PSP Go price drops in the UK, again

A U.K. retailer has sunk the price of Sony's PSP Go portable gaming console to the relatively rational cost of 148.99 pounds.

HMV's price equates to roughly $245, which is $5 cheaper than the PSP Go's asking price in the United States, GamesIndustry.biz reports. I say "relatively rational" because even the U.S. price tag has been criticized as inflated, considering that the PSP-3000 sells for $170.

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The PSP Go, which launched on October 1, is 16 percent lighter and 35 percent smaller than the PSP-3000, and it has a 3.8-inch screen instead of the PSP-3000's 4.3-inch display. But the PSP Go's defining characteristic is its lack of an optical media drive, dropping the UMD slot found in older models. The idea was to create a console that's easier to carry around, but reviewers weren't enthused. After all, the PSP-3000 can download games too, so it remains the better, more versatile buy unless you can't handle its extra bulk.

psp-go

Meanwhile, some retailers have voiced their disapproval of a console with no physical media for games. Don McCabe, managing director of Chips, the largest independent games retailer in the United Kingdom, told GamesIndustry.biz that the PSP Go will "fail miserably." Holland's largest specialized retail outlet, Nedgame, decided not to sell the PSP Go at all. Retailers can't discount the console's price tag because without physical media, they can't sell bundles, and there'd be no point in selling the console at a loss because retailers couldn't recoup the cost in software sales.

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Nonetheless, there appears to be some wiggle room on price in the United Kingdom, and I wouldn't be surprised to see U.S. pricing follow. Video game products typically cost more in the United Kingdom (for example, the Playstation 3 costs 250 pounds, or $411, compared to $300 in the United States), and even a small U.K. price advantage is quite rare. Still, the price will have to come down a lot more to make the PSP Go more appealing than its predecessors.

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