Without cheaper games, PSP Go 'will die,' says Lego Star Wars director

December 8 3:04 P.M.

Expensive, widely criticized, and missing the vast software libraries of its competitors, Sony's sleek new PSP Go handheld has faced a rough ride from press, retailers, and consumers since its October release.

Now the developers chiming in, too.


Is the PSP Go in trouble?
Traveler's Tales' director Jon Burton, known for his work with the best-selling Lego Star Wars series, told Develop magazine that Sony's online store can't compete with traditional retailers, and that unless download versions of PSP games become cheaper than their UMD equivalents, the system will die.

"I own a PSPgo but don’t want to buy LittleBigPlanet, for instance, as I can get it 20 per cent cheaper on UMD from Amazon and could resell it once I’m finished with it," he said. "But if I download it, I get no discount, and no chance to resell – how annoying is that?"

Pretty annoying, as far as we're concerned. LittleBigPlanet also, through some kind of snafu at Sony, only appeared on Sony's online store a full week after the UMD hit store shelves. Although it's a wonderful game, the delay must have had some LBP fans wondering why they paid all that money for Sony's latest and greatest system.

What effect are these issues having on PSP Go sales? Well...we don't know, exactly. Official sales data doesn't differentiate between sales of the older, UMD-equipped PSP and the pricier Go, and although numbers from the Go's launch month of October show the platform overall achieved a modest 13% lift over September, it's not clear what proportion of the sales were of which model.

We asked Sony's director of hardware marketing John Koller to clarify the numbers.

"In the first three days of launch alone, we saw a 300 percent lift in overall PSP hardware sales from our top retail partners compared to the prior week during the same period," he told us. "During this time, Playstation Network also experienced the largest number of downloads ever for a single week period."

Koller characterized overall PSP Go sales as "strong," and said the publisher is enjoying significant revenue from its Playstation Network sales together with growing support from publishers, but did not comment on the price differential between the Playstation Network and other retailers.


http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/p...rector/1380143

I hope so this will further sink digital only distribution down.

doesnt help that it costs as much as an xbox 360

I don't see why anyone would pick up a PSP Go, over the other PSP systems. You can buy a 4gig memory stick for under $25, and having the option of UMD movies is greater than downloading a movie file that would take up about 20% of the Go's memory.

Even if the PSP Go is failing Sony going still say it's sales are strong

"Traveler's Tales' director Jon Burton, known for his work with the best-selling Lego Star Wars series..."

There is something seriously wrong right here. Who the hell cares what this guy thinks? He shits out a Lego X game every six months for every viable platform, and all of a sudden he's the go-to guy for quotes to provide faux substance to lazy videogame journalists' pandering speculative fluff articles?

I get the feeling Sony can do anything they want to the public, no reach around, lube or pillow to bite, and the general population will still gleefully buy whatever product they shove down their throat.

Cheaper games isn't the only thing killing the Go.

What about:
1. Overpriced 5 year old hardware
2. No access to best titles.
3. No access to UMD at all.
4. Ridiculous PSN set up requirement.
5. The history of PSN being horrible at accepting CC Info without locking for 48 hours & the small chance of random charges for games 'not' purchased with storing the CC for future use.
6. Required firmware updates to use MediaGO software on a PC.
7. Wireless 802.11B standard when G is ancient & N is widespread.
8. Proprietary USB data access.
9. No compatibility with old batteries/chargers/memory cards.

I can probably go on, but I'll give myself a headache thinking about it.

Sony sells access to PSN software through Amazon these days, I haven't used them & I assume they can compete with discount sales.
It still doesn't break the monopoly on things though. That's not really an issue, but it's not a nice thing to realize when you swallow the other shit they're feeding you.

some people think digital downloads will replace physical games. personally i like the 'odd' download on xbox live etc but given the choice of downloading a game or having a nice cased copy in my hands, i'll be going with the real deal any day and i'm sure most gamers feel that way i like to have my games on display. it reminds me what i have, when its all burried in menus you forgot about stuff and it never gets used.

