The PSP Holds Its Own

Submitted by Paul Munn on May 17, 2007 – 11:00 pm8 Comments

PSP Hot on the heels of today’s PSP announcements from Sony covering God of War: Chains of Olympus, Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow, and SOCOM: Tactical Assault we have the NPD numbers telling us something important about Sony’s beautiful little handheld during the very weak software release month of April:

Hardware Sales:
1) DS: 471,000
2) Wii: 360,000
3) PlayStation 2: 194,000
4) PlayStation Portable: 183,000

Before I dive into what this means, let’s see the rest of those numbers. Ready?

5) Xbox 360: 174,000
6) Game Boy Advance: 84,000
7) PlayStation 3: 82,000 GameCube: 13,000

I’m talking about the PlayStation Portable, not the PlayStation AnythingButPortable3, so the PS3 haters out there can do their happy dance at the PS3 selling worse than the GBA last month, not even getting its head above 100,000 units. I’ll wait.

These numbers and the growing AAA software library for the PSP — past and future — tell me that the PSP has arrived as a full-fledged console of its own. It has enough variety and top-quality games that a casual to moderate gamer can own one and not worry about having things to play on it. I’m not kidding. And I think the sales numbers are showing people waking up to the PSP’s software library of not-unreasonably-priced games.

I’ve got a PS3, and things to play on it. I’ve got a PSP, and even more things to play on it. As a father of two with a full time job and one TV to share with a non-gamer spouse I don’t really have a crazy amount of hours to game every day, so I’m finding as the software library for the PS3 has expanded it’s getting tough to split my time between the PSP and PS3. There are a slew of older PSP titles I have put down or just rented and, finding that they’re very good, have on a long-term buy-later list.

Cases in point? I’ve had Daxter waiting for me for more than a few months. I opened it last week and I’m loving it. I rented Field Commander months ago and was very impressed, but haven’t had the budget to go and get it. I have Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror in my library and while I finished the single player game I’ve neglected my online multiplayer for quite a while, even if it’s almost too hardcore for me to take. Back that up with Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops waiting patiently for me to finish it, let alone take it online for maybe the fourth time total. And then there are even older games that have a lot of depth to them that I haven’t scratched the surface of. Things like Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee, Pursuit Force, and the Metal Gear Acid games.

Did I mention the PSP outsold the 360, even if it was just by 9,000 units? Just wanted to see if you noticed that, too.

Links:
Gamespot’s 2007-04 NPD numbers.

http://www.aeropause.com Stephen Munn

I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening, I was doing my happy dance about the GBA outselling the PS3 last month, which didn’t even make 82,001 units.

What.

Seriously though, the fact that the PSP’s numbers were so close to the PS2′s this month is pretty remarkable. You mentioned this as a weak software release month. Seems to me this may have more to do with the recent price drop than a software thing.

I’m not convinced the PSP has “arrived,” I still think it’s on its way out. Third party support looks like it’s really sliding away to me, just as with the PS3. If the developer confidence continues to slide, Sony’s going to be left where Nintendo was with the N64 and Gamecube: desperately trying to keep their platforms afloat using only first-party titles. With loss-leading hardware, that is not sustainable.
marc

i still think the winner of the second console war was the PS2. i still find it hard to believe the legs on that thing. i was hoping more developers would see through the hype of the next gen and look at that massive install base. hopefully god of war ii wont be the last stand of the ps2.
Anne Packrat

Yeah, call me a pessimist, but I still don’t think the PSP has “arrived” for me per se. I’ve had both a PSP and DS since launch of both systems, and I own several games for both. I’ve spent 30 hours or more playing just two PSP games, Loco Roco and Lumines. Contrast that to the ten to fifteen DS games I’ve spent at least thirty hours on (twice that for the latest Pokemon entry!).
Dave

I beg to differ. I bought a psp recently and only have two games for it. one is metal gear, and th eother is daxter.
Neither have I played for more than a few hours total.

My psp gets more use as a media player than anything else. Call me whatever you want, but I have no interest in a bunch of watered down ps2 ports and ‘quirky games’ that I could get a better DS version of at a cheaper price. Since those two things comprose the entirety fo the psp library…I’m rather stuck. I do far more gaming on my DS. So much so that I have yet to even start Ace Attourney, because I have 3 other games thta need playing first.
http://www.routermall.com used cisco

I’ll agree with this post to the extent that I think the PSP is officially not a waste of money any more. Initially, it’s high price and lack of compelling software that was conducing to portable gaming was a big problem. Since the price drop and the addition of more better titles over time, it’s actually worth the purchase price…..finally. As for “arriving”, I think it has as much as it ever will. The problem is that devs are faced with a choice. To DS or to PSP? The answer to this question is not getting any harder if you know what I mean.
Bill

I’m sure the price cut had something to do with the increase of sales don’t you think?

I’ll keep on playing Pokemon Pearl on my DS. No need for the PSP.
Kyle

Still not buying it. I guess you could say the PSP is an ok system now, but compare to DS and you see that the DS is just so much better. Still.
XAQ

You think the PSP has a library full of compelling software? I have a PSP and 8 games. I always want to play my PSP because it looks so good but when I pick it up to play something i realize that the games are just so boring after an hour of play that I just start playing my DS, Wii, or sometimes 360 instead. PSP has a LOOOONG way to go. And the reason people buy it is because of the price drop. duh.