http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/08/sony-psp-go-experiment-revealed-love-of-physical-media/
The classics are the best.
When confronted with a failure, don’t try and recognise the fault, instead try and act as though you were doing this on purpose all along as an experiment… at the expense of your customers!
I really hope someone got shitcanned at Sony for the Go!
I mean, it’s not like anyone could have foreseen this happening is it really? Who could have known that not following through on promises to release all UMD games on PSN would end like this? Who could have imagined that releasing digital versions of games sometimes weeks (sometimes never) after the physical UMD release would irritate gamers and promote a distrust in you as a brand name?
No, no… sorry, it wasn’t those reasons the Go failed right? It’s because;
consumers like their packaged media library
…yeah, and they also appreciate that packaged games release on the date advertised, not weeks later if at all.
I’ve talked about digital distribution in another post but I recently read that Logitech may be working on a UMD attachment for the PSPGo which if true interests me a great deal.
Assuming this attachment is real, there must be significant demand for such a product in order for it to be made. This is the last thing Sony needs if its experiment into digital distribution with the PSPGo is to be a success. They are already on shaky ground with some games still only releasing on UMD, digital PSN titles not always available alongside the UMD release, and most importantly, to the best of my knowledge there isn’t a complete digital catalogue available (as promised) for gamers to exchange physical UMD’s for to use on the new system yet.
The PSP has already been suffering from low sales compared to other handhelds and consoles on the market, and piracy is all over the device like white on rice. Now Sony has split the PSP user base in half and PSPGo adopters cannot use software they may have already bought for the system. Not a great state of affairs for anybody. Throw in a UMD attachment and any future plans Sony had for digital content are swirling around the toilet bowl ready to be flushed.
So is it a failed experiment? Well perhaps, but more importantly it was a failed experiment in an already failed area of Sony’s product line. If the PSPGo fails in digital distribution it will be less of a problem than it would have been trying this out with the PS3 slim. You could say this is a smart move by Sony enabling them to test the digital distribution waters without crippling the flagship product.
It will be interesting to see how other companies pay attention to this. There is a very strong chance that should the PSPGo fail (and if pushed I’d bet it will), other companies may become wary of attempting a move into the digital distribution model. Sony’s failure will underline the concern that perhaps the market is not ready for digital distribution just yet.
Personally I do not feel that pushing digital only devices such as the PSPGo is the way forward. Good implementation and value for money in DLC will do more towards converting people to a microtransaction/digital only model in my opinion.
