Sony Drops Price Of PSP SDK; Confirms Price Cuts

Further details of Sony’s future plans for the PSP portable console have emerged from the company’s press conference yesterday, with consumer website IGN reporting that the company intends to drop development fees of the PSP by the equivalent of over $2,000. The company indicated that it intends to drop the price of a PSP development kit from ¥750,000 ($6,385) to ¥250,000 ($4,256), in a move only thus far publically announced for Japanese developers. The announcement may be partly to stimulate developer support for the PSP, particularly in Japan, where the Nintendo DS has proven to be both more popular with consumers, and arguably less costly to develop for. The larger number of more complex assets needed for PSP games is thought to be the primary reason for this, which Sony presumably hopes to alleviate with cheaper development kits. At the same time, the company also announced that 5,412 development kits have been shipped worldwide for the system. The company has also claimed that worldwide shipments for the PSP are now in excess of 15 million units worldwide. Yesterday, it was revealed that the PSP would enjoy a $50 price cut for a hardware bundle including nothing but the console and an AC adapter and battery pack. Further information from the conference has confirmed that the a similar package will also be offered in Europe from March 22nd for €199 ($241), with Japan getting a slightly different bundle of a ceramic white PSP for ¥19,800 ($168) starting on April 15th.