Sony has said that the release of the UMD-free PSPgo last October confused consumers, and that its relatively high price point put punters off.
Rob Dyer, senior VP of publisher relations at Sony Computer Entertainment America, told Industry Gamers: “We wanted to find a way to give the consumers what they want, so if they didn't want to go to a retailer they could stay at home and download [games and content]… Did the PSPgo confuse [consumers]? Yeah, I think the higher price point didn't help matters any either.
“So we're going back and re-communicating, and I'm sitting here looking at multiple decks on what we're going to do this year. You'll see a lot of things coming out from us to better educate and inform the consumer.”
It was rumoured earlier this year that PSPgo was in line for a full re-launch, complete with a fresh marketing blitz and perhaps a price cut.
Dyer also spoke of the Sony’s ongoing battle with piracy and of its big software plans for the handheld platform this calendar year.
“I think we had a great lineup last year. The biggest problem that plagued PSP was piracy; we have not been able to slow that down. We think we have some answers going forward, but we're not ready to talk about that publicly at this point. So we're working on fixing that, because that's been a big problem.
"That said, we still have a very robust lineup this year from third parties on the PSP, starting with Metal Gear Peace Walker... There are some big, big titles coming out this year and you'll see those announcements at GDC, DPS (Destination PlayStation) or E3.”