So that
"certain premium" for the UMD-less
PSPgo? We may gripe about the $230 price tag here, but our friends across the pond might actually have it worse. Right now, while UK gamers are shelling out on average £100 (about $165 US) for a new PSP, the "guide price" for Go is currently set at around £230 ($370 US). Egregious? We think so, and it looks like British consumers might agree, as two independent retailers have reported
zero pre-orders so far.
Ouch. Of course, it's not indicative of the entire region, especially given there's no data here from the big chains, but as a "canary in a cage" indicator, it still doesn't sound good -- but hey, there's still plenty of time before its October 1 launch, and anything can happen.
[Via
Joystiq]
posted Jun 26th 2009 8:24PM
Looks nice visually but yawn
As a British consumer, generally fed with being ripped off with ridiculous premiums being added to the value of imported products I would like to say... FUCK OFF SONY!
No sale!
@BigSoftey
As another British consumer, I'd like to second your statement:
+1 FUCK OFF SONY!
Have you seen the MS Windows 7 Pre order prices? I seen 2 Priced in american $ at $49.99 and $99, then below in £ as £49 and £99, what the hell are these companies playing at?
As a Dutch consumer, who gets it slightly better with Apple and Sony products (Videogames too) then those poor fella's in the UK, I still agree.
(Dollar=Pound=Euro in their world)
@bigsofty & TT
None of those comments have to do with the comment you replied to. Stop habitually hitting reply to the first comment to get your comment bumped to the top.
$230 thought it was $250 is that a typo?
No £££££££££££££££££££££££££ not $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Read the frigging article.
"We may gripe about the $230 price tag here, but our friends across the pond might actually have it worse"
You RTFA.
"We may gripe about the $230 price tag here"
Wow you jackass looks like I did read the article, did you? Think before you type jackass...
Agreed, other engadget posts have mentioned a $250 price tag. The PSPGO looks nice but I'm not so sure I'm into a umdless psp. However the idea makes for less to store and cary around.
^ uhm many of us already have umd-less psp and its great!
the normal PSP in Aus is around $225 US. I can't wait to see the rip off on the GO.
OK, so the guy misread the post - jeez, there's no need to be so abusive towards him, that's totally uncalled for. All you needed to do was point out he'd made a error and move on.
The $250 version is called P5PGOAL which is made by Sory Corporation of Guangzhou China,
It is priced $250 by the mainland company because guess what???
It has a UMD slot! whoaaaaaw!
Since the GO is lacking something, it puzzles me as to why Sony made its version of the GO more expensive when than its previous model that actually has that something.
That's "canary in a coal mine", not "in a cage".
Well its "a canary in a cage in a coal mine".
Well its "a canary in a cage in a coal mine on Mars".
oh sony, why didn't you just put a touch screen on it?
I personnaly prefer buttons than a touchscreen. You spend more energy wiping the screen with your thumbs than you do with a single up-down button.
For game it will always be better off with buttons. Since the GO can do web browsing, the touchscreen seem like a logical thing to do when you fold down that GO.
Yeah I too prefer buttons rather than touch screen. But this PSPGo is still a FAIL. I'll stick with my PSP2000 and NDSLite. So far in "my" books the PSPGo and DSi is a FAIL!!!
Maybe because it's still a PSP and PSP games aren't designed to use a touch screen? Just a thought.
£230?
are you effing kidding me.
I thought £150 with the original going for £95.
What a frigging joke. Now is the time to bring in the xbox equivalent. They know what consumers want but sony just keep getting worse. Part of the reason i turned away to xbox.
It's probably cheaper to buy from North America and just pay shipping and duty fees.
Yup. I can't see region being a major problem if there's no UMD.
Xbox 360 Elite on Amazon: £214.92.
I don't understand this. £230 for a 16GB PSP GO is better value that a 16GB iPod touch, better features, better games, better audio.
As for this stupid article. Nobody has heard of these 2 independent retailers, I suspect they have 1 store in some back street somewhere...
@Mark perhaps, but the PSP is using pretty old technology - the processor has never been updated and it only has 64Mb RAM (only 32Mb used for games, 32Mb is a cache). The original PSP at £100 is about right for the technology. Sony is charging a massive premium just because they can - they've even admitted it.
