UK Retailer Says PSP Go Will Be Dead on Arrival

[Keane Ng]

UK Retailer Says PSP Go Will Be Dead on Arrival

UK retailer ShopTo is no fan of what Sony's doing with the PSP Go, refusing to market the device and calling it "almost" dead on arrival.

Some retailers in Europe aren't so happy with Sony's new direction with the PSP Go, which will make its debut in Europe in November. UK chain ShopTo is one of them, and while it's not taking the extreme route and out and out boycotting the device, it does have some unkind predictions for its future.

"I have the feeling that as a format it is almost dead before it has arrived, and it relies far too heavily on a customer base that is prepared to pay more for download content than the equivalent disc based product, and I suspect this market will soon dry up based on the technical limitations of the hardware," ShopTo's Igor Cipolletta told Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/shopto-pspgo-almost-dead-after-boycotts].

So do these guys think the PSP Go's a bad product that nobody will buy? No, they just have a problem with the business model it carries with it. The gripe for ShopTo and other retailers, is that the Go's digital-only approach cuts stores out of the business of selling games, a complaint industry analyst Michael Pachter thinks is a bit boneheaded.

"It's just silly for a retailer to say that they won't sell a big ticket gaming device because they can't sell the games," Pachter said. "Consumer electronics stores sell refrigerators and not food, everyone sells iPods and not the music for them; this position is just ridiculous."

For Pachter, these companies making a fuss right now might brew up some stink in the present, but they're going to have to deal with the future to survive. "Retailers have to face the fact that games will be increasingly offered over Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, and cope with the outcome," he said. "To draw a line in the sand is wrong."


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[Megacherv]

I've never even heard of ShopTo, so I doubt them not selling them will be a big problem

 

[MetaKnight19]

I've never even heard of ShopTo, so I doubt them not selling them will be a big problem

I haven't heard of them either. I think it will sell, maybe not as well as Sony hopes but it will do OK especially since its released around the Christmas period. Also, Pachter knows everything.

 

[Megacherv]

I've never even heard of ShopTo, so I doubt them not selling them will be a big problem

I haven't heard of them either. I think it will sell, maybe not as well as Sony hopes but it will do OK especially since its released around the Christmas period. Also, Pachter knows everything.

Really? I stopped paying attention to anyting he said because his opinions shifted wildly all over the fucking place, I couldn't take him seriously.

 

[Therumancer]

Well, speaking for myself I can't see this one doing especially well.

See, right now it seems that game companies and developers are all psyched up over the idea of digital distribution. While I can see why they like it, right now there is little or no incentive for customers to support it, especially seeing as it actually hurts them on a lot of levels.

Predictions based on digital distribution were based around the idea that by cutting out things like burning discs, packaging, and distribution, games and other electronic content could be released far more cheaply to the market. The industry being what it is however, rather than seeing this happen, digially purchused games and such have continued costing as much as their store bought counterparts, while at the same time depriving customers of
having a "disc in hand" as well as things like documentation.

The most recent Game Informer also talks about the trend (albeit from a pro-industry perspective in the final equasion, since they say it IS happening) as well as issues about consumer rights and perception with people effectively giving up ownership of a phyiscal property.

The end result is that I do not see the PSP-Go succeeding because in the end your seeing a situation where to play games you need to have both an internet connection (which can be more of a pain than you might realize, I've spent weeks fighting with my PSP to get it online) and on top of this wind up paying the same amount for a game that you could have had a physical copy of and docs for... and frankly with many games I play docs are actually pretty bloody useful.

A good example of this is the PSP re-release of Persona. You buy it physically and you get the soundtrack CDs along with a physical copy of the game. For the same exact price you can get a PSPGo version of it without the extras. Game informer themselves covered this in the Persona review.

The bottom line here is that a lot of companies are running to digital distribution channels both to combat piracy, and increase the profit margin further in in an industry already producing monsterious profits. The problem with this though is the assumption that consumers are going to go along with something like this that actually hurts them and strips away their rights.

The only way they could get this through is probably going to be to substantially reduce the prices of DD games (which was supposed to happen), but so far that isn't happening, and does not seem to be the case with the Go. So in the end why is anyone going to support the Go system?

The point of this rambling is that I think the retailer is right. Sony has a long history of being borked in the head. It isn't just what they have done with things like the PS-3, but when they have explained their rationale behind desicians connected to their products. We've gotten so many messed up "Sound bites" (or probably "text bites" more accuratly) from Sony execs over the years that the PSPGo seems like exactly the kind of thing you'd expect from the company than when questioned about prices suggested people work more hours, and later took a 10 gauge to their own foot by saying that they would never return backwards compadibility to their consoles. You look at music, movies, games, electronics, sometimes I can't help but wonder how they managed to get so big (and stay there) since they seem to be increasingly on their own little mental plane from the rest of the world. I might be wrong, but I think the PSPGo is the latest, unusually stinky, brain far to waft out of the mental colon that has been passing for Sony's game department for the last few years.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

lolwut? A retailer with enough sense to say that the PSPgo is basically one huge "DEAD END" for the platform?!

