Earlier today, we ran a story about SCEE’s Andrew House claiming that Europeans don’t care about the expensive nature of the PlayStation brand. Well, he didn’t stop there, becoming quite candid about the PSPgo’s ridiculous European price hike. Do you know why Sony’s charging so much for the new PlayStation Portable? Because it can, dummy!
When asked by MCV if R&D or retail markups were the reason for the PSPgo’s exorbitant 250 Euro price tag. House is remarkably honest, stating that there is no valid reason for the cost, Sony simply felt like charging that much.
“Those aren’t the factors,” House explains. “When you introduce a new piece of hardware you have the opportunity to say there is a certain premium that is associated with it, and we took that into account.”
That’s all there is to it. Sony is simply taking the opportunity to “say” that the PSPgo costs as much as it does, and practically admits that they could be a lot less expensive if Sony simply said otherwise.
It’s not like it’s an uncommon practice, and it’s not like Microsoft and Nintendo aren’t equally as guilty, but just blatantly admitting that you’re punishing early adopters through sheer greed leaves a sour taste.
