The PSP Go is still months away from launch, but for the first couple of weeks that it has been publicly talked about, the reaction probably wasn’t the one that Sony has been looking for.

Sony’s new handheld device is the game industry’s first small step into a completely digital gaming system. With a slimmer, sleeker form factor than the previous PSP units, combined with the ability to store 16 to 32GB worth of data on the unit itself – it might seem as if the PSP Go has a lot going for it. But two significant roadblocks for the system remain: Price and retailer support.

At E3, when Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai announced that the PSP Go would retail for $249 in North America and 249 in Europe, you could hear the collective groans emitting from gamers worldwide. It wasn’t just gamers that were complaining – prominent video game analysts were also sounding off about the PSP Go’s price.

“$249 is too much. Period… The [current] $169 PSP-3000 is a profitable device – the disc assembly, for a UMD, costs more than 16 gigs of flash does. So this new device doesn’t cost them as much to make as the PSP-3000 and they jack the price up $80,” said Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter.

Pachter’s comments didn’t stop there, however:

“I’m sorry to say it. […]They’re ripping off the consumer until they sell a couple million and if consumers don’t buy it then the price is going to come down.”

Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush Morgan Securities

After his initial statements, Pachter did issue an apology of sorts, saying that he doesn’t think Sony “is doing anything nefarious in choosing their pricing strategy,” and believes that the company “has the right to price its products at a point that they think is competitive.”

Regardless of how you want to slice it, there is a real sense in the gaming community that the PSP Go’s price is simply too much to ask. Unfortunately for Sony, perception usually becomes reality in this industry.

To make matters worse, Sony hasn’t necessarily been helping themselves position the PSP Go as a decent value to consumers.

In a recent interview, Sony Computer Entertainment of Europe head Andrew House, has said that his company will be leveraging the “newness” of the system, with regards to pricing.

“When you introduce a new piece of hardware you have the opportunity to say there is a certain premium that is associated with it, and we took that into account,” House told MCV.

There’s nothing wrong with making money, but in managing the community’s opinion on the PSP Go – was this the best thing House could have said? I’ll give him points for honesty, that’s for sure.

Sony’s other potential stumbling block with the PSP Go – sluggish retailer support — is much less a problem with the system, and more with what a fully digital gaming platform means to their retail partners.

A couple of independent UK game retailers have spoken out on the PSP Go, questioning its value.

“From my point of view I’ve got to think, ‘Do I want to stock this?’ Right now I can’t see any justification for stocking it,” Chips’ joint MD Don McCabe told Edge, adding: “Certainly I’m not getting the response from consumers. Normally when a new piece of kit is launched or announced I’ll get a multitude of people saying ‘As soon as that comes out I want one of those.’ [Potential] first adopters are on the phone within seconds of it being announced and you’ve got your pre-orders. I don’t have a single pre-order for PSP Go at the moment.”

Another UK retailer told Edge that they will be stocking the consoles in “small quantities”.

Sony, for its part, says that their retail partners are satisfied with the PSP Go.

“[T]here’s still an accessory component [for the PSP Go] and we’ve got a pretty strong accessory line; there will be new accessories planned for Go at some point,” SCEA’s PSN director Eric Lempel told GameDaily. “So retailers were embracing it and it seems like they’re happy with the product,” he added.

With disc based games continuing to be a part of the PlayStation platform – the PSP 3000 will continue to be sold at retail – I tend to believe Lempel. Sony still brings traffic to their retail shops with the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 platforms. Any feelings of discontent are likely to be only temporary and will likely dissipate by the time the PSP Go releases.

Yet, the $249 price really stings, considering the product being offered. When consumers can buy a PSP 3000 model and a 16GB memory stick cheaper than a PSP Go, there’s a pricing problem – and more importantly – a credibility problem with consumers.