More Like PSP No! Retailers Boycott the Hand-held.

pspno
I should be hung for that title, but I couldn’t resist. It seems that the gaming industry is trying on its big-boy pants lately, what with all the high falutin boycotts going on. Usually we see consumers getting up in arms about the alleged unfairness of some crazy rip-off or another, but this time around we’ve got actual stores joining in on the fun.

The PSP go, a recently announced upgrade for Sony’s base portable model, is being met with a hostile reception by several retailers in Eruope, with the Australian branch of EB Games being rumored as a potential party. Dutch game shop chain Nedgame alleges that the portable is too expensive to bother stocking in addition to being miffed about the lack of UMD support on the gizmo. According to the store’s official statement, the lack of actual discs for sale robs the chain of its main source of profit on game sales: the mark-up on prices. The PSP go uses media which is exclusively available from the PlayStation Network, so I’d imagine that being the middle-man in this exchange would rankle a bit.

One small chain of stores refusing to stock a product is one thing, but once a big company joins the party it’s a whole different kettle of fish. What do you guys think? Is this the first step in stores really lashing back at downloadable content? Where can this go from here, and do you think that the stores are taking the right approach with this?

Source: Kotaku

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mitch@gamersushi.com Twitter: @mi7ch Gamertag: Lubeius PSN ID: Lubeius SteamID: Mister_L Origin/EA:Lube182 Currently Playing: PUBG, Rainbow 6: Siege, Assassin's Creed: Origins, Total War: Warhammer 2

10 thoughts on “More Like PSP No! Retailers Boycott the Hand-held.”

  1. [quote comment=”8537″]retailers are jerks.[/quote]
    True that – consoles are the only things that I even consider buying at the brick & mortars.

  2. It’s true. Their profit comes from the sale of games, and if the only place to buy the games is through the PlayStation network, than the only place you should be able to buy a GO is through PlayStation’s website.

    Imagine how much cheaper PC’s could be if EVERYONE who used a PC was a PC gamer, (and that was it’s main purpose) and all the retailers sold games with huge markups too… sheeesh.

    Boycotts are funny. Look, I’m giggling.

  3. It’s not about that, though. The PSP Go has LESS hardware and costs MORE money. It’s a total ripoff in every sense of the word. I’m sure if Microsoft said you know what, we’re going to sell a new 360 that doesn’t play discs and only downloads games, a bunch of retailers would stop selling that, too. It’s a money grab from Sony because you’re asking retailers to sell a thing that will only make YOU money in the long term.

  4. I understand why the retailers are against it. But if people want it, stock it. If they don’t, time will tell and the don’t. Like UMDs.

    Gamestop steals money from the publishers all the time and that’s ok with everyone it seems.

  5. Gamestop robs everyone, the player and the publisher. And it seems they have a monopoly on games, too. Like all those commercials that advertise a certain power or extra level or whatever if you preorder from them.

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