ShopTo: PSPgo "almost dead" on arrival News
PSP News by Robert Purchese
ShopTo has empathised with European retailers boycotting PSPgo, and reckons the format "is almost dead before it has arrived".
Analyst Michael Pachter, on the other hand, thinks they're all being "foolish", and calls the entire situation "ridiculous".
"It's just silly for a retailer to say that they won't sell a big ticket gaming device because they can't sell the games. Consumer electronics stores sell refrigerators and not food, everyone sells iPods and not the music for them; this position is just ridiculous," Michael Pachter, analyst for investor Wedbush Morgan Securities, told Eurogamer.
"I think that it's foolish for a retailer to be selective about what they carry, unless they truly don't believe it will sell well."
A much better course of action, he argued, would be to buy limited stock and then re-order if appropriate. "Refusing to carry them subjects them to the risk that Sony will bypass them for Gran Turismo or Uncharted, in which case they lose," he said.
The ball began rolling when Dutch outlet Nedgame publicly opposed the PSPgo for being too expensive and for not featuring a UMD drive, thus providing no opportunity to sell games. And controlling all sales via PSN gives Sony a "monopoly" on software sales, argued the shop.
Media Markt, a German retail chain that spans Europe, took up a similar position, with Spanish and Italian (and no doubt other regions) outlets prohibited from selling the device.
ShopTo will not follow suit, but agrees with the sentiment. "We do have it listed on the site, but we are not concentrating any big marketing behind it," boss Igor Cipolletta told Eurogamer.
"Sony has decided to cut publishers and retailers for the software of the PSPgo and deal direct with developers, giving them a 70 per cent margin for any items sold on Sony PSN. I believe if they had lowered that to 50 or 60 per cent, and given the opportunity to online retailers, it would have enjoyed greater success and retailers would attempt to promote the console to the market."
Cipolletta, however, feels the damage may have already been done, and the format - which launches here on 1st October for £224.99 (€249.99) - will be a flop.
"I have the feeling that as a format it is almost dead before it has arrived, and it relies far too heavily on a customer base that is prepared to pay more for download content than the equivalent disc based product, and I suspect this market will soon dry up based on the technical limitations of the hardware," Cipolletta shared.
But, Pachter added, while retailers wield "some power" now, their foot-stamping won't be entertained for long.
"As far as the argument that 'it's about time' retailers received their comeuppance: I think that will occur soon enough anyway, as the large hard drives in the PS3 and 360 (and the larger ones coming) will encourage a greater number of downloads in the future," he offered.
"Retailers have to face the fact that games will be increasingly offered over Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, and cope with the outcome.
"To draw a line in the sand," Pachter said, "is wrong."
Sony, incidentally, has not responded comment on the matter.
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faux_carnation
17/09/09 @ 14:19
+4
I think Analyst Michael Pachter doesn't understand the retail gaming model.
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M_of_the_sys
17/09/09 @ 14:24
+4
Way to hinder development. It would be quite funny if Sony cut them from selling Uncharted 2 and GT5. I guess something like this could go back and forth.
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+1
Not fair, you put any games console in water and it will be dead, silly man!
... wishes there was a bath-proof PSP cover. Analysts understand a lot of things, and are complete arses about some subjects but he's right in that the retailers are being irrational. There is a buying market for PSPGo and people will spend their €s with someone else. If they're worried about sales, they could always bundle extra gear/vouchers/ even PSP UMDs for those who are keeping their old one. Not much different to what they have done with most other consoles. Also, with no imminent console releases for the next couple of years, why turn down the one that does come around?
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 17/09/09 @ 15:30
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elephant_stone
17/09/09 @ 14:32
+3
err - I thought that retailers were still going to be selling PSP games but in the form of voucher codes contained in a UMD case? So you could download them from any wifi access point?! Or was that idea scrapped???
Patapon 2 did already in the states right? |
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+7
Refrigerators and such have much larger margins so the stores actually profit from selling those. Consoles have such tiny margins that the stores just stock them in order to sell something profitable along with them. the PSPgo has nothing that can be sold along with it so the retailers can't make a profit on it. Retailers are businesses, not charities so without an opportunity to profit they're not going to bother with stocking PSPgos and incurring all the costs involved with that. You'd think an analyst would need to know things like that in order to make predictions, just shows they know less than your average forum poster and aren't worth quoting.
I have a feeling if Sony prevents these major stores (Media Markt is extremely major) from carrying certain games they'll suffer more than the stores do (remember, game margins aren't terribly good either unless you're looking at used games which Sony can't do anything about) and might even end up slapped by a court for establishing barriers to trade. Retailers already mark those download value cards for WiiWare and XBLA up because the margins on the things are too low. Maybe the industry should stop ignoring the retailers because they wield a lot of power by being able to directly talk to their customers. |
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Sir_TimAlot
17/09/09 @ 14:33
+7
Amazon seemed happy to accept my pre-order, they must be one of those retailers who like to exchange goods for money.
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+2
This is the main reason on XBL that Games on Demand are more expensive than the majority of retail stores. If the retailer loses out they are likely to kick up a stink like here. Retailers sell consoles expecting customers to continue to use them to buy the games and keep earning them money, not to sell something for Sony to make their cut instead.
Come some bigger names releases seeing if these stores get them will be interesting. |
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+4
Something like this was bound to happen soon - digital distribution is not going away.
