PSPgo Gets Limited Price Cut in UK

[John Funk]

PSPgo Gets Limited Price Cut in UK

In what may be the quickest price cut in recent memory, several UK retailers have slashed the price of Sony's new PSPgo to £199.99 after only one weekend of sales.

Boy, the PSPgo has had an interesting ride. After being expected more negativity for the device [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/94934-EB-Games-Australia-to-Boycott-PSPgo-Too] than it actually received.

It's slightly odd, then, to see that several retailers in the UK are already HMV [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/pspgo-discounted-quickly-sharply] have all dropped the price of the handheld to £199.99.

Meanwhile, ShopTo [http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Search?storeId=10001&catalogId=1500001801&langId=-1&searchTerms=pspgo&Submit=GO+%3E] - the chain that called it "Dead on Arrival" - will continue to charge Sony's full price of £224.99.

It's all a bit puzzling, really. The main concern I'd seen of retailers was that the profit margin on the handheld itself was too slim to make much money off of sales, and the digital-distribution-only platform meant they couldn't recoup money off of used games. So their solution is to... make even less money (or even take a loss) off the PSPgo so that more people buy one and circumvent their brick-and-mortar stores entirely? Huh? Am I missing something here?

Still, it's unlikely to be bad news for Sony, who announced that PSP sales had risen 100% [http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/sony-pspgo-sales-in-line-with-expectations] with the introduction of the PSPgo to the market.

(Via VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2009/10/05/pspgo-already-dropping-to-200/])

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[Megacherv]

Hey, I bought mine and I love it. The smaller screen means that the resolution is higher, so playing GT on it looks fantastic (and I'm not normally a graphics whore). When I'm sat at home, I love using my PS3 controller to play on it whilst I'm also on my laptop.

 

[Amnestic]

Still, it's unlikely to be bad news for Sony, who announced that PSP sales had risen 100% with the introduction of the PSPgo to the market.

Sales rising by 100% all depends on what previous sales were. Oh sure it sounds impressive, but if the sales were two a week, then it's gone up to 4 a week.

Interesting that we got a price cut, but that says that even though they're 'in line with expectations', that they're not as high as they want them to be.

 

[Valkyira]

Maybe they might actually sell one then

 

[fix-the-spade]

It's out already?!

For once I'm not being cynical, but here in Loughborough (also Boston last week) I've seen neither hide nor hair of even a PSPgo advert. That's in several Tescos, an HMV and two Games.

I suppose they must be in the bigger stores or online retail, it's a little weird.

 

[LeonLethality]

I still have my 3000 for when I find UMDs in the store but my go will be for mainly PSN only purchases I love em both and wanna use em both equally x.x I wish mine was discounted though T.T

 

[Pendragon9]

Well, finally, the UK does something right. That price cut sounds pretty nice.

 

[Quadtrix]

I've been all DS in terms of handhelds this gen, but if I get a well paying job in the near future(which shouldn't be too hard when I graduate my electronics class), I might pick up a PSP Go.

 

[MetaKnight19]

I picked up a PSP Slim (or Lite I can't remember which) on holiday recently, and now this has come out. Never mind, anyway according to the exchange rate back then, I got it brand new for around £90. Bargain

 

[Jumplion]

Well, price cuts are always good. I'll need to pick on up sometime, though I'm still a bit lazy and waiting on Uncharted 2 and Ratchet and Clank first.

 

[KeyMaster45]

I'm sorry to say I'm still rather unimpressed with the whole psp in general, to be quite honest though handhelds have never really light a fire of excitement under my butt. I prefer using them on long road trips mainly sticking to my usual game combo of Kirby:Nightmare in Dreamland and New Super Mario Bros. Trying to play anything of sizable length on them is a nuisance to me and not worth the time.

Meh, but that's just me and price cuts on brand-spanking new systems are always a wonderful thing in my book. Now if I only lived in Europe.....

 

[Pingieking]

With the 100% rise in sales, the PSPGo has already surpassed my expectations even though there is no hard sales number (as in, actual unit sales instead of percentages). I thought it was going to be an absolute still born.
So... good for you Sony (I guess). But this price drop is about 3 months overdue, which is actually quite fast for Sony products. Now just carry that over for the rest of the world.

 

[AceDiamond]

I will say a 100% rise in sales is pretty damn good, but that seems to be just for the UK.

 

[Treblaine]

Even £99 for the PSPgo is a rip off to the consumer.

Buy a PSP-2000 or PSP-3000, at least then you have the option of both UMD and Dig-Dist games.

NB: 100% rise in sales is not much considering how incredibly poorly the PSP had been selling before. A small number x2 is still a small number.

 

[nevernow]

Actually, one of the reasons for the crazy price of the Go is to give a big margin to retailers on the console itself. Of course, that's still a one-shot as opposed to margins on games, especially used ones.

 

[scarbunny]

It makes sense for a price cut if no one is buying the things, is it not better for the stores to make a small profit rather than have stocking sitting unsold?

I know its only the first week or so after release but I would have thought if it was going to sell well then any initial stock would be depleted already.

As for the console its self I cant say I'm interested, the PSP-2000/3000 is a much better option, you get full access to the PSN Store plus you can buy physical games that will no doubt be cheaper, as well as having the option of used games.

 

[Terramax]

Even £99 for the PSPgo is a rip off to the consumer.

Buy a PSP-2000 or PSP-3000, at least then you have the option of both UMD and Dig-Dist games.

No, it's a rip-off to you. But I don't like having to lug around endless UMDs to play a selection of games. I don't like how flimsy and fragile the PSP was. The PSPgo is addressing that balance.

Some people like big cars with lots of bells and whistles, some like smaller cars with the basics and a difference design. Life is great when we have choice. If anything, Sony is giving us more choice than rip us off.

 

[WhiteTigerShiro]

Still, it's unlikely to be bad news for Sony, who announced that PSP sales had risen 100% with the introduction of the PSPgo to the market.

Sales rising by 100% all depends on what previous sales were. Oh sure it sounds impressive, but if the sales were two a week, then it's gone up to 4 a week.

I was thinking that exact same thing.

Also, looking at that picture, I can't help but think that the PSP Go is clunky to play.