Sony Boasts 50M PSPs Sold; Still Behind DS

[Marcus Yam]

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. was proud to announce to the world today that its PlayStation Portable system has reached the 50 million mark in sales.

Sony Boasts 50M PSPs Sold; Still Behind DS : Read more

 

[grimmone]

People don't give the PSP the respect it deserves. It might not have as many games as the DS, but the quality is superior, and every game doesn't have to include some touch screen gimmick. One crisp wide screen beats two square ones any day.

There's a ton of great Japanese RPGS, like Disgaea, Jean D'Arc, and FF Tactics. There's God of War, Syphon Filter, Wipeout, Ratchet and Clank, DJ Max, GTA, and the upcoming Prinny and Resistance. There's also NBA 09 (a great upgrade of the PSP's NBA 08), which is a breath of fresh air amidst all of EA's basketball failures. Sega put out a great Genesis collection on the PSP. For fighting there's Tekken, an excellent Street Fighter Alpha 3 remix, and a Guilty Gear that blows the DS one out of the water (it's actually GG and not some two-screen cluster**** with a bazillion worthless minigames). We also have FF Dissidia and XIII Agito coming up.

But, you know, whatever. Stylus and Pokemon and all that. Mario Kart wasn't bad.

 

[grimmone]

People don't give the PSP the respect it deserves. It might not have as many games as the DS, but the quality is superior, and every game doesn't have to include some touch screen gimmick. One crisp wide screen beats two square ones any day.

There's a ton of great Japanese RPGS, like Disgaea, Jean D'Arc, and FF Tactics. There's God of War, Syphon Filter, Wipeout, Ratchet and Clank, DJ Max, GTA, and the upcoming Prinny and Resistance. There's also NBA 09 (a great upgrade of the PSP's NBA 08), which is a breath of fresh air amidst all of EA's basketball failures. Sega put out a great Genesis collection on the PSP. For fighting there's Tekken, an excellent Street Fighter Alpha 3 remix, and a Guilty Gear that blows the DS one out of the water (it's actually GG and not some two-screen cluster**** with a bazillion worthless minigames). We also have FF Dissidia and XIII Agito coming up.

But, you know, whatever. Stylus and Pokemon and all that. Mario Kart wasn't bad.

Glad to hear the PSP is marching on!

 

[grimmone]

People don't give the PSP the respect it deserves. It might not have as many games as the DS, but the quality is superior, and every game doesn't have to include some touch screen gimmick. One crisp wide screen beats two square ones any day.

There's a ton of great Japanese RPGS, like Disgaea, Jean D'Arc, and FF Tactics. There's God of War, Syphon Filter, Wipeout, Ratchet and Clank, DJ Max, GTA, and the upcoming Prinny and Resistance. There's also NBA 09 (a great upgrade of the PSP's NBA 08), which is a breath of fresh air amidst all of EA's basketball failures. Sega put out a great Genesis collection on the PSP. For fighting there's Tekken, an excellent Street Fighter Alpha 3 remix, and a Guilty Gear that blows the DS one out of the water (it's actually GG and not some two-screen cluster**** with a bazillion worthless minigames). We also have FF Dissidia and XIII Agito coming up.

But, you know, whatever. Stylus and Pokemon and all that. Mario Kart wasn't bad.

 

[nottheking]

Not all DS games need to use the screen as a gimmick; while virtually every title makes some use of it, there are a LOT of good games that, in short, only use it for menu-like things, while all the actual gameplay is done on the other screen, in the traditional manner with the pad and buttons. The DS Castlevania games, (excluding Dawn of Sorrow, which technically had a "seal" gimmick) as well as the Mega Man ZX series, come to mind there.

The DS also does have its own footing in jRPGs as well; if memory serves, the DS version of Final Fantasy III happens to have out-sold every normal japanese-style RPG, including every spin-off of Final Fantasy VII that appeared on the platform, like Crysis Core. And additionally, the DS version of Dragon Quest IV on the DS falls between the sales levels of Crysis Core and every other PSP game.

