Why Everyone Should Be Watching the PSPgo

“This is an interesting step to test the waters on a digital only product,” Eric Lempel, director of Playstation Network Operations, told Kotaku. “We are thrilled and completely cognizant that this is the platform for a digital gamer.

“It’s a really exciting time.”

“It is something we have considered and are looking at,” he said. “It’s a natural fit, but there is nothing to talk about right now.”

Sony faced quite a few hurdles in launching their download-only gaming platform. Some retailers, which make a bulk of their money off of game not hardware sales, were reluctant to carry the device. And game publishers had to be convinced that the games, no longer on a physical disc, wouldn’t be open to greater piracy.

Under Sony’s system, games have to be “activated” after they have been installed on a PSPgo or Playstation Portable and can only be installed on a total of five different PSPs or PSPgos in their lifetime.

Those steps, Lempel says, helped convince third-party publishers that their device was a safe bet.

“We’re seeing everyone on board with the PSPgo,” he said.

“It’s not that hard to do, but there is some work involved,” he said.

The hope is that games will hit both the retail store and Sony’s online Playstation Store at the same time and for the same price.

The decision to not drop the price for a game that doesn’t have the added cost of packaging and distribution may not sit well with gamers, but Lempel says Sony is comfortable with the decision.

“Right now there is no price difference,” he said. “We feel (the games) are competitively priced and that there is a ton of content across the spectrum.

He added that a price drop for digital games in the future is possible.

“We’re always looking at our business model.”

“We’ve done a good amount of sales on the Playstation Network in the past,” he said.

One stumbling block for the new platform could prevent current Playstation Portable owners from upgrading to the new handheld.

If successful, the PSPgo and it’s download-only service completely kills the ability for gamers to sell off their titles or buy used copies of games.

Used games, next to perhaps piracy, is a publisher’s biggest concern. Moving gamers away from a system that supports the resale of titles, with nothing going into the pockets of publishers, is likely one of the video game industry’s top priorities.

But to do so with little to no reward for the consumer will alienate gamers and inevitably kill this first test of a download-only platform.

Four publishers and a retailer did not respond to requests for interviews for this story.