Tag Archives: PSPgo

We wanted to like the PSPgo! Really! It’s light, feels nice in our wearied Writing Palms, and is cute as a button. But looks aren’t everything, and Sony seems to have learned that the hard way. So, what’s a platform behemoth to do?

Well, if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again, right?

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Sorry, Mr. Major UK games retailer; the verdict’s in on the PSPgo, and – after a bit of our trademark expert analysis – we’ve ascertained that a “300 percent sales increase” doesn’t quite qualify as a miserable failure.

Speaking with Kotaku, Patrick Seybold, Sr. Director, Corporate Communications and Social Media for SCEA, said that Sony’s “top retail partners” have enjoyed a 300 percent lift in PSP sales since the PSPgo released.

Seybold also mentioned a “significant increase in revenue for PlayStation Network, driven by a 200 percent lift in PSP game downloads purchased from PlayStation Store.”

More through the link.

Oh dear. The MD of Chips, UK’s largest independent games chain, has told GI he expects the PSPgo to “fail miserably”.

Don McCabe said: “My own personal opinion is that it’s a no-go. I’ve been to a number of presentations to see if there’s anything there and I don’t feel it’ll go anywhere to be honest.

“I’m 99.9 per cent sure it’s going to fail miserably, in which case it’s going to put back other potential people coming into that digital space.”

More joy through there. The handheld released last week.

UK retailers have already started dropping the price of PSPgo, with Amazon, Play, GAME and HMV now selling the machine for £199.99.

It was £224.99 when it launched last week.

SCEE said earlier today that PSP hardware sales have risen 100 percent since PSPgo released on October 1.

Thanks, EG.

SCEE has said in a statement to GI that sales of the PSPgo have performed in line with their “expectations”, with sales of up 100% for PSP hardware since the Go launched on Thursday.

“PSPgo has performed in line with our expectations, driving 100 per cent incremental volume for the category and has benefited the broad PSP portfolio with PSP-3000 also enjoying a big lift.

“PSP software sales also having been a standout with both new releases GT PSP and FIFA 10 performing well,” said SCEE in a statement.

However, Chart-Track are refusing to confirm if that is indeed correct as they have said they will not reveal any information on sales for the Go.

More through the link.

Tecmo’s Undead Knights had a demo up on PSN, and gamers who decided to give it a try, noticed that it was not just demo, but the full game.

Speaking with D’toid, who noticed the free game, Tecmo told the site previously that he final code for the game had yet to be approved – yet somehow it still made it’s way onto PSN.

When informing Tecmo of the mess-up, D’toid learned that the mix-up was thanks to the PSPgo launch and PSN additions.

SCEA has pulled it from the service, but not before quite a few people got a free PSP game.

More through the link.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game has been given a November 3 release for PSP and PSPgo.

Atari, the US publisher, says it will contain “features unique to the platform”, including the ability to “switch between four equipment sets to access eight unique proton pack functions and use gadgets like the PKE Meter and Parapgoggles to scan and analyze targets.”

The portable version of the handheld was developed by Red Fly Studios.

Thanks, CVG.

Sony has said that the transferring of Blu-ray films to PSP is a decision for Hollywood studios, not the platform holder.

Speaking with Eurogamer, a spokesperson for Sony stated that Blu-ray releases of Tropic Thunder and RocknRolla already support the feature for the handheald, but are viewed at a reduced quality.

This statement from Sony comes on the heels of a report from Blu-ray.com, which stated that the first two Blu-ray releases to feature PSP copies of the films will arrive November 10 in the US.

These movies are Godzilla and The Ugly Truth, and include a digital copy especially for the PSP but you will need to use your PS3 to transfer them.

More through the links.

SCEE just press released all the Minis shipping with PSPgo today, giving details for all 13 games.

Alien Havoc, Tetris and so on are available now. Hit the link for everything.

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PSPgo is now on sale, or at least it will be in an hour when the shops open. Priced £225, the handheld revision charts a brave new path into a discless future, armed with Bluetooth tethering and a monster supply of downloadable full price games and Minis.

We’ll have more on the machine’s release throughout today, but in the meantime you can have a read about what the internet thinks of the hardware.

• PocketGamer
• Destructoid
• IGN (video)
• Kotaku
• Engadget
• T3
• VentureBeat
• MTV

PSPgo launches today, as is perfectly obvious by this week’s American PSN update. More than 100 new PSP titles have been added to the Store, including GT PSP ($40), God of War Chains of Olympus ($16) and PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe ($20)

Hit the link for the full thing. We’ll have more coverage on PSPgo’s launch throughout the day.

So a few European retailers have refused to stock PSPgo; walk in the park to Sony. The company expected a more vociferous backlash against the discless machine.

“We were very aware of concerns when we went into it and I actually expected a lot more negative responses than we actually got,” PSP UK product manager Claire Backhouse told GI.

“They were really quite fine with it. They see it as a way of getting people into the store because it’s new interest, a new product. And they’ve had such strong sales as well of PSP 3000 almost off the back of it.”

Some stores weren’t happy about the machine as it eschews discs in favour of a digital-only model – hence scuppering retail-based games sales.

The handheld revision goes on sales tomorrow, priced £225.

iPhone tower defence juggernaut Fieldrunners will release as a PSPgo Mini this week, it’s just been confirmed on the Euro PS Blog.

The PSP version includes new maps, new towers, new music and “enhanced graphics,” according to that post.

