PSP Go! looks certain

cherryghost

As the rumour mill has been churned over and over the last few months, it seems almost inevitable to me that source leaks suggest the new PSP Go! will be released by the end of the year.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3173959#addComment

All i can say, is that if that is the new design, God help us all.

Gummy Panda

I've seen better mock ups. Dumping umd seems a good step against piracy and securing developers. Sony are test bedding this in the us by making certain titles download only e.g. Patapon 2

noodler

One bone of contention.

This completely rules out the possibility of a bargain.

If games are only available online from the PSN store than the prices almost never change from their ridiculous RRP. I mean the disparity in price between a physical UMD and the same title from the PSN store is laughable.

nedd

good point. no chance of trade-ins either.

it also looks like they are not going with a second thumb-stick.

GothPunk

noodler wrote: »

One bone of contention.

This completely rules out the possibility of a bargain.

If games are only available online from the PSN store than the prices almost never change from their ridiculous RRP. I mean the disparity in price between a physical UMD and the same title from the PSN store is laughable.

Ah yes, but you can share games over the PSN. If there's a game that both you and I want for PSP (if/when you get one) we could share the price and you get a bargain that way.

nedd wrote: »

good point. no chance of trade-ins either.

it also looks like they are not going with a second thumb-stick.

In todays market where developers are starting to hate on the used games market, I can certainly see them being very happy about there being no trade-ins. I wonder how aware they are of game-sharing though over PSN.

Do we really need a second analog nub? I mean I wouldn't turn one down, I just think that a portable console isn't very well suited to the FPS genre. Although Resistance Retribution seems to manage fine with just the one nub, maybe it could have been better with two? Lack of a second nub doesn't matter to me really, the PSPs strengths are original IPs like Loco Roco and Patapon, RPGs and beat-'em ups. Do FPSs on the PSP even sell well?

Gummy Panda

noodler wrote: »

One bone of contention.

This completely rules out the possibility of a bargain.

If games are only available online from the PSN store than the prices almost never change from their ridiculous RRP. I mean the disparity in price between a physical UMD and the same title from the PSN store is laughable.

yep thats why the lads in the US who actually buy their psp games aren't happy with the recent change to downloaded content. Though Sony said they'd sell the games in retail outlets but you wouldn't receive a UMD. Instead you are given a code to download from PSN (ps3 or pc). Kinda like how play.com's copies of Prince of Persia gave you a code to download the epilogue for free.

Another example on a different system are MS points. Not a bargain when you buy directly from MS but you get deals online/high street when you buy a paper code. Sony can't afford to piss off retailers, as they'll just give the competition more floor space.

GothPunk

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Another example on a different system are MS points. Not a bargain when you buy directly from MS but you get deals online/high street when you buy a paper code. Sony can't afford to piss off retailers, as they'll just give the competition more floor space.

I didn't think about that - you're right there's nothing stopping retailers from discounting the PSN-boxed versions of PSP games. In fact I think that's the greatest sales model ever.

Think about it, you get a box with a manual, but the game is still direct download. Isn't that the best of both worlds? Sony lets you redownload games as many times as you like, and you can even share the games if you do game sharing with a friend/someone you trust with your account. It's true that Sony's servers for this stuff might go offline in a few years, but you can back up your games using PSP Media Manager anyways and just store them that way. Retailers will only be able to stock so many of the boxed vouchers, as they'll still take up valuable shelf space, and thus get a discount at some point.

The only downside is not being able trade in your games, but I very rarely do that anyways.

cotwold

noodler wrote: »

One bone of contention.

This completely rules out the possibility of a bargain.

If games are only available online from the PSN store than the prices almost never change from their ridiculous RRP. I mean the disparity in price between a physical UMD and the same title from the PSN store is laughable.

Yeah this is what first came to mind for me as well. Having a monopoly on the distribution would kill any chance of getting a bargain. On the other side of things people might just decide to hack and download all the titles free which'll be worse for sony.

Also seeing the umd's go was completely predictable. They were a waste of time from the start, especially buying movies on them, what a waste of plastic and money.

ongarite

No UMD drive and internal flash memory only is Sony and every publishers wet dream.
As much as consumers like it, the 2nd hand market is out of control here in Europe and UK, gobbling up sales on nearly new games that would have been bought new. They are sold over and over again by the retailer making massive profits for them.

I would bet this is the reason we have seen a massive increase in PSP development this year along with the reduced piracy rates with PSP-3000 and successor.

GothPunk

ongarite wrote: »

I would bet this is the reason we have seen a massive increase in PSP development this year along with the reduced piracy rates with PSP-3000 and successor.

I think if the consequence of not being able to trade in your games is part of the reason why the PSP is getting such an improved focus then I say bring it on. I mean how many people thought that the PSP was on it's last legs last year? Now we have Dante's Inferno getting a PSP version/spin-off and Fate/Unlimited Codes, Tekken 6 and Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny announced, and that's only the news from the past week!

Apart from the trade-in issue, I think it's a win win situation for everybody.

Gummy Panda

I think more digital distribution would help sales. How much piracy on psp is impulse piracy? Example of impluse piracy:

I'm at my pc browsing boards. Someone posts about this great game thats on the psp. I look up vids on youtube. I want the game. Now the game could be

a)kinda old and not stocked in high street so i have to try find a second hand copy somewhere like ebay.
b)different region so have to import and wait delivery times
c)available on the high street but shops are closed or i can't make it into one for some reason and i want it now.

i could have any of these three problems. I want the content and am willing to pay but want it now on demand. Easiest option? Download a CSO from a newsgroup/rapidshare. Got my game in an hour. If it was available for paid download, I probably would have paid as i just wanted the content now.

Now that was just an example. I buy my games and only have CFW so i don't have to swap UMDs.

The point about second hand market are very valid. I can imagine Gamestop, Game and others kicking up about that.

GothPunk

Gummy Panda wrote: »

b)different region so have to import and wait delivery times.

So true! At the moment I have the MHF2G CSO, but I'm going to buy MHFU when it comes out here. I can imagine many other people would download the CSO and then not purchase the game when it gets released here.

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Now that was just an example. I buy my games and only have CFW so i don't have to swap UMDs.

OT:Some of the PSP homebrew is pretty good, do you not use that as well?

Gummy Panda wrote: »

The point about second hand market are very valid. I can imagine Gamestop, Game and others kicking up about that.

Wouldn't they be happy to be selling more PSP games then before? I suppose they do make more money from the used games market, but the party is going to end sooner or later. We already have a few full PS3 games in the PSN, I'm betting the 360 or it's successor will follow suit. I guess the PSP is just the first out of the door.

I read on NeoGAF that there are rumours that Sony would have PSP kiosks in stores so that you could rip your old games on UMD to the new PSP. I'm assuming the service would be free, but maybe retailers would charge for that?

giggsy664

MHF2G CSO??????

WTF?

GothPunk

giggsy664 wrote: »

MHF2G CSO??????

WTF?

LOL. It stands for Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G compressed iso. It's being released over here as Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. Thread.