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PSP Not A Sellout Hit
MilenCent writes "We're starting to see our first mainstream media reports on the PSP's (lack of) sales performance, from the Seattle Times: "But while Sony is touting the rollout as a success -- and many retailers did sell their entire stock -- the event might not have been the complete blockbuster that was expected." In summary, the article says that more systems were sold than not, that dedicated gaming stores were more likely to sell out than department stores like Target, and that the biggest reason gamers didn't pick it up is likely its price -- which wasn't helped by some retailers' sale condition that customers also purchase games, which could raise the price to nearly $350. Will demand pick up once the unit is out there and seen by people, or will it take a price cut before the system sells satisfactorily?"
They bundles a ~$180 piece of equipment with a crappy carying case and a tiny memory stick and added $70 to the price. There's at least 30 of them in the case at the local WalMart here, but most people I know are waiting for the non "Value" Pack version to come out.
I think the PSP is very cool, but damn is it expensive! Think about it: $250 for the thing, $50 for a game. That's how much a PS2 costs! I can't see paying prices on par consoles even if it is the greatest handheld gaming platform ever.
"Physics is to math what sex is to masturbation." - Richard Feynman
.. you could buy a regular console and still have plenty left over.
Having good games other than Lumines might help. Also, having games that don't cost $40. The DS at least had backwards compatibility on it's side, which is probably why it did so well despite also having a weak launch lineup.
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1. Max price of $150.
2. No more ninja star discs.
3. No more nubs falling off.
4. Square button no longer sticking.
5. Square button sensor under Square button and not to the right of the Square button. It's only one of the most used buttons.
6. No more dead pixels.
7. More games that I'd actually want. So far - none.
Think that about sums it up. If all those get cleared up, then I'll think about getting a PSP. Until then, I'll stick with my GBA SP, which already has games I enjoy for it.
(It's worth noting that I'm also not getting a DS, either.)
On the bright side, lower than expected sales usually leads to price cuts so I'm glad the big hype machine failed.
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I find it funny that there are complaints about supply when they sell out and worries about systems failing when they don't sell out. How does a gaming system manufacturer win?
I'll save another $50 and buy an Xbox 3 this Christmas.
$249 is a lot of money to some people.
In order of biggest problem to least, IMO:
1) LCD quality control & dead pixel policy. Horrid.
2) Only selling the 'value' pack. Worst. Idea. EVER. There is already a great selection of third-party add-ons which make the 'value' pack absurd.
3) High price of games. $40-50 per game. Ouch.
4) No demo units in stores. You want to sell a $250 machine? Have demo units.
5) Some stores selling only bundles. Out of the 5 stores I went to opening day, only 1 was doing that in the Seattle area (KB Toys).
6) High price of UMD movies (when they arrive). Silly; they shouldn't try selling UMD movies to the public; this should really be targeted at rental places, especially airport locations.
All these problems aside, most of this can get better, if not much better. Quality control will increase over time, and they're already addressing the dead pixel policy. Hopefully they'll come out with the base edition, sans 'value' soon. $50 in third-party add-ons goes a long way.
The biggest hope I have is that they'll either change their business model, or make a PSP-like PDA platform with a modular bay where the UMD drive is. I live in breathless anticipation.
I completely agree with this. I was surprised when i went around town doing my normal errands the day after release and saw 15 at best buy, 50 at walmart, etc etc etc. I mean, i'm in a pretty hefty geek town.
GameStop and EBGames both told me "Pre-order, or you're not getting one until the 22nd century." If that was the case, then I must still be dreaming.
Truth be told, I think the DS sold out for the reason everyone thought it would. It was different. It came froma company that traditionally gets things right the first time.
The PSP is nothing "new" and comes from a company with a bad track record of first releases. I'm pretty sure most people, myself included, said they'll wait for the bugs to get run out of the first run before investing.
When the PSP first hit, I was inches away from buying one. The launch lineup was pretty damn nice, and I felt like this thing had some serious developer support. Then I looked at the list of upcoming releases and gasped - what a barren wasteland! I didn't see a single upcoming game with any buzz around it that didn't have the word "PORT" written all over its face. Grand Theft Auto and Gran Turismo are probably the only interesting titles, and they're basic ports, and they aren't coming out for monnnnnths. I see no reason to pay $350 for only two exciting games right now (WipeOut and Lumines). I figure, if I'm gonna pay that kind of cash for two games with no guarantee for future quality, I'll buy a fricking DDR setup for the house. For now, I'm waiting to see if other quality titles come out of the woodwork, and judging by sales, enough other hardcore gamers are in agreement.
A main reason why I think the PSP hasn't done as well as expected is that it's the wrong timing. Summer is _the_ season for portable game machines, because parents buy them for kids when they go on trips. At the EB where I worked, we would have to put the gameboy section at the front of the store come every May.
But the PSP doesn't really hit that crowd. The target audience, 18-40 males, doesn't have a summer off (or is driving when they do). The PSP might perform better come winter and Christmas, particularly if they drop the price $50.
I like Sony. Have for years. I even got to see and play with an import one back in November. However, I don't have the time for the PSP. Sony talks about opportunity gaming, where you play something because you have time in between things to stop and play with {X}.
