SCEE President Andrew House recently talked about the demographic shift Sony is taking, regarding their handheld, the PSPgo and PSP. This represents a dramatic shift in ideology and is obviously trying to sneak into the market Nintendo has dominated for quite some time now.
Speaking to IndustryGamers, House declared that Sony will begin to create and push for games that offer more value and offer true immersion, and cater to gamers who may have less cash to spend, but more time to play. Additionally, Sony will try to draw the attention of a “a younger audience“, with a new philosophy in mind.
“I think the overall consistency and flow of titles could have been better over the years. Whether that’s an issue of perceived developer support or portfolio management. Having said that, last year we had arguably the best line-up of PSP titles that we’ve seen. Five years in, we’re entering a fairly mature point in its lifecycle – and a portable lifecycle is clearly a different dynamic to the one in the home.
“What is now a key emphasis for us is focusing on a younger audience who are the prime audience for a dedicated gaming device with deeper, more immersive content: they may have less disposable income, but they’ve got more time to play.”
Switching gears, House drew parallels between increasing PSP software and hardware sales.
“We’re looking to mine that content library which we’ve assembled over the last few years and restructure the value-proposition. [The budget Essentials range] in its first couple of months since launch has been a phenomenal success on two fronts – not just in actual sales, but the uptake there has been on overall PSP software which has seen a knock-on effect.
“I would argue that we’re starting to see what we originally intended – that it’s helping to breathe life into sales of the hardware as well.”
Whether Sony, as a whole, will ultimately adjust their overarching strategy for the PSP is yet to be seen. However, even a subtle shift, one like House recommended, would be welcomed for the PSP, which has been hiding in the shadow of Nintendo’s DS for most of the portable’s life.
