Sony won’t take away your import PSP

[TomO]

Reports in mainstream British press early today revealed that Sony wanted to impound all imported PSP consoles. This has now been proven to be incorrect (http://www.pro-g.co.uk/news/nid/975/), although Sony still appear to want the names and addresses of those people who own import PSPs.

"We're absolutely not going after consumers - that's not our objective at all. We can assure people who bought consoles on the grey market that we're not going to be going after them," said SCEE head of corporate communications Nick Sharples.

[Savok]

Sites we should ban links to:

Spong, The Guardian, anything with "Radar" in it

[Vandenh]

Sony just wants to send them a XMas card.

[TrackZero]

Heh, yeah. They just want to see who is going to buy a Europe region PSP to go along with that imported one as well, so they can thank them for the extra dough.

[GunnyMo]

Call me confused but why the hell would Sony care who bought import PSPs?

[Chagrinful]

Sites we should ban links to:

Spong, The Guardian, anything with "Radar" in it

I'm guessing your a republican, that would explain your want to mask the truth by banning The Guardian.

Anyway Sony has gotten a bit nuts eh? Are there really THAT many PSPs being imported to Europe? Like enough to actually make any at all impact on sales? I think it's a stupid idea, I think the companies Sony is asking should tell Sony to go fuck itself.

[Vandenh]

:)

Nothing wrong with The Guardian... Spong of course has been banned on EA for quite some time.

[Kefkataran]

Ugh. Spong is the bane of any sort of serious game-related journalism that may be starting to grow. We must kill it before it kills us!

[Reanimated]

So why the hell do they need adresses?

Hopefully Sony will get bitch slapped in the courts.

[netcraazzy]

Since when is importing a console of any kind considered illegal?

[falak]

Why would anyone want to ban The Guardian? They're the only newspaper left with balls. Aleks Krotoski writes for their gamesblog as well, wich is a Good Thing.

So what's the deal with this? Firmware/piracy? Planned European extortionate pricing? Do they have a legitimate reason for taking names? Is that legal in the EU?

[Lodin]

Crazy ancient British legal system. I'd like to see them try this here in Norway.

[Savok]

If you want to read the dribblings of middle class English socialists then go right ahead, the Guardian is wonderful.

People wondering why they do this it's purely for profit. If they keep the imports out the distribution rights are worth more.

[Savok]

Besides which politics don't even enter into it, they printed a complete lie, Sony is not going to track you down and take your PSP away, what truth is there to mask?

[Kefkataran]

Savok's got a point, although I think one stupid, mislead story isn't enough to ban the whole site from linking on here as he originally suggested.

[Commissar Rob]

I thought the this whole thing was settled when Sony and Nintendo made their systems and games region free. Why is Sony so upset that Joe Limey buys his PSP from Lik Sang (or whereever)? It's not like he's stealing the thing.

Color (colour) me confused. What's the issue here?

[Savok]

They've lied in the past and they're lying now, they'll lie in the future.

[Savok]

The PSP has regions.

[Commissar Rob]

The PSP has regions.

Ach, my n00bery betrays me. I'd thought it was region-free. C'est la guere. Thanks for the correction.

Sooooo...what is the issue then? Why are they so worried about what region plays what? Honestly, I've never understood that with any machine.

[Kefkataran]

They've lied in the past and they're lying now, they'll lie in the future.

I'm as against extremism (on the left or right) in news reporting as the next guy, but that's a pretty angry, activist stand to take. Still, as long as you don't reveal that you're a big supporter of Fox News or somesuch, then whatever. To each his own.

[Savok]

Sooooo...what is the issue then? Why are they so worried about what region plays what? Honestly, I've never understood that with any machine.

Profit. They license out the distribution to local publishers, worth more when you have regions because it cuts importing increasing the market said local, therefore they pay Sony more for the rights.

And FOX is like staring into the mirror of the MSM. The reflection isn't any better.

[WileE.Coyte]

I'm glad to hear that it's fake, I'd hate to drop off my 200 pound T.V on Sony's doorstep and have to import a Gizmondo for protest.

[netcraazzy]

Ach, my n00bery betrays me. I'd thought it was region-free. C'est la guere. Thanks for the correction.

Sooooo...what is the issue then? Why are they so worried about what region plays what? Honestly, I've never understood that with any machine.

Region lockouts on DVD players and consoles are mainly for distribution control as far as I understand it. It allows companies to release products for a specific region or to give a product a different brand in different regions. It also allows companies to charge different prices for the same thing in different parts of the world. Overall I'm against it, I think it’s tricky corporate tactics to manipulate markets.