+1 faith in Humanity!

 

[Hazy]

While I don't think the GO will have an impact large enough to completely change the format of gaming worldwide, I do think it has the possibility to be a success. That is, if people don't already own a PSP, and don't mind Downloading games rather than buying them.

 

[Ibanez887]

So the PSP Go IS a dead end platform
Some of my faith in humanity has been restored, and I will be prepared to mock anyone who buys this monster of a handheld

 

[Cryfear101]

It will sell! little kids dig handheld consoles.

 

[Treblaine]

I had a rather candid conversation with the manager of Gamestation in Somerset, I asked him about PSP-go and he says they would be stocking it but literally only a single console per store at a time, so basically they can still say "well, were not-NOT selling it" and also won't advertise the product in store at all.

It was implied the plan was to sell at most only one per week so if more customers ask for one they can legitimately say: "we're all sold out I'm afraid, we'll be re-ordering 'another batch' *wink* (batch = single console) within then next week"

To be honest I say Sony deserve this. They should have put another damn analogue stick on the PSP-go then it might have been worth just half it's price as dual analogue stick = proper controls for shooters and most camera controls in games to be honest.

Bring on digital distribution for the old psp-1000 to 3000 and give up with this PSPgo malarkey.

 

[lee1287]

im in england, never heard of them either....

 

[Kenjitsuka]

I think the retailers are smart not to promote or stock it (much anyway).
They can only sell a console ONCE, they can sell you games for it for many years.
It's pretty much the same for the shops as for the manufacturer; the console isn't the money maker.

And wow, what an ugly handheld
Let me guess, they'll try to sell you the movies you already own for this thing again as well?
Didn't work at all for the PSP, will work even less for this thing.

 

[Low Key]

"It's just silly for a retailer to say that they won't sell a big ticket gaming device because they can't sell the games," Pachter said. "Consumer electronics stores sell refrigerators and not food, everyone sells iPods and not the music for them; this position is just ridiculous."

In all fairness, companies that sell refridgerators to the retailers, who in turn sell them to consumers do not make money on the food purchased to go inside of them. The same can be said, to a lesser extent, for Apple's iPods and the music that goes on them.

Sony, however, would be making money on the PSP Go AND the games sold for it.

 

[FloodOne]

I would think there sales of the PSN pre-paid cards would spike though, considering you will use them to buy games.

But do retailers make a profit off of those? I don't think they do, but I could be wrong.

In my opinion, Sony should let retailers sell download codes for each title at a markup, so the retailers can make some money off the PSPGo software. That, to me, would be logical and help grow the idea and acceptance of DD games exponentially.

 

[DRADIS C0ntact]

Hmm, a video game retailer claiming that a downloadable content only handheld device is a dead end?

Gee...I wonder why a retailer would say something like that...

 

[Jumplion]

I would think there sales of the PSN pre-paid cards would spike though, considering you will use them to buy games.

But do retailers make a profit off of those? I don't think they do, but I could be wrong.

In my opinion, Sony should let retailers sell download codes for each title at a markup, so the retailers can make some money off the PSPGo software. That, to me, would be logical and help grow the idea and acceptance of DD games exponentially.

I think they did that with Patapon 2, didn't they? And I'm sure they make some profit out of those cards.

OT: To them I say, so what? I get that they want to make money, and they can't exactly do that easily with a platform being digital-only, but again so what? Book stores didn't complain when the Kindle was released.

 

[Sephiwind]

Well, speaking for myself I can't see this one doing especially well.

See, right now it seems that game companies and developers are all psyched up over the idea of digital distribution. While I can see why they like it, right now there is little or no incentive for customers to support it, especially seeing as it actually hurts them on a lot of levels.

Predictions based on digital distribution were based around the idea that by cutting out things like burning discs, packaging, and distribution, games and other electronic content could be released far more cheaply to the market. The industry being what it is however, rather than seeing this happen, digially purchused games and such have continued costing as much as their store bought counterparts, while at the same time depriving customers of
having a "disc in hand" as well as things like documentation.

The most recent Game Informer also talks about the trend (albeit from a pro-industry perspective in the final equasion, since they say it IS happening) as well as issues about consumer rights and perception with people effectively giving up ownership of a phyiscal property.

The end result is that I do not see the PSP-Go succeeding because in the end your seeing a situation where to play games you need to have both an internet connection (which can be more of a pain than you might realize, I've spent weeks fighting with my PSP to get it online) and on top of this wind up paying the same amount for a game that you could have had a physical copy of and docs for... and frankly with many games I play docs are actually pretty bloody useful.

