Sony on Wednesday confirmed rumors that it was stopping PSP Go production. The company in a statement said it had 'completed' production and was only selling remaining stock before it disappeared entirely. Firmware patches and repairs would still go on, the company told Impress, but the focus was on the NGP's release at the end of the year.
Sony may have stopped making its controversial PSP Go portable console, according to an ex-employee's report. A follow-up with Sony by EuroGamer offers a more ambiguous answer by Sony itself, with the electronics giant stating it will continue to meet demand. That demand has in the past been dwindling and has been followed a series of price drops for the device.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) boss Andrew House has promised that the NGP will get game downloads the same day as retail. In an interview with MCV, House said that the company aims to adopt a hybrid model of distribution for the platform, building on PSP Go strategy of dropping the UMD drive featured on the original PSP design. However, unlike the PSP Go, NGP games will be available in on flash storage cards through retail stores, and through digital download as well. Some games will also be available as digital download only.
Sony has introduced new PSP bundles for Black Friday shoppers, with separate packages for the PSP-3000 and PSP Go. The PSP Holiday Pack includes a black PSP-3000 handheld, LittleBigPlanet game disc, Karate Kid movie disc, and a 1GB Memory Stick PRO Duo.
Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai said the next-generation PlayStation will not rely solely on software downloads and give up an optical drive, just like the controversial PSP Go. Speaking in an interview with MCV UK, Hirai said Sony's business will always require a physical medium. He goes on to say that having all software being available as a download even in ten years is "taking it a little bit to the extreme."
Nintendo today said it had sold 103,524 of its new DSi LL handheld in Japan in the two full days since its Sunday release. The number comes despite a relatively high $221 price and is nearly 3.7 times higher than the roughly $250 PSP Go, which only managed about 28,000 units in a similar span.
