According to an “insider” who posted completely accurate info about the Slim PS3 months before its official release, a PSP-4000 is coming soon, one that will still have the UMD drive, unlike the PSP Go which has it removed.
The insider, who allegedly works in Sony’s PS3 hardware department, was correct on the details of the Slim PS3 and PS3 firmware 3.0 and says the 4000 will be out “sooner than you realize” and that Sony will begin phasing out the 3000 very soon.
Besides noting that it will include a UMD drive, the source says not much else, and says the 4000 will be like the Slim PS3, “nothing to actually get excited about.”
Result for: umd
Last week during the E3 Expo, Sony officially launched the PSP Go handheld, which removes the UMD drive, adds a slider design and and is slimmer than previous models.
Today, expert gaming analyst Michael Pachter has called the system a “ripoff,” claiming that Sony is severely overcharging for the handheld in North America. The console retails for $250 USD.
Pachter adds that the current “slim” PSP-3000 is more expensive to build but sells for significantly less.
“I’m sorry to say it, I don’t want to get bad fan mail from the Sony fanboys, but Sony is ripping off the consumer until they sell a couple of million,” says Pachter.
“Disc assembly for UMD costs more than 16GB of Flash does,” he notes. “So this new device doesn’t cost them as much to make as the PSP-3000 and they’ve jacked the price up USD 80. And if consumers don’t buy it then the price is going to come down. They’re making a lot more money on the PSP Go than the PSP-3000.”
Pachter also added that he expects digital delivery methods to become much more mainstream now that console makers are behind the move.
“PSP Go is a game changer for digital delivery and yet they’re still going to support the PSP-3000, they’ve got to keep the retailers happy.
“This year’s show is ‘packaged goods are going away’. Half of all gaming purchases ten years from now are going to be digital. You can see it coming for the first time ever, the console manufacturers are behind it,” he concluded.
Result for: umd
Son has noted today that they will allow new owners of the PSP Go handheld to download digital copies of games they currently own on UMD, because the drive has been removed from the updated console.
John Koller, PSP hardware marketing director says Sony will create a “good will program” that he compared to “digital copies” that come with Blu-ray titles. The digital titles are free and allow users to playback the movie on portable devices or their computers.
“We’ll be unveiling that [program] soon [because] we actually think there’s a significant group that will be upgrading from the 1000,” Koller added. “In the past, we’ve seen a 20-25% trade-up factor, and I assume that’s going to be the case here. We’ve modeled that.”
There still may be a chance however that users will have to pay a small charge to receive the digital copy, as well as send in proof of ownership via a UPC cut out.
