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Something needs to happen with the PSP, ASAP.

That's the message retailers have, according to our sources, sent Sony. With sales of the PSP lagging (Sony's PSP hardware shipments to retailers last Fall were down 72 percent over the year before, only a meager 10,000 units in the U.S.), word is that a few big name retailers have given Sony a mandate: drop the price or they'll drop the system from their stores. Entirely. With shelf space at a premium, the expectation is for Sony to do something substantial to keep its hardware moving -- or else.



Coming up on the second anniversary of the PSP (March 24th), a price drop seems possible -- after all, the price was lowered by $50 two days before its first anniversary last year. But according to Sony, that's not yet in the cards. Speaking with John Koller, the Senior Marketing Manager for the PSP, at the Game Developers Conference last week, 1UP learned that a price drop was not announced to retailers at Sony's Destination PlayStation retailer event last week.

But something else was.

According to Koller, Sony did share plans that got retailers excited. Of course, what these plans were exactly, he wouldn't say. Could they be new PSP colors that have been previously shown and released in Japan and Europe? Or could they be the redesigned PSP with 8 GB of flash memory that's been rumored for ages? Or could they be the launch of some new PSP video/music download service? We'll likely have to wait a few more weeks to find out.

And whether it's coming soon or later down the road, a redesign for the PSP is in the works. According to Koller, Sony is in the process of reducing parts and potentially adjusting the size -- similar to what's been done with the PS1 and PS2. "I can at least say this much, the screen won't be changing in size," he said.

It seems that Sony hopes to repeat the success Apple has had with the iPod's pricing structure -- thanks to new colors and models, the iPod's price has largely remained the same over the years. Koller also admitted that Sony paid close attention to the spark in sales the DS Lite iteration of the Nintendo DS caused once it released.

One thing is clear, though: something will happen with the PSP soon. Now, we just need to wait.

SOURCE

If a new and UMD PSP came out or one that had 8gig flash drive that supported a new video/music download service, or all of this at a cheaper price...would it make you rethink the PSP and maybe buy one?

No, because it still has terrible games.

PS2 ports ftl.

I thought I read somewhere that they would not be making the PSP2 or whatever they would call it.

We all know Sony isn't good about seeing when something is dead and just killing it to save them money and shelf space. I could list off a number of products that have never taken off, but we still see newer versions of them every couple of years in order to "reinvent" them. So honestly, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Sony is planning a new PSP.

Yeah I thought the same thing as manaburnx. I'm pretty sure I JUST read somewhere from a Sony rep that they wouldn't redesign the PSP. But given that they brought out redesigns for both the PSone and PS2, and Nintendo's success with redesigned handhelds, it wouldn't surprise me either. Not that it would help much...

Actually I was watching G4 TV about 20 minutes ago, and they have that Daily Feed thing that runs on the bottom of the shows....It specifically said that A Sony Representative said that the PSP is going to be changed.

Okay well Sony here's what you do:

Change the PSP from crap to being worth the money (ie. give us games that aren't lame PS2 ports)

Sony is not made for handheld gaming by the looks of it.

I think they should have just gone with solid state (cartridge) media rather than the damn UMDs. I own a PSP and I like it for the most part, but UMDs were a bad idea. They could have used high density Memory Stick PROs or something of that sort, and that would have solved a number of the problems with PSP.

You know what I think about the UMD ch3mi0n? I think if Sony would have used a mini disc like the gamecubes and allowed them to play the UMD movies on any dvd player, they might have actually worked. But as you already know, once you buy a UMD movie....well that little PSP screen is all you got

They actually had UMD players for your home but who in their right mind would pay a higher price for a UMD movie when they could get the DVD cheaper and with more features. The UMD was a really bad format from the get go. I will tell you that the PSP is far from dead overseas. In the U.S. I don't know how it's going because I've been away for so long but over here I can tell you that the PSP is selling more currently than the XBox360, PS3, Nintendo Wii, and even the Nintendo DS.

Can you find me a link for a set-top UMD player please?

My bad. I did some searching today/tonight to find you the link and all I could find was an article from 2005 saying that it was coming soon. Guess that never happened.

It's cool, I was just curious. I think if Sony could have used a good decorder and compression software on UMD and coupled it with the ability to play them in regular DVD players, they might have lasted....well maybe if they had been cheaper

UMD died so badly. But it was a nice little try from Sony I guess.

If Sony didn't tick off the big bad Wal Mart, there might still be UMD's

but all in all, the only good PSP is a hacked PSP, the normal games are too expensive and are not designed for portable gaming.

THink about this, you get to the big boss in an RPG when you are called into a life-changing meeting. you forgot to save b4 u were called up. you forget and next thing you know, you have wasted a day gaming.

All in all, the games need to reflect the system, and a handleld is a time killer, not a lord of the rings epic. that's what sony needs to learn in order to survive in the handheld dept.

Yeah, I remember reading that UMD is an almost "Dead" format. Sony is all about choices and media with their PSP, and the DS was made FOR gaming and FOR fun. I have them both and this is how I feel about them. PSP is great for media and all of that, but not so much the games. DS is PERFECT for games and all that. Personally, I love the DS, But the PSP isn't all that bad either. I think Sony should change the PSP, it might do them well, like I heard something about them adding another control stick.

so, do you think Sony will try and stay away from the UMD format next time around and go with some sort of flash drive?

Knowing Sony... no. They'll probably just upgrade the UMDs to Bluray or some crap.

They're going to use Mini Blu Ray disc for the PSP2. They'll have Mini Blu Ray movies for it as well and they'll only cost four times as much as a normal DVD and they'll have no special features. As a matter of fact, they won't have a menu screen at all. They will just play when you insert them.

^-- that was a sarcastic comment

well thanks for the sarcastic comment, i'm making a scrapbook of moderator cheese comments in this area, and I'll add it.

Do you think they'll still use UMD?