PSP price and date launch set
So the PSP finally has a firm North American price and launch date. Initially available only as a $249 value pack, the release is set for March 24th.
There has been some teeth knashing and petulant pebble kicking online over the price as it is perceived as roughly $50 more than Japanese gamers were paying for their release. If these people would keep their knickers on and review the Japanese launch prices they will see the prices are actually quite similar.
The Japanese launch had two packages. I will list them and what they include along with the estimated US prices based on current exchange rates from Japanese Yen to US dollars.
(exchange taken from Xe.com, yen values taken from Sony’s Japanese PSP page)
Standard Pack, includes:
-console
-ac adapter
-battery pack
-UMD demo disc that contains sample movies, music, and video game footage
-19,800 yen or $190
Value Pack, includes:
-console
-AC adapter
-battery pack
-UMD demo disc that contains sample movies, music, and video game footage
-32MB Memory Stick Duo
-headphones with remote control
-soft case and cleaning cloth with strap
-24,800 yen or $238
{embed="video-games/dpadz-ads"}As you can see, the prices are very similar in the VALUE PACK. From the online comments it appears some people are confused by the two bundles and are assuming we are paying the more for a “base” package whereas Sony is actually selling a different higher value package.
The slight cash discrepancy ($238 vs $249) can be attributed to the monetary exchange rate. The US dollar has been on a slump versus world currencies recently and the difference amounts to roughly a 5% difference, certainly in line with recent dollar fluctuations.
As someone who sells software online from Canada and gets paid mostly in US dollars, the exchange rate can have a significant effect on your profits. Suggested retail prices for electronics are not like gasoline and can’t easily be adjusted upwards so Sony most likely chose a more relaxed exchange rate in their favor.
Also, considering that Sony is probably losing at least a $100 per unit and you can see why the pricing seems quite fair.
Now without sounding like a Sony shill, there are obvious contentions a purchaser like me can point out. Why not sell both versions here in North America and allow us the option to choose? This is where we can chide Sony a bit for their obvious attempt to snatch a bit of profit or at least cover some of the losses.
The question isn’t whether we are paying the same as our Japanese counterparts but what are we getting for the extra $50?
I’ll do a quick price check.
32mb Sony Duo memory stick. Sony claims a retail price of $24 to $35 dollars. That may be true because they are obsolete and and expired memory sizes can cost more. But 32mb?!? Throw 10 mp3’s in there and it’s gone. That size is practically useless these days. Now consider a more reasonable 256mb chip. Amazon lists one from Target for $80 so that makes the 32mb memory worth closer to $10, add in say $2 for chip packaging and let’s guess $12 for the 32mb Sony gives you.
Headphones. Who doesn’t have at least two portable headphones these days? Granted the one included with the PSP has a remote and looks kind of sexy. This one is harder to define. There doesn’t appear to be many stand alone headphones with remotes as they usually come with a MP3 or CD player. Giving Sony some leeway here and being too lazy to check anywhere else, let’s say they’re equivalent to this on Amazon.
Now the soft case, another head scratcher. PSP cases are available online but they are usually bundled with accessories like screen covers or seem more robust than the cloth slip seen in the value bundle screen shots. Taking a shot in the dark let’s say $3.00 retail.
Handstrap and cleaning cloth. Somewhat important. Uh… a buck?
UMD demo disc with music, game play movies blah, blah blah. That’s all nice and good from a PR POV and a mild amusement for gamers but should we be paying for what are essentially trailers and commercials? No dollar value here.
Now, Sony has given early adopters a small incentive buy including the Spiderman 2 movie on UMD for the first 1 million purchasers. That’s nice but uh wasn’t that the number one or two blockbuster last year? How many people were in a coma and missed the movie during it’s initial run? How many people purchased it on DVD already? And it’s a Sony movie! How much did the rights cost? Still, this may have more value than the demo disc so going back to Amazon, the DVD contains two discs and is selling for $18. OK Sony, I know UMD is not DVD quality and you probably can’t play it on anything else except on a PSP (yet) but we’ll budget it for $9. Fair?
Whew! So let’s see $12 for memory, $24 for headphones, $3 for the case, $1 for handstrap, $9 for the UMD movie, that’s $48 total. So, it looks like we are getting a fair deal for that extra fifty if you pick one up early. Even if you don’t, grousing over an extra $10 for such a full featured product seems a bit petty.
I recognize these are highly subjective figures, especially the headphones and the UMD movie price yet I still think my example does buttress my point we are not overpaying for the PSP value pack. It just would be nice if Sony gave us the option to buy our own memory sticks and extra content.
Of course, if you have the patience of Ghandi you can bypass this whole hand wringing exercise. I’ll bet a toonie Sony will release a standard version that will go for $199 within a few months. That’s what I plan to do, suck it in and wait.
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