I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about getting a PSP today. If that’s even possible at this point since I didn’t preorder. Every launch day of pretty much every game system since the NES I’ve been curious and somewhat like a child waiting for Christmas day.

In many cases I’ve acted on this youthful curiosity and bought the systems, including the last system launch for the Nintendo DS on a Sunday. My favorite and most satisfying launch day experience has probably been the Super NES. The worst? 3D0 which I paid $650 USD for at the time and Aaron left a comment on this blog that he has one for sale for $120 Canadian. Ouch.

The PSP isn’t exactly cheap either, $249 if you can find it selling standalone, but who buys a system without a game? So you are dropping at least 300 bones after tax. I see that Best Buy is selling them online in two bundle sets: the action bundle ($369) or the EA bundle ($449) and Walmart is selling a bundle for $359.47

I do like that it comes with WiFi, USB 2.0. It has its own type of special media just like Nintendo did with Gamecube which I’m not all that thrilled about. I don’t know that much about the launch day games but there’s a complete list here.

Historically it’s been typical for there to be system shortages on launch days, but in the DS case I walked in an hour after the local Best Buy opened — the first store I checked out — and had no problem buying one. Later we’d buy two more as Christmas presents, and for the most part they haven’t got much action — certainly not $450 worth of action.

I remember when the PS2 launched I offered — and showed — a guy $500 cash for it as he walked out of the store. He would have no part of it. Sure, I could preorder a system and have it locked up, but what’s the fun in that? I’m glad to see that people like Richard Roth feel the same way:

“It’s fun,” [Richard] said, noting that he also received a fair amount of attention four years ago for being first in line to buy a PS2. “It’s my 15 minutes of fame,” he said. “You don’t get on CNN for putting in a preorder at GameStop.”

Camping out for a game system is one of those uber-geek things I’d like to be able to say I did one of these days. Hey, you only live once, right? I wouldn’t be doing it to get on CNN though, just to be able to say: I camped something. And no, it won’t be camping the next Star Wars movie.

It’s early yet and the stores aren’t quite open yet (some were open at midnight, but I didn’t check out any of that action), but I’m getting the feeling I might just sit this launch out and read what others have to say about the PSP instead.

Then again, it is a launch day and Walmart opens in 15 minutes … oh, the indecision!

Did this post make you go hmm?

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