Biggest Dutch retailer boycotts PSPgo

irishman123

Holland's largest specialised retail outlet, Nedgame, has decided not to sell the PSPgo this October. And, the shop explained to Eurogamer Holland, there are a handful of reasons why.
The hefty price-tag of €249.99 being one of them. That's €80 more than the PSP-3000 costs, a difference Nedgame believes the new handheld does not justify - the smaller screen is picked out as an example.
A more telling reason is the lack of a UMD drive. That means Nedgame cannot sell games for the PSPgo, which is where retailers make the most profit. And, as downloadable games will be tied to PSN accounts, trading and swapping will fast become a thing of the past.
Nedgame also mentioned its discomfort at Sony creating a monopoly on the software sold on PSPgo.
Eurogamer Holland goes on to point out that Nedgame are not the only Dutch outlet to boycott Sony's new handheld.
Eurogamer Spain has also heard rumblings that retailers there may do the same.


http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/biggest-dutch-retailer-boycotts-pspgo

Gunmonkey

I can see where they are coming from, I havent seen any news on if Gran Tourismo PSP will be released on UMD. And if it isnt, then I doubt any of the E3 announced games (MGS: Peace Walker, New Resident Evil and any others) will be on UMD either.

All stores will be able to sell are the PSN cards, but how much (if any) does a store make off them. Surely a €20 card wont be €20 into Sonys pocket if the store has to get a cut, but €20 bought straight from the PSN Store using a credit card is.

And do you have to be connected to the PSN to play games, since the levels of piracy on PSP will skyrocket otherwise?

Gummy Panda

Gunmonkey wrote: »

I can see where they are coming from, I havent seen any news on if Gran Tourismo PSP will be released on UMD. And if it isnt, then I doubt any of the E3 announced games (MGS: Peace Walker, New Resident Evil and any others) will be on UMD either.

All stores will be able to sell are the PSN cards, but how much (if any) does a store make off them. Surely a €20 card wont be €20 into Sonys pocket if the store has to get a cut, but €20 bought straight from the PSN Store using a credit card is.

And do you have to be connected to the PSN to play games, since the levels of piracy on PSP will skyrocket otherwise?

I say there will be UMD since publishers might kick up about losing potential sales. Sony would have to give the publishers some serious kick backs for PSN only. Though some publishers are pissed off about used game sales by retailers.

In the US, you can buy PSN games in boxes from a retail. Inside is a code to redeem on PSN. I think this is a good idea. Retailers get their sales (might need higher profit margin on games), publishers lose their fear over used game sales and consumers can still get bargains as retailers overstock or get distributor deals.

GothPunk

Lol at the boycott. Seriously, expensive and DD? Are they boycotting the iPod as well? Pfft. It begins: Retailers resisting the bright DD future. Nedgame has also obviously never heard of PSN game sharing.

@Gunmonkey: GTPSP is definitely getting a UMD release (there's even a limited edition 'ooh shiny' version), a quick Google would have told you that. Sony have said that UMDs and the PSN store will co-exist.

Gummy Panda wrote: »

In the US, you can buy PSN games in boxes from a retail. Inside is a code to redeem on PSN. I think this is a good idea. Retailers get their sales (might need higher profit margin on games), publishers lose their fear over used game sales and consumers can still get bargains as retailers overstock or get distributor deals.

For the time being, this method is the best of both worlds. Although 50% off (NIS only?) PSP games on the PSN the first week of October is telling me a DD-only future might suit me just fine.

Edit: Stupid Eurogamer blowing things out of proportion? 'Biggest Dutch retailer'? According to Nedgame's website they've got 9 stores. Hmm.

Gummy Panda

Its down to used games market. In US, Gamestop reported something like 50%+ of their profit was down to used game sales. Publishers are going crazy over this and are pushing for DD.

The only thing i'm afraid off with the PSPgo is if Sony IP lock the US store. Most of my PSN bought games are from the US. Also i have persona psp preordered on UMD from videogamesplus.ca. I'm worried i won't ever be able to transfer the UMD to the pspgo. Infact, i might change that preorder with videogamesplus and buy from PSN on October 1st.

GothPunk

Gummy Panda wrote: »

The only thing i'm afraid off with the PSPgo is if Sony IP lock the US store. Most of my PSN bought games are from the US. Also i have persona psp preordered on UMD from videogamesplus.ca. I'm worried i won't ever be able to transfer the UMD to the pspgo. Infact, i might change that preorder with videogamesplus and buy from PSN on October 1st.

Don't worry, they'll never do that. They made the PS3 hardware 'region free', and I'm not just talking about disc regions. The PS3 has a universal power supply because Sony figure people might bring their PS3 with them when they travel/move home. People most definitely bring their PSPs with them when they travel. Therefore people will need to be able to sign into their PSN accounts from IPs that won't match the region of the account. This could all change for PS4/PSP2, but I seriously doubt it.

I'm wondering what this PSP Go 'good will' program Sony mentioned about peoples UMD collections is going to be. If it doesn't get mentioned at the Tokyo Game Show it's going to leave me a bit more on the fence about the PSP Go.

Gummy Panda

This whole thing is not about the consumer or price of the pspgo (AFAIK its price high so the retailer gets a bigger profit).

Its about used game sales and these stores seeing every customer buying a psp go as potential used game sale walking out the door.