Sony "confident" of high PSPgo price
Free Gran Turismo and future UMD library solution will sweeten the deal for early adopters, says European president
Sony's European president Andrew House has said the firm is confident the high price of the PSPgo will not put off early adopters of the system, although he admitted there is a significant gap between the current PSP-3000 model and the new digital handheld set to launch in October.
The PSPgo will retail in the UK for GBP 224.99 and Europe for EUR 249. However, Sony hopes the free offer of the highly-anticipated and long in development Gran Turismo for PSP will help sweeten the deal for consumers.
"I think, clearly, there is a delta there between PSPgo and the existing PSP-3000," offered House, speaking to VG247.
"We, at least for Europe, were very keen to put an initial offer in place that would reward the consumer who jumps on board first. Therefore, I think the offer that we announced yesterday, that those initial purchasers will be able to get GT for PSP absolutely free. I think that goes a long way to addressing that," he said.
And closer to the launch of the console, Sony is likely to announce plans for users who already have a library of UMD games to port them to the new handheld, although full details of any deal are still under wraps.
"We’re also looking at some other plans further down the line that will come together for launch around people who have existing UMD libraries and what we can do to incentivise those as well.
"So, I think that and a combination of what is a really very attractive portable device leaves us feeling fairly confident where we are right now," added House.
Sony also hopes the PSPgo can attract a younger audience, with the recently announced European PSN vouchers a way of ensuring teenage consumers can buy digital content without the need for a credit card.
"Because as PSPgo, as portable device, potentially brings in a younger audience than there has been on the PSN to date. Clearly, we need to have a solution to those two things that will still ensure that at retail stores there is product that people can see, and know what’s hot and know what they want to buy.
"I can turn to my 14 year-old and say 'You’ve got your own money, you choose what you want to buy on the network so go buy a voucher.' So, I think that was another important message," said House.