4 ms·

The PSPgo is officially dead, why did it fail?

14 points by ukdm 16y ago

cube13 16y ago
There's also the fact that the system uses 802.11b wireless, which makes any downloads unbearably slow. In addition, the PSP's prices for older titles are quite high-usually around $20. For a few titles(especially the ones published by Atlus), this means that the download is cheaper than a physical copy because of the rarity of the software. For a lot of games, however, it's possible to find cheaper copies on eBay or even in big box store bargain bins.
- Splines 16y ago
  Plus a physical copy has resale value, so when you're done with a game you can sell it or trade it to a friend. Aside from 802.11b (and maybe the battery), the hardware is really nice. The system has a really nice solid feel to it, the screen, while not up Retina standards, is bright and more than adequate for games/movies, and the controls have a good tactile response (although the shoulder buttons are a tad awkward). I had a PSPGo for a short period of time, and running emulators on it was fantastic. Sony seems to like the razor-blades sales model, but the homebrew community sure adds a ton of value to these devices.
kenneth_reitz 16y ago
First off, the PSP Go is my all-time favorite device, but only once you enable the ability to run unsigned code. Because of it, I can have every NES and SNES game ever released in my pocket at all times! It's incredible. -- Seriously though, the Go failed for a few reasons. Sony made some critical mistakes with it. First off, the device's main method of obtaining games is wifi. The Go has an 802.11b chip in it, which is extremely slow and outdated. Most of the problems are UX related. Turning the device on for the first time, you try to sign into the PlayStation Network to download your first game. First, you must update your firmware. To do so, you have to have the device fully charged (90% doesn't count), even if it's plugged in. So, you have to leave your brand new gaming device plugged in for at least 4 hours while the battery fully charges before you can download and install the system update so you can install your first game. Once charged, you access your PSN account, and search through the limited selection of available games. Most new PSP games are released on UMD disks only, and take many months to arrive in downloadable form, if ever. So, if you find a game that you like, you download it and wait 45 minutes for it download over the 802.11b connection. Then you have to wait another 15 minutes for it to be extracted. Then you can play. Of course, any of the games you likely already own from your other PSPs can never be played on the device at all. -- It's absurd. I'm surprised it lasted this long.
- robin_reala 16y ago
  If they’d committed to having every new game available both as a download and a UMD if would have done a bit better. Oh, and it should have been priced well below the 3000 (which not only was much cheaper but also did everything the Go did along with having the flexibility of the UMD drive built in).
  - Splines 16y ago
    Definitely. This was the deal breaker for people. Why buy a more expensive device that can do less? To keep it competitive it should have been priced low, and digital versions should have been competitively priced. Plus, sim-shipping the disc and the PSN version should have been done for every single title. These are the same decisions that are killing Microsoft's 360 Games on Demand service. Delays to the service and uncompetitive prices just make the service useless. I sort of wonder if there are B&M agreements that are causing this sort of behaviour. Otherwise it just doesn't make sense.
- Florin_Andrei 16y ago
  You can tell there's a lot of "design by fiat" going on at Sony. One one hand, the interface on the Playstation devices looks slick and elegant. On the other, you have to deal with these really bone-headed decisions scattered all over the place, some of which you already mentioned, that just ruin the experience. And this goes beyond just the interface. Sony may have brilliant engineers, but you can tell it's a dictatorship - and The Man, while he may be a good general-purpose businessperson, is pretty dumb in other ways.
  - cube13 16y ago
    >And this goes beyond just the interface. Sony may have brilliant engineers, but you can tell it's a dictatorship - and The Man, while he may be a good general-purpose businessperson, is pretty dumb in other ways. After this and the entire GeoHotz fiasco, I actually have the opposite opinion. Sony has some pretty brilliant designers-the UI and device styling is quite nice. Their engineers, on the other hand, seem to keep on making pretty stupid decisions that make actually using the device difficult to use.

14 points by ukdm 16y ago

There's also the fact that the system uses 802.11b wireless, which makes any downloads unbearably slow. In addition, the PSP's prices for older titles are quite high-usually around $20. For a few titles(especially the ones published by Atlus), this means that the download is cheaper than a physical copy because of the rarity of the software. For a lot of games, however, it's possible to find cheaper copies on eBay or even in big box store bargain bins.

Splines 16y ago
Plus a physical copy has resale value, so when you're done with a game you can sell it or trade it to a friend. Aside from 802.11b (and maybe the battery), the hardware is really nice. The system has a really nice solid feel to it, the screen, while not up Retina standards, is bright and more than adequate for games/movies, and the controls have a good tactile response (although the shoulder buttons are a tad awkward). I had a PSPGo for a short period of time, and running emulators on it was fantastic. Sony seems to like the razor-blades sales model, but the homebrew community sure adds a ton of value to these devices.

kenneth_reitz 16y ago

First off, the PSP Go is my all-time favorite device, but only once you enable the ability to run unsigned code. Because of it, I can have every NES and SNES game ever released in my pocket at all times! It's incredible. -- Seriously though, the Go failed for a few reasons. Sony made some critical mistakes with it. First off, the device's main method of obtaining games is wifi. The Go has an 802.11b chip in it, which is extremely slow and outdated. Most of the problems are UX related. Turning the device on for the first time, you try to sign into the PlayStation Network to download your first game. First, you must update your firmware. To do so, you have to have the device fully charged (90% doesn't count), even if it's plugged in. So, you have to leave your brand new gaming device plugged in for at least 4 hours while the battery fully charges before you can download and install the system update so you can install your first game. Once charged, you access your PSN account, and search through the limited selection of available games. Most new PSP games are released on UMD disks only, and take many months to arrive in downloadable form, if ever. So, if you find a game that you like, you download it and wait 45 minutes for it download over the 802.11b connection. Then you have to wait another 15 minutes for it to be extracted. Then you can play. Of course, any of the games you likely already own from your other PSPs can never be played on the device at all. -- It's absurd. I'm surprised it lasted this long.

robin_reala 16y ago
If they’d committed to having every new game available both as a download and a UMD if would have done a bit better. Oh, and it should have been priced well below the 3000 (which not only was much cheaper but also did everything the Go did along with having the flexibility of the UMD drive built in).
- Splines 16y ago
  Definitely. This was the deal breaker for people. Why buy a more expensive device that can do less? To keep it competitive it should have been priced low, and digital versions should have been competitively priced. Plus, sim-shipping the disc and the PSN version should have been done for every single title. These are the same decisions that are killing Microsoft's 360 Games on Demand service. Delays to the service and uncompetitive prices just make the service useless. I sort of wonder if there are B&M agreements that are causing this sort of behaviour. Otherwise it just doesn't make sense.
Florin_Andrei 16y ago
You can tell there's a lot of "design by fiat" going on at Sony. One one hand, the interface on the Playstation devices looks slick and elegant. On the other, you have to deal with these really bone-headed decisions scattered all over the place, some of which you already mentioned, that just ruin the experience. And this goes beyond just the interface. Sony may have brilliant engineers, but you can tell it's a dictatorship - and The Man, while he may be a good general-purpose businessperson, is pretty dumb in other ways.
- cube13 16y ago
  >And this goes beyond just the interface. Sony may have brilliant engineers, but you can tell it's a dictatorship - and The Man, while he may be a good general-purpose businessperson, is pretty dumb in other ways. After this and the entire GeoHotz fiasco, I actually have the opposite opinion. Sony has some pretty brilliant designers-the UI and device styling is quite nice. Their engineers, on the other hand, seem to keep on making pretty stupid decisions that make actually using the device difficult to use.