I hope this conflict helps sorts the matter out one way or another, because at some point the retailers are going to have to admit that for some people, DD is a far more efficient, convenient and environmentally friendly way to distribute software than the old way of doing things. This King Canute method of trying to halt progress with boycotts is hardly a long-term solution. |
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WinterSnowblind
17/09/09 @ 14:37
0
Can't really add anything that hasn't been said before, but yeah.. the PSP Go had potiential, but the £225 price tag hurts it a lot. The digital games are too expensive, compared to what you can buy them for online or even out in the streets.. And with no chance of having them on sale, there's just no point.
The PSP has started getting some really great games recently, but there's no reason to buy a Go over a 3000, especially when Sony are doing some amazing bundles with games like Dissidia. I'm sure games consoles will eventually become digital only, but the Go isn't the system that's going to start the trend. We need to see something like Steam for consoles, cheap games, good deals, etc.. |
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+7
Retailer FOOOLS!!! You'll destroy us all!!!
@MiniAmin Patcher your logic is flawed. Yes Electronic stores sell refrigerators but they don't sell food at all. Yes shops sell iPods but they don't sell the music as well. The difference is that games retailers sell games primarily: with PSPgo Sony aim to bypass that very process. Nice try though. Yeah, was amazed at his examples too. It's like if Sony asked Tesco to sell their new magic food replicator, yep from now on you download food direct from Sony so no need to go to Tesco. |
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+3
@Diomedes
This will be the future for any download-only plattform .....it simply not having support from retail and thus becoming a flop. Or - more likely IMO - they'll simply switch more and more to Currys, PC World, Tesco, Toymaster and other non-specialist retailers. The push to pure digital means there'll be no room for specialist retailers. |
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+7
We need to see something like Steam for consoles, cheap games, good deals, etc.
What there needs to be is a way for GAME, ShopTo, Amazon etc. to sell downloadable console games as well as boxed games on their websites. As long as there is competition there will be retailers competing for trade by cutting prices. Retailers should be trying to convince MS and Sony to let them sell downloadable games instead of trying to stop the trend in the first place. |
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IronCladChicken
17/09/09 @ 14:43
+1
"Consumer electronics stores sell refrigerators and not food, everyone sells iPods and not the music for them; this position is just ridiculous," Michael Pachter, analyst for investor Wedbush Morgan Securities, told Eurogamer.
But - Video game stores sell consoles AND games - & have done for 30-odd years now. |
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M_of_the_sys
17/09/09 @ 14:43
+1
"I'm sure games consoles will eventually become digital only, but the Go isn't the system that's going to start the trend. We need to see something like Steam for consoles, cheap games, good deals, etc.."
It's comments like this that I don't get. It has to start somewhere. It doesn't just start off with one massive release that's successful instantly. It's either an insta-fail or lots of previous small successes. Apple have laid the foundations for DD and others are following the trend. Yes, it will happen eventually and games retailers won't be able to do a thing about it. They'll just have to continue making a massive profit on pre-owned games. |
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0
Now ,for all potential buyers I would reccomend you to buy a PSP3000 instead.Larger screen ,the battery lasts the same ,you can access the PSN and donwload games all the same ,and two 8Gb memory sticks (the equivalent of the PSPGo built-in 16Gb of memory )are going to cost you less that the Premium cost of the Go. The only drawback is that it is bigger and heavier but we are talking some grms in any case...
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+1
Neither Apple nor Sony laid the foundations. Downloadable computer software has steadily increasing for a long time (long before iTunes or Xbox Live), and as more and more devices connect to the internet, the uptake is only going to increase further.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 17/09/09 @ 15:47
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M_of_the_sys
17/09/09 @ 14:50
0
@skillian
You're right. What I meant was, Apple were very successful with it in a way that they brought it to your average Joe's attention more so than anyone else. |
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gav_and_the_gavster
17/09/09 @ 14:52
+4
I'm with the retailers on this one. Retailers don't have infinite cash. If you could buy and sell £1,000,000's worth of one console and make ten times that back because of your console buyers returing to you for software too or sell £1,000,000's of PSPgo's and only make the hardware profit back then which console would you stock? Yes retailers are turning down making a little profit with initial console sales but the money they'd spend on stocking up on the PSPgo can be wisely spent elsewhere on consoles that will generate them software sales and overall greater returns of investment.
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actionfitz
17/09/09 @ 14:53
+2
"But, Pachter added, while retailers wield "some power" now, their foot-stamping won't be entertained for long."
well said that man. but the price of the PSPGO is stupid too. |
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+2
retailers dont boycott the ipod because you can download tunes to it incase it hurt cd sales.
foolish and greedy... ironically it will probably see them make less profit overall than if they had've stocked it. that's because ipods are reasonably priced and sell well (retailer makes money on ipod sales). the pspgo is ridiculously overpriced, and its sales expectations can't be more than a few thousand. you won't find many people dumb enough to spend 250 euros on totally outdated technology, especially if the exact same tech is available 30% cheaper. |
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WinterSnowblind
17/09/09 @ 14:54
0
@M_of_the_sys
All three consoles have also begun to move towards digital releases with XBLA, PSN, the virtual console, Games on Demand, etc. Perhaps I worded it badly, but my point was, the PSP Go isn't going to take off because of their pricing and it's not going to be the first game system to successfully pull of being digital only. |
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actionfitz
17/09/09 @ 14:56
-1
@ gav_and_the_gavster
Shops still sell sony TV etc... why is a PSP different from any other piece of consumer electronics? are we refering to all retailers or is it just games retailers throwing hissy fits? |
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gav_and_the_gavster
17/09/09 @ 15:03
+2
@actionfitz
I think Pachter makes a mistake trying to compare different products. TV's for example don't have further software products directly used by them that shops can also sell on after people have bought a TV from them. Remember like the manufacturers, retailers make more money from software sales. |
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