North American consumers felt gypped by the PSPgo when the digital-download-only portable launched back in October of last year, and justifiably so. The absurdly high price point was obviously a turnoff, but it wasn’t helped any that North America was basically the only territory that didn’t get a worthwhile pack-in freebie with purchase, especially compared to European PSPgo early adopters who were treated to a free download of Gran Turismo, and currently still have access to three more free games via a “PSP Go Rewards” program. Yeah, all we got stateside was a “Lite” version of Rock Band Unplugged, which was basically a demo you had to pay to upgrade.
Finally, though, Sony is offering a PSPgo incentive that doesn’t suck to US and Canadian consumers. Between now and March 21st, if you buy a new PSPgo you will receive a voucher to download a free copy of LittleBigPlanet or Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines (based on our reviews — here and here — LBP is by far the best choice).
While a $50 price cut would be the best way to draw more sales (you’d think Sony would have gotten that by now after the PS3’s post-price-drop surge), a free game is a good second option. Of course at this point it may be too little too late…
PSPgo In-game Promotion Code Available Now [PlayStation.Blog]
2 little
2 late
OK, let me elaborate. Last October in Europe a new PSP Go buyer would get Gran Turismo for FREE if they registered in a certain time. They also got a voucher to redeem for a choice of 3 games from a best-selling list for free, if they already owned a PSP. Add to that the fact that PSP Mini releases in EU and Japan outnumber US releases ~10:1 and … well, I hope nobody goes out of their way to reward Sony for this.