Nintendo and Sony execs trade barbs over PSP/DS battle

The ink's not yet dry on the PSP price tags, but the fallout from yesterday's surprising announcements has already begun. Bloomberg Japan reported today on Nintendo's reaction to Sony's price point for the PSP, which was far lower than any analyst or industry insider prediction.

"That's not a game machine," said Yasuhiro Minagawa, head of PR for Nintendo Co., Ltd. "They showed it at the [Tokyo] Game Show without any fundamental game software, and you can tell that it's not yet complete."

For a reaction to the reaction, Bloomberg went to SCE's Ken Kutaragi. "People who want to play with Pikachu will need Nintendo's new-style DS machine," he said, "but those who want to play our racing game Gran Turismo 4 will need a PSP, right?"

Bloomberg also quoted JP Morgan Securities analyst Masaru Onishi, who told the news service, "By announcing an unexpectedly low price for the PSP, Sony has raised the chances that it will fully expand into the market. Many game publishers are now saying, 'At that price, we'd seriously like to make games for the PSP.'"

For more on the upcoming handhelds from Nintendo and Sony, see our coverage of the PSP and Nintendo DS hardware.