If the iPod touch gets the 3GS treatment (as it is expected to), the PSP will have a faster CPU, GPU and more RAM than a PSP. And faster WiFi to make content acquisition easier (downloading a 700Mb file over 802.11b is not fun and the PSP can't even download things in the background)
I like it but its tooooo much
Holy cow, no preorders at two small retailers with only 3 months to go? Wow, the significance of this is astounding!
I know the price situation isn't great, but it seems like weblogs sites are going out of their way to slam the PSP Go more and more each day.
BTW, Amazon shows the PSP 3000 as £130 and the PSP Go as £230. Dixons shows the PSP 3000 as £140 (no Go price). Argos hows the PSP-3000 as £127 (£147 for black, oddly). So the price differential (although still enormous) is also overstated.
Whatever it takes to show Sony that their insolence will no longer be tolerated is fine by me.
How about you just don't buy if you don't like it?
They are slamming it because it is too expensive. This is the 4th iteration of a product with a different form factor, but it costs just as much as when it launched. Sony doesn't have fans like Apple, they cant pull that crap, also it is a different industry where hardware is typically sold at a loss to be made up by the games sold.
So how about you just don't buy it?
Does joystiq need to repeat the info until they program you not to buy it? Nintendo added a remote to the Gamecube and jumped the price from $99 to $250. Did joystiq feel they had to talk about it 3 times a week for weeks on end?
If it costs too much, people will decide on their own not to buy it. And then Sony will have to cut the price. It doesn't behoove joystiq to tell others how to make their own decisions.
So it behooves Joystiq/Engadget to report on things like the huge (nearly 2x) price difference in the UK? And they're also not to report on stuff like no one pre-ordering something that's supposed to be a big release for a major company? Both of which were not reported before?
Then Joystiq/Engadget should probably just stop reporting, period? Or just stop reporting bad stuff about companies that some people like? Or... perhaps readers who don't like what Joystiq/Engadget are reporting, should take their own advice and "how about you just don't" read them?
First, look up behoove. You seem to not understand what it means, so perhaps you could enhance your understanding of what I meant by looking it up.
The data on who isn't preordering is such a poor poll as to be useless for informative purposes. It only serves to help give an excuse to write the same article again. This is only bolstered by getting the prices wrong! Perhaps they could give some accurate, useful info and then perhaps give us some reference by giving 3-month pre-order data for other systems so we can get an idea of what would be expected.
Indeed the price difference between the two is enormous. No getting around that. No need to inflate it either.
Did joystiq spend a lot of time explaining how the Xbox 360 Elite was a ripoff at $479? (the regular Xbox was $299 at the time). Did joystiq spend a lot of time explaining how the Wii was a ripoff because it was a derivative of a console that cost half as much?
The articles go beyond the reporting of other subjects and appear to indicate perhaps joystiq sees themselves as having a cause. Is this really a cause we need joystiq to decide for us and fight for us on? It's not like any of us are roped into buying this thing. If you don't like it, don't buy it.
Great logic.
How about you just buy it and shut up as well (since you are coming off as telling people to shut up.)? It works both ways.
Also, be sure to look up opinion and fact in the dictionary and know that they are two different things and that within a blog or any article, they tend to mix and dance with each other but generally not replace each other.
That's the nice thing about the internet, people give it all too much. It doesn't work all the time just like not buying a product, I.E PS3 doesn't work to sway a manufacturer.
Sony screwed up royally this generation assuming they could charge price premiums for hardware that has very little exclusive software to back it up like the previous generations. The consumer didn't buy it and since I loved the PS1 and PS2, and PSP, I'd like for them to adopt a successful business model for once.
Brushing opinions under the rug hurts companies more than being a mindless drone that uses their wallet to speak for them.
I'm not telling people to shut up. I'm accusing engadget of deciding to take a side on an issue when it isn't needed and doesn't help us get gadget news.
Lack of sales has said a lot to Sony about the PS3. It says everything they need to know. It isn't necessary for you or anyone to "put Sony in their place" (as if you could). Just as I don't need people trying to ban Wal-Mart in towns because they don't like Wal-Mart.
Let your dollars speak. It's not necessary for anyone such as you or joystiq to make the decision for all of us and try to enforce it through dogmatic repetition and poor and possibly misleading research.
As to buying it, I'm not going to buy it. I gave up on the PSP. I have not charged mine in two years. I have not bought a game for it since Wipeout. I am kind of tempted to buy Patapon 2, since my main beef with the PSP was how stupid the choice of UMD was. But if I do buy Patapon 2, it'll be for my PSP-1000, not to play on a PSP Go. I do have a PS3 and I quite like it. I got Red Faction: Guerilla today and will be booting it up soon.
