Gran Turismo’s Love Affair With European PSPs Continues

Whoemver pissed in GT's morning coffee owes me a GTbyCitroen.

I... never got into GT much. I'm not a big fan of racing games like this. I prefer something like Mario Kart, F-Zero, Rock & Roll Racing or that Daytona game on saturn. I did like Metro Street Racer on DC though.

That`s one sweet psp box

Morphine16

Holy crap that's awesome.

As an American, I don't mind the Europeans getting something better than me, we're essentially spoiled over here while they get hung out to dry all the time.

So, Europeans, enjoy it. No ill will from this American.

I think it's probably because GT sells more over here.

Odin

@Jon: Like Persona, which still hasn't been announced for European release. For shame!

@excel_excel: Haha. I don't care much for GT or the PSP, but I heartily concur!

Showmeyomoves!

Hopefully this starts a trend to bring over real "special edition" psp consoles outside Japan, rather than fancy repackaging.

YES.THIS IS JUSTICE MY FRIENDS. JUSTICE.

Oh? A branded PSP 3k bundle? Finally, something to play Crisis Core and Dissidia on!

"What gives, GT? North America piss in your morning coffee?"

Considering the number of exclusives you can get in the states that you cant get in Europe (most of which relying on pre-orders at a Gamestop or similar) it is about time you guys get to miss out.

Besides chances are something truely epic is coming over there they haven't announced yet. Seems to be the way they do things...

@Cptn.PaxtonAstypalaea(Corsair): They're not moving away from UMD and retail sales though.. Maybe for the PSP Go, but they're still selling the original PSP model which has a UMD drive.

@Luke Plunkett

"What gives, GT? North America piss in your morning coffee?"

If that would be taken literally, we Europeans would insist on coffee being yellow instead of brownish after all those years of "certain premium attached" treatment.

Ah, and of course you guys in Australia would just say "there is no such thing as coffee" ;-)

So the PSP is moving away from UMD and retail games, but still making Special Edition Boxes?
Diss-whatever, that FF Fighting game had one over here too...

why no PSPGo bundle?

I have little interest in the PSPGo as is my original and 2000 are enough, but a launch day special edition GT branded Go would get my money.
its already a bundle due to the download offer, so a special edition would justify upping the price a little for those who want it…

@Dr4gon: Americans, welcome to how Nintendo AND SONY has treated Europe for years.

Americans, welcome to how Nintendo has treated Europe for years.

Dr4gon

Whenever the US gets something that we don't get over here, all the americans point the finger and laugh, and we're like "oh, that'd be cool if we could have that". But it seems when it's the other way round, the americans piss and moan about it like your kid brother does if you have an icecream and he doesnt.

It's nice to see europe get something nice for a change, given that our prices are ridiculous compared to the US and we always get screwed on special editions and whatnot

@Odin: That's the only plausible reason: Europeans love GT, that's why they could be highly interested in this package. :)

I think this is one of the few attempts by Sony to actually make the european market feel good. Usually we get the end of the stick with months-behind-releases "due to translations" (which are mostly finished by the time the US version is still weeks from release), higher prices to pay (due to "Let's exchange $ for €, nobody will notice it!") and other shit (Chrono Trigger and FF6 and Mother and WHAT NOT).

Unfortunately I already own a PSP, but I'm still indecisive if I should get a PSP Go and receive GT for free (WHY IS THERE NO GT-branded PSP GO?!!1) or preorder the game.

Joachim Deutsch

@Mad_Mulatto: Alright man!

I don't own or have much interest in the PSP myself, but a reversal of the usual trend of Americans getting all of Sony's good stuff while us Euros get thrown scraps is long overdue.

Why does it matter we get the better edition. Hell we (U.K not sure about other pal countries) got the inferior Batman LE.

@Mad_Mulatto: you could import it, the PSP is region free

@badong:
To compensate for decades of negligence?

@excel_excel:
Americans, welcome to how everyone has treated Europe for years.

TaMss

@Dr4gon: Yeah, because Sony has had a perfect record with Europe until now. Grow up.

KingHippo

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?!?

@RAVENKam: What?! Which Persona hasn't been released yet? This is an outrage! I demand blood! EVERYBODY deserves Persona's RPG goodness!

@Mad_Mulatto: I second this. I live in Europe and pay attention to the European release list, and it saddens me how long Europe has to wait for games that have been out for months in the states. It's really quite pitiful. Glad to see that SOMEONE is giving the States the grand old Homeland finger.

I also like the idea of Europe getting special Gran Turismo bundles, as for some reason, the sophisticated sim seems to fit Europe better than it does America. I'm an American, so I feel I am authorized to say this sort of thing. I understand other Americans love them some GT, but it just fits Europe better to me.

@Mad_Mulatto: Thanks pal =), but I guess this is the only time Europeans get something cool =(

Limality

I was going to buy GT, but they did shit in my coffee so now I'll wait (and keep waiting) till I get some sugar.

Trowble (XBL/PSN)

Americans hate bundled games. There. I said it.

