The US PSP Launch: Hit or Miss?

It's been out for a week and people are already opining. SCEUK comments on how the US launch affects Europe's chances of getting the PSP soon too.

Sony's PSP has been on sale in the US for a little over a week now, but whether the launch has been a success very much depends on whom you ask.

Sony shipped a million PSPs to retailers across America for the launch on March 24th and the majority of EB Games stores (the US' second-biggest games retailer) have sold out their launch allotment, according to the chain's CEO, Jeff Griffiths.

This is not a unanimous view though. Numbers gathered by PJ McNealy, analyst at American Technology Research, suggest that demand has been lower than EB's estimates. McNealy called the opening week of the PSP "solid, but not spectacular".

But the early uptake, while important, is not the be-all-and-end-all for Sony. The PSP is a long-term project.

"This is day one of a 10-year marathon - if this platform is as successful as we think it should be," said Jack Tretton, executive vice-president at Sony Computer Entertainment America, speaking to GameSpot.

The PSP has already outperformed the opening week of the PlayStation 2 in 2000 - although in that case there was a shortage of stock. Price is no doubt having an impact too on PSP sales. At $250 (£130), the PSP is the costliest mainstream handheld video game platform and, importantly, considerably more expensive than the $150 (£80) Nintendo DS.

Europe, meanwhile, sits in the dark as Sony's European representatives continue to avoid discussing when the PSP will launch or even when the announcement will be made. There is a lot of speculation at the moment, with launch dates between May and September being bandied about.

One analyst thinks that Europe could well determine how successful the PSP is this year in the US, as Sony struggles to supply the demands of all three major territories.

"Given the tight supply now, the probable redirection of units toward Europe for its expected June launch and the problems Sony had last year with PlayStation 2 production, we will not assume that Sony can produce as many units as people expect," said Mike Wallace of investment firm UBS.

And while no one knows exactly when the PSP will hit Europe, the company is giving assurances that there will be more than enough to go around when it does eventually land.

"We will wait and see how PSP performs in the US over the next few weeks before we can decide when it launches over here," Ray Maguire, head of Sony Computer Entertainment UK, told trade paper MCV this week.

"The last thing we want to do is launch here and then be in a position where we can't satisfy that demand."

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games