Consider this to be "entertainment news" rather than "gadget news". I am entertained.
Chill out you anti-Ford, Toyota fanboy... Oh wait that's on Autoblog. I meant anti-Microsoft, Sony fanboy here. :P
No really if you like it, buy it! The rest of the gaming and gadget community can continue to acknowledge it's over-priced. I have a PS3 and had a PSP, but this crap is just overpriced and I, like many others, won't be buying.
Zero is not very many,
FAIL
LOL ur smart howd u evr come up wit dat?
Sony exec: "Lets make this thing more expensive, give it a smaller screen, take away the UMD drive and add none of the things consumers want (touchscreen, extra analog stick). Im sure it will get millions of pre-orders."
/facepalm
Sony Sony Sony will you not learn
you failed this console and handheld war
ok anybody wanna work on making a console and a pure gaming os with me I have these ideas i wanna pitch to ppl
Aim me
Aim: JehxOne
The thing is not all that better than the previous model and even looks uglier IMHO...yet they want to charge an arm an leg for it. That kind of move only works when you're Apple. No RDF=No Preorders
It's call yo, we don't want it over here in jolly old England.
Cool*
I fail :(
its fugly. i like my psp slim better thanks.
Yay! Finally a post where I can call this fail fail fail fail and not have to worry about backlash!
This thing was doomed from the first photo on engadget. I hope Sony loses their shirts over this piece of shit.
Backlash in 3...2...1...
BACKLASH!!!!!!!!!
lol i think sony's ridiculous pricing is just something anyone with a brain could agree with.
3000 Is great..G0 is .. late.. um, ,you know the rest.
PSP 3008
GO IS 2000 AND LATE
how the figure the increased price? minus hardware from the other one.
and will my dark alex shit work on this?
As most company have said many times "There's a certain premium for early adopter." Most people complain about price try playing with PC game instead of a console or a portable. But in this case, I have to agree they're ripping off people underwear in this kind of economy.
Sony is dumb.
Has Sony learned nothing? Half a** products + a high price = failure.
Yes, I too, have a PSP already that I barely use. I don't need 2.
Pfft this should come as no surprise since $250 buys you an Xbox 360 Arcade console or a Wii in some places.
So would you rather pay $230 for a handheld or $199 or $250 for a console?
Wow... another monumentally stupid decision from Sony. Will they ever learn?
I'm not gonna go into why the PSP Go is a failure. quite simply because everyone knows its shortcomings, the pricing is just icing on the crapcake.
To be honest this article is no real surprise, not because they're indy retailers or that there's months til launch, but I don't see many retailers opting to sell it full stop. Seen as the only money they'll make is from the sale of the unit itself and possibly peripherals/accessories.
At least with the PSP 3000 they could sell the unit and UMDs, not to mention bundle offers to attract customers.
Funny, awhile ago there was an article talking about the PSP Go doing quite well with pre orders with Amazon. It really does seem like everyone just wants to see it fail. I think people are forgetting that this is a fully digital ONLY device. There is no physical copy that you can purchase at walmart for games. Your money will go much further with this then a Zune, especially if it gets hacked. I still think they're testing the waters with this device.
Pfft, I gave up on the psp a long time ago. All the empty promises and lack of support, pfft. I consider the ipod touch my handheld gaming console. Sad right? Not really. PSP let me down.
I love the Go, but £250? Christ I only paid £230 for the first console imported from Japan with 2 Games AND motherlovin' P&P (S&H, whatever). Sony, you have not a cats chance in hell!!
Man. Everything in the UK and EU zone seems to always be way more expensive than other places, even the US. What's with that? I'm sure high VATs have to do with it, but really. Sucks for you guys, but hey, an excuse to come on vacation to the States.
like you Engadget make the same mistake as most other people do.
Just changing the price does not an equivalent price make. Exchange rates only apply to currency. Using them for products is just fail. If the dollar/pound exchange rate drops like a rock tomorrow it will make no difference to the price of the PSPGo in the UK.
Product prices in different markets are set on many factors such as average income, import taxes, business taxes, distribution costs etc. etc.
