Uh oh. Sony may think it can charge whatever it wants for hardware and the people will come flocking, but the high price of the PSPgo, not to mention its digital-only game library, has irked a number of independant retailers in the UK, who now see no valid reason for them to bother stocking Sony's latest portable.
"From my point of view I've got to think, 'Do I want to stock this?' Right now I can't see any justification for stocking it," says Don McCabe, Joint MD of UK retailer Chips.
"Certainly I'm not getting the response from consumers," he continues. "Normally when a new piece of kit is launched or announced I'll get a multitude of people saying 'As soon as that comes out I want one of those.' First adopters are on the phone within seconds of it being announced and you've got your pre-orders. I don't have a single pre-order for PSPgo at the moment."
Fellow retailer Grainger Games says that it has "no pre-orders at all" for the system, although it will have to stock a few just for anybody planning to drop in an buy one. Either way, it would seem that despite Sony's arrogant claims that Europeans don't care about price, the company's hiking in PAL territories may just bite the publisher in its arse this time.
We'll have to see how it goes, but frankly, if you're going to try and price gouge in Europe as much as Sony is, you kind of deserve everything you get. Sony earned the lukewarm reaction to its hardware this time.
Contest:
3:00 PM on 06.25.2009
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Just thought I'd point that out.
I can't blame them. I was intending to get a PSPgo shortly after it came out....until I heard the price thing...yeah.
PS3 sounds average with a TON of potential in the coming years to make up for lost time, while this just sounds like it has the potential to be 'okay, not bad'.
Honestly though, game stores will make some scratch by selling cases, the new memory sticks, car chargers, etc. . . They're upset that they won't be able to sell boat-loads of UMDs, but they'll sure as hell stock it -- they don't want to be the one retailer that has to turn away parents looking to buy the Go for their kids during the holiday season, since they'll usually buy other items/games there too.
If I were Sony, I would quickly and quietly kill the 3000, and over 6 months or so go to an all digital format for PSP releases. Because, f*ck those pawn shops, charging a hair under retail for used games they sold in the first place. (I still can't find Fable II in any shop for less than $54.99)
If don't have wifi in my home or a PS3 (which I don't - I wired my house because wired > wireless), how do I get games for my PSPGo?
In that case....
@JammOnTheOne
DL the games onto the memorycard via your comp and pop it into your psp.
But those days were nice, when Sony was king. Sigh. I really wish they'd get themselves back up to that status.
@GLORNS
In Britain it costs the equivalent of $375. Take that!
When I heard of the high price I immediately thought of two reasons for price point.
1. Sony needs to come out with something at the same time to make some money to be able to afford to price cut the PS3
2. Sony needs to Entice retailers to stock something that makes them obsolete by allowing a higher markup/profit for the retailers per device.
Both seem very logical to me, and yet I see stories like this. What am I missing?
However, it's 250 Euros, and 250 Dollars.
That alone is robbery.
I can see it being £270.
Factoring in the fucking wank EU PSN, and there is no reason to buy a PSP Go.
I really would buy a PSP and Final Fantasy Tactics for it, so support one of my favourite games with the only copy I can buy and play on an uncracked console.
But the normal PSP is also over-priced considering it's poor selection of games, and poor control scheme.
Of the games coming out/released. The only ones I would buy would be Prinny, FFT:WoL, and Peace Walker.
I'm not in a position where I can waste upwards of 200 quid and smile while being raped in the arse as a result.
Everything Sony does seems to be wrong.
Their motion controller has more potential than Natal, being a combination of Natal and Wiimote in essence They fucked that up by allowing Microsoft the first go at E3. No-ones talking about Sony's. If they'd got in first, The boot would be on the other foot.
No PS3 price drop? What the fucks up with that? I paid full price, at release, and I wouldn't begrudge anyone getting the console cheaper than me if they'd enjoy using it.
Shiity Service for our PSN? Why? The EU has always been loyal to the Playstation brand. We're a larger landmass than the US, and we've probably got more customers. We pay more, and get less, and inferior hardware. And ridiculous delays, Cross-Edge coming out in August in the UK, It's out in U.S. It's time they enforce Simultaneous Release or they don't get Publishing rights.
If they treat us equal, their approval rating would go miles high.
The fact the US is getting FFT on PSN, Will probably get Xenogears, and maybe Chrono Cross by the end of PS3's lifespan is disappointing on a Personal Level.
They never saw release on PAL shores in PS1 days, They never will now...
How hard would it be for Square and Sony to put their heads together and get a basic PAL conversion. I'm guessing Days. Translations obviously take a long time, but making an NTSC PS1 game into a PAL one? Surely it can't be that hard...
Sure, you could say Nintendo are guilty of doing the exact same thing, but at least they have the games library to back it up.
My current PSP is collecting enough dust as it is. How can I (or anyone else for that matter) justify spending all that extra money on a shiny new machine, just to get the same result?
Games first. Hardware second. What are Sony playing at this generation?
PSP Go is a nice piece of kit and I'd love one for my collection. Problem is Sony, they have complex about their pricing, and its one that's always their undoing. Greed is a bad trait and Sony have dicked us around too much in the past, to deserve such loyalty.
What is indeed insulting, is that the original PSP should be on sale for like £50-60, but their greedy keeps it high and knows no bounds. IF PSP Go flops, they only have themselves to blame.
Small retailers may have trouble selling them, so DS wins over it again.
"DL the games onto the memorycard via your comp and pop it into your psp"
My computer doesn't have a memory card slot :-D Nor does my 10 year old cousin that wants a PSPGo. However, now we're proposing workarounds for a product whose intent is to buy a download code a Best Buy (or directly from the device itself) and then pray you can find a wifi hotspot near your home or friend that has a PS3/Computer that can access the internet AND have a memory card reader. I know plenty of avid gamers that don't even have internet access at home.
My argument still stands that this device is not for your average consumer and I hope it will die the death it deserves...
In other news, I'll buy a PSPgo when it's about £150. Nuff said. I have WiFi, I have a PS3 the PSPgo will be an awesome addittion to my set up and my PSP1000 is on it's way out anyway.
In fact, if my PSP's analogue nub get's any worse before the innevitable holiday price drop, I'll just by a GO anyway. Fuck it.