What Sony learned from PSPGo 'experiment'

Speaking to MCV, Sony Europe president Andre House says the release of the Sony PSPGo handheld was a test of how consumers would accept digital gaming and the end of physical media.

While the handheld was a complete failure, Sony says it was a good test of the company's future plans in the sector.

Says House: "It was introduced in a mature lifecycle to learn more about what the consumer wanted and we�ve definitely learnt a lot. Is that measured by success in sales? I don�t think it is."

He continues: "One of the reasons we launched PSPgo was to understand where that consumer behaviour was going. We were getting signals from consumers that this was the kind of device that they wanted. But we need to recognise that consumers like their packaged media library."

As far as a "test" goes, Sony certainly overstated consumer willingness to pay an $80 premium for a device that is limited to only digital gaming and adds little else of value.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 9 Jun 2010 1:06

Advertisement - News comments available below the ad

13 comments

TBandit

So are you going to add another analog stick.

9.6.2010 01:18 #1

ydkjman

Poor retailers that got stuck with this crap and have about 50 of them sitting on their shelves just waiting to have markdowns taken on them.

9.6.2010 01:38 #2

vontratt

Sony learned something? Haw, that'll be the day.

9.6.2010 03:54 #3

KillerBug

What a load of crap.

-People were saying that they do not like UMD, not that they did not want physical media.
-Charging $80 more for a device with fewer features is hardly a test of willingness to move to a download-only platform. If they had charged the same or less for the GO (it cost less to make after all), then it might have been a good test...if you ignore the 500,000 units on ebay.
-Where is mobile gaming going? TO SMARTPHONES! How dumb are the CEOs at sony to think that people would want to carry around a phone and a PSP with them everywhere they go? And if you are not bringing it with you everywhere, then what is the point of mobile gaming? If sony had made the Go as a phone, then it would have done very well. Unfortunately, they missed the boat...and now there are so many great phones with gaming capabilities that they might have trouble pushing a PSPhone.

9.6.2010 04:36 #4

davidike

they learned that people dont want to be ripped off by the fecktards at sony (and other companies) blocking resale of legitimately purchased software.

Quote:Is that measured by success in sales? I don�t think it is. what a ****, so sony's future plan is to find another way to rip off gamers by forcing digital content down their throat, blocking resale of purchased content thus destroying the second hand market.

btw you dont see car manufactures demanding monies from the sale of second hand cars do you?

"The public domain is a dicgrace to the forces of evil"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo

9.6.2010 04:41 #5

KillerBug

Originally posted by davidike: btw you dont see car manufactures demanding monies from the sale of second hand cars do you? Nope; some companies even extend the factory warranty to the second owner.

Unfortunately, I am not sure that applies directly. Sony does not charge you to sell a PSP...only the games. One might argue that the games are to the PSP what the gasoline is to the car.

9.6.2010 04:58 #6

biglo30

Originally posted by TBandit: So are you going to add another analog stick. Lol I know right, I'm just gonna give a +1 on this comment cause I post that everywhere I see a psp convo going on lol. (Jackasses as sony) What a waste of company revenue ...pspgo?????

9.6.2010 13:51 #7

juventini

It was a test...yea right! Sony got PSPgo all wrong.

Forza Juve!!

9.6.2010 21:29 #8

davidike

Originally posted by killerBug: Unfortunately, I am not sure that applies directly. Sony does not charge you to sell a PSP...only the games. One might argue that the games are to the PSP what the gasoline is to the car. i think you'll find thats batteries. they are removing our right of ownership so they can squeeze as much money out of people as possible, they aint happy with X times millions, now they are finding ways to monetise second hand sales, and dont give a **** about what their customers think about it!

"The public domain is a dicgrace to the forces of evil"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo

10.6.2010 04:44 #9

kikzm33z

They make a handheld console that's had only small improvements in 5 years but for its launch price, it's �30 cheaper than a PS3.

Also, UMD is removed for PSP-1000-3000 users and the battery is not replaceable, so the battery can die and users can't choose to upgrade their battery life.

The PSPGo was overpriced for something that we've seen in 2005.

10.6.2010 11:41 #10

Jemborg

Their biggest failure right from the beginning was charging far too much for the thing. So what if they lost money on it? They would have made it back with the games on a larger market base.

This is were they really blew it, however. When it was announced a PSPhone was on the cards there was a great deal of renewed interest in the device. Didn't happen, did it? People were really keen on that happening... but bupkiss.

Fools... I don't think they learnt anything from the PSPGo "experiment". It was right in front of their eyes anyway what to do.

PS: Yeah, and adding the second stick would have been a good idea too... still would have been backwards compatible with the old PSP games but would have allowed the porting over of so many old titles that it would have been ridiculous.

Its a lot easier being righteous than right.

14.6.2010 12:50 #11

IguanaC64

My understanding was that it rendered your current library of PSP titles useless. There was no way get credit for any of the games you legally purchased and no way to sell the game to someone else with a Go once you were done playing the game.

All big fails IMO. I'm unsure if it was possible to transfer games to a new Go if yours died, either.

14.6.2010 16:57 #12

damncrap

SONY ARE DUMB! Test to see wht consumers want!? Are you F'ing serious? EVERY forum or post you go to that is PSP related has atleast a dozen people requesting an extra analog stick. Seriously are they that scared of the mobile phone gaming market? Yes I know there's people who want everything in one and don't want to carry an extra device but some of us don't like to kill our phone batteries on games. All Sony needs to do is freaking go on forums and posts and see wht their customers are asking for Geeze! It's not rocket science, create a damn poll for gods sake. feel if they just improve on hardware they won't have to worry to much about not selling. Bring us better improved screens, higher res, extra Analog stick, improve the button layout sligtly, better processing power and ram, I could keep going. We would buy for these improvements! More game choice. Better GPU that a cell phone can't provide and we be happy campers. Perhaps throw in one of those 3D screens or something. Better D-Pad.
I

19.6.2010 20:09 #13

AfterDawn: News