Gamertell

Sure, the PSP price reduction to $169.99 is good news, but the commercial may actually work against Sony.

Why would a marketing company go ahead with a commercial that implies people around you will become truly annoying if you own its product? Sony certainly wants to promote the amazing gaming and movie watching aspects of the system, which are implied by Mr. Annoyance’s exuberant sideline enjoyment of the PSP, as well as the price drop, which gets a quick mention at the end.

For the guy who already has a PSP, however, it implies that everywhere he goes he’s going to be pestered by similar people. The message of the ad becomes, “Get a PSP and people will perpetually pester you,” instead of, “Damn, this system is fun.” The other message is, of course, “Stop being so damn annoying, fanboy.”

Certainly over-the-shoulder onlookers can be an issue when watching PSP movies in the airport or on a plane. When I fly I always take my PSP and a few UMD discs and the person sitting next to me is jealous as they lug out their heavy and warm laptop. Of course, if they have a video iPod, they hardly care about my PSP. Also, with most stores no longer selling UMD videos, I’ve pretty much exhausted my library and have to resort to bigger memory cards (pricey pricey) and video downloads.

It seems the ad money would have been better spent showing how fun and great the system is for portable gaming and movie watching - heck, release a few more decent and affordable UMD movies - instead of implying that it’ll suck to own a PSP.  The system price reduction is a blessing for the PSP and the campaign does not do that justice. Besides, the guy is so annoying that I usually skip over it (if TiVoed) or change the channel and miss the quick blurb about the price reduction at the end.

What do you think: Is the PSP “Dude, Get Your Own” ad campaign working for or against Sony?

Read [PSPFanBoy] Downloads [PSPFanboy]

Keep up with the latest Gaming news! - Subscribe to our feed →