Sony’s ill-fated PSPgo flopped like a wet fish because it didn’t boast enough features to differentiate itself from its chunkier cousin, the PSP-3000.
That’s according to outspoken industry analyst Michael Pachter, who conceded that while the UMD-less handheld’s concept was “cool,” it didn’t ultimately didn’t pack enough features under the hood to justify the asking price.
"It was a flop because it wasn’t sufficiently differentiated from the PSP-3000 to justify the much higher price," said Pachter, during a natter with Eurogamer.
"There’s not a lot to say about PSPgo. The feature set was cool, but not cool enough. The download-only mechanism was not as attractive as they thought it would be. The form factor, while nice, wasn’t worth an extra $80."
PSPgo was met with harsh criticism upon its release, with some retailers refusing to stock the portable device, most notably Holland’s flagship NEdgame chain.
GAMEbrief’s Nicholas Lovell noted that Sony’s attempts to flog a digital-based platform at physical retailers ultimately didn’t do the hardware manufacturers any favours in regards to PSPgo’s fortunes.
"The death of the PSPgo highlights the problems faced by hardware manufacturers in their relationship with retail," observed Lovell. "Sony needs retailers to sell its hardware; it also knows that the future of software is downloadable. In a world of downloadable software, physical retailers are vastly less important, and this terrifies them.
"So Sony tried to launch a product that needed retail support to shift units, then cut them out of the value chain by selling games directly to the consumer. The retailers rebelled."
PSPgo’s troubles were further exacerbated by the increasing popularity of smartphones, and a £225 deal that offered punters 10 free games alongside their purchase did little to stimulate sales.
"The demise of PSPgo is not a surprise, in our view, as device sales were weak," offered analyst Colin Sebastian.
"We think price was one factor, but more important the download only distribution model for PSP games never resonated well with core gamers. Ironically, the launch of go also coincided with the steep ramp in smartphones, which are now the most popular gaming platforms ‘on the go’."
Some however, view the PSPgo’s failure as Sony testing the waters for future endeavours, specifically the platform holder’s upcoming Next-Generation Portable (NGP), which will feature predominantly download-only software.
"PSPgo was a failure, but iterative failure is a necessary step in progress toward innovation," commented Billy Pidgeon, senior analyst with M2 Research.
"PSPgo could have contributed very helpful feedback to Sony’s dedicated handheld strategy as an open beta marketplace test in the evolution of game distribution from a physical media format to digital media format. NGP may well be a better system due to lessons Sony learned with PSPgo."
Elsewhere, EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich reckons folk will take a more optimistic glance back at the trouble handheld, believing many will view it not as a colossal failure, but rather a device that was ahead of its time.
"For the PSPgo, I do agree with most of the industry that is was a complete flop. The PSPgo was simply ahead of its time, which is a common problem for Sony. We will all look back 10 years from now and peg the PSPgo as being the first platform to go 100 per cent digital. While not successful, it did demonstrate the idea of a pure digital environment, which we all can agree will one day occur."