Kutaragi: PSP ‘Not ready to start selling in Europe’
Production outsourcing mooted as Sony chases Nintendo
According to a report cropping up on the Bloomberg news service overnight, Sony is looking to outsource production of its PlayStation Portable to China and Taiwan in the coming months.
The article quotes SCE president Ken Kutaragi, who, on something of a media marathon of late, mooted the possibility of outsourcing the complex device as a way of efficiently upping supply to meet escalating demand in the US and Japan, as well as provide adequate launch units for Europe.
“We have to somehow increase our production capacity as we're not prepared to start selling in Europe, we've run out of units in the U.S. and it's still selling well in Japan,” said the SCE boss. “We're making the key components here [in Japan], but we're looking to expand assembly of the product outside of Japan.” Kutaragi-san mentioned Taiwan and China as specific possibilities when addressing Bloomberg News yesterday.
Much of this will worry gamers, retailers and indeed Sony itself in Europe. To have Kutaragi-san simply say that the firm as a whole simply will not be able to release the PSP into the European market is either clever spin or something of a disaster waiting to happen.
The PlayStation Portable will go on general release on September 1 this year. The price will be €249, with the UK expected to be asked £179 for the hardware. We’ll let you know if any of this changes.
The article quotes SCE president Ken Kutaragi, who, on something of a media marathon of late, mooted the possibility of outsourcing the complex device as a way of efficiently upping supply to meet escalating demand in the US and Japan, as well as provide adequate launch units for Europe.
“We have to somehow increase our production capacity as we're not prepared to start selling in Europe, we've run out of units in the U.S. and it's still selling well in Japan,” said the SCE boss. “We're making the key components here [in Japan], but we're looking to expand assembly of the product outside of Japan.” Kutaragi-san mentioned Taiwan and China as specific possibilities when addressing Bloomberg News yesterday.
Much of this will worry gamers, retailers and indeed Sony itself in Europe. To have Kutaragi-san simply say that the firm as a whole simply will not be able to release the PSP into the European market is either clever spin or something of a disaster waiting to happen.
The PlayStation Portable will go on general release on September 1 this year. The price will be €249, with the UK expected to be asked £179 for the hardware. We’ll let you know if any of this changes.
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Comments
fluffstardx 26 May 2005 12:58
1/11
Ouch. Add these worries to the high sales figures of the DS and you have one worried Sony.
Looks like, yet again, Nintendo will win by simply having no competition.
Looks like, yet again, Nintendo will win by simply having no competition.
ozfunghi 26 May 2005 14:51
2/11
fluffstardx wrote:
Looks like, yet again, Nintendo will win by simply having no competition.
Maybe... though if Japan is anything to go by so far, they would have won no matter what...
We'll see when it gets here, but i know one thing: a lot of people here aren't going to cough up 250 euro for a portable gaming device, no matter how splendid.
250 euro gets me a lot of DS games i'm looking forward to: Animal Crossing, Mario Kart, Nintendogs, Kirby, Another code, Meteos...
Sorry sony, not worth it, plus even if it were, the ship has sailed.
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Joji 26 May 2005 15:13
3/11
This is now becoming a real joke that Sony are making even more painful. Having to wait tile September is bad enough, especially when Sony have such a problem with people importing their goods. This is totally gonna drive people in that direction, or on a better Nintendo note sell more DSs.
If Sony get PSP into europe for Xmas they might be able to turn things around. Problem now is that alomst a whole year has passed and still no PSP in u.k/eu. Buy the end of the year it could be game over for Sony on this one.
Why you ask? Because £180 quid is money I'd rather put towards an Xbox 360, and the way things are going Xbox 360 and PSP could well clash release dates leaving customers with a big choice dilemma. And meanwhile the DS game releases start to get hotter with MarioKart, Metroid, Another Code, etc. With demo downloads and a cheap price Nintendo should have a good Xmas. And don't forget the GBA Micro is also due end of the year too.
Sony are in a lot of trouble already and I really don't see PSP getting them out of it with new and expensive home consoles on the way. Who is gonna spend £180 quid on one PSP? And going up against GBA Micro and DS, Sony have already lost the handheld war. Won't be long til we see price drops on PSP, I reckon one year from now.
If Sony get PSP into europe for Xmas they might be able to turn things around. Problem now is that alomst a whole year has passed and still no PSP in u.k/eu. Buy the end of the year it could be game over for Sony on this one.
