The challenges created by the download-only PSPgo have certainly been a learning experience for Sony, Sony Computer Entertainment boss Kaz Hirai has admitted. The major challenge was the fact that the PSPgo did not cater to a large enough audience. Pricing the device also became a factor in what has been described as “under whelming sales.”
“I think we did cater for a market, albeit not as big as the traditional PSP-3000 market,” the exec told MCV. “It is the first time we have done that with any of our devices, and we did get a lot of feedback, both good and bad. I think we need to make sure we have as many titles available to download as possible, to make the experience as easy as possible.”
“But also pricing is perhaps an issue. Because of the cost reductions we’ve been able to do over the years, the traditional PSP has benefited. But the PSPgo is a completely different design, so the cost trend is different. Those are some factors. But I’m happy with the results that we’ve seen on PSPgo, including the invaluable feedback that we’ve been getting from our consumers. I think it has done well for us.”
Sales for the device have been less than what Sony had hoped for when they decided to go for a download-only gaming platform. Sony insists that the device was released to “test” consumer willingness to engage in such a platform, but recent offerings of 10 free downloadable games point towards Sony actively trying to “re-energize” sales.
3 Comments
September 9, 2010
How do they expect to sell a version of the PSP that can't even play Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep? It'd be like if Microsoft released an X-Box lite that inexplicably couldn't play Halo, or Nintendo a DS that couldn't play the new Zelda release.
The only way the Go could have been a success is if they sold it for roughly the same price as the current PSP-3000 model, AND bundled a portable UMD drive that could rip your own UMDs to your PSP Go.
September 10, 2010
That headline is such an understatement, I thought I was on theonion.com for a second.
September 18, 2010
That's what you get for being greedy. All you want is make lots of money that you thought all people are rich and that they would just buy freely anything that you make. I just don't get it- why is the Go so expensive when you already remove the UMD drive. Just look at your PS1 and your PS2. You made these systems smaller and thinner and eventually they've become cheaper. The Go should have followed in terms of pricing.