UK Retailers Drop PSP GO Price
What a difference a week makes.Published 06/10/2009 at 10:15 by Gastos84
PSP Go Finally Launches In Japan [10]
Why I Want A PSP Go [64]
PSPgo Goes Up To 480 Mhz. [25]
Have you got a PSP Go already? Did your inner gadget-geek get the best of your wallet? Well, if the answer is ‘Yes’, and I know our very own Tom did, then you might not be so happy to hear that you could have saved yourself £25. Okay so it’s not a huge saving but still, a £25 drop in price within a week is quite something and surely a sign of things to come, no?
UK retailers such as HMV, GAME, Play.com and Amazon are now selling the PSP Go at £199. There has been much debate surrounding the apparently over-priced hardware with people, like myself, asking if it’s justified, especially seeing as they have removed the most expensive part. I reported a few weeks back that some European retailers are refusing to sell the product due to high cost and no follow up sales, and apparently some UK chains are doing the same.
But despite all the arguing over price, Sony have said that the PSP Go has matched their initial expectations, selling the same amount of units as the PSP3000.
My inner gadget-geek, well I say inner, i’m a blatant gadget-geek , does want one even though I’m not a huge fan of handheld gaming. I think it might be the flippy-up screen. It’s calling me!
Source: Gi.biz
Comments
Please note that all comments are the opinion of the individual author and not TheSixthAxis.
Doddsy | 06/10/2009 10:30
Totally Oscar Mike
731 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
It’s a beautiful piece of kit, but at £200 it is still well out of the reach of a semi-broke student. My one game every 3 months nearly kills me as it is.
rht992 | 06/10/2009 10:31
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2860 TSA Points | Member since: Apr 2009
i’ve felt that pain as well
gclarkey | 06/10/2009 11:15
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i still do :S
bajere | 06/10/2009 13:07
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1067 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2008
i dont think the price is the problem…its a factor, but not a major problem. i think retailers have clicked to the fact that once they sell the unit, they are basically saying to the buyer “thanks for your business, and never come back to my store again to spend your money!” Once the retailer has sold a PSPgo to someone, they have 1 less customer to sale games too…
I know buyers for retailers are not stupid, but surly the penny has dropped that supporting the sale of the PSPgo in ther stores will do more damage to sales figures over time!?!?!
WILD GUESS / JUST A CRAZY THOUGHT: Maybe they are lowering the price to get rid of the units before xmas, so the xmas sales will be more of the disk based versions of the PSP = more add-on’s and extra £ in the bank…and of course the chance to sale them more games in the future!
Doddsy | 06/10/2009 14:12
Totally Oscar Mike
731 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
They are being told they are getting the option to sell download codes for games, and soon they will be selling PSN Cards. The business is not gone, just there in a different form.
bajere | 06/10/2009 14:29
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1067 TSA Points | Member since: Aug 2008
Something like that will need to be done, otherwise there is no incentive for retailers to continue selling the unit…
Also, if this does happen, it will create a competitive market. The danger of having only one place to buy a game from, charging what they want, is another reason im sticking to my disk based PSP
C_S15 | 06/10/2009 10:35
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1563 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
Maybe retailers were incorporating the “free” GT PSP?
bunimomike | 06/10/2009 10:38
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4791 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
If the price drop is legit (and oppose to snuck into a rejigging of bundles) then anyone who bought it last week (within the last 7 days) needs to go back and return theirs. Then buy a new one and save the money. Obviously, more stores/shops will just sort a refund out but the cooling-down period (European Law) should cover this.
flatspikes | 06/10/2009 11:09
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Does that law apply to high street or just online… and as I’ve already used my PSN account to register for the free games would they work on another PSP Go as they won’t work on my 3000…
bunimomike | 06/10/2009 12:01
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4791 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
Not sure about the games situtation but the cooling down period (under the distance selling regulations) is good for mail order, internet, etc, too. I would’ve thought a vendor/retailer would simply redeem the £25 to your credit card. However, double check on the games question.
citizeninsane45 | 06/10/2009 10:45
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898 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2008
I wouldn’t mind one but like many others, I can’t justify pasying £200.00 when I have a perfectly functioning PSP already. Also, for £200.00 you can get an Xbox 360 elite with 2 games. I would much rather do that.
Gastos84 | 06/10/2009 10:48
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I thought that exact same thing the other day. Good games too.
jimmy-google | 06/10/2009 11:11
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I’d rather have a pspgo with 4 free games as I’ve already got a ps3 and there aren’t enough 360 exclusives to warrent 2 home consoles. The big difference for me having a go over my 2000 is that the go is always in my pocket now where my 2000 was always at home. The bluetooth tethering with my phone is good too – though I can’t get a fast enough connection to use remote-play.
flatspikes | 06/10/2009 13:46
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585 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
The connection I get with my phone is very on and off… loads a page… turns off… load next page turns off… fine for surfing the web but not for accessing the store or downloading anything bigger than half a meg… maybe I need to have a 3G phone…?
Bladesteel | 06/10/2009 18:00
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292 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008
@flatspikes
Check your phones settings, it may close down an idle connection between pages. If the phone isn’t the problem then your cell provider is. Even without 3g it shouldn’t drop connections like that, yes it might be slow but it should be steady slow.
