1. I agree, but 64GB MSPD are freaking expensive.

2. who cares?

3. Sony allows up to 5 shares with friends...

4. see #3

5. This is because of publishers like EA and Avtivision not wanting you to not have to rebuy your games.

I prefer digital media, its cheapers, takes up less space, easier to deal with and manage.

@Oxy - while users "lose" out on game sales (not really), digital media will eventauly become cheaper because publishers wont have to pay for distribution and packaging costs.

The thing is retailers won't sell the PSP Go if UMD versions of games are $40 and DD games are $20 at launch. So realistically its retailers like WalMart which is to blame for any prices being the same price as their UMD counter parts. This is why GameStop refuses to sell any games which are apart of Steam, like Half-Life.

US PlayStation Store Update

Updates

Brain Challenge Price Drop (now $4.99)

Brain Challenge Expansion Pack Price Drop (now $1.99)

Droplitz Temporary Price Drop (now $4.99)

25 Guitar Hero World Tour songs are on sale for $1.50 this week!

EU PlayStation Store Update

Special Offers

As detailed last week, PixelJunk Racers, High Velocity Bowling, Super Stardust HD Double Pack, Echochrome Micro and Disney’s Action Game feat. Hercules are still on special offer this week, however, we also have the below Guitar Hero Tracks available for one week only starting today:

Guitar Hero World Tour – all tracks (£1.19/€1.49)

• Mr. Brightside by The Killers
• Low by Travis Barker
• What’s My Age Again by Blink 182
• Jessie’ Girl by Rick Springfield
• We Are The Champions by Queen
• Human by The Killers
• Black Betty by Ram Jam
• Because of You by Nickelback
• 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins
• Hot Blooded by Foreigner
• No Rain by Blind Melon
• Life In The Fast Lane by The Eagles
• Drive by Incubus
• Rock n’ Roll Band by Boston
• Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen
• Gimme All Your Lovin’ by ZZ Top
• Another Way To Die by Jack White and Alicia Keys
• So What by Pink
• Old Time Rock and Roll by Bob Seger
• One Of These Nights by The Eagles
• You Know You’re Right by Nirvana
• Ticks by Brad Paisley
• Use Me by Hinder
• Me and My Gang by Rascal Flatts
• Sliver by Nirvana

The problem is not retail outlets. It's a non competitive nature in DD for the PSP. Want to know why Target might put a game on sale? It's so you don't shop at Walmart. Want to know why Steam puts a game on sale? So you don't shop at Direct 2 Drive. Want to know why there won't be as nice an atmophere for PSP titles on the PSN? That's the only place you can buy your game at. No need to blame Gamestop sir.

Hmmm...I stand corrected. That's weird. I haven't had a PS3 for a few months, but I don't recall ever seeing any deals like this. Is this a recent occurence?

On the contrary, the PSP Go appeals to consumers that don't already own a PSP for size reasons -- i.e. consumers who want what the PSP was originally advertised to be: an all-in-one entertainment product, without the weight of a cell-phone contract.  If you wanted that from the previous PSP models, you had to deal with the slightly-larger-than-convenient size of the unit.  In other words, you'd have to really be into power portable gaming, and the other functions of the PSP were probably secondary to you.  The PSP Go... sells itself to everyone who didn't buy a PSP in the first place, due to the size.  That comes with a price (no UMD), but the advantages probably make it worth it for the kinds of folks who like small all-in-one stuff, and honestly, with 16GB of storage, and all the other cool features the Go offers $250 is a good deal in my book (moreso than a PSP-3000 to me, anyway)

The PSP Go has a good chance to do very well, as, quite frankly, the best "high end" portable gaming console currently on the market.  I don't know if you've tried to play high-end games on an iPhone or not -- the graphics are good, but... the touchscreen just doesn't cut it for lots of genres.  The games are just plain inferior to the same kinds of products on the PSP.  The PSP Go fills a gap for people who want portable gaming, but not the size of the PSP, and not the weakness of the iPhone's limited input mechanism (which is great.. for most anything but games), and weak (although numerous) selection of high-grade games (that could change... but currently its the truth).

Console manufacturers make money from software, not hardware -- selling new hardware to existing consumers only helps them through used sales of old, "retired" consoles, and then not much, because the kinds of users who buy used consoles are also the kind who are likely to purchase used games -- i.e. not much benefit to publishers at all.

With regards to DD sale prices on XBLA, PSN, etc...  have you ever considered that retail might have a pretty heavy hand in setting those prices?  Consoles sell primarily through retail, and the console stores are a detriment to retail everywhere.  Retail does not want DD... but clearly Sony has worked out a deal with them (apparently the retail price point, from the looks of things) that satisfies them.  