If you take a job in the UK you could find that the median income for your profession is far higher than in the US, or that rental costs of the area you live in are far lower, or the price of food is lower, the taxes you have to pay for everything else, no medical insurance, lower sales taxes etc.. That means the average amount of disposable income everyone has could make the PSPGo a steal if you live in the UK.
If you are not buying something from outside the country you live in exchange rates are irrelevant to comparisons.
Thing is, these days we have what is called the global economy. You're not stuck to your own country for everything, and the price information for other countries is just a google away. A lot of things can just be bought online, be it in your country or outside. Yes, the majority of people would still buy locally, but the bigger the price difference, the less you'll be able to sell locally. Things like a local warranty don't really matter if the price is twice as high.
But still, Europe and the UK are near the most expensive places to buy consumer electronics, while the US and Japan are pretty much the cheapest (but in NTSC-land).
I have several friends who are British. All indicate wages are lower over there than here for equivalent jobs. In fact, most say few make out terribly well except those who work in The City (the name of the old financial district in London and shorthand for the entire financial industry there, even the parts in Canary Wharf).
I have several friends who are British. All indicate wages are lower over there than here for equivalent jobs. In fact, most say few make out terribly well except those who work in The City (the name of the old financial district in London and shorthand for the entire financial industry there, even the parts in Canary Wharf).
Also, the taxes are higher, including sales taxes (VAT).
On the other hand, some expenses are cheaper, most notably medical care.
I almost want this to initially flop because their pricing is just so damn ridiculous.
if sony doesnt succeed this generation and i doubt they will i see them pulling out of the VG industry for a little while. Is just the smart thing to do
You're insane. MS failed big time last generation and they didn't pull out. And it seems to have come out okay for them. Leaving the market to your competitors when they are strongest makes no sense.
Look at nintendo for the past 2 generations. The n64 and the gamecube was completely destroyed by sony, but that didnt stop them. This generation just isnt sonys time in the limelight. Who knows, they might learn from their mistakes and make a big comeback next generation.
Yeah, Sony won't pull out unless their entire business fails. They've invested too much this generation to just call it quits. They have a really good chance to succeed next generation.
Like others have said, for better and worse, Nintendo came off of two failed generations to bring the Wii for a mighty comeback. I can only wish Sony pulls such a move off as well, only this time for the existing gamers.
They are also a bigger company so it will take more to topple their VG unit. Sega only had gaming and that's why they left the hardware business. Too small of margin for error on their end.
Well the last 4 gaming devices/consoles they've released have been spot on. This is only a redesign remember. It's nothing groundbreaking they've flopped on.
Waaaay too high a price, and uses 802.11b, can you believe that?
Throw 802.11g in there and make it under $200 and you have a sale.
Unbelieveable they think they're gonna sell this thing!
That is bizarre. I didn't know Sony confirmed it. That's a pretty dumb decision in my book.
Well I'd say the majority of people who are going to buy this thing are kids, or their parents at least. I really don't think they'll care about that.
It's just a gaming handheld. It's not like you're running a business on it. Is it really vital?
And I'm sure they people who come up with these decisions are much cleverer than you and actually know what they're doing! They are getting paid lots of money for it too whilst people on here slag everything off as though they can do it better. "The screws are too big", "I don't like that kind of plastic", "It's 0.1g too heavy for my liking."
If they've done it, there's a reason behind it. Reduced battery consumption perhaps?
In sony's press release(here http://news.prnewswire.com/DisplayReleaseContent.aspx?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-02-2009/0005037250&EDATE= ) they said that you would be able to use the dualshock controller so why not the ps3 chat pad. I hope that they allow this and it would be the main reason for me to buy the psp-go
I have no interest to playing games with a DualShock 3 on a 4" screen when I could play them with a DualShock 3 on a 52" screen. I mean, it completely ceases to be portable gaming at that point, so why not use my PS3 or 360 instead? And the chat pad is just mind-bogglingly lame. I was unaware anyone found it really compelling. Do you use yours a lot?
Ok, you dropped the UMD=Cheaper to manafacture. You also made the mainboard smaller to fit in a smaller case=cheaper. Sony, sell this in the UK for a good price and I will be willing to buy it
I hardly think the price has so much to do with it. Its the fact that every gaming forum on the planet discussed what they wanted in a new psp, and sony ignored them. Right now, the system that was designed for older gamers is now aimed at the same market as the DS. If Sony would have taken into consideration our gripes with the original psp (1-3k) this might have been a fantastic gaming system. It reminds me now of a leap frog.
when will sony learn that overpricing does not result in profit. selling the xbox 360 for $199 and the the wii for $250 has resulted in amazing sales for those respective companies while their console and game sales lag behind. they have got to be price competitive.
