The Sony Gamers Day event certainly offered a lot of PSP news, and the long since rumor of an online store was finally brought back into the fold. SCEA president Jack Tretton briefly mentioned the possibility of an online store for the PSP, followed by a quick comment that it should have premiered awhile ago. No other details except he hoped "to have it out there by the fall." We know Sony has the upcoming Station Launcher for movie downloads so it was only a matter of time before their libraries opened up wider to incorporate games as well. No official word on if Station Launcher will also offer games, or if the games division will have a new service altogether. Lets just hope the powers that be are heeding Jack's word and diligently working on making this a reality sooner rather than later. We want not just PS1 reiterations, but PS2 classics as well, so get cracking!

[Via digg]

The $30 price drop isn't exclusive to GameStop/EB Games--it's universal. But, that's not where the savings end. Sony has also added two more games to PSP's Greatest Hits lineup: Daxter and Syphon Filter.

According to the press release, "We have always been passionate about making great entertainment accessible to everyone, and the new price for PSP, as well as the continued growth of the 'Greatest Hits' library, reflect our ongoing commitment to supporting and expanding the PSP community," said Jack Tretton, president and CEO, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "We are pleased that we are able to engineer savings for the consumer at this stage of PSP's lifecycle, allowing more individuals to experience PSP for the first time. In particular, we have recently seen a steady rise in the number of teens adopting PSP as their primary handheld entertainment system, and we expect the new price will accelerate that trend."

Sony also reminds players that the future of PSP is quite bright, especially with the upcoming God of War: "Ready At Dawn couldn't be more pleased with our success bringing Daxter to the PSP platform last year, and now we have another opportunity to blow away expectations of what a developer can accomplish on a portable when Kratos hits the 'small screen' in God of War," said Didier Malenfant, co-founder and president, Ready At Dawn Studios. "PSP is an ideal platform for us to work on because we have a high level of freedom to be creative, and we can deliver gameplay experiences that rival ones you'd get from a computer entertainment system."

[Update: According to Engadget, the PSP Entertainment Pack will also receive a $30 cut, from $250 to $220.]

You can expect to see more from SCEA's chief Kaz Hirai (of Riiidge Racer fame), as he's moved on up on the corporate ladder. He'll be replacing "you-can-experience-4D" Ken Kutargai, who's been criticized by his rivals as being too "arrogant." There's been speculation that the slow sales of PSP, the disastrously delayed PS3 launch, and the loss of potential PS3 exclusives, like Grand Theft Auto IV and Assassin's Creed, are behind this shuffling.

Regardless, Kutaragi will remain in Sony's corporate arms as chairman and group CEO. While this theoretically is a promotion, it will certainly free up Kaz and new SCEA chief Jack Tretton from correcting the mistakes of a potentially senile leader. Hey, it worked for Nintendo when they got rid of even-more-insane Yamauchi.

[Via Joystiq]

An interview with GameDaily BIZ reveals optimism for SCEA Executive VP Jack Tretton. While many find it easy to criticize Sony's moves as of late, there's no denying that press attitudes and reality may differ greatly. For example, according internal sell-through data, the PSP is a much faster success than the original PS1: 18 months after launch of each system, the PSP sold 5.30 million units in America compared to the PS1's 3.48 million.

"We really feel we carved out new territory [with the PS1] and then we built upon that with the PS2. The parallel that we draw to the PSP is that it is exactly the same to portable gaming to what the PlayStation was to console gaming, that we are carving this new road out and we are selling again to 20-something consumers that were not fans of portable entertainment, were not playing Game Boys because the technology and the software offerings just weren't appealing to them... And now because of the technology in PSP and the game offerings it appeals to them and that same consumer we carved out with the PlayStation is now being carved out with the PSP at an even much greater rate than we did with the original PlayStation"

The executive rightly questions whether or not Nintendo is truly "expanding" the market. He suggests that most DS owners have owned a Game Boy Advance in the past. The PSP can appeal to a wider demographic, considering how gamers are getting older and demand more mature games and multimedia functions out of their handhelds. He questions that older gamers would want Brain Age over a PSP: "I would tell you for a fact that there are much more people in their 50s and 60s playing PlayStation platforms in terms of console, than there are playing Nintendo platforms."

[Via Joystiq]