Can’t say fairer than that. Hit the link for more. Movie after the break.

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Sony has sent over a bit of PSPgo launch information to IGN that you may find interesting.

On October 1, 16,000 pieces of digital content will be available for the PSPgo in the US which includes:

• 225 games (combination of full PSP titles, PSN exclusives, UMD legacy titles and Minis)
• 2,300 movies
• 13,300 television episodes
• Gran Turismo, Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny and God of War: Chains of Olympus
• PlayStation Network Game Cards allowing the download of games like Gran Turismo, Daxter, Patapon 2, Secret Agent Clank and Twisted Metal: Head-on.

That’s a lot of stuff right there.

Full thing through the link.

SCEA’s finally confirmed that there will be no UMD conversion program for those upgrading to the discless PSPgo next week.

“We were evaluating a UMD conversion program, but due to legal and technical reasons we will not be offering the program at this time,” a rep for the firm’s US arm told Kotaku.

End of. Come to Europe, Americans: You get free games.

The ESRB has revealed through the US PS Blog that Sony has embedded the board’s Video Game Ratings Guide directly onto PSPgo.

Once accessed, it provides a walk through of ratings, categories and descriptions, and provides a tutorial for setting up parental controls.

However, Sony has said even though the guide is automatically included with PSPgo when you get it, it does not cost anything to access and if you don’t want or need it on there, you can delete it.

More through the link.

Thanks, GamePolitics.

ShopTo boss Igor Cipolletta has told Eurogamer that while his business has no plans to boycott PSPgo like other European retailers, he feels that the handheld is “almost dead before it has arrived”.

“We do have it listed on the site, but we are not concentrating any big marketing behind it,” he said. “Sony has decided to cut publishers and retailers for the software of the PSPgo and deal direct with developers, giving them a 70 per cent margin for any items sold on Sony PSN.

“I have the feeling that as a format it is almost dead before it has arrived, and it relies far too heavily on a customer base that is prepared to pay more for download content than the equivalent disc based product, and I suspect this market will soon dry up based on the technical limitations of the hardware.”

Analyst Michael Pachter has responded to retailers boycotting the system, and thinks that each are being “foolish” and “ridiculous”.

“It’s just silly for a retailer to say that they won’t sell a big ticket gaming device because they can’t sell the games,” he told Eurogamer. “Consumer electronics stores sell refrigerators and not food, everyone sells iPods and not the music for them; this position is just ridiculous.

“I think that it’s foolish for a retailer to be selective about what they carry, unless they truly don’t believe it will sell well. Refusing to carry them subjects them to the risk that Sony will bypass them for Gran Turismo or Uncharted, in which case they lose. To draw a line in the sand is wrong.”

Via GI.biz.

SCEE’s Zeno Colaco has told Develop that Sony may stop charging for PSP dev kits someday, instead of charging $1500 per kit, when comparatively, the iPhone SDK is free.

“Further down the line, we may investigate a totally free model or supported model,” he said. “Right now, we’re looking for a good portfolio of games. Unlike with the App Store, we’re looking to support everyone that develops for us, instead of leaving developers out in the wilderness. We’re not immediately interested in giving developers free access and no help.

“There are dangers in having total open access; having six thousand applications where probably only thirty are discovered by the consumer. Some of the developers working on the App Store and PSP Minis tell us that they prefer our approach because they get more visibility.

“Our focus isn’t directed straight towards the App Store. We acknowledge that we’ll be competing in that space, and I think at some point we’ll give developers access that allows things to move down that route.

“First and foremost, we at Sony need to develop Minis as its own category.”

More through the link.

Some LittleBigPlanet PSP screens are posted over on D’Toid and some over on Eurogamer France too.

Both links show basically the same thing.

Game is out later this year for the handheld, and it looks rather cute.

Go have a look.

Gameloft has announced five titles it is readying for PSPgo and PSP.

“For the past 10 years our focus and expertise has been digitally distributed games. From mobile games to iPhone/iPod Touch to next-gen consoles, our success stems from the ability to adapt and evolve on the latest platforms,” said Gameloft president Michel Guillemot

“The PSPgo will contribute to the innovations going on in the gaming space right now and we look forward to being front and center with our games at launch.”

Here’s the full list with Gameloft descriptions:

• Real Soccer 2010 – the famous handheld soccer simulation arrives on the PSPgo system. Get immersed in the atmosphere of a live match thanks to true to life 3D graphics and animation. Discover a complete range of game modes and easily perform the most amazing soccer moves.
• Hero of Sparta – an epic and colossal adventure with staggering 3D graphics that fully capture the mythological atmosphere. 8 levels to explore and legions of phenomenal creatures to defeat in this odyssey.
• Asphalt 5 – a high velocity driving game with more than 15 million downloads sold. Ride the best cars in the world including Ferrari and Lamborghini in high-speed races through 15 of the hippest locations in the world from Paris to Aspen.
• Let’s Golf! – It’s time for you to become a big hitter and drive for the green with Let’s Golf! Choose to play with 4 cool and customizable characters across 63 holes in 4 distinct locations remodeled in refreshing 3D visuals from Fiji Beach to the English countryside.
• UNO - play the #1 classic card game with friends and family on your PSPgo system. Enjoy traditional UNO or customize your own game with 9 different rules to play your way. Challenge friends near and far through local and online multiplayer mode.