Analyst Calls PSP Go a "Ripoff"

[Andy Chalk]

Analyst Calls PSP Go a "Ripoff"

Industry analyst Michael Pachter says PSP Go [http://www.sony.com].

In an E3 follow-up edition of the iTunes [http://www.gametrailers.com/episode/bonusround/305?ch=1] and other features that have made the Apple handheld so popular.

"$249 is too much, period," Pachter said. "The $169 PSP-3000 is a profitable device... The disc assembly for UMD costs more than 16 gigs of flash does, so this new device doesn't cost them as much to make as a PSP-3000, and they jack the price up $80? I'm sorry to say it, I don't want to get bad fan mail from the Sony fanboys, but... They're ripping off the consumer."

Pachter said the new device will also benefit Sony through its digital-only design, which will drastically reduce piracy. He added that a slow rate of adoption will force the price down but not before Sony "takes advantage" of consumers willing to pay top dollar for new consoles.


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[daviejjd]

I think more important news will be when Sony DOESN'T rip someone off!

 

[Useful Dave]

I don't see why a portable would be made without a disk-drive anyway. You're going to want to be able to swap out stuff without waiting ages for it to download.

 

[Falien]

Pachter said the new device will also benefit Sony through its digital-only design, which will drastically reduce piracy.

Are you sure you meant to say "reduce" there?...

Sony is dropping a physical format in favour of a digital one, which is the same kind used for pirating. Call me an idiot, Mr. Sony, but doesn't that actually make the pirates' work easier?

 

[mikecoulter]

Sony has to try and make money somehow. It's called business.

 

[GoldenCondor]

The iPhone has the App store, the PSP has hacking and emulators.

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Sony has to try and make money somehow. It's called business.

And there is a difference between good business and bad business, and this, according to popular belief, is bad business.

 

[midpipps]

Before I jump on his bandwagon I would like to know how much that disc drive costs them to manufacture. There is always the possibility that it is actually cheaper to make the umd drive at the current prices for the memory modules they need for this system to be I mean you can pick up a full sized DVD/read write drive for 40 bucks but most 16 GB memory sticks cost 50 bucks for the cheap junk ones.

Not saying I agree with Sony ( I also think the price is a little steep) but I would like to know where he is getting his data from.

Like does he have hard numbers on manufacturing costs of both systems?

 

[Crash486]

Much easier in fact, especially with that

Pachter said the new device will also benefit Sony through its digital-only design, which will drastically reduce piracy.

Are you sure you meant to say "reduce" there?...

Sony is dropping a physical format in favour of a digital one, which is the same kind used for pirating. Call me an idiot, Mr. Sony, but doesn't that actually make the pirates' work easier?

Much easier in fact, you can just input your pirated games via usb and save them on the 60g hard drive. Not that I condone that kind of behavior, but it in no way reduces piracy.

Before I jump on his bandwagon I would like to know how much that disc drive costs them to manufacture. There is always the possibility that it is actually cheaper to make the umd drive at the current prices for the memory modules they need for this system to be I mean you can pick up a full sized DVD/read write drive for 40 bucks but most 16 GB memory sticks cost 50 bucks for the cheap junk ones.

Not saying I agree with Sony ( I also think the price is a little steep) but I would like to know where he is getting his data from.

Like does he have hard numbers on manufacturing costs of both systems?

I'm actually curious to see those figures as well, I was under the impression that a 16g solid state hard drive would be a good deal more expensive than a UMD reader. It's cheaper to distribute media digitally of course, but I'm not sure if the cost to produce the actual device is cheaper.

 

[Jumplion]

Sony has to try and make money somehow. It's called business.

And there is a difference between good business and bad business, and this, according to popular belief, is bad business.

How is trying to just get some damn money a bad business decision? Sure, it's not that cheap, but they have to make money somehow especially for the other *ehem* investment, the PS3. People always moan and groan for cheaper products, but it's either A)Improbable or B)Unreasonable. Even if the PSP Go! was $150 at launch I'm pretty sure people would ***** for an even cheaper one and say "Well, why don't you remove some of the internal flash memory and make it 8GB! It's not like we need 16GB!" and then proceed to say "WAAAHHHH! I need more gigabytes!"

But I'm starting to get riled up again. Besides, I'm sure it would probably be bundled in with some other stuff at around the same price.

 

[tendo82]

He might be right. I mean the PSP was $250 when it came out, back when it was state of the art. But to pay $250 now for a system that may or may not play my old PSP games and doesn't have a second analogue stick? It kind of seems like a raw deal.

I currently have six psp games on umd. What will become of them Sony? What about the children!?

 

[Jumplion]

He might be right. I mean the PSP was $250 when it came out, back when it was state of the art. But to pay $250 now for a system that may or may not play my old PSP games and doesn't have a second analogue stick? It kind of seems like a raw deal.

I currently have six psp games on umd. What will become of them Sony? What about the children!?

Well if you already have a UMD PSP then why would there be a need to buy the Go? I know that when the Go is released or at around that time all PSP games from then on will be sold both in physical UMD and via digital distribution. I still don't know about previous UMD games to Digital, but couldn't you use a memory stick or something to port the save files there?

 

[Crash486]

The reason is that this handheld is going to be 100% digital downloads via PSN. Consumers will not physically own the product and if said account gets banned there goes all the games which no consumer really wants which is why people like physically owning a product or have the product come in seperate parts. If something breaks down one can figure out on their own which part it is, fix or replace the part and then get back up and running. Much like Apple products if the device is broken there is no way for the individual consumer to figure out how to get the device back up and running, you literally have to rely on the company and have them fix the broken product and they will charge you a fee to fix said device.

I'm slowly accepting digital services like Steam for games I don't mind not owning physically but must have games I still NEED that physical disc knowing that I can replace a device and still have the game or replace the game and still have the device.

Mmm I'm not sure that's the case actually. It's not like steam where you have to authenticate your games every time you play them. Once you download the files, the game is physically yours, and you can save it on any media you wish. They don't have a means to lock your individual games, and even if they locked out your account (not sure why they would) all the games you had previously downloaded would still be unlocked and playable. They don't have the same DRM system that steam uses, steam requires you authenticate your files each time you load one up unless you download "local content." Even then I'm pretty sure they can lock your content if you ever log on to the internet with the account again.

 

[yankeefan19]

So... That thing costs about as much as a less ripoffy wii

 

[tendo82]

He might be right. I mean the PSP was $250 when it came out, back when it was state of the art. But to pay $250 now for a system that may or may not play my old PSP games and doesn't have a second analogue stick? It kind of seems like a raw deal.

I currently have six psp games on umd. What will become of them Sony? What about the children!?

Well if you already have a UMD PSP then why would there be a need to buy the Go?

There are a couple of really good reasons I need the Go. It slides, its smaller and umm...I'm sure there's one other really good reason, I just need time to invent it.

Seriously though, there's no reason for me to get one. But it's like the Geek version of Everest. Why climb it? Because its there man, its there!

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Sony has to try and make money somehow. It's called business.

And there is a difference between good business and bad business, and this, according to popular belief, is bad business.

How is trying to just get some damn money a bad business decision? Sure, it's not that cheap, but they have to make money somehow especially for the other *ehem* investment, the PS3. People always moan and groan for cheaper products, but it's either A)Improbable or B)Unreasonable. Even if the PSP Go! was $150 at launch I'm pretty sure people would ***** for an even cheaper one and say "Well, why don't you remove some of the internal flash memory and make it 8GB! It's not like we need 16GB!" and then proceed to say "WAAAHHHH! I need more gigabytes!"

But I'm starting to get riled up again. Besides, I'm sure it would probably be bundled in with some other stuff at around the same price.

Now Mr lion, no need to get jumpy. I stated what popular belief was, which is that it's a ripoff. Case in point:

He might be right. I mean the PSP was $250 when it came out, back when it was state of the art. But to pay $250 now for a system that may or may not play my old PSP games and doesn't have a second analogue stick? It kind of seems like a raw deal.

I currently have six psp games on umd. What will become of them Sony? What about the children!?

While I disagree with NinTendo's talk on the second analogue stick, as they are not making a new console here, he and Pachter make an point.

It's costing the same price as the original for a console that may or may not play older PSP games (though I've heard word of download stations) means it's similar to the DSi, where it's questionable whether or not the amount of added content makes it worth the price when there are already two models out there. I guess the added price isn't a bad business decision, a good one in fact if the consumers lap it up, but it seems to be a ripoff from the consumers side.

I am personally going to get an original PSP soon enough, as it should get cheaper soon surely. But bear in mind people will always complain. Always.

 

[Crash486]

So... That thing costs about as much as a less ripoffy wii

As does an MP3 player, or an ipod, iphone, or just about any high tech handheld device. And it has far better games to boot.