The Wii is overpriced at $250. It always was. It's the most expensive SD console by 2x and it was so from almost the day it was announced.
And the DSi is overpriced too.
Overpricing has done wonders for N (lately).
What is Sony thinking?
I see a MAJOR flaw right off the top. Every picture shows the device CLOSED. Notice how you can't control the device or play games like that. Once the PSP Go is open, it becomes bulky and ugly. It also converts to twice the size of an iPod Touch once it is open.
Why no touchsceen or OLED screen like on the new Sony Walkman?
Have you improved the WORST internet interface on the planet?
Whay does this device do that no other device on that market can't do?
Smaller screen with the same resolution + making all my old games worthless and unable to be traded in + $230/$250 price point = NO THANKS
I can afford the PSP Go but I'd prefer to get it after the 1st price drop. Thanks to these posts and the lack of pre-orders overseas, I am positive this device will be less than $200.00 by Christmas due to a lack of sales...I will wait and get it cheaper and not be fooled like the people who paid $599 for a PS3 when they 1st came out.
Retail sells UMDs. The PSP has always been about UMDs.
This product does not take UMDs, and this product puts retail out-of-the-loop (completely) on software sales.
to the earlier post,things have changed drastically if your correct.
the barest minimum wage in uk is equiv of $350,with the average wage equiv of $800,seem to remember us being much lower.
but the reverse is true on food and rent i.e. much higher in uk .bare minimum on rent is about $200.
anyway everyone knows sony hate the uk,you would think it was us that bombed them
It seems like Sony almost wants its products to fail.
£230?!?!?!
WTF
The original psp came out at £180..
that's just stupid now, who the hell is going to buy one of these????
Well, here in the netherlands a few of the bigretailers already said they wouldn't stock the PSPGo because they make money on the games, and with the Go they can't sell any games. They said they will reconsider if PSNcards are available here (so you can imagine how much profit they can make on such a card)..
I'm not a Sony basher, but they did make a mistake with the Go, but knowing people they will buy it anyway (just look at people buying Wii's even it's highly overpriced and ends up collecting dust anyway)...
eh i am good with my trusty psp1000 has not failed me yet plus i can pick up 16gb of flash how cheap def. not $250
Just about every year they release a new PSP. And every year I wait. I don't understand why they don't put a version out there with a second analog nub. Just have two control schemes like with every PS1 game. I was going to finally get the 3000 but am glad I waited until the launch reviews. I did not like the blurring when moving.
Thanks for releasing the GO sony I just bought a used PSP 2000 RED KRATOS! It's pretty nice. Seeing how wrong the GO is made me not want to wait anymore. I really enjoy getting more for less. I bought it to play FF7 and GT portable. Can't wait. Good luck with that whole go thing.
I'm usually for Sony, but seriously (caps needed) WHAT THE HELL? I bought the PSP when it came out for the first time ($250), and have only used it extensively for a few months. Without homebrew, this thing feels like it should cost $100. I actually shouldn't say "this thing" since I don't have it anymore and gave it away. With homebrew, despite the goody two shoes' backlash on its illegality, it is more like $200.
But then you realize its wifi sucks, browser sucks, typing sucks, setting up emulators can be complicated, there is a need to keep up with the latest versions, and a hacked PSP has clunky UI. Such a disappointment. PSP could have very been the iPhone - as in its wide array of functionality if some type of app store or distribution was created.
The people who bash PSP almost likely are the ones that do not know its potential, a HUGE potential at that. On the other hand, the people who do know its potential are kept in the shadows because the illegal scene is suppressed.
disclaimer: I have not used the PSP in four years so I don't know if "homebrew" is the appropriate term
Come on Sony! I thought the PSP Go was gonna launch at the original PSP price (£170-£180) and even that is the equivalent to over $250!
SCREW YOU SONY, RIGHT IN THE BANK ACCOUNT
Welcome to our work America, us UK'ers always get screwed with tax and crap, regardless of the US to UK exchange rate.
looks good....but without any GAMES it's going to be hard to sell a game system...
They need to rush the PSP2 into production... It's going to be like the Vista/ Windows 7 incident... Cover up the utter failure; It's ok Sony.