UK retailer ShopTo is no fan of what Sony’s doing with the PSP Go, refusing to market the device and calling it “almost” dead on arrival.
Some retailers in Europe aren’t so happy with Sony’s new direction with the PSP Go, which will make its debut in Europe in November. UK chain ShopTo is one of them, and while it’s not taking the extreme route and out and out boycotting the device, it does have some unkind predictions for its future.
“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,” ShopTo’s Igor Cipolletta told Eurogamer.
So do these guys think the PSP Go’s a bad product that nobody will buy? No, they just have a problem with the business model it carries with it. The gripe for ShopTo and other retailers, is that the Go’s digital-only approach cuts stores out of the business of selling games, a complaint industry analyst Michael Pachter thinks is a bit boneheaded.
“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,” Pachter said. “Consumer electronics stores sell refrigerators and not food, everyone sells iPods and not the music for them; this position is just ridiculous.”
For Pachter, these companies making a fuss right now might brew up some stink in the present, but they’re going to have to deal with the future to survive. “Retailers have to face the fact that games will be increasingly offered over Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, and cope with the outcome,” he said. “To draw a line in the sand is wrong.”
