Some industry insiders are expecting Sony"s PSP to cost $500. While others are expecting it to cost $299 to $349. Until Sony itself announces the price all we can do is guess based on what the PSP offers. Still Sony needs to price the PSP accordingly to Nintendo"s GameBoy which dominate the handheld market.
Some industry insiders think half a grand will be the price of the "21st Century Walkman"...
The most recent edition of Game Over, CNN Money"s gaming related editorial column, states that some industry insiders expect Sony"s newly announced handheld, the PSP, to debut at a cost of $500. The article focuses on Sony"s failure to release specifics regarding the super-hyped handheld, and a quote from Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell reflects the industry"s frustration with the lack of information. "What about the breakable aspects of it? If it breaks, can you bring it back and get another one for free? What about the movie strategy? The wireless strategy? The MP3 downloading? We don"t know. What about the connectivity issues? We don"t know. What about the video output? We don"t know."
While Bonnell hopes to learn more about Sony"s plans for the PSP, he"s got his own ideas regarding the system"s price point. "$500 to start would be my guess." says Bonnell, a price point that is significantly higher than other industry analysts like Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst who predicted a launch price between $199 and $249 back in January. Most analysts however think Sony will bridge the gap between the two expectations and deliver their next-generation handheld system somewhere in the neighborhood of $299 to $349.