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PSP's Marketing Failure

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by wizkid83, Dec 13, 2006.

  1. wizkid83

    wizkid83 Member

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    Don't know if this is posted but I saw this tidbit on PA.

    http://www.penny-arcade.com/

    http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/a...ny_viral_marketing_ploy_angers_consumers.html

    Basically Sony tried to make it seem like average fans of the system wants PSP for Christmas, and was exposed.

    The rap on youtube:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cx1H7-HhngE

    and the fake blog:
    http://www.alliwantforxmasisapsp.com/blog/

    All this coming from a company with technology to make the secondary gaming market disappear, completely out of touch with their customer base :mad:
     
  2. RC Cola

    RC Cola Member

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    I'm trying to think of any marketing for the PSP that Sony has gotten right....can't really think of any. On the other hand, about 3-4 of them kind of blew up in their faces (black/white ads, graffiti, squirrels, etc). Of course, I guess this does get people to talk about the PSP, which is exactly what Sony wanted. Negative discussion is better than no discussion, especially since PSP sales can't really get any worse. ;)

    I got an idea...if they wanted to get more people to buy PSPs...instead of spending millions (or whatever) on a lame marketing scheme...maybe they could just drop the price of the system by $50? It has yet to see a real price drop since it launched, and it needs one badly. Maybe show some Metal Gear Portable Ops trailers too.

    Not that any of that would really matter too much, but it would be better than what they've been doing.
     
  3. StupidMoniker

    StupidMoniker I lost a bet

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    I actually kind of liked the squirrel ads, like the one where he is talking about portable cheese.
     
  4. steddinotayto

    steddinotayto Member

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    sad thing is that the PSP is a pretty good gaming system. Sure, the games are pretty much ports from ps2 but who can turn down ps2 gaming on the go? I've bought a PSP; sold it; bought another one; sold that one. I'm pretty sure I'll end up buying another one in the future. It's gonna go the way of the Turbo Express...which would be pretty sad and disappointing IMO.
     
  5. RC Cola

    RC Cola Member

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    The PSP is a great gaming system IMO, especially with some of the releases that came out in the last 6 months or so (LocoRoco, Tekken DR, GTA:VCS, Lumines 2, VP:L, SOCOM FTB2, and of course MGS:pO...which finally gave the PSP a game with 90+ score at Metacritic). If Sony would just drop the price, market some of those games a little better (like more demos...major disappointment in this area), and get the PSOne download stuff rolling (preferably working for people w/o PS3s), the PSP might see a nice rise in sales. At least in the US. In Japan, they're pretty much screwed. Their last shot there is a PSP + FF7:Crisis Core bundle...but watch them release it at the same time DQIX comes out for the DS. ;)

    I'm still wanting some more RPGs though. 2007 seems to be a promising year in that category. I'm looking forward to Jeane d'Arc (FFT-esque game by Level 5), Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War, FF7:CC, Disgaea Portable, Brave Story (if it comes over...and it better if Sony knows what they're doing), Oblivion (hopefully it doesn't suck), and Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner (plus some others that I'm probably forgetting, not to mention any PSOne RPGs that I never played or would like to replay). Of course, half of those have a chance of never leaving Japan (or taking ages to do so), despite being some of the better games the system has to offer (see TOE). That probably narrows it down to just FF7:CC and Oblivion...and both have a chance of sucking. :(
     
  6. Coach AI

    Coach AI Member

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    This 'advertising' is ****ing horrible.
     
  7. geeimsobored

    geeimsobored Member

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    Challenging Nintendo's outright dominance of the handheld market is going to be a tricky task for anyone who tries it and so far everyone hasn't come close. PSP was the first to put an adequate amount of resources and attention to developing a model that could compete.

    But Sony's management has just been awful. No wait, awful, is probably to nice a term to describe Sony's sheer ineptitude. Aside from the bad marketing, the terrible price, and the fact that every game just seems like a PS2 port, they do other stupid stuff.

    First, why would you shut down homebrew programs. One of the best draws to PSP was the fact that you could install your own programs but Sony had to shut that down. Second, I hate the deployment of specific and unique formats. UMD just seems silly. I'm glad Nintendo is just using standard SD cards on the Wii. I wish Sony would have waken up to do the same.

    Finally, I thought from the beginning they mishandled the market. Price is much more significant for handheld consoles than regular consoles. And pricing the PSP so high meant that Sony effectively priced themselves out of a large chunk of the handheld market. I think they were going for the idea that they could bring in new gamers to the handheld market but unlike Nintendo's solid advertising campaign for the Wii, Sony just screwed that up too.

    Good job sony, way to screw this up too.
     
  8. lpbman

    lpbman Member

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    Sony Lawsuits Force Lik-Sang to Close Doors

    Just four days after the UK High Court ruled that sales of Japanese PSPs were illegal in the EU, setting the precedent for further legal action; Lik-Sang has officially shut its doors.

    The Hong-Kong based company posted a notice on their website announcing the closure and that all existing orders will be refunded. Outstanding RMAs, shipping requests, or store credits will be taken care of by Lik-Sang's customer service department.

    Sony did not comment directly on the reasons for requesting the previous ruling and subsequent lawsuits, but commented at other locations that they were "trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera; is not - in PS3's case - backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software; will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs; and will not be covered by warranty."

