This week sees the price of PSP come down in the UK to £130. For a machine that looked like science fiction when it was unveiled just three years ago, £130 doesn't seem a lot to ask. But whether it makes a huge difference to sales remains to be seen.
Of course, as we're often keen to stress on Pocket Gamer, the PSP has already been quite a success. Despite arguments over PSPs manufactured to PSPs sold, it seems undeniable that there are at least 20 million PSPs in gamers' hands, with some 25 million having been distributed to retailers.
That's more than the original Xbox sold in its lifetime – and the PSP story looks far from over.
Of course, if the console has been so successful, why doesn't it feel like it? Probably because, almost uniquely amongst games platforms, PSP has sold on the strength of the hardware not software. That's not to say there haven't been excellent games on Sony's portable – there have been plenty – but primarily, people have bought a PSP to put the PlayStation brand in their pocket and for the potential of that big screen.
Good or even great games don't define games machines – iconic titles do. Even the Xbox had Halo. Microsoft's first console also had, belatedly, Xbox Live, the multiplayer match-up innovation that further punched Xbox above its weight.
Three years on, and PlayStation Portable has yet to find its 'moment'. Downloadable movies, TV on the go, the PSP camera, PS Home, the potential of the firmware revisions, the hardcore homebrew scene, interaction with PlayStation 3 – there are dozens of innovative strands associated with PSP that just haven't come together, unlike, say, Nintendo's simple Touch Generations concept.
Whatever its plans, Sony needs to tie down the PSP's potential to give us The Big Idea. As the hardware ages, there's no way it will ship another 25 million PSPs without it. Heck, it might even stave off another price cut.
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