Mainly, that customers dont want it!

you beat me to the punch line !

I've wanted it from the start as I liked my original PSP simply for movies and occaisional gaming, so this seemed a logical progression given it's convenient size and software etc.

..... it's just faaaaaar to expensive.

I feel sorry for the people who have shelled out the cash to be part of a test. Why do i get the impression that as soon as the psp2 comes out, psp owners are going to be left in the dark a bit.

So they were 'just checking something out'

Nah, like he says, faaaaar too expensive for a downgrade.

Just a test of public behaviour eh, using this logic, I assume so was Gizmondo, Nokia Ngage, Sinclair C5, Mars Beagle, Titanic and BPs exploration off the coast of USA ...

Fuuny they should say that, Nintendo was just testing Wii and DS. And now theyre gonna test 3DS.

hmm and everyone screams digital is the way forward, maybe it was just the price, but most of our customers didnt like not having a physical game, i wonder if natal & move will be called a test after xmas?

A thought.... dont you think that a large majority of games are still bought as gifts and therefore the understanding as to how you purchase an electronic version of a game as a present is still not understood by the general public?

A further thought is that customers have to take a punt on something they normally haven't played and subsequently will have zero second hand or reseller value if they arent pleased with their purchase? This doesnt happen with music as most people have heard what they are purchasing.

A last thought I promise... the memory of these devises is also restrictive and therefore you quickly need to use other media to store and carry your games collection (albeit reduced bulk).

Oh and yes its still way to expensive!!!!

I've never seen any company as averse to admitting they've screwed up as Sony (or Apple).

If you want true freedom in terms of gaming, communication, video and music then I'd go for the newly released Pandora Handheld.

Not only can it emualte so many platforms, it's a full Linux UMPC.

It look long enough to finally get released, but it's been worth the wait!

all you guys make resonably valid points, but i think if u spent time with a psp go youd love it its way better in the wild then on paper i love mine do i wish for more yeah but still im am quite satisfied and im not defending because i made such a huge investment on it cuz i got it free lol but still have my old psps and find i dont touch them even thought i have a ton of umds

@11: If the pictures on Wikipedia are accurate, then that looks as poorly designed as most open source things. I don't want to be fumbling over 43 keys to get to the d-pad and buttons if I am playing a game.

It looks like an unfortunate inheriter of the Linux mentality. Make it do things, but neglect style and functionality... which is why Gimp looks such a mess.

And $330, are you crazy? That's Sony logic. Sell a games machine to gamers, but make them pay for the other things they'll probably never use.

@12: "i think if u spent time with a psp go youd love it" followed by " do i wish for more yeah but still im am quite satisfied".

So you think we'd "love it", but you're only "quite satisfied". I guess that sales pitch fell a little flat there.

My PSP games are on UMD, why on earth would I spend a fortune, on a device that can't play my PSP games?

Sony's philosophy this gen seems to be "overcharge people for things they don't want, in order to get the things they do want... and then remove things they did want, to make it feel even more worthless.".

I'd be loathed to buy any new piece of Sony hardware after this gen. I didn't enjoy being part of the Blu-Ray trojan horse parade, and I didn't enjoy being shafted by my console being reduced in functionality... something no other company has EVER done.

was that you could not import your disc libary to the machine and it was far too expensive. It's possible to solve both these problems but they never planned for it and so the retrofitting was flawed from the start.
Give me a full downlaodable back catalogue and I'd take a seroius look.

If your referring to Unix support LeeC, I'm glad they removed it. It's in the best interest of Sony, dev houses and publishers and ultimately gamers themselves.

i traded in my old 1000 model for this and i do not regret it for a moment.

if i had to pay full price, that would have been a different story, i never understood how you can release the same console with less bit's and without the battery sucking UMD drive, YET it cost more and the battery life sucks lol. shame. minis are a great idea and this is where the handheld gaming market needs to be, small bitesized games that i can dabble in and out of.

sony had the direction correct, but they tried milking the margin on this one, and it didnt move. that and we at retail really did not support it, simply put, apart from network credit, there was no follow up sales.

psp (playstation phone) is what is needed, so retail can secure money via contracts.