    Lik-Sang isn't taking kindly to being shut down in such a manner, and has gone so far as to name a list of Sony Europe's top director staff that had purchased PSP hardware and software from Lik-Sang as early as December 2004, much before the official European launch.

    Former marketing manager Pascal Clarysse had no kind words for Sony either. "Blame it on Sony. That's the latest dark spot in their shameful track record as gaming industry leader. The Empire finally 'won', few dominating retailers from the UK probably will rejoice the news, but everybody else in the gaming world lost something today."

    http://news.com.com/Sony+sues+online+retailer+over+PSP/2100-1043_3-5823760.html
    Suing retailers into the ground isn't going to help those sales numbers either... Mindbogglingly stupid, even.
     
  9. RC Cola

    RC Cola Member

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    If we're going to go by consoles, they did do that with the PS3. SATA 2.5" (or even 3.5" technically) HDD support, USB storage support (from memory sticks or HDDs), and support for the Memory Stick, Compact Flash, and Standard Digital flash memory formats (at least on the premium system...though an adapter will do the same). Plus BT support for headsets and other wireless accessories. The PS3 probably uses more open standards than any other system.

    The PSP isn't quite as open. I don't mind the UMD tech though. It bombed hard as a movie format, but I don't really think there was a better alternative for the PSP considering what they were aiming for (maybe MiniDisc...or something like that...not sure what advantages, if any, UMD has over them though). It would have been awesome if they supported something other than Memory Stick Pro Duos though. Things haven't been as bad in this aspect as I thought it would be though.

    I don't really have a problem with the price they set for the PSP initially. My problem is that the price they set roughly 2 years ago is still the price being used now.

    The PSP sold pretty well despite the price. Prior to the release of the DS Lite, I believe it was selling better than the DS in NA and Europe (or at least parts of Europe). IIRC anyway...maybe more like on par, but the price didn't seem to be a problem for 2005 and going into 2006. If Sony just handled that better, the PSP probably would have done much better in 2006 than it ended up doing.

    If the PSP is a sign of how Sony will treat PS3 price cuts, then they're going to be in big trouble.

    FWIW, I pretty much agree with you on your other points (especially the poor management and the homebrew stuff). What Sony did to Lik-Sang that lpbman just posted was utterly stupid too.
     
    #9 RC Cola, Dec 14, 2006
    Last edited: Dec 14, 2006
  10. DonnyMost

    DonnyMost Member
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    a well deserved miserable death for a useless device.

    i've only seen ONE person ever holding a PSP and I had to restrain myself from laughing
     
  11. Coach AI

    Coach AI Member

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    After removing the comments (which were pretty much railing Sony) and videos, they 'fessed up', huh?

    They (Zipatoni, Sony, whoever) really can't be this clueless.
     
  12. Outlier

    Outlier Member

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    Dragon Quest IX exclusive to DS
    [UPDATE] Square Enix announces next installment of series will be strictly portable on Nintendo's handheld; game is subtitled Guard of the Starry Night.

    YES!!!
     
  13. professorjay

    professorjay Member

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    I love my PSP. It's perfect for what I need it for: playing in short spurts on the go. I also play it while watching tv, the best of both worlds. I have an xbox that I've played maybe for a month total, but I still play my PSP today. It's had a lack of innovative (see the DS) games nor ports of good games until lately. Now I think the good games are coming out fast and furious (MGS, Final Fantasy, Syphon Filter, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, GTA).

    Unfortunately I also hate any and all PSP ads. The only good commercial was the first ad before it came out, showing people playing their psp in random day-to-day places (waiting for the bus, in the grocery store cart, etc) with the 'Take Me Out' song (I forgot whose song that is). I think the PSP is still a great piece of technology for it's capabilities. But the poor ad campaign has done nothing for sales and could very well be the death of it. Sony has been a train wreck the past few years (outside of the PS2), and right now the Wii's ad campaign kills the PS3's. Although I actually like the PS3 ads it probably doesn't have as wide appeal as the Wii's.

    Just from a usage standpoint, I'll probably stick to portable systems, for better or worse.
     
  14. RC Cola

    RC Cola Member

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    I forgot about that commercial (think that was Franz Ferdinand's song...SCE likes using his music I think). I didn't think much of it at the time, but looking back at it now, that commercial seems way better than anything Sony has done since with the PSP. Good point.

    Not sure what most people think about the PS3 and Wii ad campaigns. I prefer the PS3 ads as well, but I'm also including some that I saw online (which included the guy from Millennium, which can help make any commercial awesome). That's not really a big deal since, despite the ads, I feel as though the general opinion towards the Wii is very positive, while the opinion towards the PS3 isn't quite so positive.

    Also...despite all the major problems with the PSP, it will probably end up selling more systems than the GC and Xbox when it is all said and done (pretty close to doing that already actually). It might catch up to the N64 too (~30M WW IIRC), although that might depend on Sony actually doing something right with the PSP from now on. I suppose if that was mentioned as a goal prior to the launch of the PSP, it probably wouldn't be that bad of a target (not viewed as a failure or anything if they met it). I guess it just seems like the PSP could have potentially sold much, much more (although still much, much less than the DS), but Sony's management of the PSP has kept it from doing that (and in that regard, it has been a failure for Sony).
     

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