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Author Topic: It's dead, Jim.  (Read 4509 times)

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Offline Deguello

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It's dead, Jim.
« on: November 12, 2006, 12:41:29 AM »
The PSP, that is.  At least in Cedartown, Georgia.

So I'm walking through my local Walmart, looking for chocolatey delights, and I decide to mosey along to the electronics department and when I get there I see something weird.

The case that held the PSP was totally empty.  There were no PSP games inside.  I searched around and found them a little to the left of the  electronics desk, where there was a cardboard shelf, filled with PSP games, most marked for clearance/theft.  I didn't see where the actual units were.

So the big question is... if Walmart drops the PSP, can it be considered totally dead?  I say yes.

It makes me wonder if they are simply making room for the two new consoles coming out and they choose this time to cut the fat.

But, this is only the anecdote of one person from the sticks of a Southern state.  I could be wrong.
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Offline Infernal Monkey

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RE: It's dead, Jim.
« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2006, 02:53:49 AM »
It's been pretty dead here in Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia, Earth for a while. And we all know Blacktown is a crucial market! Myer's had their entire UMD stock reduced from $30-$40 to $10 (or less, garbage like XXX THE NEXT LEVEL WATCH OUT) for ages, and haven't stocked a new release PSP game in a while.

Sony's gonna have to step up if they want Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia, Earth's support!
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Offline UncleBob

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RE: It's dead, Jim.
« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2006, 03:06:02 AM »
All Wal*Marts with PSP cases should be converting them to PS3 cases this week.  We're still going to carry PSP games though...
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Offline KDR_11k

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RE: It's dead, Jim.
« Reply #3 on: November 12, 2006, 04:36:18 AM »
I think most stores here still have their PSP sections in normal size and I think one even expanded it a bit. Then again we won't see the PS3 until March or even later. Maybe they'll replace the PSP with Wii? That needs shelf space after all and the Gamecube sections are a bit small to be the only space for the Wii.
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Offline Ceric

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RE: It's dead, Jim.
« Reply #4 on: November 12, 2006, 06:06:41 AM »
I'm not to surprised.  Everyone I know with a PSP either says is a nice paperweight of a gaming machine or plays the games for free through hacks and downloads of them.  Not exactly the market that a mainstream store wants since they make money off the software and accessories majorly.
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Offline ThePerm

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RE: It's dead, Jim.
« Reply #5 on: November 12, 2006, 11:17:44 AM »
cool
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Offline BranDonk Kong

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RE: It's dead, Jim.
« Reply #6 on: November 12, 2006, 11:37:49 AM »
Ahaha this reminds me. The Wal-Mart here replaced their PSP case with a PS3 case...and the PS3 was frozen! It wasn't even playing a game, it was a demo video...and it froze. I was going to try to play NBA Live 07 at Target (which ironically is cancelled now), but the load times were too long, so I left.
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Offline Smash_Brother

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RE: It's dead, Jim.
« Reply #7 on: November 12, 2006, 04:56:29 PM »
I'm not surprised.
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Offline hudsonhawk

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RE: It's dead, Jim.
« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2006, 06:26:50 PM »
My guess: they're reshuffling the displays around and combining the PS3 and PSP displays.

The PSP isn't going anywhere, sorry to burst your bubble.  Really it's been a best case scenario; it's done well enough that it keeps a fire under Nintendo (let's be honest, we wouldn't have the DS if it weren't for the threat of the PSP) but it's done so without taking away from Nintendo's core market (the DS is still printing money).
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Offline SixthAngel

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RE:It's dead, Jim.
« Reply #9 on: November 13, 2006, 06:40:04 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by: hudsonhawk
My guess: they're reshuffling the displays around and combining the PS3 and PSP displays.

The PSP isn't going anywhere, sorry to burst your bubble.  Really it's been a best case scenario; it's done well enough that it keeps a fire under Nintendo (let's be honest, we wouldn't have the DS if it weren't for the threat of the PSP) but it's done so without taking away from Nintendo's core market (the DS is still printing money).


I assume you mean the best case scenario for Nintendo fans.  It is nowhere near what was expected, much less best case scenario for people who got a psp.
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Offline hudsonhawk

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RE:It's dead, Jim.
« Reply #10 on: November 13, 2006, 07:13:12 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by: SixthAngel

I assume you mean the best case scenario for Nintendo fans.  It is nowhere near what was expected, much less best case scenario for people who got a psp.


I did, yes.  As a Nintendo fan, it's been a best case scenario.

But you're right - it's lower than the expected market share.  The situation certainly isn't great for PSP owners, but it isn't nearly as bad as people make it out to be.  Talk of "Winning" and "Losing" is for fanboys, the fact is that no one other than Nintendo has ever had this much market share in the portable gaming realm.

I wouldn't describe what they're doing as successful, but they've definitely grown the market - I know a lot of people with PSP's - way more than I know with DS's - and they're all casual gamers in the traditional sense - the kind of people who buy Madden every year.  But none of them are the kind of people that would have owned a GBA or DS.

I think the main problem is that the library just hasn't come the way Sony expected.  I genuinely think they expected 3rd parties to pick up the slack and put a compelling product out there.  Sony isn't Nintendo - they can't carry a platform with their software alone, and I think that's what's slowed the growth of the PSP more than anything.
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Offline Smash_Brother

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RE:It's dead, Jim.
« Reply #11 on: November 13, 2006, 07:21:19 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by: hudsonhawk
I think the main problem is that the library just hasn't come the way Sony expected.  I genuinely think they expected 3rd parties to pick up the slack and put a compelling product out there.  Sony isn't Nintendo - they can't carry a platform with their software alone, and I think that's what's slowed the growth of the PSP more than anything.


And that's what will kill the PS3 as well.
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Offline NWR_pap64

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RE: It's dead, Jim.
« Reply #12 on: November 13, 2006, 07:32:06 AM »
Don't even get me started on the lame squirrels commercials...

Really, they showed no gameplay, it was stupid as hell (as well as racist... :p ) and it didn't prove a point.

Apparently they didn't learn from their failure and are now adopting the same type of advertising for the PS3.
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