PSP's biggest problem is piracy - Sony
"We have not been able to slow that down."
Sony Computer Entertainment America PR exec Rob Dyer has admitted that piracy is a major problem for the PSP handheld, despite what he sees as a strong slate of games.
"I think we had a great line-up last year. The biggest problem that plagued PSP was piracy; we have not been able to slow that down," Dyer told Industry Gamers (via VG247).
"Publishers, when they put out good games, are not getting the same sales results that they got a few years back. So piracy's been a big issue and we're working on that very diligently to bring about some solutions," he said.
Dyer said that third-parties have not been sufficiently put off to stop PSP having a bumper 2010 of releases, hinting that some big announcements are on the way.
"That said, we still have a very robust line-up this year from third parties on the PSP, starting with Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. I won't go through the whole line-up because I want our third-party partners to make those announcements, but there are some big, big titles coming out this year and you'll see those announcements at GDC, DPS (Destination PlayStation) or E3."
Dyer said the PSPgo was partly intended to answer the piracy problem, but admitted that gamers found it confusing and overpriced. "We wanted to find a way to give the consumers what they want, so if they didn't want to go to a retailer they could stay at home and download. And we were hoping really to eliminate the piracy issue," he said.
"Did the PSPgo confuse [consumers]? Yeah, I think the higher price point didn't help matters any either."