Can you think of any other reason that software publishers would charge more for products online than they do in retail stores?  There's no cost-of-goods (or very little, if you consider bandwidth), there's no retail cut... you can't honestly believe that price gouging is a smart strategy, and something XBLA and PSN have both chosen to do on purpose.  If either had a choice, they would slash prices to reasonable levels and if the competition didn't do the same, they would absolutely destroy the other network, and retail, in the process.

Back to the original topic:  Sony doesn't get to decide about UMD upgrade programs, the software publishers do.  Sony stated they were still working on it.  These kinds of things are new, and tricky -- they're gonna take a long while for everyone to be happy, and all the kinks worked out.  Lots of people have to agree to do basically the same thing.  The truth behind this whole deal seems pretty obvious to me == business likes money.  Business doesn't give stuff away to make money.  DD is new for consoles.  No one is going to move an inch until it proves itself, in this economy.

The end result, with the current situation, is that consumers get stuck with the middleman getting more of their money, and the majority of that money never seeing the hands of the creators of the entertainment the consumers like so much, and pay so much for.  This is basically the reason I'm a fan of the Go -- anyone who whines about it is just shooting me, themselves, and every gamer everywhere, in the foot.

ZenfoldorVGI said:
I'm liking this Grimes kid.

Anyway, ssj12, could you clarify your position. Are you arguing in favor of the PSP Go, or are you just breaking down other posters arguments.

I'm for it, but have no plans of buying to the PSP Go. I do plan on buying a bigger memory stick and downloading my games though.

You must realize that making lists to argue against ideology much more often provides exceptions, than it does rules in the eyes of your opponent, at the very least. Especially in this case, considering the vast library on DLC on all consoles, the relative shortness of your list in comparison, and the obviousness of the principle presented here. PSN ain't Steam, and in never will be. They aren't forced to provide value, like steam is. There is no competition and no alternative, and so PSN will NEVER, ever ever ever, be Steam.

Let me put it this way.

If I was a rich bastage, who wanted to flagrantly burn my money just to rub it in the faces of all the poor people who I know and despise, then I would be in the target market for the PSP Go!

With the PSP Go, as a new gamer, you lose screen size, and the access to a used market. You also lose the ability to set your own prices for your games, to rent, or to borrow games.

Who cares, you say? Everybody. Everybody cares SSJ. It is a thing that matters. To everyone, even those who don't take advantage of it, it matters. Even if it just matters for rich bastages like myself to laugh at. It matters to us, because it's important to the industry. Negatively or positively. It also adds value, and reduces costs to thrifty gamers, on all games.

Like I said, it isn't Sony that is holding back PSN costs from dropping. Its B&M stores. Retailers like WalMart would drop any console manufacturer which switches to selling their games only digitally. They also regulate digital game if the game is available at retail. Why do you think at lot of PSP download titles are at exactly retail MSRP? It is because retailers would flip out if the prices were lower on games like Patapon or Warhawk. Even PopCap's games like Peggle which is on the PSN and XBLA has its price is controlled by the retailers.


Even if it didn't matter, it still doesn't justify the fact that the PSP go costs more than the regular PSP, while at the same time offering less. No UMD drive, no used, rental, or borrowed market, smaller screen size, and the requirement for anyone upgrading to lose every game they have ever purchased for the console, in order to obtain the more expensive yet inferior unit.

It is a sham, I say. A ripoff, and even the people who want this, and know it's overpriced, are still getting ripped off, even if they don't care. You are paying more for something that is worth less, and no matter how you stack it, this thing is cheaper for Sony to build, and the only reason it has the "features" so few fans tout is because those features make it possible for Sony to stop pirating and borrowing/renting of used games, practices common amongst its target market, and practices which cost Sony money.

Actually its not a ripoff considering the flash memory built in. That crap is expensive for Sony to install. It is way, way faster memory than what is contained in the memory stick pro duos and that comes at a hefty cost. I would not doubt that its $10 - $15 a gigabyte with the built in flash memory.

They remove features, and charge extra, because they know that the people who would actually buy something worth less, for more, wouldn't care if they had to rebuy their games. They aren't exactly a frugal market.

This is not a "new PSP owner system." This is an early adopters system, and an experiment that will live on in the background of mainstream PSP ownership, and based on it current form, I highly recommend anyone who cares about value, to pass. Also, I recommend anyone who values used markets, borrowed games, and the ability to buy and sell games you've purchased, to decline purchase of the Go. This is an experiment. Sony is testing the waters for DLC only gaming devices.

The digital age is coming....

It's ridiculous that I still have to pay 40 freakin' bucks for Siren on PSN. I can import a used copy for cheaper than that, and thus, Sony's profit comes at a direct expense of the gamer, and his right to buy and sell physical property he overpaid for in the first freakin' place.

Do I have to say retail control again? Ok, retailer controlled pricing. If you want to complain to someone 1-800-Walmart would love to hear from you.