A good example of this is the PSP re-release of Persona. You buy it physically and you get the soundtrack CDs along with a physical copy of the game. For the same exact price you can get a PSPGo version of it without the extras. Game informer themselves covered this in the Persona review.

The bottom line here is that a lot of companies are running to digital distribution channels both to combat piracy, and increase the profit margin further in in an industry already producing monsterious profits. The problem with this though is the assumption that consumers are going to go along with something like this that actually hurts them and strips away their rights.

The only way they could get this through is probably going to be to substantially reduce the prices of DD games (which was supposed to happen), but so far that isn't happening, and does not seem to be the case with the Go. So in the end why is anyone going to support the Go system?

The point of this rambling is that I think the retailer is right. Sony has a long history of being borked in the head. It isn't just what they have done with things like the PS-3, but when they have explained their rationale behind desicians connected to their products. We've gotten so many messed up "Sound bites" (or probably "text bites" more accuratly) from Sony execs over the years that the PSPGo seems like exactly the kind of thing you'd expect from the company than when questioned about prices suggested people work more hours, and later took a 10 gauge to their own foot by saying that they would never return backwards compadibility to their consoles. You look at music, movies, games, electronics, sometimes I can't help but wonder how they managed to get so big (and stay there) since they seem to be increasingly on their own little mental plane from the rest of the world. I might be wrong, but I think the PSPGo is the latest, unusually stinky, brain far to waft out of the mental colon that has been passing for Sony's game department for the last few years.

Many good points here, there is also the problem that these gaming stores don't really make alot of money off of game systems, they make their money off of the games. On top of that you have stores like Game Stop that make the majority of their money off of trade ins, which will totally die if everything goes to a DLC format. Why should these companies support a digital format that really cuts into their profit margin.

Also another problem with the PSP Go is that in heavily relies on a broad band internet service. This is great and all for large cities in Japan that have internet connections that are like cities in Shadow Run, but even in large cities in the US finding a decient WI-FI connection is hard to come by. Plus if you live in an area where broad band still too expensive then you are screwed becsaue there is no way you are downloading some of these games on a 56k.

One final thing reguarding a digital distribution. I know there are a few IPs up in Canada and I think some in the US that limit your monthly bandwidth, what are those people going to do? It's bad enough they will have to limit their time gaming online so they don't go over, but now they will have to decide if they want to down load a new PSP game or be able to play an extra few days of their favorite MMO.

*edit*

"It's just silly for a retailer to say that they won't sell a big ticket gaming device because they can't sell the games," Pachter said. "Consumer electronics stores sell refrigerators and not food, everyone sells iPods and not the music for them; this position is just ridiculous."

This is really one of the most idiotic comparisons I have read. This would be my reply to Pratcher.

True Consumer Electronics stores don't sell food because that's not what they are in the business of selling, that's what grocery stores are for. Gaming stores make their money off of selling GAMES. The real comparison would be if Grocery stores also sold refrigerators. Now an electronics store comes along and starts selling a refrigerator that you type in an order, then swipe your credit card, and then teleports your food right in to your refrigerator. I bet in this scenario the grocery stores would refuse to sell that model of refrigerator in their stores because it would cut into their business.

Personally I think the PSP Go will fail in the US,UK,and AU almost as epicly as I think Natal will. Which I think Natal won't fail nearly as bad as the Virtual Boy did.

 

[Ghost8585]

lolwut? A retailer with enough sense to say that the PSPgo is basically one huge "DEAD END" for the platform?!

+1 faith in Humanity!

So the PSP Go IS a dead end platform
Some of my faith in humanity has been restored, and I will be prepared to mock anyone who buys this monster of a handheld

*whistles*....wow. Breathtaking really.

Anywa-hayze, I do agree that the PSPgo isn't going to light the world on fire or anything. Mostly because of the lack of a second analog and it not much of any improvement on anything. If they added a phone to it I would be all over it, but as it is its just not worth it. I understand why this retailer doesn't want to carry it. But they are overreacting a little, in my opinion. Also, why not just admit why you wont carry it instead of saying 'it wont sell'? Do they carry crystal balls as well?

 

[AceDiamond]

I would think there sales of the PSN pre-paid cards would spike though, considering you will use them to buy games.

But do retailers make a profit off of those? I don't think they do, but I could be wrong.

In my opinion, Sony should let retailers sell download codes for each title at a markup, so the retailers can make some money off the PSPGo software. That, to me, would be logical and help grow the idea and acceptance of DD games exponentially.

I think they did that with Patapon 2, didn't they? And I'm sure they make some profit out of those cards.

OT: To them I say, so what? I get that they want to make money, and they can't exactly do that easily with a platform being digital-only, but again so what? Book stores didn't complain when the Kindle was released.

That's because not everybody is going to spend $400 to read books they can get for $7

I understand what you were going for but it's not exactly the same kind of situation.