Someone needs to sit down with John Koller, Sony’s hardware marketing manager, and give him a quick lesson on cause and effect. He seems to think the iPad, as with the iPod Touch and iPhone, will drive PSP sales for customers looking for “deeper, richer console.” Personally, I think he’s nuts.

The numbers look good – the PSP and PSP Go have tripled in combined sales since the launch of the iPhone. But that doesn’t make the two related. My guess is the price of the PSP has gone down so much and the units have been hacked so many times that it’s become accessible enough to encourage a lot of gamers to buy.

I talk a lot on Gadget Teaser about the death of dedicated devices and the future of the all-in-wonder. I think handheld gaming is following the trend toward multi-purpose machines. Apple has simply put together a better system for supporting that kind of platform. If Sony doesn’t make some changes, I wouldn’t be surprised to see PSP sales plateau in the next 2 years.

Source: WSJ

Usually when a console debuts you can expect prices to remain stable for a while. The hype of the console sells it, usually at just about any price. The PSP Go, on the other hand, is already on sale at Fry’s for $199.

The price drop confirms that profit margins must be pretty wide on Sony’s new portable. Not too many people are buy the thing, and there isn’t exactly the same expected software revenue as other portables, so taking a loss really doesn’t make sense. With so few purchasers, it seems like Fry’s is just trying to be the only retailer to sell out of the device before the holiday season hits.

The deal is only good in-store until the 22nd, and may not be available everywhere so be sure to call ahead.

For all I thought was wrong with the design of and idea behind the PSP Go, Sony almost talked me out of my disbelief. I thought maybe, just maybe, the 10-year plan was something I just couldn’t understand. Turns out it’s just that, something I don’t and will likely never understand, and something that just isn’t working.

The PSP Go has launched to mediocre reviews, which is no surprise considering it’s essentially an aesthetic overhaul. But Sony has also botched the launch, with several features not working as expected and a long update system before the device can even be used. As Destructoid’s Jim Sterling experienced, “I have been in my house for an hour… an hour… and I have done nothing but download, rip, copy, install, update, install, rip, copy, install, install and install.” That’s a hell of a first experience to give user, most of whom are likely among Sony’s most loyal customers. The people buying the PSP Go at launch aren’t likely to be the people who’ve never owned one or even thought about one. They’re the ones interested in or committed to the platform.

To make matters worse, Sony also failed to deliver on a launch promo for European customers. If you bought a PSP overseas, Sony also gave you a voucher to download your choice of three games for free. Unfortunately those downloads were locked to the device on which they were downloaded. That means no transferring from your PS3 to your shiny new PSP – again, a big problem for Sony’s loyal few. As things stand, the problem still hasn’t been resolved, so a lot of players are stuck with unplayable games sitting on PS3 hard drives.

On top of it all Sony killed the UMD trade-in program, which really could have changed things for the PSP Go. A cosmetic upgrade is a fine thing when it allows for the use of old media. By not giving PSP owners a method by which to upgrade to the new device, Sony again screwed it’s most profitable population – the hardcore loyalists.

I’m sorry Sony fans, but if there’s one message buried just below the surface in all of this it’s that Sony doesn’t want you. Sony thinks it can survive without you. It’s another plan I’ll gladly admit I don’t understand, and probably never will.

When Sony first announced the PSP Go, I decried the lack of a UMD drive. The nonexistent feature meant existing collections of PSP games could not be used on the new device. Then there was hope. Sony announced plans to implement a “good will” program by which PSP owners with UMD discs would be able to get a digital copy for use with the PSP Go.

Well it looks like that’s not going to happen. “We were evaluating a UMD conversion program, but due to legal and technical reasons we will not be offering the program at this time,” an SCEA spokesperson said today. The change makes the “upgrade” even less appealing for its October 1st launch.

As the popularity of the iPhone and iPod Touch as a gaming platform continues to grow, developers are throwing serious amounts of time and money into creating games for the App Store. That doesn’t mean those games are anything new, though. A lot of them have roots in more established parts of the gaming industry. Hell, some of the best titles are coming from big studios like EA. Others, though, are capitalizing on the platform by selling simple knockoffs.

If you’ve played Gangster you know what I’m talking about. Or Modern Combat: Sandstorm. The two titles from Gameloft are completely transparent spinoffs of games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto, they’re actually making some money. Gameloft had a chance to show off their latest creation at Apple’s media event today: NOVA. The game puts you in the suit of a space marine, where you’ll be blasting your enemies with futuristic looking battle…er…assault rifles. Yes, assault rifles.

Obviously Gameloft’s latest spinoff is a Halo clone, but it actually looks pretty decent, and there’s a multiplayer feature. NOVA will have both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth multiplayer support so you can frag your friends virtually anywhere. Imagine jumping on the subway and hopping into a game CTF. There are worse ways to pass the time, right?

I’d say the number of people who try to guess at domain names are few and far between these days. Google’s become a household name, and with that comes the expectation that when you’re looking for something, you’ll probably look there first. That didn’t stop the owner of pspgo.co.uk from getting a little spiteful with his domain address.

Doesn’t look much like a PSP Go page, now does it? That’s actually a clone of Nintendo’s DSi site. While the owner hasn’t officially come out and said it, it seems likely that someone is a little pissed he hasn’t been offered a fat wad of cash for the site.

You will of course notice that there is no site for pspgo.com and I’d call it a watertight bet that Sony just doesn’t care about having direct traffic from pspgo.co.uk. If someone is really dying to get their hands on a PSP Go (they’re barking up the wrong tree here), I’m sure, and it seems so is Sony, that the individual in question will resort to other means.

Stories like this make me want to smack someone at Sony. Hard. Preferably on or around the mouth. In the most recent issue of Game Informer, Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida said the company had “a very serious discussion” about adding a second analog stick to the PSP Go but decided against it for fear of splintering the market.

Judging by the latest NPD numbers, that was a totally brilliant strategy. Nintendo’s DS sold more than 4 times as many units as the PSP, which came in at a meager 163,500. I’m not sure why you would be so concerned about splintering the market when you’re actually losing it. And for what? To stick to the 10-year plan for all consoles? That’s what Yoshida says.

“We are talking about the mid-life cycle of this platform,” he told Game Informer. I’ve got news for Yoshida – you might not make it to the end. Ignoring your customer base is a sure way to produce abysmal sales numbers. If the PSP keeps tracking as is, the next five years will be one ugly ride.

We already know the PSP Go is a ripoff. It’s essentially a minor upgrade over the current hardware at a premium price. In the UK things are even worse. Our friends across the pond are looking at prices as high as £230 (approx. $380), which is nearly double the price of the current generation mobile gamer.

Whether it’s the price, the hardware, or just an utter lack of interest, UK retailers are showing zero, yes, zero pre-orders, and they’re not happy. The problem comes with the margins on hardware retail, which are historically small. Now that the PSP no longer supports UMD drives, the only justifiable revenue stream comes in the form of Playstation Network cards, which can be purchased in $20 and $50 increments in the US, but remain unavailable in the UK.

Sony’s banking on mobile software delivery for games instead of your typical physical media with the PSP Go, and it’s already got retailers wondering if they should bother with the new device. Seems like a lot of people share that sentiment where Sony is concerned. Will they listen, or just continue to frustrate retailers and developers out of doing business together?