TheDeathAvenger | 06/10/2009 10:59
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1653 TSA Points | Member since: Forever
I got mine at launch from HMV (online) and it cost me £199.99. With nearly 80 quids worth of free games, i think, it’s a pretty good deal.
jimmy-google | 06/10/2009 11:07
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1727 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
I did the same but pre-ordered at play.com – its just some sites price matching nothing more. HMV still had the pspgo for £225 in store. With most of these site now you won’t get the console before the GT deadline so you miss out of a £25 game.
flatspikes | 06/10/2009 11:11
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585 TSA Points | Member since: May 2009
Ahhh this is true… altho the game is only £21 in store… I couldn’t wait and paid £219 at my local chain (Grainger Games) £6 high street saving seemed worth it for my four hour trip south to Kettering!
micromagic | 06/10/2009 11:13
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57 TSA Points | Member since: Oct 2009
This article needs updating, it looks like a straight copy paste from all the other misinformed articles out there. Only Amazon and Game have dropped their prices to £199. HMV and Play were £199 before. Also this is ONLINE retailers only. In store prices are still the same.
jimmy-google | 06/10/2009 11:14
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1727 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
Had I bought GT I actually would have used the £20 psn cards (that cost me £15) so the real cost would have been £16.5 but it is £25 on UMD on the high street.
flatspikes | 06/10/2009 12:52
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£15 for a £20 PSN… best I found was Zavvi at £16… can you share the site please? Ta
iiekka | 06/10/2009 11:20
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187 TSA Points | Member since: Feb 2009
same 199 from play day one, just got my codes for 4 free games last night including gt pritty good deal tbh, i was put off buying games for my old HK import psp because of umd, so a download only console is great for me, and the gf got my old one withcrash bandicoot still on it so shes happy too.
MarkSawbo | 06/10/2009 11:23
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218 TSA Points | Member since: Sep 2008
I got mine from hmv.com with student discount. £179.99 with GT and 3 more games from PSPGoRewards using my friends psp. I think thats better than getting a 3000.
cam the man | 06/10/2009 11:41
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Glad I cancelled my pre-order.
illogicology | 06/10/2009 11:47
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For a second I thought the headline just said “UK retailers drop PSP GO.” It was a hell of a shock for a second.
Gastos84 | 06/10/2009 11:50
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Some have! Not the major ones though.
ShovellyJoe | 06/10/2009 11:47
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I think the GO has been one of the least anticipated/hyped console releases ever. I’ve seen one advert on telly advertising PSP which doesn’t even focus on the machine, not to mention that Sony haven’t been pushing the digital download-only format as much as they should.
Compare this to the PS3 Slim which has had a few excellent adverts, as well as being priced competitively, not to mention that the console itself isn’t brand new!
AcidCrashX | 06/10/2009 11:55
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600 TSA Points | Member since: Jun 2009
so i can get a PSP go plus GT, Patapon, Resistance and Loco Roco plus all the digital stuff i already have for 200 quid?…. hmmm…… OK Sony’s getting warming wit this but we still arent quite there
jimmy-google | 06/10/2009 12:12
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I’ve been parading mine around the office and its impressed most people and those that don’t have a psp are more keen to get the pspgo than the 3000 even when I tell the the price. In fact quite a few have said that £200 is quite a reasonable price.
You have to remember most of these aren’t the people that jump on every new piece of kit – I think in they’re minds they’re comparing the price to a 16gb itouch (£180) and a wii (£180). The biggest feature that they seem to like is the size.
For all the criticism of the pspgo most, if not all, of it has been from the established (or hardcore) gaming community (or retail) not the casual gamer or the itouch market its being aimed at. All the criticism from the gaming community will be repeated in a few years with the psp2 which (I’m sure) will drop the UMD as well and be digital only (with not UMD option). I believe if you want to play any of your psp games on a psp2 you will need to buy digital copies of your old psp games unless you already have a digital copy. With a new console they have no reason to proivde any form of “goodwill” or “psprewards” option.
The pspgo is simply preparing the way of the psp2
Raen | 06/10/2009 12:16
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I think the reason people are annoyed is that apart from the lack of UMD there’s no reason it can’t play those old games. If it was genuinely new hardware underneath then most people would have less gripes. Yes lack of backwards compatibility across generations sucks badly, but it is (too an extent) accepted at this point. If they’d said “here’s the PSP2, it’s got a faster processor, better graphics” etc.. and then tacked on the fact that it doesn’t have a UMD drive people would be far more accepting of it.
Crazy_Del | 06/10/2009 12:42
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478 TSA Points | Member since: Jul 2009
I think I feel lucky as I only have a PSP 1000 but only had 4 UMDs and one game downloaded on the PS3 (Driver – PS1 classic) so I think buying the Go was the right move for me and I got it £200 quid plus GT free along with three free games through special offer by Sony. I’m still keeping the PSP 1000 as a back up just in case lol. Anyway the price seems good espcially for a 16gb built in as the memory itself cost around £50 – £60 and these 4 free games could have cost £80 all in all the PSP could have been easily be like £330 if it wasn’t for the special games offer and a built in memory insteda of a couple hundred megabyte lol. So I am happy with my Go as it fits in my wee pocket and out and about in the office showing the pics of a drunken night out as nobody wants to see them through email so that they cannot forwarded xD lol ^^
Mick939 | 06/10/2009 14:33
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All those had them priced at 199 as preorders, in store for game hmv etc are 225
Jamie Solo | 06/10/2009 15:04
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I’m still on the fence on getting one. Ive never been into the handheld gaming, but I wouldnt deny its usefulness for long journeys and things…
BetaGhast | 06/10/2009 15:17
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gamestation is doing this too