PSP Gone: Has Sony doomed its new handheld?
By Christos Reid
I remember grinning when, at E3, Sony revealed the new version of their ever-popular handheld.
It was the worst-kept secret of the entire year, with images of the hardware arriving weeks before it made its official appearance. But even the media leaks couldn’t harm the fact that, post-conference, it looked like it was about to stomp the rest of the handheld market flat.
Then the problems started.
At first, it was minor details like its short battery life and the loss of a mini-USB port. But it got worse once Sony announced that those with UMD titles would no longer be able to trade them in for free downloads of the library they’d already spent considerable amounts of money acquiring. To tell the world you’ll be supporting loyal customers with backwards compatibility, only to let them down, with one console is extremely bad business practise. To do it with a second is bordering on financial suicide.
People buying the PS3 Slim seem pleased with their purchases, but there’s always going to be the constant complaint that, yes, for all the new features and slimmed-down loveliness of the thing, it’s a low blow not to include the PS2 compatibility the first version was blessed with. Now the PSP Go faces the same problem, with Sony customers everywhere confused as to why they can’t upgrade to the new hardware without re-purchasing all the software.
It’s the latest in a wave of bad business practise in the games industry. The Red Ring of Death is one of the biggest insult to gamers - and indeed, technology consumers in general – in the history of living room gaming. Legally speaking, a piece of hardware shouldn’t be sold in the UK if the known failure rate is more than 5 per cent. Certain reports have suggested that the Xbox 360 has a failure rate of 56 per cent. This is unacceptable - but there’s little grey area because it’s a legal issue, not a moral one.
//Follow the leader
With Sony, the problem becomes more complex because they’re not breaking any laws. It might have been underhanded of them to go back on their promise of UMD-to-Go transfers, but they were under no legal obligation to fulfil it. But are they about to cost themselves an entire new generation of PSP customers with the loss of the UMD?
Many shops are actively refusing to stock the PSP Go, for the simple reason that they can’t sell games for it. This is perfectly reasonable business practise, as the founding ideal of a games store is, well, to sell games. But there are no UMDs to sell, no Sony Points cards – just the console, and a few first- and third-party accessories. So with no shops stocking the PSP Go, and no existing Sony customers continuing to purchase titles, what happens when they reach the point the DSi is rapidly approaching? What happens when the PSP range becomes download-only?
I used to have a lot of faith in Nintendo. They’re not specialists in online multiplayer; the clunkiness of friend codes should make that clear enough. However, the introduction of the DSi was a shock to the core of a lot of Nintendo devotees, including myself. You didn’t need the internet to enjoy content from Nintendo; simply a local games store and some spare time. This is soon to be no longer the case, as digital downloads are rapidly becoming the favoured medium.
The difference between the two handhelds, however, is that the DSi retains backwards compatibility. Should the PSP 3000 eventually cease to be stocked in stores, what will happen to those who don’t buy online?
For a long time, handhelds have been an easy way for people to get into videogames. With a small screen, simpler gameplay and shorter campaign lengths, it was easier to show someone Super Mario than Crash Bandicoot. But now we’re expected to link everything together. PSN profiles linked to the web are being forced upon new customers more so than this time last year, simply because Sony are aiming for a world in which they no longer need to sell physical content.
The reasoning behind this seems logical enough. The PSP Go cuts a lot of costs, in terms of UMD manufacture and easier accessibility through an improved digital interface. Sony are cutting corners rather than taking steps, and all to balance out the piles of money they’ve lost selling a console that cost more than it sold for. When your revenue is sitting well below your costs, as a business, you’ve a right to panic. However, what you don’t have a right to do is renege on verbal contracts you have with your customers because you lack the time and the money.
//A small quandary
Sony are grasping at straws, and there is no stronger evidence for this than the announcement of the PSP Mini. When UMDs cost less than a fiver, and offering you content of Tekken and Wipeout standards, are you really going to spend a pound less to purchase a game that could have taken half an hour in Flash? Sony are taking the GameStop approach to sales and turning it on its head. “Out with the old and in with the new,” the Playstation gods dictate to the masses.
Ask yourself this, however: why are they offering PSP Minis? They have nothing to gain from them. Sony’s approval process is lax in comparison to the high standards new developers are pushed to by Apple. So are you receiving a genuinely original game, or simply a rejected iPhone title?
So many questions and so little time, it would seem. Why is Sony locking out fans of a PSP model that is, by technical standards, better? Why is Nintendo only now offering a high-quality source of motion control, and expecting customers to pay for the upgrade? Why is Microsoft selling a console that allegedly fails more than half the time?
The PSP Go is storming the online market, say many. But it will be a matter of time before, once again, Sony’s lack of sane business strategy in place of lower revenue becomes more of a problem than a solution.
