A leading independent games retailer predicts that the PSPgo will “fail miserably”. Hmm, do we detect a faint whiff of sour grapes here?

Don McCabe is the boss of the UK’s largest independent games retail chain, Chips. It’s fair to say he’s no fan of Sony’s digital download-only model for PSPgo software, either, telling Gamesindustry.biz:

“My own personal opinion is that it's a no-go. I've been to a number of presentations to see if there's anything there and I don't feel it'll go anywhere to be honest.”

“I'm 99.9 per cent sure it's going to fail miserably.”

In plainer, less emotive terms McCabe doesn’t like the PSPgo because it denies him the opportunity to sell and re-sell games for the machine. We guess we can sympathise with that viewpoint. That said, McCabe thinks that the ‘go may yet have an unexpected beneficial effect on his business in the longer term – just as long as it stiffs as he’s predicted:

"From a retailers point of view the PSPgo is a good idea," he begins.

"I heard from someone at Sony saying 'this steps our authority on the digital space and signals our intent,' and actually what I think is that they'll scare the crap out of anyone else who tries to follow."

Well, quite. However, the bitter concerns of Mr. McCabe and others of his ilk are plainly not having a negative effect on the success of the PSPgo. Sony reports that sales of PSP hardware have increased by 120% since the new unit launched. Meanwhile numerous outlets are offering it for £25 less than the regular asking price of £224.99, and that’s bound to boost sales even further – buy one before the weekend to receive a free copy of Gran Turismo.

Better yet, take the cash you would have spent, buy a PSP3000 and put the change towards a DSi. Job’s a good ‘un...!