Why purchase Hero of Sparta for $5.99 when I could get the same game on my iPhone for $1.99? Or would you buy Fieldrunners for $6.99 if you had the option to get it for $2.99? I didn't think so either, however that's exactly what's been happening with the PSP minis. It's the new service launched simultaneously with the PSPgo that allow developers to make bit-sized games that competes with the iPhone's offerings.
Joystiq had a chat with SCEA's Eric Lampell about the apparent lack of value in the minis program. Lampell explained that Sony did not dictate what price developer sell the minis. "As far as pricing goes, the publishers of the titles set the pricing," he explained.
Lampell sees a problem if publishers are not aggressive at pricing the minis, especially if the content does not offer the same value as other PSP titles. "I think they have to carefully look at that, carefully price their content. Minis were intended to be something a little different and we wanted to see a lot of different types of content through minis. If it's not priced correctly, consumers may be turned off at the proposition and say I'd rather just go for this kind of stuff instead of minis."
I see a potential for the minis, but as Lampell stated they must be priced right, I don't mine buying cheap games on the fly to keep occupied, it's what I've been doing for about a year with my iPhone, however I'd rather the PSP version of the games being that the PSP is a full gaming device and the iPhone is not. The key here however is price, and although an argument can be made for the PSP versions being better than the iPhone's, at the end all people care about is their money and what they perceive to be of better value.
10/08/09 Ernice Gilbert
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