[Royal Fool]

The PSP has regions.
Being vague doesn't help anyone. :D

Only UMD movies (Possibly music too, I have no clue) are region locked on the PSP. Not games.

And anyways, the Japanese PSPs will most likely have the same movie/music region as the PAL machines.

No need to thank me for the correction.

[EL CABONG]

I'm guessing your a republican, that would explain your want to mask the truth by banning The Guardian.

Anyway Sony has gotten a bit nuts eh? Are there really THAT many PSPs being imported to Europe? Like enough to actually make any at all impact on sales? I think it's a stupid idea, I think the companies Sony is asking should tell Sony to go fuck itself.
I'm guessing your a lefty A-hole. The Clintons never masked the truth or anything huh?

for the record dems and the gop are both asshats.

[Kefkataran]

for the record dems and the gop are both asshats.

QFT.

(Oh man do I ever hate myself for wasting a post saying that, though.)

[Reanimated]

PSP games are region free.

[Savok]

The games aren't locked? Glad to hear they have some sense, I stand corrected.

[TrackZero]

And anyways, the Japanese PSPs will most likely have the same movie/music region as the PAL machines.

Japanese are NTSC, they are by no way shape or form even close to Europe as a region. Not that PAL or NTSC matter since we're talking about the PSP here, but AFAIK their region encoding is the same as the DVD regions (since it just makes PSP movie distribution easier for them to manage), which definitely puts Japan as a different region than Europe.

[Deadend]

Isn't Sony selling PSPs at a loss?

So that someone buying 2 would be a BAD thing for Sony?

At least that is the way it sounds to me.

Sony also lies, has lied before, and will lie again.

[EL CABONG]

Isn't Sony selling PSPs at a loss?

So that someone buying 2 would be a BAD thing for Sony?

At least that is the way it sounds to me.

Sony also lies, has lied before, and will lie again.

yes they lie a hella lot.

I doubt they would see selling more systems as bad even if they do take a loss on them sony *** and N all make the bulk of there gaming money from the software, and the more systems sold means more people who will buy software, if a euro has a import psp he may buy games for it and his euro one, some euro games may not come out in asia (cricket or something) and the other way around. plus if he paid for a game from japan he might buy it again to play it in english(if he is a brit and not a frog or something) if he really liked that game.

[Xaerin]

Japanese are NTSC, they are by no way shape or form even close to Europe as a region. Not that PAL or NTSC matter since we're talking about the PSP here, but AFAIK their region encoding is the same as the DVD regions (since it just makes PSP movie distribution easier for them to manage), which definitely puts Japan as a different region than Europe.

I don't recall what the rest of Europe is like but as far as DVD's and hence UMD's are concerned, region wise, Japan and the UK are the same being both Region 2. Strange but true.

[president_fred]

The rest of europe is also region 2 as far as I know, all DVDs that I have bought in different european countries have been region 2 and work on my icelandic PS2 and my UK DVD player and some DVDs from Japan.

[Babbster]

yes they lie a hella lot.

I doubt they would see selling more systems as bad even if they do take a loss on them sony *** and N all make the bulk of there gaming money from the software, and the more systems sold means more people who will buy software, if a euro has a import psp he may buy games for it and his euro one, some euro games may not come out in asia (cricket or something) and the other way around. plus if he paid for a game from japan he might buy it again to play it in english(if he is a brit and not a frog or something) if he really liked that game.

There's a lot of "may" and "might" in your comment. The bottom line is that Sony wants to be able to please retailers by providing them a product that is desirable to stock. The more people who import systems and games, the smaller the market becomes for local retailers.

This has become a serious problem in the UK in recent years because console companies have been leaving Europe (including the UK) for last in releasing systems and games. Their excuse has always been translation (and PAL) but, of course, they use English (and have many PAL/NTSC-switchable TVs) in the UK. With the Internet making international shopping so easy, folks in the UK have felt quite comfortable, and justified, in purchasing game products released in the US. With the PSP not being affected by the difference in video signal, and with the easy and cheap access to the proper AC/DC convertors, importing PSPs is a natural.

All that being said, it seems obvious that Sony could avoid the problem entirely if they would just smarten up and do simultaneous US/UK releases.

[Savok]

Of course Sony lie, they're the biggest bullshit artists out of everyone by a mile. But come back to reality for a moment, do you really think they'll track down everyone who bought one and sue them until they get their PSPs back?

All that being said, it seems obvious that Sony could avoid the problem entirely if they would just smarten up and do simultaneous US/UK releases.
We've been saying that for a decade now, only people who seem to listen are oddly enough, MS.