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Sony Targets iPhone Audience With 'PSP Mini' Titles
by Kris Graft
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August 18, 2009
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Sony is taking aim at iPhone's small app market with PSP Minis, small, lower-priced games such as Fieldrunners and Tetris that are limited to a 100MB download size.
According to a live blog on Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's official website, there will be 15 new PSP Mini games available upon the launch of PSP Go on October 1. Although the program isn't launching until calendar Q4, Sony said there will be 50 titles coming in 2009.
The move is part of an expanded digital distribution initiative for Sony, who saw from the sidelines the rising popularity of small games on iPhone and iPod Touch's digital App Store. Games on the App Store can range from 99 cents to $9.99, and there are thousands available.
Sony's liveblog made no mention of a pricing scheme, although if the company wants to go head to head with the App Store, it will want to price the software similarly.
Sony apparently surveyed some of the most popular iPhone games, as it said MiniGore, Hero of Sparta, and the aforementioned Fieldrunners and Tetris would become PSP Mini titles. All four are popular App Store items.
Sony already sells larger, retail-priced downloads for PSP via the PlayStation Store.
The company also confirmed that it would be offering new colors for the PSP 3000 model: Turquoise Green, Lilac Purple, and Blossom Pink -- colors aimed at helping the PSP expand its reach beyond hardcore gamers. Sony has said it will sell the PSP 3000 alongside the new $250, disc drive-less PSP Go.
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The advantage the PSP Go has over the iPhone is the benefit of dedication. As a dedicated game machine the PSP Go has better graphics, better controls and I hope better sound. So in your core areas, the PSP Go wins, why target the iPhone? Sure it has huge game sales, but if you want us to switch, you have to offer us something significantly better than what we already have. The PSPS Go has the advantage in games, exploit that by giving us better games and we'll pay a bit more for them because we KNOW they're better.
I talk all about this kind of stuff in my blog...
http://aboutmakinggames.blogspot.com/
Mac
If I'm able to pick up a small game for $1, I'm very likely to scoff at the idea of paying $50 for a 'full' game. Unless of course, the miniS are very basic, but in that case, what's the point?