When the Xperia Play was first made available, it was selling with the suggested retail price of £500; this is significantly more than what the device can now be picked up for, thanks to a number of cuts. While it is obvious that sales are not doing what the company has expected, the first PlayStation approved smartphone showed a lot of potential which is why it is such a surprise to see it available on the market for so much less than originally planned now.

As ITProPortal explains in their article, Sony has recently made the decision to cancel the PSP Go all together, and this could be the reason behind the price drop. The Xperia Play offers slightly more than the PSP device does as far as gaming is concerned, not to mention it is still also a smartphone. It is boasting a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 processor and a 4” display with 854 x 480 pixel resolution, making it more powerful than the Go and has a better picture.

If you’re thinking of picking up the Xperia Play here a reminder of what the £260 will bag you. A Gingerbread 2.3 powered smartphone with 400MB RAM, an Adreno 205 GPU, stereo speakers, 8.5 hours of battery life, a front-facing VGA camera and a 5 megapixel camera on the rear capable of HD recording. It also includes an 8GB microSD to expand the storage. Sony has also included 5 pre-installed games for free while Expansys are also offering a free car charger.

Will the new offer and features be enough to entice you into buying an Xperia Play?

In the build up to the debut a rumored list of game titles that may be available for launch a=has been released which we were able to bring to you as well as what people think of the device’s new name.

Other news that has been confirmed today was that the new Sony portable will feature backwards compatibility which means you will be able to play games from all previous PSP devices on there. This feature has been said to be included since the NGP was first announced but was not official until today.

The news was announced in a press conference today which was reported at PlayStation LifeStyle. This feature will upscale and smooth the older games so as to get the most out of the new model, optimizing gaming experience.

Check out the full article by clicking the link above where you will find more details about the feature and the PS Vita itself. What do you think of this feature? Do you like the NGP’s new name?

Over the past few months the handheld has gone from $250 to $200, now that price has been reduced yet again to just $150. We really do not know what Sony is playing at, but it has now confused consumers – what do they do now?

I do know one thing, there will be a huge amount of kids looking at these bundles with three games included and will make it their mission that they get one of these devices for Christmas – maybe the Japanese consumer electronics makee knows just what they are doing after all?

You have to remember that this deal will be limited in numbers, so get your from the retailer early to avoid disappointment – yet another clever thing by Sony then. Will you get the PSP Go now, or will you still hold out for that elusive PlayStation Phone? For more details on this deal visit CrunchGear. For those of you who will wait for the PSP 2, then you will have a long wait, as its release date is rumored to be Christmas 2011.

According to Jobs, he says that they are the number one “games and entertainment” company (for its type), and that 1.5 billion games and apps have been downloaded to the Touch. This does not include any sales from the iPhone.

Quite incredible numbers there from Jobs, but do you really think that they outsell the PSP and the DS combined? I am a tiny bit dubious on the matter, but what do you think?

Source: Engadget

In a recent interview, Hirai stated that while digital downloads are one of life’s perks, digitally distributed content is not all that it is made out to be.

He goes on to say that Sony’s business will always require a physical medium to operate, and those of you who think otherwise are taking the point “a little bit to the extreme.”

We all know the story of how digitally distributed media went when the PSP Go went on sale. Yea, it didn’t do as well as expected did it? Reports at the time suggested that Sony had made major losses due to the PSP Go‘s system.

Another point to go on is that retailers out there rely heavily on the sale and distribution of pre-owned games, which means having a digital media distributor would not make sense. Especially at this point in time, and the near future.

Source: Slash Gear

The PSP Go is currently on sale for $250, and when purchased between the above timeline, you will receive vouchers for three selective PSP games: LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters and SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3.

This news comes after earlier reports of Nintendo slashing the prices of the Nintendo DSi in Japan, which is also expected to come to the U.S. and European countries very soon.

But Sony have not stopped there, as they have also rolled out a list of PSP “favorites” which will be games reduced to $9.99. Games expected to be in the “favorite” range are Twisted Metal: Head On, LocoRoco 2, Patapon 2, and PixelJunk Monster Deluxe.

Meanwhile the “Greatest Hits” collection gets an update, with Gran Turismo, LittleBigPlanet, Resistance Retribution, and Secret Agent Clank added to the list of $19.99 games.

This all comes before the PSP’s next big name release, in the way of Metal Gear Sold: Peace Walker.

Will this be enough to persuade you to purchase a PSP Go? Are you more interested in the Nintendo DSi?

Source: USAToday