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Release Date One Month after Announcement
Posted By Josh on Oct 13 2004
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The PSP will launch exactly one month after the launch date is
announced - meaning we will here solid information on the launch date (and
hopefully price) before December rolls around.
IGN is reporting that a magazines across Japan are reporting this
information and we still wait - with just a little more hope for an
announcement soon. The original PlayStation also followed such a dating
system - having the launch date announced one month before the official
launch (December 3rd). In fact, a December 3rd launch is not totally out of
the question. As good as that sounds, having to wait until November to hear
that is extremely frusterating.
Also announced was that initial wireless gaming will be available
ad-hoc only - meaning gamers will have to connect to each others PSPs to
play online games. An internet service will become available - for free -
after Sony through the launch period. I say "free" because you will not have
to pay Sony to connect, but you will have to pay for internet access, either
in your own home (sort of defeats the purpose of portable gaming) or at
internet hot spots which charge a fee for access.
The wait continues.
http://psp.ign.com/articles/556/556767p1.html?fromint=1
PSP Gets Vague Japanese Release Period
Plus, networking news.
October 13, 2004 - Sony Computer Entertainment is slowly closing in on
a Japanese release date for the PSP. The system has been confirmed numerous
times as being set for release in Japan before the end of 2004 (and we're
talking calendar year, not financial year). The latest Japanese magazines
contain that confirmation once again, along with another interesting bit:
SCE will announce the release date one month prior to the system's release,
just as it did with the PlayStation 10 years ago.
Hey boys and girls, would you like to play a game? Let's play "Let's
Close In On A Release Date!" I'm your host, IGNPSP. Today's show is brought
to you in part by PSP, who says, in her latest diary entry, "I want to make
it so that everyone can have fun at all times, wherever they are."
Let's say SCE decides to announce the release date tomorrow (October
14) in Japan. That would mean the system would see release on 11/14. So, we
can use 11/14 as an earliest possible release date for the system.
Conversely, the latest possible release date, 12/31, would mean that SCE
would have to announce the release date on 11/31 at the latest.
November, of course, doesn't have 31 days, so it depends on how
literal SCE intends people to take that concept of "one month" ... If a date
is announced in October or November, will that exact date be the one we see
the system out in for November or December? Are they being prudent and
considering a month exactly 30 days? Is SCE going by the actual cycles of
the moon to determine what is a month?
The plot has thickened, but the math is still doable. The release
date will be announced at the earliest tomorrow and at the latest on 12/01.
The PSP will be released at the earliest on 11/14 and at the latest on
12/31.
With this information in mind, vote in the poll to the right
regarding the week of the system's release. Keep in mind that the
blockbuster monster Dragon Quest VIII hits PS2 on 11/27, Nintendo DS hits
Japan on 12/2 and the original PlayStation was released on 12/3/1994
(officially
"PlayStation Day" in Japan).
That out of the way, let's move on to some tiny tidbits on the system
that have come to light of late ("Let's Close In On A Release Date" is
over). SCE has revealed that initially, all network play on the PSP will be
through "Ad-Hoc" networking. What this means is that you'll initially have
to connect directly with other players who are in your area if you want to
play multiplayer games. This is similar to the wireless play set to be
featured from the start on the DS and on the Game Boy Advance.
Of course, there's still some possibility for awesome networking
experiences despite this limitation. According to SCE, PSP supports up to
sixteen player simultaneous play via this form of networking. It all depends
on the game, though, and currently no sixteen-player games have been
announced. Still, we have a feeling five player Minna no Golf is going to be
lots of fun.
Actual internet play, where you use the PSP to communicate to others
who are not necessarily in your immediate surroundings, won't happen until
the infrastructure is in place where PSPs can easily connect to access
points. Currently, access points are a bit hard to come by, even in Tokyo,
which is considered one of the most wired cites on the planet. SCE is
apparently working to make this networking infrastructure more robust.
Whenever internet-based networking becomes a part of the PSP, it will
be a no-cost feature for users, according to SCE (although some coffee shops
and hipster hang-outs do juke their customers out of a few shillings for
HotSpot use, which is out of anybody's hands at that point.) Gamers, in
Japan at least, won't have to pay a single yen to connect to an access point
and play PSP. How SCE intends to achieve this (both as far as technology and
user-interface) will probably be revealed at a press conference at some
point in the future.
On a slightly vaguer note, SCE reveals that the PSP will be able to
communicate with cell phones and your PC. The company hasn't been specific
on whether Ad-Hoc networking is possible with PCs and cell phones or if
users will have to go through the internet once the PSP network is set up.
IGNPSP (your host of "Let's Close In On A Release Date") has a feeling that
either form of networking would be possible depending on the application
that's been loaded into the PSP, assuming security issues don't get in the
way of developers making their games connect to other platforms.
USB ports and WiFi networking are both part of the PSP hardware, and
either could be used to talk with other machines. However, PlayStation 2
also had universal networking features such as USB and network access, but
the only cross-over we've seen on that console has been FFXI's cross-system
play. We've heard about the PlayStation Portable talking to the PS2 before
(details on that have yet to be elaborated on either), and the multimedia
features of the PSP would mean that a PC would make for a good companion for
the handheld, but this is the first we've heard that SCE has plans beyond
that for PCs or now cell phones.
We hope to learn more about the PSP's networking when the system's
launch information is revealed. Which happens when, boys and girls? That's
right! Between tomorrow and ... 11/31 (or December 1st if you trust the
calendar)!
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