Slashdot Mirror
Sony Cautious in PSP Production
GamesIndustry.biz has the story that Sony is limiting production of their new handheld. From the article: "Comments attributed to SCE spokesperson Kenichi Fukunaga in an Agence France-Presse article stated bluntly that manufacturing resources are being directed to the PlayStation 2 - a new slimline version of which was introduced earlier this month - rather than the PSP." Personally, I think this has just as much to do with a desire to create demand as it does with making sure they're not left with a dud on their hands. If you're going to release a handheld, release a handheld.
Or was that PCP. I don't remember.
*booonng*
Isn't this what happened with the original PS2? Create very high demand and very small supply to drive things up?
( o ) one could say I'm rather baked
These new PS2s look really flimsy. The drive cover doesn't even look like it has the stability of an average CD player.
When I tell an object to delete this, am I killing it or telling it to kill me?
always seem to have either a pro-DS and an anti-PSP article every day now? You'd think with how advanced PSP is you guys wouldn't be so against it.
maybe "focus on the slim PS2" does not mean "we're afraid the PSP might tank" but "we're sure the slim PS2 will sell a lot this Xmas". I know that basic journalism is all about malice, anyway.
I know Sony are the masters of generating publicity, but this could easily backfire. A handheld is not the same as a home console, in the sense that few people sit at home playing on their Game Boys (although no doubt plenty of us Slashdotters do). A key part of the way handhelds get sold is seeing someone else playing with one in public: on a train, etc. High public visibility is important.
Seeing other adults playing with a Game Boy helped make it acceptable for adults to buy them, hence their vast popularity. Sony might be making life harder for themselves here.
apterous.org
There are many reports of a PS2 shortage and Xbox is eating the PS2's lunch as a result.
Maybe the poster should do some homework before making unsupported financial analysis.
Simple Math - If you are selling something at a price that you are obviously losing money on, then limit supply.
You can then dance around and say that you shipped on time, while not shooting yourself in the foot.
You'd think that a consumer hardware juggernaut like Sony would have enough resources to allocate to both the slim PS2 and the PSP at the same time and tha they would have prepared for this a long time ago...especially after what happened to the release of the original PS2.
If I were a game developer, would I want to be making games for the DS or the PSP right now?
I'm going to hazard a guess that Sony's having quality control problems with the PSP.
"...today consumers have been conditioned to think of beer when they see a bullfrog..."
According to Amazon.co.uk, Play.com and every other UK retailer I've heard from, the UK's supply of new-size PS2s has sold out, and they weren't expecting volume quantities until January when I looked last week.
So a LOT of kids are getting XBoxes under the Christmas tree if Sony don't get a move on. The PSP is still in 'trendy hype-machine' mode, and not at mass-profit levels yet - those sales can wait more than PS2s can.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
Plus this could have the added benefit of "Every place is sold out, it must be really good, I must have one, BYEOMG^_^BBQAFKSTFUBBQOMGPLZSTFU!"
Here's wondering if I should do my best to buy one of these things in hopes of ebaying it for a significant amount of money.
More like blow your foot off from a land mine. Sony limited the PS2 when it first launched (it was initially supposed to be 1 million before the shortage knocked it down to 500,000) and people ended up selling them on eBay for up to $1,000 for months! Sure they shipped on time and met their supply goals, but everyone who didn't get a PS2 or bought one at an inflated price was bitter, angry and upset. The fact that first generation PS2 games weren't even showcases for the hardware didn't help either. (Silent Scope? Another line of sports games? Wth?)
Yes but if everywhere's sold out, you can't buy one, and there lies the fatal flaw. Sony only make money on actual sales.
Spell cheek you've failed me four the last thyme!
The PSP is still in 'trendy hype-machine' mode, and not at mass-profit levels yet - those sales can wait more than PS2s can.
Then they need to get on the ball here -- Nintendo won't be so easy to beat this time. Many people have been taken by surprise by the extraordinary preorders for the DS, even Nintendo loyalist sites, who you'd suppose would be all rah-rah over anything the big 'N' does but have been in Charlie Brown mode for a while now, were caught off-guard.
If Sony's trying to limit supply to drive demand then they're going to have problems in the portable space this time, as the DS is also over-ordered, but after a rational level of supply. It's too early to judge yet of course, but I consider this troubling news for Sony.
So a LOT of kids are getting XBoxes under the Christmas tree if Sony don't get a move on.
/.
Indeed. This is the first thing I thought when I saw the article here on
Sony really screwed themselves here in the UK. No shops are selling the old-style PS2 because Sony stopped selling them, and no-one can get the new style PS2 because there isn't enough in the supply chain. From what I understand, you could pick up a new style PS2 for about two days after the release of GTA:SA, and since then no-one has had a restock.
Certain forums are awash with tales that a large volume of new PS2's are defective (something to do with the drive mechanism), so there may even have been manufacturing problems with the new PS2 meaning that Sony have got to get even more replacements into the field.
What do the game makers think about this...
Selling games to a machine that doesn't exist isn't much fun.
households with a limited amount of space/tvs. When I was a kid, we weren't exactly rich, and the neat thing about my Gameboy was I didn't have to wait till the family TV was free to play it :).
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
The Nintendo DS is not that great. They've taken a step backwards on portability. Hey Nintendo, the goal is to make smaller systems, not larger ones that you need three hands to use! Sony got it right on the size, even if they didn't on the media. Still, I think they have a clear winner on their hands. Believe in your product, Sony!
AnimeNEXT anime convention
You do realize that the PSP and the DS are nearly the same size...