They may have screwed up the pricing on this but right now you can get it for £150 (Same as the DSi) and it comes with 10 free games. Plus the first party stuff is really cheap (Modnation is £16 on the store) so its cheap right now. :)

It proves that download only doesn't work and retail outlets have a long future. People like physical products and not everyone wants download. Plus people like to trade "their" own games, no matter how much publishers want to stop them doing so!!

sony were rumored to be releasing what the internet tech sites called the PSP phone to rival the iphone it was supposed to have an accelerometer touchscreen even dual analogue control.
even though none of it turned out to be true this is what every body wanted if anybody at sony bothered to look at these sites and went thats cool why dont we make it if people want it then it cant fail but instead they ignored everyone and came up with the PSPGO we all said it would fail as soon as they announced it especially at the price they released it at but again they ignored everyone and we all said told you so!

Even if you preferred downloadable games, would you buy a PSP that is overpriced, only has a small fraction of the software on PSN, doesn't have a removable battery, and is incompatible with most PSP accessories? The "experiment" is flawed and "consumers like their packaged media library" shouldn't be a conclusion from it.

I like the PSPgo, but the reason I haven't bought one is simply because the game selection on PSN is poor. There are too many good games that are only available on UMD.

If these games existed on PSN, I say my chances of buying a PSPgo would be significantly higher.

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (already available on US PSN, why not on the EU PSN?)
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions
Star Ocean: First Departure
Star Ocean: Second Evolution
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

As usual someone listened to the 'loudest voice' instead of what real users want. I find digital distribution highly frustrating most of the time, especially when I can go to the store, buy the game & having it running in a short amount of of time, even if it does cost more.

Also, games are continually getting larger which means longer & longer download times even if you have a speed connection (which not everyone has). And then you've got to hope that there are enough servers so you can connect & download your game the same time as everyone else & hope that you don't have to re-download it (corrupt download, accidental deletion, etc.).

Then for a number of then PC digital distribution networks you need an active internet connection to actually play the game, even if it's only single player.

The whole digital distribution idea is just a waste of time for both the user & the company trying to provide the service. Buying a physical copy is simple & it works, & if it doesn't you can take the disc back (trying to get your money back from a digital distribution network for a faulty product is near impossible).

It is not that the consumer likes the packaged games, it was that the system was too expensive for the casual portable player. $249 for a portable is pricy, especially if it doesn't double as a phone. I like my PSP Go, especailly since I can have several games loaded into it and more on a memory stick. The price is the obsticle. It always is.

Hey Sony, I think you need to hire someone you can go to and ask, "Will this work?" or "Will this laser break too soon and piss off our customers?" BEFORE you release a product into the market. And I think I'm your man. But I can't be exclusive to you guys. Microsoft and Nintendo need me, and they need me BAD!

Digital distribution is a successful business model, the pspgo however is a failure due to poor product placement, marketing, retailers refusing to stock it and over pricing. But of course its most convienient for retailers to right off the entirety of DD because of this one balls up from Sony. Very short sight guys, very short sighted.

The problem was never the handheld console...it is the lack of promotion of the games....nintendo dsi...ds lite...all over the kids tv networks...i hardly see sony psp promotions on tv....kids ages 7-13 are still watching tv and and arre paying attention to the commercials!!!!.... also....psp just needs more games....price point for the psp is getting better....it's more affordable now....umd's are not the problem either. if sony can afford to bring the umd prices to $24-$25 dollars when sold as brand new...and $10-$15 dollars for older titles....parents will be willing to pay that price for their children...don't forget that the parents are buying these stuff for their children....so if the price is right...the child who wants a psp will be able to ask their parents' to buy it for them...

Let's not forget that the 'Go uses completely different proprietary accessory connections. Got spare chargers? Oops, buy them again. Memory sticks? Buy them again. USB cables? Buy them again. Lots of games? Buy them again. Unforgivable considering the price jump. Whatever happened to their promise people could exchange UMD's for digital vouchers or whatever? Sony's rep ain't doing too hot, which makes me sad.