Hurry Up, Sony

God of War Chains of Olympus came out this week for the PSP, but the special edition God of War PSP bundle doesn't come out until June. Who needs slapped upside the head for making this decision?

This game is a system-seller. The God of War franchise is huge on the PS2, and will be huge on the PS3 eventually. But informed consumers can easily see $170 for basic PSP system plus $40 for the game = more than the $200 price tag for the to-be-released bundle.

I can see the initial marketing thought behind the delayed bundle... get all those diehard fans who MUST HAVE THIS GAME NOW to pay extra, then swoop in with the bundle later to pick up any stragglers. But the delay is not a good thing, not for the PSP.

For one thing, Sony usual tracks sales for a game's first five months, to see if it will qualify for their Greatest Hits collection. So if you're an interested buyer and you're already waiting three months... what's a few more if the price is going to get chopped in half? And by then, you could just wait to see if a friend will get this for your for Christmas.

And even worse for PSP... their track record for good original PS2 spin-offs is that they are then ported to the PS2. The GTA Stories and Ratchet and Clank Size Matters are such examples. So if you're going to make GOW fans wait to invest in the handheld system, a lot of them would just go ahead and wait a bit more and get the version they can play on their already-owned console.

I have been down on Sony's marketing strategies for a long while, and things are not improving. Get in it to win it already!