Roughly once a week, Sony representatives visit the retailers who carry their products. They check on kiosks, update employees on various happenings, and set up merchandising.
This week, Sony's representatives have told a small number of employees (including myself) that the PSP is going to be pulled from the market within the next few weeks. This is news that should be staying at a store level, but it's simply not fair for someone to purchase such expensive hardware and not get what they paid for. Therefore, we've chosen to reveal what we know as of right now.
These representatives are stating numerous reasons for the decision. Chief among them is the Immersion Corporation lawsuit, as Sony stands to pay $90.7 million million if they lose the appeal. That potential loss in their games division, coupled with an astonishing number of defective PSPs due to dead pixels, has forced them to reevaluate the company's decision to release the hardware.
Sony's stockholders have shown concern. An undisclosed amount of money is being put toward development of their next-generation PlayStation, which is now where Sony will focus their efforts. When asked about the upcoming European launch, they have responded with "it will not happen."
Some software may still be released, as third parties will try and recoup their losses as much as possible. Unlikely to make it to store shelves, however, are the EA Sports titles "MVP Baseball," "NBA Street Showdown", and "FIFA Soccer." When the official announcement is made within the next two weeks, stores will be asked to explain to angry customers at a store level that the system still fully supports MP3, photos, and video playback. If the customer is still not satisfied, they should be directed to Sony's customer service line.
The signs of this action have been slowly revealed over the past few weeks, starting with the forced resignation of the PlayStation creator Ken Kutaragi . Most observers expected Kutaragi to take over the top position within the company. The Japanese launch was riddled with problems, hardware sales in the U.S. have been lukewarm at best, and a staggeringly high number of those systems have been returned with the above-mentioned problems.
People will surely be disappointed as many of the "must have" titles for the PSP were just around the corner.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - anuj
this is a crap april's fools joke
2 - Drew
Nice one! april fools
3 - Aaman
Oh No! This is terrible - Sell Sony stock now!
4 - TDavid
LOL, saw this one at Breaking Windows late last night and left a comment.
5 - DrPat
First there was the Beta format... now PSP. See if I **ever** buy Sony again!
Really!
6 - Temple Stark
First Apple now Sony. Whe will you employees just be grateful for your jobs and STFU. Man. AFD.
7 - PSPjunkie
I was scared until I saw it was April 1st. If Sony were to pull any system it would be the PS2, since that's what the lawsuite is against.
8 - Ken Edwards
Yep, TDavid was up at 1 AM reading blogs, as I put this up at exactly 12:59.
Matt and I wrote this last night, but it was his idea. Props goes to Rob Griffiths for copy editing and further suggestions.
The PS2 being pulled would not have been as funny, to be honest. Especially since the PSP came out a week ago.
9 - Aaman
Yeah, but the crappy battery life of the PSP and the pixel problems tells me this is one product that was shipped before it was ready for primetime.
10 - egs
stupid
11 - Ken Edwards
I would like to contest the battery life. My PSP has no dead pixels so I am happy about that.
If you stream data from a optical disc to play a game (like home consoles) you would have NO battery life on the PSP. Remember that the PSP does not to use solid state cartridges.
I get somewhere in the realm of 5 hrs. battery life for games, less with wi-fi on.
Another thing to consider in regards to the battery life, and the load times, is that the majority of the PSP titles are fully 3D. This takes much more battery power to pull off. They also have to load all that stuff into RAM so it does not spin the disc and kill the battery life.
We have never had any portable console this powerful before. We have nothing to compare the PSP with.
People need to let off on the battery life and load times. I am sure the 2nd generation PSP titles will be better optimized. This is all 1st generation PSP software remember.
12 - PSPG Editor
News to us, and we gather all PSP news from everywhere. Happy April Fools.
100% Handpicked PSP News Feeds, Updates Every 15 Minutes (beta)
13 - i own u
stfu
14 - Eric Olsen
here's the clue: Humor and Satire designation at the top and bottom of the post
15 - TYphalpha
this better be an aprol fools joke cause i spent 600 dollars on accesories.
16 - Phillip Winn
I think that I can state conclusively that this is not an "aprol fools joke," whatever that is.
It is, however, a bit of humor posted on the first of April with the intention of perhaps fooling people with more money than discernment. :-)
17 - John
This is the dumbest thing i have ever heard of i actually talked to the guy who made this and he said that it really was an april fools day joke!
18 - DrPat
John, there is no Aprol Fools involved in this story, I know for a fact. I have to mush sank into accesories...
19 - Phillip Winn
John, you actually talked to him? The real Matt Paprocki? Oh my GOSH! What I wouldn't give to be able to talk to the real Matt Paprocki and have him answer. That would be, like, the highlight of my life.
Wait. Did you talk to him IN PERSON? Did he show you ID? I bet it was a fake. There are lots of Matt Paprocki impersonators out there, and there's NO WAY you got to talk to the REAL MATT PAPROCKI!
20 - Temple Stark
Doz anyone know Matt's phone ###. I wud do anything. e-mail me - wet@maccult.com
21 - dag
JERK!
22 - Ken Edwards
Well, I have talked to the real Matt Paprocki. I have even seen him in real life. I feel so honored.
23 - Matt
April Fool!
24 - Matt Paprocki
I'll sign autographs sent in a SASE for only $350 a piece. Please hurry as this limited time offer may expire at any time. Offer not valid in North Dakota.
25 - Coolmatt
Oh nonononono.....My ass Sony would do that to a system just because of minor complaints and nearly spending millions on the thing!! Good one! April Fools!!!
I actually knew it was when I first saw the title and how it was posted TODAY on April Fools. I know this is the same with all you other guys.