Sony announced a new budget SKU for the PSP some time ago, which will be exclusive to Europe. It lacks Wi-fi capabilities, has no mute button, no brightness button, but costs only €99, and will be able to play all PSP games.
Sony says this new bugdet is targeted at the younger audiences, because the teens and younger children will only care about the games, and not Wi-fi. “You will see the audience skew younger,” Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss Jim Ryan told MCV. “At €99/£89 it will make a great Christmas gift. It’s a device to play UMD games. It’s all for the audience.
“If we are going to take PSP very young – teens and much younger – they are happy to just play the game. If taking wi-fi out is the price to pay, we’re happy to. The €99 price tag is a real barrier that we’ve got under which will help us lift off.”
This might result in a huge sales boost for the PSP. Let’s wait and watch.