One of my most vivid memories of E3 a couple years ago was when Sony announced the PSP Go. Not because I was blown away by the tech or thought it was the future of handheld gaming, but rather by the audience reaction. After the company announced that the digital-only device would retail for $250 they paused for applause, there was none. The crowd didn’t cheer or boo, we merely sat in the theater silent, trying to figure out if we had really just heard that. Was the company actually going to try and sell us a device that couldn’t even play our old UMDs for the same price as the Wii?
You know the story from there, the PSP Go flopped hard and now Sony is scrambling to figure out how to sell at least a few units so they can recoup some losses. To that end it’s being rumored that the company is dropping the price of the Go to $200, effective this Friday. Sony hasn’t confirmed or denied the price drop, they actually haven’t even commented at all. I guess we can just sit tight for a couple days and find out for ourselves soon enough.
But is a $50 price cut enough? Considering the fact that the Go will still be more expensive than its UMD-enabled cousin what will make it attractive to consumers? Now the device is merely on par with the cost of a new Xbox (sans hard drive), so is it really more appealing than it was before?
Another angle to consider is could it be that this price drop is foreshadowing the announcement of the PSP2? We’ve also been hearing that Sony is sending out PSP2 dev kits in the hopes of securing a strong launch lineup, so it may be that the company wants to clear some shelf space as they prepare to announce a brand new device. We’re honestly not expecting to hear anything before 2011, but the wheels are very likely already in motion.
At any rate, how appealing do you find a $200 PSP Go? Are you ready to give the redesigned handheld a try, or do you prefer the old model? Or, are you saving up for a 3DS and couldn’t care less about Sony’s device at this point?
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