RSSPSP Go will give first glimpse into download-only attach rates
By Tim Conneally | Published October 1, 2009, 2:57 PM
Sony's latest handheld game console, the $250 PSP Go hit retail today -- the first major video game system that does not support physical media, with games offered only via download.
To kick start the device's life today, Sony has beefed up the catalog of downloadable games in the PlayStation Store with more than 100 titles ranging from $5 all the way up to $39.99, including the highly hyped Gran Turismo PSP. Sony will be giving away one copy with every PSP Go for the first ten days of its availability.
While all video game consoles today support downloadable games, they all also support removable media such as discs or cartridges (in the case of the Nintendo DS) as their primary method of content delivery. In this way, this generation of consoles has had a sort of hybrid attach rate (number of games sold per console), where both physical media and downloads have to be tracked.
The PlayStation Store is currently the only place where users can get games for the PSP Go, so the attach rate will be singly trackable.
Since no other game systems have made a similar transition, it is uncertain how well titles will sell for the new handheld. The nearest point of comparison is the iPhone/iPod Touch, which has proven to be a breakaway success as a casual and mobile gaming platform. However, with thousands of titles in the free-to-99ยข range, it won't be an even comparison. Furthermore, Apple has not issued an App Store breakdown that shows how many games sell versus other types of applications. Judging by Apple's increased emphasis on games (and claims of over 21,000 available titles) iPhone/iPod video gaming looks to be a highly successful category.
With today's 6.10 PSP firmware update, the Go gains the ability to be tethered to a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone for 100% mobile game, music, and movie downloads, which is more than can be said for the iPod Touch.
As competitive as these new platforms are, they're still in fundamentally different categories, and the PSP Go is swimming in uncharted waters.
oh i can't wait for this one...what are some of the resident posters.editors here going to do with themselves....
they can't stand Sony/Blu-ray because they loved HD-DVD so much...that now Digital Distribution is the way....yet here we are and the first mainstream gaming device to go fully digital is made by Sony....
so whats it gonna be haters?? are you pulling for digital distribution to take off, or Sony to fail? lol
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|Lol. I like how the article says it can't wait to see d/l statistics for the PSP Go. Then goes on to say that Apple doesn't release it's statistics. Why on earth do you think Sony would release it's statistics. I only see them doing that if they are very very successful, which, given the many drawbacks of the PSPGo, I doubt many people will want one. Some examples of how bad this system fails are:
1. $250 price for 4-year-old hardware (doesn't even have -g wireless, only -b)
2. Takes a few hours to set up initially: you have to download the update when you first turn on the system, then you have to have the battery fully charged to install the update EVEN if you have the AC plugged in; then it takes you a while to actually download a game (you can't do anything else on the system while you are downloading a game.)
3. Proprietary cables; You can no longer use a simple USB cable to charge it, they did away w/ the USB port. The AC Adaptor is a three piece part.
4. Games are priced at MSRP and will probably never drop in price. You can't do anything w/ the games once you are done with them (Can't sell them, trade-in, etc)
5. For $50 more, you can get an iPod Touch that has double the storage, and you have access to all sorts of apps besides just games. (Priced lower than PSP Media as well) Heck, you could even get a PS3 for $50 more, and that gives you a blu-ray player as well.
6. Sony's Own PSP-3000, which is cheaper, still allows you to d/l all the digital games for the Go, you just put them on a memory stick. (If you wanted to buy games that way, and already own a PSP)
Maybe, if they sold this for like $100-150, it may be worth it. But for $250 I would expect it to have the following to compete with other tech products at that price point:
1. Touch Screen
2. Dual Analog Sticks
3. N-Wireless (Or at least G Wireless)
4. More Storage Space
Maybe w/ the PSP2 they will address these issues.
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|yeah, i read the Ars review too
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|yea...i read that article...guess I should have posted that some of the downfalls i got were from that article.
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|I guess since you can only download games for the PSPGO the disk will be a thing of the past and the owner of the previous system may eventually be left in the dust without support in the coming years.
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