I think Sony is taking the first real steps towards the inevitable. Digital downloads will, very soon, be the only way to buy content and Sony is looking ahead and dipping their toe in the water with a lot more gusto and a lot less to risk than a lot of other companies. And its fine that other companies sit and question Sony’s motives - Reggie has openly done that all week - but I don’t doubt they are the companies sat recording every single result that Sony sees from this experiment.
I’m not defending the PSPGo as a unit - its flawed and you have highlighted most of these issues very well. But for me the major issue lies in the price. If you remove an essential component like the UMD drive…surely it should cost less AND use less power. It’s ridiculous to charge more money for a system that, essentially, does less that its predecessor. Furthermore, the games on the store are full price. Forget paying an extra quid or so for the Mini’s series, what about paying £10 less for a game on UMD than I have to for a downloadable game?! Furthermore…it might be a game I love and already own on UMD and I have to pay FULL PRICE for it a second time around. Sickening and inexcusable.
As I say, im not defending the system…but I will defend what I see as a fairly brave adventure into territory I am positive Sony already know is going to continue to lose them money. They are making their mistakes early so that when the digital download era fully begins, they will have already made the mistakes other companies will disappoint their consumers with. At least Sony are doing it early and whole heartedly…unlike Nintendo.
I don’t think it’s really fair to assume some sort of higher-level responsibility to maintain backwards compatibility. And while, sure, ideally they wouldn’t have backed down on promises, I don’t think it’s a whole lot different to the Left 4 Dead DLC/sequel fiasco, for which I absolutely side with Valve.
I guess if you consider the PSP Go and update to the current console, it’s kind of an issue. But consider it an entirely new entity, and the argument kinda falls apart for me.
Maybe I’m just too nice to complain. Nice article, either way, and plenty of food for thought.
I agree with everything thing you say. I guess the Go is supposed to appeal to people that do not already have a PSP, because I see no reason to buy one since the last PSP just came out about a year ago.
what about false advertisement?
werent sony locked by law to support UMDs because they said they would?
if not than whats stopping from them saying things that are completley off.
when they announced the go they said you will have a way of converting your UMDs to your PSP go so i had in my mind i would buy one on release.
so i bought one on release and im STILL! waiting for that conversion program, im stuck with over 100 psp games that can do jack sh*t now thanks to $ony.
seriously false advertisement laws have gone down the drain lately, back in the day if a company did this they would be in the court house getting a spanking wright now.
seriously, whats stopping them from completley outstretching the truth about some of the features of the psp go?
not lying but stretching the truth, like saying the screen is not a size it is or saying certain game will work with it when they wont.
they said on release you will have a way to play UMDs on your psp go and you dont so to me thats false advertisement and they should be in jail for it.
exact same thing with the ps3, when they removed BC out of ps3s they did not do anything to let their customers know.
wow they issues a press release on the net, what about people who dont surf the net for these types of things?
one of my mates bought a ps3 slim recently and did not tell me, he thought BC was still there and is now stuck with a $500 paper weight.
sony should of been forced to make commercials and such and should of had a massive sign on the ps3 packing saying this no longer supports ps2 games.
50 bucks says if any small company did this they would of been thrown in jail years ago, but since its $ony no no they have to much money, there above the law.
its complete utter BS!
I COMPLETELY agree with the above poster. Sony has been repeatedly lying to its consumers for years now. First the PS3 now this crap. Not only is this handheld ugly but sony brags about its music playing functions… hmm… let me see. I can either buy a ~$230 dollar player which CANNOT play my UMDs or a $180 iPod Nano, A REAL iTunes compatible player.
Funny how the same company who called Nintendo’s advancement in gaming a “gimick” is now trying to sell me a PSPGo for its music playing abilities and a PS3 for its blu ray player.
The thing is that Sony won’t make a way to play UMDs on your psp go because if they do, I’ll simply buy an UMD at a game-store and pass it to the PSP go, and then just return it to the game-store…. you sure know how to kill your brand SONY
The product has been a disaster for my 10 yr old. He’s had the PSP Go since Christmas and it’s just been problem after problem. Have to update the PSP system software right out of the box, couldn’t connect to home internet, downloaded the file to PC and transferred to PSP (one of 3 options to update system software per the PSP website), didn’t give me that option when we tried it (only gave internet update or update via memory card file), didn’t have an M2 memory card, got one but PC slots don’t fit, got a USB memory card reader, transferred the file, system finally updated, tried to download a game and got error message 0×80029564, no help or support on Sony site, googled and loads of blogs with same error doce in discussion.
This is like it used to be 15 years ago - lots of ingenuity and creativity and perseverence just to get something working. But we’ve used ipods etc for ages now and they just get easier and easier to set up and use. I just don’t think manufacturers should assume that we are closet IT engineers.
So we’re returning the PSP GO (now known as “PSP STOP” in our family) and will get an itouch. At least I know it will be up and running 20 mins after we get it home.