Why you ask? Because £180 quid is money I'd rather put towards an Xbox 360, and the way things are going Xbox 360 and PSP could well clash release dates leaving customers with a big choice dilemma. And meanwhile the DS game releases start to get hotter with MarioKart, Metroid, Another Code, etc. With demo downloads and a cheap price Nintendo should have a good Xmas. And don't forget the GBA Micro is also due end of the year too.
Sony are in a lot of trouble already and I really don't see PSP getting them out of it with new and expensive home consoles on the way. Who is gonna spend £180 quid on one PSP? And going up against GBA Micro and DS, Sony have already lost the handheld war. Won't be long til we see price drops on PSP, I reckon one year from now.
dmgice 27 May 2005 04:53
4/11
E3 did a lot in convincing me that it would be a waste of money to buy into their crap.
How many triple A titles were their for the PSP at E3? I think the only game I played that I really liked was Popolocrois, a port of an old Saturn game. That says something. But not to worry! There's still a crapload of movies to buy for the system. Crap. All crap.
Okay.. over in a tiny corner of Sony's booth are hanging chairs with 20 to 30% done software that crashes most of the time and sucks the rest of the time. Across from there.. is freaking Mario Kart ONLINE, Nintendogs, Electroplankton, Lost in Blue, Trace Memory, Viewtiful Joe, Advance Wars 3, Super Mario Bros. 5, Sonic Rush, Castlevania, Animal Crossing, and even a little further than that is Rebelstar, Scurge: Hive, Screwbreaker, an SD Card Adaptor that allows you to play movies and music on a screen that may be small.. but is almost as sharp as the PSP's screen, also over there is Dynasty Warriors, and just loads of new stuff. Elsewhere, there are games like Riveria: The Promised Land, Tales of Phantasia, and behind even more closed doors with NDAs are games like Bubble Bobble Revolution.... what the Hell was Sony thinking?
Even worse is that by this time next year.. we'll be drooling over the ability to download NES/SNES/N64 games to our Revolution console, then popping out the SD card we saved them on.. and placing it into our Game Boy Evolution for playing on the go. Sorry, Sony. You had a good little run, but it's time to go to sleep. When the Gizmondo has 89+ games headed to it before the end of the year.. while the PSP has LESS out before the end of the year.. that says something. I feel very sorry for those who wasted their money. Hey, don't worry. Selling that PSP back to a GameStop may get you enough money to buy some great GBA/DS games.. like Meteos, or Wario Ware Twisted.
How many triple A titles were their for the PSP at E3? I think the only game I played that I really liked was Popolocrois, a port of an old Saturn game. That says something. But not to worry! There's still a crapload of movies to buy for the system. Crap. All crap.
Okay.. over in a tiny corner of Sony's booth are hanging chairs with 20 to 30% done software that crashes most of the time and sucks the rest of the time. Across from there.. is freaking Mario Kart ONLINE, Nintendogs, Electroplankton, Lost in Blue, Trace Memory, Viewtiful Joe, Advance Wars 3, Super Mario Bros. 5, Sonic Rush, Castlevania, Animal Crossing, and even a little further than that is Rebelstar, Scurge: Hive, Screwbreaker, an SD Card Adaptor that allows you to play movies and music on a screen that may be small.. but is almost as sharp as the PSP's screen, also over there is Dynasty Warriors, and just loads of new stuff. Elsewhere, there are games like Riveria: The Promised Land, Tales of Phantasia, and behind even more closed doors with NDAs are games like Bubble Bobble Revolution.... what the Hell was Sony thinking?
Even worse is that by this time next year.. we'll be drooling over the ability to download NES/SNES/N64 games to our Revolution console, then popping out the SD card we saved them on.. and placing it into our Game Boy Evolution for playing on the go. Sorry, Sony. You had a good little run, but it's time to go to sleep. When the Gizmondo has 89+ games headed to it before the end of the year.. while the PSP has LESS out before the end of the year.. that says something. I feel very sorry for those who wasted their money. Hey, don't worry. Selling that PSP back to a GameStop may get you enough money to buy some great GBA/DS games.. like Meteos, or Wario Ware Twisted.
rudo3 27 May 2005 06:44
5/11
Don't forget strategy games comming for Nintendo DS this year (of course, withou stylus, PSP versions - if anybody would ever bother make them - would be far inferior):
Europa Universalis II,
Disciples II: Dark Prophecy and
Jagged Alliance 2: Gold Pack
note that after almost 15 years using gameboy(s) I can tell you nothing is better for playing strategy games than handheld you could cary with withou neccesity of wasting your time in fron of TV and bothering your family.