Sony have completely missed the mark here, yes the psp go looks nice but why would i buy that when my psp3000 downlaods games AND plays UMD's..... pointless IMO! and why should i have to buy games again that i own just to use them on a PSP go. typical sony trying to once again rip of the consumer IMO!

they got to make up for the loss of PS3 sales from launch somehow

Quote:

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Originally Posted by j_factor

"Traveler's Tales' director Jon Burton, known for his work with the best-selling Lego Star Wars series..."

There is something seriously wrong right here. Who the hell cares what this guy thinks? He shits out a Lego X game every six months for every viable platform, and all of a sudden he's the go-to guy for quotes to provide faux substance to lazy videogame journalists' pandering speculative fluff articles?

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I am assuming that the sales of his games (which happen to be on every platform available) are indicative of why he made that statement. You always go to multiplatform developers on what they think of a platform. If you went straight to Sony Computer Entertainment America, of course they are going to give you a heavily biased opinion.

PSP Go is selling well my arse. They are just trying to keep their stockholders happy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NinMicroSega

I am assuming that the sales of his games (which happen to be on every platform available) are indicative of why he made that statement. You always go to multiplatform developers on what they think of a platform. If you went straight to Sony Computer Entertainment America, of course they are going to give you a heavily biased opinion.

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If they are going that route, they should get quotes from multiple such people. If you're only going to quote one guy to represent the gaming industry's collective opinion, you really need to find a respected name in the business.

You can probably expect the standard PSP to go away and we'll be left with only the PSP Go much like how Sony removed the backwards compatible PS3s. This, of course, will be a big mistake on Sony's part when it happens.

I like my PSP1001. They would have sold a lot more UMD movies if they hadn't been as expensive as DVDs of the same movie!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Speedle

some people think digital downloads will replace physical games. personally i like the 'odd' download on xbox live etc but given the choice of downloading a game or having a nice cased copy in my hands, i'll be going with the real deal any day and i'm sure most gamers feel that way i like to have my games on display. it reminds me what i have, when its all burried in menus you forgot about stuff and it never gets used.

Sony have completely missed the mark here, yes the psp go looks nice but why would i buy that when my psp3000 downlaods games AND plays UMD's..... pointless IMO! and why should i have to buy games again that i own just to use them on a PSP go. typical sony trying to once again rip of the consumer IMO!

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I think it really comes down to one thing: cost. If I'm paying $20, you bet your ass I want a disc. If I'm paying 99 cents, who gives a fuck? I can't even buy fries for that! It's funny that the iPod Touch/iPhone is becoming a more prominent download-only game platform than the PSP Go.

I think the idea behind the PSP Go was to be a legal/ethical alternative to just bootlegging the games with custom firmware. I mean, I'll be the first proclaim that carrying games with a portable system is a PITA, the reason I probably won't get a Gen Mobile or anything like that. The execution, however, just kills it. At least 50%-70% of the cost of a physical game is production, warehouse storage, shipping, and wholesaler/retailer markup. When you remove all of that, the games should be sold for no more than 25%-50% of the original cost. The problem then, however, is that retailers will get pissed off that they can't sell the games (although, they could still sell the game cards, just like XBOX Live points or Wii Points, etc. to people that don't have credit cards).

The bottom line is that Sony should've waited for a completely new format before trying this and then taken a page from the iTunes App Store and worked with a low price-high volume sales approach. If PSP games were $5-$10 a pop, everyone and their mom would have one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scooter

You can probably expect the standard PSP to go away and we'll be left with only the PSP Go much like how Sony removed the backwards compatible PS3s. This, of course, will be a big mistake on Sony's part when it happens.

I like my PSP1001. They would have sold a lot more UMD movies if they hadn't been as expensive as DVDs of the same movie!

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that's not really a good comparison. PS2 compatibility was dropped to make the PS3 more affordable and because it never worked all that well anyway. UMD support would drop to help prevent piracy and to increase profits on games. Plus, I mean, does it kill anyone to have a PS2 hooked up? I don't understand the dilemma. It's as if the SNES, N64, Gamecube, Saturn, Dreamcast, etc. etc. were all backwards compatible and this was an earth shattering event. Hell, a PS2 slim is so small, you could probably case mod it into the PS3. You can even mount a PS2 slim on the wall behind your HD TV (I know someone that has done just that).

I Agree 110% w/ 17days:ok: