Sony: PSP Go Costs More Because of a "Premium"
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Thank you, amen, and you're preaching to the choir all at once. This is what I've been hoping for.HyenaThePirate said:
It's not so much the price, but the fact that Sony is telling its potential customers, "Yes, we could easily give you a better price for the product; but we don't want to."HyenaThePirate said:
"A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business." -Henry Ford.
It's way better to provide a cheaper product that will sell more and then accumulate a fan base than to try to make a profit off of the few that buy a single product.
The outrage at the price is entirely acceptable and if you are not angry at this, then you do not understand the value of the customer's dollar and are actively promoting a poor business.
Mabey it's just my old school sensabilitys(sp) but, damn it, when I own a game I want some kind of physical representation of that game, be it hardware disk or whatever. I guess thats just my reason for not getting a PSP GO.
Generally speaking I keep wondering how Sony manages to stay such a massive and successful company. 99% of the time they come accross like drooling retards.
But then again the scary thing is that I've run into a lot of Japanese/Asian racism towards whites over the years, and they generally seem to see "Caucasians" as some kind of race of inferior morons who have simply managed to stumble into wealth and prominance due to dumb luck and are cluelessly asking to be milked dry. I see this attitude among Asian gamers towards American/European ones as well, and as I've mentioned before from some translated periodicals and such I've seen over the years it seems that keeping something "JApanese Only" rather than selling it to the "Child races" can be a selling point. Not only that but pure profit isn't always the motivating factor in some desicians like this, and racism can play a decent role (ie Japanese empowerment before money).
At any rate, a lot of what is being said over the years seems to be based on the idea of American stupidity. We'll pay a huge price for a PSP-GO which will run entirely on digital downloads and microtransactions (which already annoy people) simply because it's new and they say there is a "premium" involved.
It's right up there with the stupid comments when the PS-3 first came out and Sony was asked how anyone was supposed to afford one and the attitude was basically "Work more hours". Ohhhhkaaaaay.
Over the last few years I can't help but wonder how this company has won the video format war, never mind remaining an industry standard... or heck, why haven't they self destructed?
Right now the PSP is a cool idea, I like the graphics quality and such. But the problem is limited support, and issues like loading times and such. My DS is smaller, and while not as powerful simply works better for what it's intended to do.
The PSP-Go seems to be designed to make the whole idea of a portable gaming system more expensive and annoying. Maybe I'm missing something but given their relative position compared to Nintendo on the portable market already this seems like a lemming-like suicide rush.
>>>----Therumancer--->
But then again the scary thing is that I've run into a lot of Japanese/Asian racism towards whites over the years, and they generally seem to see "Caucasians" as some kind of race of inferior morons who have simply managed to stumble into wealth and prominance due to dumb luck and are cluelessly asking to be milked dry. I see this attitude among Asian gamers towards American/European ones as well, and as I've mentioned before from some translated periodicals and such I've seen over the years it seems that keeping something "JApanese Only" rather than selling it to the "Child races" can be a selling point. Not only that but pure profit isn't always the motivating factor in some desicians like this, and racism can play a decent role (ie Japanese empowerment before money).
At any rate, a lot of what is being said over the years seems to be based on the idea of American stupidity. We'll pay a huge price for a PSP-GO which will run entirely on digital downloads and microtransactions (which already annoy people) simply because it's new and they say there is a "premium" involved.
It's right up there with the stupid comments when the PS-3 first came out and Sony was asked how anyone was supposed to afford one and the attitude was basically "Work more hours". Ohhhhkaaaaay.
Over the last few years I can't help but wonder how this company has won the video format war, never mind remaining an industry standard... or heck, why haven't they self destructed?
Right now the PSP is a cool idea, I like the graphics quality and such. But the problem is limited support, and issues like loading times and such. My DS is smaller, and while not as powerful simply works better for what it's intended to do.
The PSP-Go seems to be designed to make the whole idea of a portable gaming system more expensive and annoying. Maybe I'm missing something but given their relative position compared to Nintendo on the portable market already this seems like a lemming-like suicide rush.
>>>----Therumancer--->
Ok, ok, I will adimit to one bit of playing a "download only" game. Plants VS Zombies. That game is AWSOME, but I only downloaded it becasue there was no hard copy alternative.Onmi said:
The dumbest move they could pull would be to keep the name 'Zune' which pretty much translates to failure in the modern perception of consumers. It would be like Sega returning in the console buisness by releasing the Dreamcast 2.Onmi said:Be the dumbest move Microsoft could pull.Tenmar said:Sony PSP is chasing apple! They are going to lose! Meanwhile let's see is the Zune becomes Microsoft's gaming portable
1. Nothing will ever beat Nintendo. EVER, Sony never had a chance, nobody had a chance.
2. With the PSP and DS taking up a large amount of the market Microsoft would have to struggle to make sure the new handheld doesn't flop.
It's just not viable business
I agree it's stupid to compete with the other handhelds right now, especially with Nintendo, but that sure won't stop MS. They are desperatly trying to get a piece of the Wii success with Natal (which is even more stupid if you think about it), so I wouldn't be surprised if they entered the handhelds.
If I had the time and really cared I'd go and find out about what your opinion on L4D2 is just to make sure you're consistent, but instead I'll just continue.HyenaThePirate said:
There is a difference between something being expensive because it is, and something being expensive because the company is basically saying "we want more money than we should be making off this thing". And this is the latter. The console itself is cheaper to make than the current PSP iterations, and there is no reason for it to be $80 more expensive than the current PSP version. None. Except for "making some damn money". And yes, profit is good, but when you make an updated version that is $80 more than the current one and all it throws out the current media format to boot, thereby necessitating a whole new set of game library purchases, I simply cannot see the price as being justifiable. Now, I'm not saying I wanted it "for free", in fact I too am against the "what about me" culture that has risen up in gaming. However the complaints I've seen about the PSP Go's price are far more valid than the complaints about DLC not being free or the aforementioned L4D2 being a sequel released on time for once. And hey, I wasn't going to buy any PSP ever anyway, so I have no stake in the price argument except for saying that this feels like a bad business decision on Sony's part especially since they could've made a killing off the distribution method (licensing fees and so forth, not to mention the fact they're planning to have it run non-gaming stuff as well, cause we all know the last thing gamers want out of their games console is for it to play games).
And just consider this. The Nokia N-Gage was priced at $299. And we all know what happened there. I do not forsee the DS/DSi trouncing the PSP Go as badly however (mostly because the price difference is smaller), but still.
People buy shiny new things. Cost doesn't factor in for these people. SONY knows that americans,asians,europeans will all buy their new shiny thing. So why should they lower the price if they know that people will buy their shiny new thing?
Weren't people also saying that about the Wii? You know... the console that's outsold both the 360 and the PS3? Possibly combined? The one that was nigh-impossible to find on the shelves even 2 years after it was released? You know... THAT Wii? I even seem to recall some people making similar comments about the DS, though on a smaller scale.Brotherofwill said:The dumbest move they could pull would be to keep the name 'Zune' which pretty much translates to failure in the modern perception of consumers. It would be like Sega returning in the console buisness by releasing the Dreamcast 2.Onmi said:Be the dumbest move Microsoft could pull.Tenmar said:Sony PSP is chasing apple! They are going to lose! Meanwhile let's see is the Zune becomes Microsoft's gaming portable
1. Nothing will ever beat Nintendo. EVER, Sony never had a chance, nobody had a chance.
2. With the PSP and DS taking up a large amount of the market Microsoft would have to struggle to make sure the new handheld doesn't flop.
It's just not viable business
I agree it's stupid to compete with the other handhelds right now, especially with Nintendo, but that sure won't stop MS. They are desperatly trying to get a piece of the Wii success with Natal (which is even more stupid if you think about it), so I wouldn't be surprised if they entered the handhelds.
As for the argument that Microsoft would be stupid to try and break into the handheld market when there's already 2 competing companies in that market... what's your explanation for the X-box?
I got a quote for you too...f1r2a3n4k5 said:
"Business is about trading.. buying and selling. It's about creating a product or service so good that people will pay for it." - Anita Roddick
Sony is telling it's "potential customers" that if they want to own their PRODUCT, they have to pay for it. It's not a new concept. If you can't make your own PSP Go, then you have to BUY one. You don't need it to live, it's not a necessity... it won't cure your cancer, it won't help you lose weight, it won't help you pay your bills. So therefore it is a luxury, and if you want it, you can buy it, if not, you can go buy one of the other alternative products on the market. They don't have to make it cheaper just because some people have their own misguided ideas about what something should cost.
Do you own your own business? If so, what product do you sell? Are you selling it at the absolute minimum over your production cost to feed your family? Probably not. The goal of a business is to make money. And I doubt that the price of the PSP Go! is "extravagant" over the production cost. It's simply Sony's desire to make a profit, profit I might add that will go into support for the product in the form of funding development of GAMES and apps for the device.
You as the customer, have the option of voting with your feet. You can pay what they want, or not. You don't have to OWN a PSP Go! to survive, so what's the point in bitching because the price isn't something you like? It's like complaining about the rain because you wanted to get a tan. It's pointless and silly.
I'll save you the trouble.AceDiamond said:
I have no problem with L4D2. It's valve's game. They don't owe you or anyone else anything. You played L4D and had fun with it didn't you? It provided hours of entertainment beyond your original price of pay right? How many hours of L4D did you play? If we attach a monetary value to your "time", say minimum wage of $6 per hour, how much would that amount to? If you've played more than 10 hours, you've more than made up for the cost of the game. So if they want to do something different and develop an entirely new game and sell it at full retail price, that is THEIR prerogative. It's not "your" game, it's theirs. They thought it up, they put in the work, they produced it, they provided it. Your only involvement in the process is to choose to buy it or not and if you enjoyed what you bought. It's entertainment, nothing more nothing less, and you won't die if you cant afford to buy L4D2, although I don't know why you are opposed to giving a company money for a product that you will play and enjoy and supporting their efforts to keep such quality gaming coming to you. If thats the case, go buy another game from some other company and don't complain because you weren't willing to pay for it. That's like refusing to pay for a movie because you don't think a two hour film is worth $8, and then complaining to everyone how you didn't get to see it and you feel cheated for not being able to.
There is also a difference between "Want" and "need". You don't NEED this product, and I'm not even sure you WANT it, since it's not out yet. So why be upset because it costs more than You personally would be willing to pay? Just go buy a DS and have a blast with that.AceDiamond said:
Except that it IS NOT the current PSP iteration. It's smaller, newer, more modern, with different functions and capabilities. And there are cheaper alternatives if you want to play games. Like Parker Brothers.AceDiamond said:
Even though by your earlier comment, you just DID justify it. This is NOT a PSP. It's a newer, better product. As you said it's an "updated" version. By your logic, every television should cost the same as every tv made 5 years ago, since newer televisions are nothing more than "updated versions" of televisions made in 2005. Apply the same logic to the automobile industry. Car parts are cheaper and produced cheaper than they were in the ol' steel beast days. By your reasoning, a Ferrari should cost the same as a Kia.AceDiamond said:
No but you are saying you want it at a price YOU like, as opposed to the company's interests. The problem is, as cheap as you would want it to be, Sony probably would be giving them away. In addition, any price you can settle upon that's agreeable, I guarantee someone else will be crying about is 'too high'. It's the same argument people use for the PS3. In that instance, Sony is taking HUGE losses with each console they sell, so what's the excuse there? They priced it BELOW manufacturing costs and people are still crying buckets of tears over that. Bottom line, no matter how cheap you sell your product, SOMEONE will complain about it.. it's a lose/lose situation for Sony, so they just decided to not care anymore about the criticism.AceDiamond said:
Then what you're saying is your complaining for no better reason than just to complain??AceDiamond said:
What you conveniently omitted from that example is that they also had crap for software to support their little handheld. Can YOU think of a GREAT game on the N-gage that was a "must play?" off the top of your head? I certainly can't. Worse, they marketed it terribly, most casual consumers who aren't hardcore gamers probably never even HEARD of the N-gage.AceDiamond said:
Poor Marketing + Shiznit Games Library = Failure.
You don't need to be a business major to figure that out.
I'm glad you brought that up.AceDiamond said:
The DSi is more expensive than the DS. It's nothing more than a "updated version". In fact it loses key features, such as the backwards compatibility with gameboy advance games. So is Nintendo also guilty of being greedy? Ipods work off the same MP3 technology as every other MP3 player, yet people are still buying those are ridiculous prices.
The answer: Consumers dictate the market, not the companies. If people want the PSP Go! Price will be no obstacle to them. To the others who think the price is too much, they'll buy something else or a regular PSP, or they didn't really want a PSP to begin with.
Damnit, you said it, but could you change it from "They want some damn money" to "They need some damn money"? Fits more in the topic.AceDiamond said:
Though there is one or two points in your post are obviously there for me to contradict;
1. New products are always priced this way, regardless of what they offer. Really, just standard protocol in the world of electronics (not saying it's good or fair)
2. "thereby necessitating a whole new set of game library purchases" I have heard about converter boxes in stores when the Go! comes out, so you can covert your UMD games to your Go!. Also, future games will be both in UMD format and Digitally Distributed. This is the same ignorance (not in a bad way) that people show when they talk about needing to buy their movie collection again, blu-ray is backwards COMPATABLE!
3. "cause we all know the last thing gamers want out of their games console is for it to play games" I point you to the iPhone and to this article [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/6.118789]
Personally, for me, I am considering getting a PSP Go. The PSP already has plenty of games I want and now I just need to think about buying the 3000 model or the Go! model. Right now I'm leaning more towards the Go! because I don't have to lug around a bunch of UMD disks and probably break one or two, it's much smaller and lighter (easier on my pocket) and I prefer Digital Distribution when it comes to handhelds anyway.
I'm still waiting until Sony officially announce this rumoured "app-store" thing (Jesus, Sony just can't keep anything underwrapes can they?), because if that's true than it's just another reason for me to buy a Go.
I don't get it, Sony. I don't even want one of these things. If it was a phone as well I might be interested. Would ANYBODY want one of these over a 16GB iPhone? I could run Sony better than the jerk-offs who seem to be in charge. They don't make a single gadget any more I want. That's a good trick guys