Sony Announces New Hannah Montana PSP - Why?

To further add to the current phase of irritating Hannah Montana items, Sony has just announced that they will be releasing a special Hannah Montana version PSP for $199 (left photo). This pack includes a lilac-colored PSP, a Hannah Montana game, a memory stick, and some Hannah Montana stickers.

It is obvious that Sony is gearing toward pre-teen and teenage girls with this product. This would seem to be a good strategy to try and get more girls to play hand-held games, but Sony is ignoring the fact that Hannah Montana viewers don't like to play video games! In my life, I have seen two girls playing handhelds, but they were the exact opposite of girly.

I could see this being a good option if the product they are trying to sell is $20, but $200 seems a bit much for girls who wouldn't enjoy more than 3 games on the PSP library. The Nintendo DS, on the other hand, has seemingly hundreds of girl games (nothing to brag about). They released a DS targeted for girls as well, which was pink-colored (right photo). Both companies need to realize that designing feminine hand-helds does not pay out in the end. It might encourage some girls to purchase the product, but it will also steer many male gamers away.

At the end of the day, most girl gamers will enjoy many similar game titles as males. Designing systems geared towards pre-teens will not benefit the company; it will hurt it. Opinions aside, the Hannah Montana PSP will be released later this year. The worst part of all of this is the fact that it means one more Hannah Montana product will be out there in stores. Great...