Sony has released the, much sought after, details regarding the U.S. launch of its PSP handheld console. Sony has, controversially, decided not to launch a standalone version of the PSP in the U.S. and will only sell it as part of a value pack.
The PSP will launch in the U.S. on March 24 and will retail for USD 249.99. That is the same price as that of the equivalent pack in Japan but Japanese consumers do have the option of purchasing the handheld on its own for a much lower price.
For their 249.99 U.S. N. American consumers will be getting a free UMD Spider Man 2 movie disc (only for the first 1 million units), a 32 MB Memory Stick Duo, headphones with remote control, a soft case and cleaning cloth, and a UMD disc which will include some non-interactive game demos.
The really significant aspect of this launch is that Sony is making a statement of intent by supplying a free movie but no free game. Sony plans to market the PSP as a multimedia device and not just as a gaming console. Considering that before the Spider Man 2 disc was announced no movie had been released on the format yet, Sony must be getting ready plans to begin transferring movies to the UMD format. With the success of the portable DVD this past holiday season, PSP may fit in well into that market but there is a clear danger of alienating the gaming fans of the Playstation brand.
It will be interesting to see how the PSP will fair against Nintendo's DS in the U.S., a device which a much lower price.
