is a big deal. And to me, why should I own 3 devices (port dvd player, mp3 player, gaming system) when I can buy a powerful gaming system with tons of good games for it that does more. The fact that Sony, if they're smart, will make UMDs widely available and burnable only enhances this.

Now don't anyone get me wrong, I'd take a DS any day. But for 50 bucks more, I'll take my PSP. I don't see how anyone can make the PSP's extra functions into a bad thing, seeing as how it doesn't really affect you if you don't want to use them. But if you do, it's an awesome extra.

And why would Sony try to replace the CD? That's ludicrous. Maybe on THEIR systems (seeing as how they're just now coming out with everything that uses the UMD, which is 1.8 gigabytes, not 1.5) they would want to, but I don't have a problem with it as long as I don't have to pay any extra taxes or money for it.

Not to mention the N-Gage wasn't beat by the GBA--it was never even a contest. The N-Gage was so poorly designed, with such crappy interface and graphics and launch titles and titles PERIOD, that even though the GBA was inferior, the N-Gage basically had no chance. At only 70 dollars as compared to 300, sporting games at 20-40 dollars instead of 30-50, easier to use, more fun, more varied games...the GBA easily won. It had nothing to do with anything else.

Finally, don't forget that this is just my opinion, and the opinion I share with other board members. If you think the DS is better, fine, but to me, I can't see either being the BETTER of the two, only the DS being a bit cheaper, and maybe a bit better on battery life (though I do remember seeing relatively similar figures from Nintendo, iirc). It is, of course, down to your interests as far as which to go with.

im getting ds because ds will have halo ds, and psp wont. and the fact that ds has two screens.....and the fact that u can text things to other's with the ds.......and the fact you can customize ur controls..........and the fact that it has a pen stylus.....and do i need to go on. go ds. go halo ds

This Halo DS myth of yours is completely false. Not to mention 2 screens doesn't make a better portable, neither does a stylus and touch screen, and saying you can 'customize your controls' makes no sense. That's up to the game, not the system.

the networking thing about the DS seems cool.

other than that the PSP looks alright too... although PS2 games seem kinda meh for the most part.

samething can be said about the music/movies aspect of the PSP, it's up to the games on how good they are

The PSP has the same exact networking setup (16 person ad-hoc) unless I'm mistaken.

And I never said the PSP was > than the DS as a fact, though maybe in my opinion it will be.

PSP has networking without Mario Kart though... this creates a particular amount of negative suckage.

so, that would make it better?

mario kart for the game cube + some sort + some buzzing + playing it with a few cranks = more fun than putting a dozen kittens in a pillowcase and spinning it around your head as fast as you can

Double Dash was stupendously underwhelming. In any case, I'm looking forwards to online gt4