Caduceus

I don't have any ill will either, but that's because I'm sure Sony will make the Bugatti Veyron available in the States via download. I just hope they don't charge a ridiculous amount for it.

It's about time Europe got a bit of love from Sony. You guys in NA usually do better than us. But we should def gang together and kick those pampered Japanese gamers! :)

davidtobin100

@andrewwyatt: Persona psp remake. I only hope a Euro PSN download becomes available.

HA! Finally, Europe gets some love! I am happy to hear this! (Why no PSP GO! Bundles? Seriously.)

@KingHippo: Sony were probably the first to realise Europe as a major market though. It's not a perfect record, far from, but it was nice to be noticed back in the 90s.

Shiloa

@Accordion: the concept of a "bundle" for the pspgo is kinda rediculous if u think about it. there's no physical media possibility, so since gtpsp is already free for early pspgo buyers, it effectively IS a bundle.

they're paying way more for the game and the console (the go), it's about time they got something more out of it. 250 euros is what we pay for the ps3. (even more than that!) they deserve a free game with the go, and they deserve limited editions, they've been screwed over enough. (And being from Canada lucky to be in North American region I'm not biased this way.) They should lower game prices too. I was in Russia and i wanted to buy a copy of Infamous, but with the exchange it was 90 dollars instead of 60. BOO

I guess Sony and North America aren't exactly PALs huh?
;)

Here is one thing I don't get. The cost of living in Europe is expensive so the games are more expensive? The dollar amount has been weak against the Euro for a long time but they still pay more. You would think oddly that we would be paying more. Im just saying if we was on even ground in spending the same prices.

@mangs:

i know, i even stated that in my post…

but my point is, there are people that would pay more for a GT branded PSP Go, and it is an odd opportunity missed by Sony

@RAVENKam: I believe there isn't an Atlus localization team based in Europe so no one can localize it there, unless another studio does it for them.

@Xcite79:

Shhhh, they might hear you.

Spaceboy

Maybe japan is still pissed about the nukes

altshiftM

@Phaper: Because you get the game for free when buying a Go

@( shake cows, win a ) Milkshake!: Oh god, too cheesy lol!

I think this might have to do with the European market ultimately being a stronger market for Sony than the US has been, but I really don't have sales data to back that up...

@TaMss: Exactly.

@noliferuin (PSN+XBL): I could, huh? Good point.

@andrewwyatt: I think America deserves the finger on occasion. Okay, a lot.

And admittedly, Gran Turismo does seem to fit Europe more than it does America, but that won't stop me from buying and enjoying it :)

@excel_excel: Anytime, sir!

@Limality: Hopefully with this release, some companies will begin to see the many advantages of having a release schedule in Europe that's comparable to Japan and America's.

Frankly, we need more of this territory fairness as a business. And of course, it's great to hear when we're all treated equally as well :)

@Caduceus: I'm an American and I love them.

Almost every gaming platform I've bought came with a game of some kind.

When I bought my original DS it came with Mario Kart. When I bought my PS3 it came with Uncharted. When I bought my PSP it came with Daxter. And so on.

Bundles are a great way to fully experience your console/handheld without having to buy other software. Of course, you'd buy more after you were finished with the game it came with, but it's a good way to fully experience it immediately. Which is actually a big thing here in America. Everything has to be fast, we wait on no one, ect.

But then again, I could be the minority here that likes to save money, I don't know.

@( shake cows, win a ) Milkshake!:

@Joachim Deutsch: Read m0ar carefully pl0x. You europeans ARE getting GT-branded PSPGO. Plus a special edition of GT. And that said GT is free.

And Americans, you can rest easy, Europeans are still getting ripped off. Why?

225 euros for psp bundle= $375

PSPgo + GT special edition= (250+ 66 (price of dissidia collectors bundle in GBP converted to USD))= $316 (US never has a collector's edition PSP game, so I have to use a GBP price)

If you subtract the worth of the PSP GT collector's edition from the European's bundle price, then collectively, Europeans are paying 308.5 USD for just the GT branded PSPgo.

And for funsies, JP's GT branded PSPgo is $277.50 (price taken from Amazon.co.jp). So Europeans are paying more for the GT branded PSPgo.

So... if you read any of the above, you can come to the conclusion that Europeans are still getting ripped off. For 27.50 more, I can get a GT branded PSPgo from Japan, and then snag my own GT for 40 bucks which comes to a total of $317.50. Which is just the price of the European GT-branded PSPgo.

All this of course doesn't account for transaction costs and takes for granted everything is free shipping.

If anything, Europeans should be outraged, not Americans.

@Mad_Mulatto: Are you kidding? I love games bundled with my system. Even if they aren't the greatest game it gives me a little something extra to play when I first purchase.

AOClaus

@Skitch: If giving other markets the cool shit is Sony's way of dealing with their weak market there may be a good reason the weak market is, well, weak.

AOClaus

@ShadowOdin of dubious snowiness:
Only for the first 10 days or so though

@Microshock: but still, you wouldn't announce a bundle before then. You want the people to go with this deal, not think "Eh, I can get the bundle later"

I think they doing this because Europeans are creating and building better cars.

Eschekt