PSP in North America

At CES 2005, Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Kaz Hirai let the much anticipated CES meeting slide without any concrete price nor firm launch date. Earlier this morning, Sony Computer Entertainment President and CEO Ken Kutaragi announced that the PSP will have a North American launch of March, followed by Europe around the same time.

In Japan, the near-PS2 quality portable gaming device sold only about 510k units on account of GPU shortages. While the price and exact date still aren't entirely clear, the USD equivalent of the Japanese sale price is a little under $200USD. Some are speculating that the price could be even lower to contest Nintendo DS's long-held portable gaming throne even further. For those who can't be bothered waiting, this handy import price watch guide will help you pick the best dealer.

While the price and exact date aren't entirely clear, the USD equivalent of the Japanese sale price is a little under $200USD. Some are speculating that the price could be even lower to contest Nintendo DS's long-held portable throne even more.

For those who can't be bothered waiting, this handy import price watch guide will help you pick the best dealer.

UPDATE

Three major gaming sources weigh in:


Gamespot: "Unfortunately, anyone wanting concrete details about the US PSP launch was disappointed by today's presentation. After announcing that Sony had shipped 510,000 units of the portable in Japan by the end of December, Sony Computer Entertainment America CEO Kaz Hirai said that the company will "most likely release the PSP in late March 2005" in North America. The announcement is nothing new, since Sony has always maintained that the PSP would launch during the first quarter of 2005. [source]"


IGN: "In Japan, Sony waited until about a month before launching the system to announce price and date - two announcements that ended up being so shocking that they created their own buzz away from show event coverage. It is expected that SCE America will take the same tact, waiting until just before the launch to run a blitz of big PSP announcements … it is unknown if Sony has another shocker in store like the sub-$200 Japanese import price, but we're eager to find out one way or another. [source]"


1up: "This release information coincides with word coming out of Tokyo. At a gathering of business executives there Sony Computer Entertainment president and CEO Ken Kutaragi told reporters, "It will probably be March." He went on to add that they would "like to launch in Europe during March as well." [source]"

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