However, it's not to say that I don't think that the PSP is under-respected. I'm just stating that you're giving the incorrect reasons. Rather, What Sony has done impressively here is make a portable machine that wasn't an utter flop in the face of the terrifying monster that is Nintendo, with their 30-year dynasty and nearly a third of a billion units sold. Similarly, especially after additional upgrades to the RAM pool to add another 32MB, makes for a pretty flexible, programmable platform. It's potency, I feel, lies more in as a homebrew and hackable device than an actual gaming platform, which is most likely why it's seen a level of success that was not present for other handhelds that competed with Nintendo's.

 

[rdawise]

The PSP is a powerful handheld, but I have to admit it suffers from a lack of ENGAGING games. One of the things that helped sell the gameboy is pokemon (bare with me for a moment). Why you ask? Because it was a game where you could pick and play for hours and had replay ability. PSP games don't really have this. Sure the NBA 09 and Madden 09 which look great, but the hardcore players of those franchise prefer the console. The PSP needs a killer game quickly. God of War is great, but once you beat it, it pretty much over. I wish they had more replayable games for the PSP. But it is a great system.

 

[eccentric909]

I love my PSP. What I really like about it, is I can order games released in Japan that'll probably never make it to North America and still play them on my NA PSP. Sure, I can't read very much japanese.. but some games you don't play for the story anyway.

Sure, Nintendo might have a larger collection of games in NA.. but I just find myself having more fun with my PSP and as a bonus it plays movies and works as an MP3 player. I had a DS for a while, it just didn't suit my gaming style, kind of like my Wii which just collects dust for the most part.

I rarely play portable games to begin with, but my PSP does get some use, however I'm more of a PC/Console fan. The PSP does serve it's purpose alongside my 360, Gaming PC and Wii though, and I definitely play it more than my Wii or the DS I traded in long ago. FWIW, if you're more of a Wii person, you're probably more of a DS person.. if you like the 360/PS3/PC type gaming, then a PSP is probably more your style.

 

[tipoo]

Would somebody PLEASE make a new generation of handhelds already!?

C'mmon Microsoft, we know you have it in you

 

[Mach5Motorsport]

wow, the PSP reached 50 million units sold...(golf clap)

 

[Mach5Motorsport]

[citation][nom]tipoo[/nom]Would somebody PLEASE make a new generation of handhelds already!? C'mmon Microsoft, we know you have it in you[/citation]

you are aware that Sony cancelled developing the PSP2?

 

[4c1dr41n]

I also have a PSP, love it, and agree it's underestimated.

I considered buying a DS, but was afraid I would stick the stylus thruogh the touch screen on the shaky bus I play every day when going to / coming back from work. I also liked the PSP's bigger screen and its higher res, the analog button, more powerful 3d and more mature selection of games. I also don't bother charging it every couple of days, the battery lasts enough for my use.

People complain many games are PS1/PS2 ports or rehashs. Well, I have neither, so I can't argument here. But to say the games are not engaging? The games I've played are VERY ENGAGING, at least for me who was playing them for the first time.

I mean, maybe if you've played every launched game on your PS2 you won't see enough value on the PSP. But I think there are many worse ways to spend your time on a bus, where you won't have access to a regular console. In this regard the PSP was a blessing to me.

People also complain about the "small" game library. Come on, there are hundreds of titles! I've finished about a dozen, and there are still lots of titles that I'm looking forward to play. Maybe if you spend lots of hours playing every day you will find the library small. All I can say is that I play about 10 hours a week there is plenty of content to keep me happy.

Besides, I think people don't envision the kind of freedom you get from a portable. I didn't (before buying it). You can play on your bed at night and just put it aside when you are done. You can play on your couch if your wife is watching a boring soap opera. You can take it anywhere. No wires, no TV. It's much better than a note/netbook. It's almost like crosswords puzzles, you only have to recharge it every now and then.

 

[4c1dr41n]

I mean, other than that crosswords puzzles are boring!

 

[4c1dr41n]

[citation][nom]Mach5Motorsport[/nom]you are aware that Sony cancelled developing the PSP2?[/citation]
I believe they denied having plans for a PSP2, not canceling development (which would mean admiting development existed at some point in time). Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[tipoo]

[citation][nom]Mach5Motorsport[/nom]you are aware that Sony cancelled developing the PSP2?[/citation]


They probably denied romours, not actually canceled it.