Reuters is reporting that Sony Computer Entertainment has finally done the sensible thing and slashed the price of its digital-exclusive PSP, the PSPgo.
Starting now, apparently, the handheld is $199 in the US, which is down from its original launch pricing of 250 bones. That's a total $50 worth of savings for a portable that we're often surprised to see major support from anymore and was often panned and grumbled about during launch for having such a big tag to begin with.
The price is being lowered in Japan and Europe, too. According to Reuters, the price will now be 16,800 yen instead of 26,800 yen in Japan. VG247 reports that the hardware now costs 160 Euros in Europe, down from its original 199 Euros price point.
Gamasutra reminds us that the PSPgo, as of the end of this September, offers over 590 downloadable games and over a thousand bits of video content as well as comic stuff. But, obviously, it can't play UMD discs, which is what most existing PSP owners seem to have a lot of.
Reuters is reporting that Sony Computer Entertainment has finally done the sensible thing and slashed the price of its digital-exclusive PSP, the PSPgo.
Starting now, apparently, the handheld is $199 in the US, which is down from its original launch pricing of 250 bones. That's a total $50 worth of savings for a portable that we're often surprised to see major support from anymore and was often panned and grumbled about during launch for having such a big tag to begin with.
The price is being lowered in Japan and Europe, too. According to Reuters, the price will now be 16,800 yen instead of 26,800 yen in Japan. VG247 reports that the hardware now costs 160 Euros in Europe, down from its original 199 Euros price point.
Gamasutra reminds us that the PSPgo, as of the end of this September, offers over 590 downloadable games and over a thousand bits of video content as well as comic stuff. But, obviously, it can't play UMD discs, which is what most existing PSP owners seem to have a lot of.
If people weren't buying them when they where handing out all those free games with it, why would they do it now? (granted it was just in Europe but still...)
Apparently that's £127, still not worth it imo. Give me dual analogue and double shoulder buttons, y'know, just a slight bridge sticking out at the back and I'll think about it.
Love my Go. It's more expensive, sure. But there is/was a great offer on in the UK where you get 10 games included with one. Smells like a decent enough deal to me.
Retailers have been cutting the price on them often enough that this doesn't surprise me. I only want one now so I can show it off to people in 15 years as if it were a Virtual Boy
Who coulda known that the market for posers who wanted to pretend they had a smartphone but its really a PSP was so small? OK its hard to blame SONY for trying the Apple route of charging more for less product but putting it in a flashy case but SONY missed the part where Apple doesn't directly compete against itself.
There's nothing fundamentally wrong with the PSPGo but Sony's lack of support for it has been pretty depressing. The PSP in general should be doing so much better than it really is for what it is (an argument I don't feel like getting into), and the Go stands as a good example of this. As a regular PSP user I would love to justify owning one to myself but I can't, and I certainly can't justify it for anyone else.
As for the price, still too much I'm afraid. A God of War: Ghost of Sparta PSP-3000 bundle is $200, and used Slims are in the ~$100-$120 range. I really wish I could defend the Go because I think its so fascinating, but I just can't do it.
" Actually, I think I'd now try it. But what games to get? Oh, right... nothing... "
I picked up a 2000 for like 50 bucks a few months ago anf a copy of PixelJunk Monsters for 10. I have a copy of Jeanne D'Arc here too, I'm very curious about what I'm gonna do with it beyond that.
@GS_Dan said:
" Love my Go. It's more expensive, sure. But there is/was a great offer on in the UK where you get 10 games included with one. Smells like a decent enough deal to me. "
Man I don't even know if I could pick out 10 - does it include all titles? Or is it (as usual) a huge list of two year old bargain binners?
Charging more for a system which has less features then your existing system, and then telling people that the reason is because people like paying extra for premium electronics.. I still can't believe there were people who actually thought this would work.
What's really messed up about the PSPGo, other than price and support, is that when I download something I would expect it to be cheaper than buying a physical copy. When I look at the prices of downloadable PSP games and do a comparison at Amazon of the UMDs - the UMDs are often cheaper. It's kind of ridiculous.
Why would it matter if the PSP go doesnt support discs? I mean, are they not trying to get new users, not people with existing collections? i understand a big wave will be those who love the PSP, but this shows that big blunder of this system was the high price. It should have been 199 from the start. And right now it should be 169. But it will never be where I want it to feel it is worth the purchase.
Was already retailing for about $160 used here in Japan, and I've seen new models for about $210. If it I find one for $100, I might buy it for kicks, but with the PSP2 all but announced I guess I should just wait it out and keep my old 1000 (which continues to serve me well).
Seriously, a closed handheld system with no hobby dev kit and no physical media? I hope all such experiments fail miserably in the marketplace.
Seriously Sony, if you're going to 100% control the software channel you have to basically give the hardware away, or at least price it in the range of geek impulse buy. example: base model itouch.
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