Sony Launches 'PSP The Best' Series In Japan

The PlayStation and PlayStation 2 have both long had "The Best" lines of budget re-releases in Japan -- with the equivalent "Greatest Hits" line serving the same function in the U.S. -- and now the PlayStation Portable has received the same treatment. The first wave of PSP The Best games will be released on November 17th in Japan, made up of launch games Armored Core: Formula Front, Lumines, Metal Gear Ac!d, Minna no Golf Portable (Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee), Moji Pittan, Ridge Racers, and Vampire Chronicles: The Chaos Tower. The second wave, hitting retail on December 1, will include Derby Time, Dokodemo Issho, Need for Speed Underground, PoPoLoCrois, Rengoku, and Tales of Eternia. The PSP The Best series will retail for 2,800 yen ($24), and will launch alongside the PSP Giga Pack in Japan. Although some U.S. retailers have been unofficially discounting early PSP titles, SCEA has given no sign yet that it is intending to set up an 'official' value-price brand for the PSP, and it may simply be Nintendo's fierce competition in the East with the DS which has hastened this step.