PSP: Something Happening Soon

[Zenien]

Something needs to happen with the PSP, ASAP.
That's the message retailers have, according to our sources, sent Sony. With sales of the PSP lagging (Sony's PSP hardware shipments to retailers last Fall were down 72 percent over the year before, only a meager 10,000 units in the U.S.[My note: Jebus wow if true ]), word is that a few big name retailers have given Sony a mandate: drop the price or they'll drop the system from their stores. Entirely. With shelf space at a premium, the expectation is for Sony to do something substantial to keep its hardware moving -- or else.

Coming up on the second anniversary of the PSP (March 24th), a price drop seems possible -- after all, the price was lowered by $50 two days before its first anniversary last year. But according to Sony, that's not yet in the cards. Speaking with John Koller, the Senior Marketing Manager for the PSP, at the Game Developers Conference last week, 1UP learned that a price drop was not announced to retailers at Sony's Destination PlayStation retailer event last week.

But something else was.

According to Koller, Sony did share plans that got retailers excited. Of course, what these plans were exactly, he wouldn't say. Could they be new PSP colors that have been previously shown and released in Japan and Europe? Or could they be the redesigned PSP with 8 GB of flash memory that's been rumored for ages? Or could they be the launch of some new PSP video/music download service? We'll likely have to wait a few more weeks to find out.

And whether it's coming soon or later down the road, a redesign for the PSP is in the works. According to Koller, Sony is in the process of reducing parts and potentially adjusting the size -- similar to what's been done with the PS1 and PS2. "I can at least say this much, the screen won't be changing in size," he said.

It seems that Sony hopes to repeat the success Apple has had with the iPod's pricing structure -- thanks to new colors and models, the iPod's price has largely remained the same over the years. Koller also admitted that Sony paid close attention to the spark in sales the DS Lite iteration of the Nintendo DS caused once it released.

One thing is clear, though: something will happen with the PSP soon. Now, we just need to wait.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3158013

 

[A.J.Rimmer(BSC)]

So hang on.

I paid £200+ for a console.
Now they are going to change it not by improving the quality of the poor games, but by bringing out a brand new one?

This sucks. This is what I hate about Nintendo, but this is worse because its more expensive. I won't buy a new model.

I can't firgure out the Wi-fi/internet thing, so thats useless to me.
If GOW wasn't coming to PSP, I'd part-ex it for my PS3.


This sucks.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

So Sony's model for increasing sales of the PSP is making different colored models and maybe changing the shape a little. Maybe they should start releasing good games instead, wouldn't that be a novel idea for a video game system producing a bunch of good games?!?!

 

[BatMatt]

Last year PSP had some pretty damn fine titles released, so that area is improving. I might be wrong but although Nintendo has a strong hold on the portable gaming market (and always will IMO) PSP has shipped 24 million+ units in two years, thats not terrible is it?

 

[Havok83]

So Sony's model for increasing sales of the PSP is making different colored models and maybe changing the shape a little. Maybe they should start releasing good games instead, wouldn't that be a novel idea for a video game system producing a bunch of good games?!?!

thats what Nintendo has been doing and its worked wonders for them

 

[Benstamania]

Actually, Nintendo puts out class AAA+ titles on the DS. Majority of the time they are solid original games that appeal to a wide variety of people. The PSP....while having one or two REALLY memorable games (loco roco) has a pretty "meh" library of games. The must own PSP games really ARE the only games you have to have.....if you get what I'm saying.

If the DS was still the DS Phat with the "blue" color, it would still be selling well.

Color changes DO help though, so, not slagging that idea. A white PSP would look nice next to my Wii.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

thats what Nintendo has been doing and its worked wonders for them

Nintendo continues to put out quality titles all the time though, PSP on the other hand hasn't, it seems to rely more on the other features besides gaming. Also it costs $70 more than a DS.

 

[Oerwinde]

If I could get a PSP for the same price as a DS I would likely buy one tomorrow. My DS has been gathering dust because of the lack of good DS games and the lack of availability of the good GBA games(like 90% of the GBA games I want are out of print and going for like 80 bucks on ebay). The PSP I can at least use as an MP3 player while I save up for Portable Ops

 

[Spidey17]

They really need to lower the price by like $50 AND add another analog stick, or they wont do any better.