Europa Universalis II,
Disciples II: Dark Prophecy and
Jagged Alliance 2: Gold Pack
note that after almost 15 years using gameboy(s) I can tell you nothing is better for playing strategy games than handheld you could cary with withou neccesity of wasting your time in fron of TV and bothering your family.
ku16610 27 May 2005 09:14
6/11
you actually believe that any game could be good on the nintendo hunk of junk ?
Rustman 28 May 2005 00:27
7/11
ku16610 wrote:
you actually believe that any game could be good on the nintendo hunk of junk ?
Yes!
Any more stupid questions?
Joji 28 May 2005 17:44
8/11
ku16610, you are making yourself look totally stupid with that question/comment.
All consoles and PC have good games on them. Developers who create good original games like for use via 'the nintendo hunk of junk' as you call it can see potential where you would rather just be playing the same console games you have been forever.
It's not very often we get something new pushing the envelope in this industry. Never mind what the DS specs are, or its looks like etc. It's purpose is to entertain.
Don't forget that physical beauty like the PSP is only skin deep, the DS outshines it easily in what it's trying to offer gamers, non-gamers and the industry. If you are so blinded by watching your UMD movies so much that you can't see the truth then try not to wonder under a bus.
All consoles and PC have good games on them. Developers who create good original games like for use via 'the nintendo hunk of junk' as you call it can see potential where you would rather just be playing the same console games you have been forever.
It's not very often we get something new pushing the envelope in this industry. Never mind what the DS specs are, or its looks like etc. It's purpose is to entertain.
Don't forget that physical beauty like the PSP is only skin deep, the DS outshines it easily in what it's trying to offer gamers, non-gamers and the industry. If you are so blinded by watching your UMD movies so much that you can't see the truth then try not to wonder under a bus.
smagic 29 May 2005 00:03
9/11
they say they cant meet demand but the price of the units on ebay that importers are selling them for £180(inc p & p) in some cases would suggest otherwise. If demand was so tight i'd expect them to be going for as much as £350! If you really can't wait get the jap version that supports region 2 umds then you are set up before any punters officially get their mits on em over here. The only thing i'm uncertain about is the warantee perhaps not being valid and thats the only thing that has made me hold back.
Ditto 30 May 2005 08:44
10/11
Philip Wesley wrote:
Even worse is that by this time next year.. we'll be drooling over the ability to download NES/SNES/N64 games to our Revolution console, then popping out the SD card we saved them on.. and placing it into our Game Boy Evolution for playing on the go.
As far as I know "Gameboy Evolution" doesn't exist. It would be logical, but it doesn't exist yet.
Gamecubes were supposed to be able to share data on SD cards - in fact, the GC US website still listed this as one of the major features of the system until recently.
Did they ever release the hardware to do this? No.
So much of Nintendo's innovative hardware gets shelved. Where's the Capture Cassette? Where are the 3D tools for the N64? What happened to the 64DD?
Again, this comes back to my "product-orientation" rather than "consumer-orientation" point. This may change with Revo, but the Revo isn't out yet.
Ironically, the other Revo in existance was the last product a great British company created before it pulled out of a market. It was a rehash of previous hardware when everyone else expected a next-gen machine.
Sorry, Sony. You had a good little run, but it's time to go to sleep. When the Gizmondo has 89+ games headed to it before the end of the year.. while the PSP has LESS out before the end of the year.. that says something. I feel very sorry for those who wasted their money.
LOL
Flicking through Gamespot's E3 game list reveals more PSP games than DS games, and more of both than for the Gizmondo.
Hey, don't worry. Selling that PSP back to a GameStop may get you enough money to buy some great GBA/DS games.. like Meteos, or Wario Ware Twisted.
Hummm.
--------------------
On a slightly different note, I was thinking today how much I'd like to be able to play Gamecube games on the move.
I really think Nintendo should have been conventional and at least released some kind of modern portable 3D console, supporting GC discs.
Finally, as regulars will know, I think that Nintendo are great. However I also think that they are given far too much credit and people expect far too many good things from them.
SorelissLarethian 30 May 2005 10:36
11/11
What Kutaragi says is probably a lot of crap since i see it being preordered in Greece for the next month ... i think they sell PSPs "underground" to build a user base before DS floods the european market.