PSP plans for EA
Games, pricing and more
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Continuing EA day here (not really, though you'd never have guessed it considering the amount of activity from the publisher today), this morning's conference call has delivered some interesting information concerning EA's plans for Sony's PSP handheld - which will launch in November or December of this year.
No titles were confirmed by EA for the system's launch, however CEO Larry Probst did comment: "I would imagine we would do something between 8 and 12 PSP titles in the fiscal year"; that's 2005 to you and me. EA expect Sony to have shipped around 3 million PSPs by March 2005, and are currently assuming a retail price of between $199 and $249 - significantly lower than the "closer to £200 than £300" offered by Sony Europe chief Chris Deering earlier this month.
Certainly, such a price would be welcome (working out at about £150), though Japanese retailer estimates of 50,000 Yen (more like £250) do confuse this matter somewhat. EA also revealed that PSP titles are expected to retail for about $39 - a very reasonable £22 - though again this isn't from Sony's mouth.
Finally, the conference call also addressed the advent of next-generation consoles, with the EA supremo reiterating his company's prediction of 2006 debuts for the major platform holders - though he also suggested that one of the big players may reveal something within the next 3-5 months. Lots of exciting conjecture all round, then. Thanks to Gamesindustry.biz.
