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.
There's really no point to the PSP Go. The normal PSP can already play downloaded games, and Memory Stick Pros aren't that hard to find. The internal storage just isn't worth the loss of the UMD drive.
That being said, when this bad boy goes to $99, I'm so picking one up to replace my Walkman.
I'd honestly rather they just attempt to put more games out on the network. The PSP Go is nice and all, until a game comes out that I want to play and stubbornly refuses a purely digital medium.
I personally don't like Kingdom Hearts, for example, but look at the monstrous debacle that was releasing a guaranteed hit exclusive... and then failing to make it accessible to all owners of the system it was designed for.
" 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? "
I already have my PSP Go, love it to death, but not going to buy another one, of course.
I do really like my PSPGo though, but it's just a better device for me than the classic PSPs (cause I actually use it as a portable device on the go, so the smaller form factor is huge to me. Can fit easily in my pocket).
" if they launched with this price I might've bought one. but now! NO WAY! PSP-3000 Monster Hunter Edition is way better deal (more batter/ better analog)! not to mention PSP2 NEXT YEAR! Save your money or buy the Monster hunter edition PSP. "
INDEEEEEEEED. Or be cool and already own Monster Hunter, and a PSP1000. I bought my original PSP for the first MH:Freedom game heh. Long ago.
if they launched with this price I might've bought one. but now! NO WAY! PSP-3000 Monster Hunter Edition is way better deal (more batter/ better analog)! not to mention PSP2 NEXT YEAR! Save your money or buy the Monster hunter edition PSP.
Its certainly a better price, but I think it needs to be 50 dollars cheaper. I would just pay the extra hundred and get a PS3 if you dont have one or a 360.
It's not a bad system, people. As a device, it's sleek and works really, REALLY well for what it's trying to do. I also like having everything on demand, with all my games snuggled happily in the hard drive, and I'll never have to fumble with UMDs.
That said, it's the price point you should be poking at, not the device itself. If this thing launched around $150 and just dropped to $100, everything would've been different. But at launch it was too expensive, and even with this price point, it's not worth it.
It's a device that is really cool and sleek until you tell them how much you paid for it, then it becomes a piece of crap. Also, the little-to-no support from the parent company doesn't help, but that's the PSP Slim's problem too.
I saw that price cut in the store the other day, scratched my head a little bit thinking it was already that price... Well I guess Sony is going to need to try again. You would think a smaller LCD and no disc drive would turn a cheaper price, I guess in Sony's way of doing I guess not.
I think I'm going to pick up a PSP Go soon. There's a substantial back catalog of games I want to play, including Killzone: Liberation, Resistance: Retribution, God of War: Chains of Olympus, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Jeanne d'Arc, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Patapon (2), the Syphon Filter games, the SOCOM games, Wipeout Pulse and Pure. I'm sure there are some others too.
My only concern is not knowing how soon the PSP 2 will launch.
Hmm... $1.99, that seems about right...oh wait, fuck I really need glasses. But in all honesty, I don't think its a terrible product, but 200 bucks is still asking a lot. If they drop it another $50, they might finally see people taking interest.
the thing has a terrible design, the buttons are miniscule and uncomfortable. sony botched this thing so badly that they should be free with purchase of a regular PSP. not to mention the fact that you can't get your UMD based games transferred for free to this system. utter nonsense
With most of the consoles being around the $200-300 range, having a handheld that is $200+ to me is quite insane unless it's some weird hybrid like the PSP but able to play all PS1&PS2 games. Most handhelds have such a limited library that I'd prefer to know people who have the handheld I can borrow for a couple days as after about a week with me they don't tend to last long.
I bought one, at launch price, around 8 months ago and used it from little else except music until it broke about 1 or 2 months ago now, but because I used it so little i decided to not bother getting it fixed/replace.. a total waste of money IMO
I'm honestly not sure what's up with the PSP anymore. Such huge potential, but when one of the best games on the system is still the original Lumines, you've got to wonder where it all went wrong.. I guess the iPod has something to do with it too.
I was actually considering getting a 3000 soon not this, but with the rumors a psp2 I think I'll wait for that. Hopefully it'll have some sort of backwards compatibility.
Poor little system. Good idea, but Sony f-ed it up. It's pure luck that their failure of the first two years of the PS3 didn't bomb the system as a whole.
I also still say the only reason the PSP is still going strong is the PSN and the hackability.
I was going to pick one up before e3 this year, mostly to play Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max, but I decided to wait and see if they would announce a psp2. instead, Nintendo revealed SSFIV 3D, which means they now have 100% of my attention when it comes to handhelds. Well, that and the iPod I'm currently using to type this on the can.
Is it still more expensive than a PSP-3000? Then it's still overpriced. Sorry, Sony, but if you offer me a product that does less, I expect to pay less.
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