The current PSP mini prices reflect App Store pricing about this time last year. App Store prices started out higher, but consumers gradually brought the prices down to where they are now.
What I don't understand is why anyone would want to pay $80 MORE for a PSP with a smaller screen and no disc-drive to play the real games! What a bizarre product for Sony to launch.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/reviews/2009/10/psp-go-review-sony-is-charging-you-much-more-for-much-less.ars
Two things struck me in that article: 1. Ars Technica, although technically inclined, obviously doesn't know good deals at all, as can be proved with this line: Buying new stuff at Gamestop = insta fail for various reasons (you can usually find new items cheaper elsewhere, and to Gamestop that game that the employees have been playing in the back added to the display case on the shelves = new item). You can find 4GB cards for less than $20. Just sayin'.... 2. They bring up interesting points in other PSPGo related articles, such as the relationship between retailers and the manufacturers of these consoles. The usual "sell the razor at a loss, sell the razor blades for profit" model employed by Sony and MS (and Sega in the past) doesn't work out well for retailers in the coming digital download age for the video game industry. Ars makes the mistake of lumping Nintendo into this group, but, here's the little secret Nintendo's been operating on for at least the past two generations: Nintendo doesn't lose a dime off of hardware sales from day one. Apparently Nintendo has made the other companies buy into the myth of the razor blade model when they themselves don't completely follow it. Apple does the same sort of thing too. Apple makes money off of iPhone 3Gs, and has done so since launch. And that's on hardware, before iTunes sales (of which, btw, they receive very little revenue comparatively). In the digital download age for games, though, retailers make less money, as they aren't selling games, which is why Sony priced PSPGo so high for five year old hardware that cost less to produce, especially with the removal of an optical drive. Sony, by pricing it higher, is giving retailers a nice little cut to "offset" the losses from no game sales. But...it doesn't make up for those losses completely. This article brings up a good idea on how retailers could enjoy the fruits of game sales from DD: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/2009/03/stocking-hardware-when-games-are-bought-online-why.ars If a game system is bought at, say, Best Buy, then whenever a consumer buys a game through the digital download store on that system, Best Buy would get a cut of the revenue generated off of that game sale. I think that's a good start. Give them a marginal cut (say, 2.5 - 5% from Sony's cut) off of each game sale and they'll stock the hell out of the hardware. Give them a slightly bigger cut if the games are downloaded using download vouchers and they'll stock the hell out of the vouchers. This would be somewhat similar to how I've read Apple handles games or apps bought that had ads going through OpenFeint. The OpenFeint people get a cut from Apple's 30% (I think it amounts to 5%). A similar mechanism can be developed for video game consoles and the retailers that sell them. Of course, I truly believe that for Nintendo, Sony, and MS to really bring this thing to the next level they've got to set up their own storefronts for these systems, both online and off. Nintendo's got Nintendo World stores, sure...but I don't think they sell DSi or Wii systems direct from the factory to the end consumer. Same deal with Sony and their Sony tech and Style stores. MS sells ZuneHDs direct, but not XBox 360s. Seems slightly...behind the times.
Haa I remember when it was Funcoland they used to try and sell used games as new, wrapping up even broken and scratched cases/ discs with new wrap. I would buy a new game for $50 and trade it in a week later for them to offer me $3-4 and then go back a day later to see my same game being sold as new for $40. What a rip off that place was.
Here's the "real" reason why PSP minis are more expensive: an ESRB rating! According to this article on Kotaku the Fieldrunners devs said the cost of an ESRB rating is significant and so the price had to reflect that. So PSP owners are paying extra for an age rating for their game!
Apple fans, please don't diss sony. I have a psp slim it still works great. psp minis kinda suck though. that's the reason I got a iphone.
i feel sorry for people who have bought a PSPgo. and even more sorry for them when they defend it because they are aware they just bought something way over priced, so they just stick up for it to justify their purchase. i did the same when i got my ps3, i was like omg its amazing, the games are the best!... and i haven't even turn it on in months. also check out ign's review for fieldrunners on the psp. good review but they basically said the extra content was nice but didn't warrant the price hike, also they said it was much better to control on the iphone (as it is with a lot of TD game imo) i can see this being the same with minigore. can't see myself enjoying that without two analogue sticks. using the d-pad seem's clumsy and frustrating.
The only portable gaming device I ever had before my iPhone was the Sega Game Gear and I hardly played it. PSPGo will appeal to gamers who need the latest device. Although you can now get the 3G iPod for just $30 more online and have games which cost less. It will be interesting to see how PSPGo fares during the upcoming holiday season. Anyone know what the PSPGo storage maxes out at?
1 TB. I'm not lying, there's a 1 TB M2 Card coming out this Christmas. That dwarfs the iPod Touches puny 64GB.
I find that ironic. Person A: Wow, it actually has buttons and a joystick! Person B: Oh, lets go play Minigore! Person A: Wait a minute. How are we supposed to control it? Person B: Oh, buttons. "No, shoot that way. North-west. Arghh!" Not a Sony hater by the way, love the PS3.
If only they added that second analog stick, there would have not been such outrage over the PSPgo...
1+ here too but think about it all the psp games funtion with only one anlong stick would it be more difficult to anaylze the games to function with 2
Well I got an iPod touch 3G about 3 weeks ago and I don't have to worry about any of that? And, come to think of it, I never did have to on my old iPod anyway.
