I’m fortunate enough to see a lot of PlayStation games at various stages of development. From back-of-the-napkin to playable code, one of the things my team and I are tasked with is to provide feedback to the development teams making the games. We look at the core gameplay (is it fun??!), the competitive landscape (will it sell), and target audience (tweens vs adults, male vs female, hardcore vs casual, etc) to evaluate if we should ultimately publish a title for our market. It is a challenging process, but very rewarding when that title comes to life and the forums light up.
We are always looking for something “unique” and “innovative,” since that makes our jobs as marketers that much easier, and ideally, fans happier when they are playing something new. However, “innovation” is a double-edged sword; the gaming landscape is littered with cult-favorites that buck the trends and try a completely different approach, but have trouble finding a broad audience. A perfect example is our quirky, tilt-a-world PSP game, LocoRoco.
So the reason for my post. Hopefully you have heard that we will be releasing a great new PSP title called Patapon here to the US in February. It’s a completely original PSP game on several levels, offering a fusion of action and rhythm gaming with an eye-catching 2D art style. It’s becoming a hit in Japan – and by looking at the early previews from the press, I know you all will dig it too.
As you can see, Patapon is really different and highly creative, a new kind of PSP experience we don’t want anyone to miss. So to make it more accessible to everyone, we are happy to officially announce that we are releasing it at $19.99, lower than other new PSP games. It’s a game that shouldn’t get lost with some other big titles launching on the platform. It deserves your attention because it’s very cool.
Normally, this price had been reserved for our Greatest Hits line, a collection of well established titles. But we felt that the unique nature of Patapon fit nicely into this pricepoint, and would work to attract the masses (casual, younger) who may otherwise miss it. So we’ll see if it works!
So please show your support for innovation and quirkiness by giving Patapon a try when we release it on February 26th – you’ll see what a great game it is and I’ll bet you won’t be able to get their song out of your head!
Thanks for reading!
(Average: 4.64 out of 5)
72 Comments
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51
C-h-a-o-s | January 21st, 2008 at 4:37 pm
I was hoping the GameStop price of 19.99 wasn’t a mistake on their part. Thanks for the confirmation. I would have bought this game at the regular PSP game price, but 19.99 doesn’t put that much of a dent in my wallet.
52
illegalprelude | January 21st, 2008 at 4:42 pm
hhmm. at this price I might have to check a little into this game
53
Dubbedinenglish | January 21st, 2008 at 5:29 pm
I am no longer on the fence…But Damn the tittle is so catchy. :P
54
btutterrow | January 21st, 2008 at 6:46 pm
I will be buying it on day one. Supporting such unique and creative titles is a pleasure :)
55
Jeigh | January 21st, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Nice. :)
56
Riskbreaker23 | January 21st, 2008 at 7:09 pm
that is some of the best news i heard today. everyone please get this game the right way so that more quality titles like this will be made on the psp
57
Zaku | January 21st, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Sealed the deal for me with the $20 price :) I’ll be keeping an eye out for this one when it hits.
58
Clinton514 | January 21st, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Another great PSP title to ad to my list. :)
59
Trond | January 21st, 2008 at 8:10 pm
Wary good.
I almost never buy full priced PSP games.
If I’m going to buy a game in that price range then I end up buying a Console or PC game.
But with this low price I have now problem buying it.
I’m shire you are going to sell a lot of copys at that price.
And I hope we will se more games doing the same thing.
60
AceStrike | January 21st, 2008 at 8:15 pm
SWEET, I was going to get this regardless, this is awesome that it’s $20, that’s amazing. Thanks! I’m gonna get it as soon as possible.
61
ItotheCtotheE | January 21st, 2008 at 11:10 pm
Just secured my purchase
62
odz | January 21st, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Dam what to buy what to buy, PSP or bud? bud.
PS3 price drop next week, so the rumor goes!
63
moshakirby | January 21st, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Play TV?
64
Voozi | January 21st, 2008 at 11:27 pm
Win
65
Youlikeyams | January 21st, 2008 at 11:35 pm
To be highly cynical, what’s the betting this will cost $40 (equivalent) when it hits the UK?
66
rationalise | January 22nd, 2008 at 4:43 am
Maaaan.. This Patapon really sounds interesting!!! Haha. Gonna try it out!!!! :)
-Rationalise
http://web.singnet.com.sg/~ripley/
67
Kenshin001 | January 22nd, 2008 at 11:03 am
Jeff, how many people have to ask for you to put Patapon on the PSN for PS3? I can’t think of anything more logical from a business perspective. Since you are looking for innovative stuff is there some easily accessible site or contact address where developers can pitch their ideas? I saw a game called Paperwings on Youtube today which would be perfect for the PSN.
68
Basarili | January 22nd, 2008 at 1:53 pm
This kind of games are the games that Sony has to keep making, inovation that’s what Sony is all about,
It would be awesome if this game was also available as a downloadable content on the PSN for PS3 users with no PSP.
69
rsx3.2 | January 22nd, 2008 at 6:27 pm
For $20 this game is a steal. Definetly buying this on day one. So far of what i’ve seen and heard about from 1up Yours they say it’s awesome.
70
b60904 | January 22nd, 2008 at 10:22 pm
cool 19.99 thats a good price!
71
Federation | January 22nd, 2008 at 11:02 pm
Put in my pre-order today.
72
mcpeepants80 | January 24th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Great news! I was going to buy it at $39.99!
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