NY Times – Trying to reclaim its leadership in the quickly shifting video game market, Sony announced on Tuesday that it would introduce a new version of its hand-held PlayStation Portable console this fall.
The new version, called the PSP Go, is scheduled to be introduced in the United States and Europe in October and cost $249. The unit is smaller, lighter and more expensive than the current version, the PSP-3000, which costs $169.
While previous iterations of the PSP have played games stored on small optical discs, the PSP Go is meant to download games and store them in its internal memory. The bottom of the console slides out from the main body to reveal game-control buttons.
Sony said it would continue to manufacture and support the PSP-3000 even as it aimed the new version at Internet-savvy consumers who prefer to shop for their entertainment online.
For Sony, the strategic picture is that sales of its latest home and portable game machines are lagging far behind offerings from the company’s chief Japanese rival, Nintendo. Nintendo has sold more than 100 million of its hand-held DS machines, roughly twice as many units as Sony has sold of the PSP.