PSP Go Away...

I don't have high hopes for the PSP Go. Ever since it's showing at E3 this past summer, it seems as though Sony has been trying to piss off as much of the gaming industry as possible with their little venture into handheld gaming. Retailers, consumers and developers alike. No one seems particularly psyched for the "Go" and I can tell you why. Let's start with retail, this is after all a blog about selling games. The irony in that statement is that no one buys PSP games. Piracy is ridiculously rampant on Sony's portable. Despite an arguable plethora of quality software on the platform the PSP section is always the smallest in your local Best Buy or Gamestop. Which is what presents the most difficulty to retailers because stores make a bulk of their profit off of software (games) as opposed to hardware (consoles). Stores don't make a penny off any console they sell. Essentially the PSP has been living in stores for free while retailers cover the rent. Retailers carry consoles as a sort of quid pro quo, they make no money on the console but make up for it in substantially larger software sales. See where this is going? The PSP doesn't sell (why is a whole other story) and it's software even less so. The announcement of the PSP Go being a purely digital (no physical disks here) platform is the kicker here. Now that the PSP's software library will begin to have an even weaker presence in stores, what incentive is there for retailers to stock this expensive freeloader ($249.99, "Go" fuck yourself Sony)? Some editorial sources have implied that perhaps the sale of PSN Cards would help subsidize the PSP Go's presence in stores, which is doubtful. I however can't say with any confidence how much profit any retailer makes on PSN Cards, if any at all. On top of that, nobody is really interested in buying the PSP Go and if you are... well, I doubt you can read anyway. The PSP redesign does very little next to nothing to correct the flaws apparent in it's predecessors design. Obviously not having held one for myself I can't say much about it's ergonomic value but the return of the analog "nub" has not instilled me with any confidence. I really wish Sony would hold an event or something and tell us all what’s so new and exciting about the PSP Go. But y'know, something that my iPhone doesn’t do better already. Also, the average customer is often taken aback at the idea that they will have no physical manifestation of their property. There is nothing tangible in downloadable games, which makes many weary when forced to pay for a full-priced game and why shouldn’t they? Unfortunately, Sony hasn't done a very good job of telling customers why having all your games on a memory stick is better then a UMD. Battery life? Environmentally friendly? Quicker load times? Having to buy your games all over again when draconian DRM fucks you over? Yeah, no thanks. These same issues have brought concern to the development community, notably Atlus and Square Enix. Both developers have been reluctant to rerelease any of their PSP titles as downloadable. Lack of developer support is the first bullet in any “Why it died” list. That and piracy, oh hey, did I mention piracy is rampant on the PSP? I think you can see where this is going... Either way, this is getting long-winded. Buy a DS or an iPhone (I will fight anyone who rips on iPhone games) and you’ll be set. Stop buying PSP’s!