Source:
IGN
March 15, 2006 - Shipments of the PSP have crossed
15,000,000 units worldwide, Sony Computer Entertainment chief Ken
Kutaragi stated during an hour-long speech at the Spring 2006
PlayStation Business Briefing in Tokyo today. SCE plans on bringing new
games and adding new functionality to the system over the coming year
in order to appeal to an even larger audience.
The PSP hardware will see new bundles and pricing throughout the world
shortly. America and Europe will get the PSP-1000, a black PSP unit
that ditches the bonus features of the Value Pack and comes bundled
with nothing more than an AC adapter and a battery pack. The package
will be offered starting 3/22 in Europe and at the end of March in
America. Cost is set, respectively, at 199 Euros and $199.
Japan will also be getting a new entry to the PSP family. Starting
4/15, the PSP-1000CW unit will be available at retail. This package
includes a Ceramic White PSP unit, which Kutaragi said has been popular
since its release last year, an AC adapter and a Battery Pack. Pricing
is set for 19,800 yen.
Sony and its third parties have lots of big games set for PSP release.
Today, the company didn't have much to announce in terms of new titles,
but it did point us in the direction of some upcoming potential hits.
For Japan, Kutaragi mentioned LocoRoco (Sony WWS) and Minna no Chizu
(Zenrin). For America, Kutaragi made note of Field Commander (SOE),
Godfather (EA) and Syphon Filter (SCEA). Finally, for Europe, focus was
given to Football Manager Handheld (Sega Europe) and Lemmings (SCEE).
To make sure that software keeps on coming, Kutaragi also announced a
drop in development fees for the PSP. The price of a PSP development
kit will be dropped to 500,000 yen from the current price of 750,000
yen. Currently, SCE has shipped 5,412 development kits for the system.
A few peripherals will join the games and new hardware bundles. At the
briefing, SCE announced and showed slides of a USB camera (PSP-300) and
a GPS receiver unit (PSP-290). These pictures are a bit rough, but we
think you can get a good idea of what will be sticking out of your PSP
come fall.
Slide from today's conference |
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The camera, which includes a microphone, will be available via a PSP
version of EyeToy Play in September. Third party game developers have
already taken shipment of development libraries to make their software
compatible with the camera.
The GPS Receiver features an update rate of once a second and takes at
most 40 seconds to get a first fix from a cold start. Developers have
taken delivery of a partial set of tools for making GPS-ready software.
Kutaragi mentioned a few potential applications for the device,
including portable navigation software.
SCE is already at work on "Hot Shots Golf with GPS," which will feature
shot simulation and downloadable golf course data. A Japanese release
for this latest entry in the company's star golf series is set for
Japan.
Some upcoming features won't require a hardware investment. Macromedia
Flash 6.0 compatibility and RSS Channel support will be made available
via a network update later this Spring. The RSS channel support will
allow for playback and saving of internet radio and will initially
support just audio. The Flash upgrade will let games include
Flash-based content. This Spring update will also add Chinese fonts and
GPS and Camera support (we're not sure what can be done even the
support, as the hardware won't be released until later in the year).
In the Summer, Sony plans on updating the RSS channel support to
include video. The PSP will also be updated with an "expanded UMD video
profile." Kutaragi did not provide specifics.
In the Fall/Winter, Sony will be releasing an update that adds Video
and Voice Communication over IP support. With the Eye Toy camera,
you'll then be able to take part in video chats. The format for video
chat will initially be Motion JPEG, although this might change with
future updates.
The Fall/Winter update will also add an exciting new game download
service to the PSP. With the update, the PSP will be able to boot up
games that have been download directly from a server to a Memory stick.
To show off this new feature, Sony plans on offering a PSone game
download service. Games that have been downloaded to Memory Stick will
run through emulation on the PSP. Specifics were not revealed, but it
appears that Sony plans on offering titles on a gradual basis, and that
it hopes to make nearly all PlayStation games available.
Things will really take off for the PSP when the PS3 arrives. Sony has
previously promised connectivity between the two systems, with the PSP
chatting with the PS3 through WiFi. Kutaragi made mention of a couple
of connectivity possibilities, suggesting that the PSP would be able to
act as a remote control for the PS3 and view videos from the next
generation system.
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Slide from today's conference |
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