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Sony Clarifies Once Again: No PSP Price Drop

The price of the PSP has long since been an obstacle for potential consumers, and with more top titles looming on the horizon and the holidays just around the corner, some people may have expected a price cut. Already set at a fairly lofty $200, the PSP is still more than twice as much as its main rival, the Nintendo DS. But Sony seems quite comfortable with the current retail price tag…as they reiterated once again today.

Although the DS has been outselling the PSP all year, Sony still refuses to drop the price. John Koller, product manager of SCEA, clarified the latest rumors that the PSP might soon drop its sticker price.

"We don't necessarily see the need to cut the price," Koller told Reuters. "We need to offer broader value and introduce new consumers to what the PSP can do."

Koller believes the system's value lies in its connectivity with the PS3 and also the slew of new games for the handheld. Koller stated there would be "about 110 new titles available by the end of this year," which would bring the current library of PSP games to about 230. Reuters further mentioned the PSP's heavily advertised multimedia functions (features like video and music playback, for example). Still, support of the UMD movie format has been weak, and the promised rerelease of a PSP-compatible Connect download service has not happened as of yet.

However, as we reported earlier, Sony is sweetening the PSP deal by offering a couple new bundles this holiday season, including a hardware bundle for Japan that is quite similar to last year's Giga Pack. Of course, Sony wanted to simply repeat once again for all those still not convinced- no PSP price drop in 2006.