An article I received today from the ECA Today email. Personally, I won't be buying the PSP Go. I bought a PSP once, owned it for two months, then sold it. The library of games isn't even remotely close to the DS in terms of quantity. There are a few good games on the PSP, but there are easily 200+
great games on the DS.
International retail unimpressed with PSP Go price, margins
Internationally, retailers are either expressing doubt about the PSP Go or refusing to stock it entirely. Sony is having a better time in the United States, but the $250 system has many challenges for both retail and consumers. Ars explores the situation.
We're just days away from the launch of Sony's PSP Go, but retailers around the world are having a tough time justifying the sales of the machine. Nedgame, a gaming specialty store in Holland,
won't be handling the PSP Go at all. Rumors have sprouted up about
EBGames' refusal to stock the hardware in Australia, and there have been rumblings about
Spanish retailers not stocking the system. Is this something we'll be seeing in the United States? Are retailers this gun-shy about the high price on an all-digital product?
"We can't speak to reports from other regions," Abby Reyes, senior public relations specialist for SCEA, told Ars. She assured us that the system has broad support in the US, and that retailers are excited about both the hardware and the PlayStation Network. "With the PSP Go, retailers will have the opportunity to sell the hardware, PlayStation Network cards, and a new peripheral line," she explained.
Sony's John Koller hinted that a high margin for retailers was built into the PSP Go's $250 price tag. "We've changed the model from a margin perspective from the 3000, so there are changes throughout. We've made it very worth [retailer's] while to carry the PSP Go." He further claimed that some retailers gave Sony a standing ovation when details of the retail planned were explained.
Shelf space, digital nature adds to challenge
We caught up with Hal Halpin, the president of the Entertainment Consumers Assocation to ask about the challenges the PSP Go will face. He wrote an opinion piece
addressing this very problem—albeit in a broader space—and in 1997 he founded the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association. This is a man who knows a little something about the video games on store shelves.
His take on things: shelf space is tight. "We did see a broad increase in our share of the retail footprint at the beginning of the current hardware cycle, when three viable console systems, two popular handheld systems, and PC games all rationalized the dedication of more floor and shelf space," He told Ars. The job of the retailer is to maximize the amount of money they can make with that space, and with margins on hardware being historically tight and no money to be made on PSP Go games, the shelf space may not be well served by the hardware.
"The PSP Go is really a line extension item, not a replacement for the PSP, so it'll require more space. Add to that the complexities of retail sharing/not sharing in the subsequent digitally-distributed software sales and you can understand why retailers are taking a more objective look," he stated.
The US seems safe for Sony
Every major retailer contacted for this story said they would be stocking the system; it looks like the retail space is much friendlier towards Sony in the United States. Will retailers cool to the system once the flush from the unit's release has worn off? That's hard to tell.
At $250, the PSP Go is only $50 less expensive than the PS3, and any existing PSP customer with a roomy Pro Duo memory stick will be able to download games directly to their system, creating an all-digital platform with the system they already own, while keeping the ability to play UMD releases.
Sony has also backed off the idea of
a trade-in or exchange program for consumers with a large collection of UMD games, making it a hard sell to get rid of your existing hardware to trade it up to a PSP Go. If the system isn't as big of a draw as Sony is hoping, retailers could easily give that shelf space to any number of other systems or accessories. In many ways the PSP Go is an innovative product, and being first to market with any idea is never easy.
The PSP Go will be available for $250 on October 1.
http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/...ail-unimpressed-with-psp-go-price-margins.ars
is Sony thinking here? The PSP platform is older than both of these current generation $199.99 consoles (360 and Wii). Sony is also telling their original core consumer group to go 
s
