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Sony's New PSP a Hit in Japan

By BetaNews Staff, BetaNews

September 26, 2007, 11:01 AM

Japanese gamers are responding positively to the new version of the PlayStation Portable, with 250,000 units sold in four days according to Japanese publisher Enterbrain. The number matches the total number of original PSPs sold in the country during July and August of this year. The new unit is intended to compete with Nintendo's DS Lite, which has been a huge hit for the company in Japan as well as worldwide.

Sony's redesigned PSP is cheaper and slimmer than its predecessor. At 19,800 yen, it is about 5 percent cheaper than the original. The DS Lite sells for 16,800 yen. Both consoles were originally launched in 2004, although Nintendo's console has always been the cheaper of the two, and has resonated more among casual gamers.

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By iamtux

posted Sep 27, 2007 - 10:26 AM

As much as I dislike Sony and am relishing the failure of the PS3, I just might buy a PSP. The only game I've seen so far I care about though is Silent Hill Origins.

Score: 0

By TIM

posted Sep 27, 2007 - 5:11 PM

I bought a PSP for one game and one game alone...Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness

Score: 0

By pitdingo

posted Sep 26, 2007 - 10:29 PM

PSP is a killer system. This update only makes it better. How long until the Zune XBox Portable 720 in turd brown?

Score: 0

By SGD

edited Sep 27, 2007 - 1:48 PM

If you looked up troll your picture would be included.

Score: 0

By kashin

posted Sep 26, 2007 - 10:45 PM

How about you go troll somewhere else?

Score: 0

By dracodos

posted Sep 26, 2007 - 2:25 PM

Now we just wait for the next firmware hack so you can play a nice large library of games, plus the upcoming Dracula X, and i may just buy the sucker ;)

Score: 0

By rsx508

edited Sep 26, 2007 - 2:24 PM

I'm probably going to put my PSP on Craig's List soon. I haven't used it in months. It doesn't support WPA2 and Sony doesn't appear to care about that: http://boardsus.playstat...query.id=75597#M3144248

Score: 0

By SGD

posted Sep 26, 2007 - 1:43 PM

A great system to play PS2 games on. At least that is about what it boils down to.

Score: 0

By enalposi

posted Sep 27, 2007 - 9:00 AM

Interesting. Care to elaborate? I was under the impression the PSP is PS1 level and how do you load a DVD?

Score: 0

By SGD

edited Sep 27, 2007 - 12:40 PM

It is more like ported PS2 games. Come on we all know a DVD will not fit. The connection is obvious if you look at the system and the games.

Score: 0

By yountmj

posted Sep 27, 2007 - 10:22 PM

"It is more like ported PS2 games."

Agreed... or the other way around.

GTA: Vice City Stories was a rather good example of that (it was released on the PSP first). When looking at the PS2 port, most everything in the game screams "enlarged PSP" (like playing GBA games on VirtualBoyAdvance full-screen on your PC or TV). The menus and on-screen indicators (health, armor, money, etc) are rather dull, and the color palette seems off compared to other PS2 releases. It's a fun game, but clearly doesn't seem to me that it was developed on and for the PS2.

Score: 0

By Steve Austin

posted Sep 26, 2007 - 12:30 PM

It's very nice. I traded my original in for a slim version, for $70. Battery life is very good, loading times are much better, and I got the video out, if I ever want it. The directional buttons seem raised a little, and the screen even better than the original (which was fantastic already). I got another years warrranty for that $70. Pretty good I reckon.

Score: 0

By SGD

posted Sep 26, 2007 - 4:35 PM

Didn't the reviews say the battery life is shorter and the load times have been improved by like one second? Not much of an improvement if you ask me. They did say that once the programers take advantage of the additional drive cache the loads times will improve but not until then.

Score: 0

By hiyoag

posted Sep 26, 2007 - 12:09 PM

I found pictures of the new PSP here:
http://www.sonystyle.com..._search_sem&SQS=psp

Score: 0

By GCoder

posted Sep 26, 2007 - 12:22 PM

Thanks for link to the pictures, BN is always lazy and never puts pictures.

Score: 0

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