On October 1, Sony launched its latest console, the PSP Go. The handheld device addresses several of the shortcomings of previous PSP models, including its size and lack of internal storage capacity.
The PSP Go is clearly being offered as a direct challenge to casual gaming devices like the popular Nintendo DSi, and Apple iPhone. For example, in the above promotional image, Sony demonstrates several top-rated casual titles available for download from its online store, including Patapon 2, Loco Roco, Go Puzzle, and Beats. However, the PSP Go is also being promoted to dedicated adult gamers with M rated titles like God of War.
Like most Sony products, the PSP Go is a powerful and slick device. Yet it continues to lack the features most valued by casual gamers, such as ease-of-use and intuitive controls. At the same time, it drops several features that dedicated gamers value most, as Ben Kuchera points out in this extensive review. “Your system can already do what this system claims to do, and better,” he writes. “Minus the bluetooth and the 16GB of internal storage, this is a step back in every way.” Instead of a capable gaming console worthy of its $249 price tag, the PSP Go reminds us more of Sony’s ill-fated Mylo, a device that one reviewer described as “the mutant off-spring of a PSP and a (fatally hamstrung) smartphone.”
When consoles are designed to appeal to too many market segments, they often fail to meet the specific needs of any of them. In Innovation and Marketing in the Video Game Industry, we discuss the challenges facing the PSP Go and why similar efforts have failed in the past. Although in some ways the PSP Go may be an improvement over the original PSP, we feel that the DSi will continue to be the console of choice for casual gamers.
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