But you know what? I don't have that kind of time. I can't play my PSP when I'm stuck in traffic (I tried to with my new cell phone, but that was rather risky). I can't play my PSP at work (well, I could try). I can't play my PSP playing basketball, or golf or whatever. And I suspect that other 18-39 year olds that have jobs may not either. And by putting it at a price point so high that you really have to have a lot of 'opportunity' times to play. Unless they market this to kids, but somehow those commercials don't look kiddy to me.
I do have time when I get home however. But then, why would I pay money to look at a small little screen when I can just watch DVD's on any of my TVs. Or play my PS2.
They should really try to market to kids. Hell, when you have no job and people are driving you to places you don't really want to go to, there's opportunity-time galore.
0- Eamonman Proud member of DNRC
3) High price of games. $40-50 per game. Ouch.
Personally, I think that is going to be Sony's biggest problem down the road.
If you think about, $40-50 isn't really that much money for a game you'll get countless hours of enjoyment out of. Well, at least if you're a working adult, it isn't. That's especially true if you compare it to a night out a the movies or a decent meal for two. Both of those will cost you around, or upwards of $50. That is not how it works in the real world though.
Few people think rationally about a product's price tag. And people perceive $50 to be a lot of money (and rightfully so). Dropping fifty bucks on an item you need is okay, wasting fifty bucks on an item you know you or somebody else will enjoy (say a Christmas present or - to stay on topic - even a video game that allows you and your buddies to kick back, watch a football game and play before and after) - sure. Selling the idea of spending $50 on an item you're only using to amuse yourself for a short period of time is a whole lot harder because it doesn't quite feel right.
If games were, say, $30 a piece, it would feel more like picking up a CD on your way home after work. Something most people wouldn't feel guilty about at all - after all, you're rewarding yourself and it's "just $15". And whilst $30 is certainly more than most people would pay for a CD, it doesn't feel wrong for a portable video game because most average middle-class Americans still perceive $30 is "inexpensive", whereas $50 is still an investment of sorts (think about it: don't think twice before you hand someone a $50 bill whereas handing someone a $10 just feels natural).
Add financial constraints to the mix ("gotta pay the bills"), and $50 just doesn't like your getting your money's worth. Sure, a lot of hardcore gamers won't mind plucking down $50 for a game. But that's not necessarily Sony's target audience -- if they want to be profitable, they need to target a broader demographic. And a $50 a pop, people will think twice about buying your product. These days, very few people make $50 impulse buy decisions...
As a Nintendo DS owner AND a PSP owner, I find it ridiculous that people are complaining about the PSP only having ports and that being the specific reason that it sucks.
Has anyone really noticed the majority of the DS library? Super Mario 64, Warioware (pretty much a port), Ridge Racer, Tiger Woods, Madden. I mean aside from Yoshi Touch N Go and Ping Pals, Nintendo doesn't exactly have a ton of original non-port stuff either.
While everyone complains about ports, I wonder how many people will run to stores and pick up DS when Ocarina of Time ends up hitting it, or when GTA hits a PSP. Face it people, sure we love original games like Lumines, but really the majority of games you purchase for handhelds are portable versions of your favorite home games. Slightly tweaked, but still great games.
Here is the link: http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?b
So not one of those stores sold out according to this guy. More detailed information can be found at the link above (although he didn't format it worth a damn)
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After > 20 years in gaming, I've learned a few lessons:
a) Early adoption is just a hip factor. Other than being first and hip the oportunity cost is negative. As you grow older it's easier to have a console accumulating dust. I'd rather have a $99 idle console than a $399 one.
b) Optical media based-consoles actually improve in quality as iterations of the hardware are released.
c) Maturity of the Software Lineup. Why? Well.. when a console reaches $99 it's probably in the last year of its lifetime and all the greatest hits are out around $20. Not only that, there's no complains about weak 1st gen lineup or lack of knowledge from the developers (ahem.. PS2, GC, DS...)
I'm actually waiting for the PS2 and Xbox to hit $99. On each instance I'll go with $300 and pick up the 10 best games of each console (good games are timeless). I might actually save some money with the XBox (other than Halo/Halo2 they might not reach 10 must have timeless titles).
Keep in mind that slashdot also had an article about Dead DS Pixel issue and what Nintendo was going to do about it. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/24/ 1451248&tid=207&tid=137
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It's hard to tell which system will end up winning in the end and there is so much contradicting information that points in one direction or the other that our best bet is to wait and see...and in the meantime, buy whichever system you prefer (or better yet, if you can afford it, buy both!)
Japanese Retail Favors DS http://ds.ign.com/articles/567/567985p1.html
Sony almost sells out of PSPs on the first day http://psp.ign.com/articles/572/572696p1.html
NDS Launches in Japan (Gamers sleep in due to bitter cold) http://ds.ign.com/articles/569/569911p1.html?from
DS reaches half million mark in just four days in Japan http://ds.ign.com/articles/571/571189p1.html
DS Half a Mil and Climbing http://ds.ign.com/articles/568/568983p1.html
Nintendo Expects Five Million DS Systems http://ds.ign.com/articles/568/568983p1.html
PSP Launch: Retail Report http://psp.ign.com/articles/598/598794p1.html
PSP Launch: Hot or Not? http://psp.ign.com/articles/599/599156p1.html
It's like:
The DS is what the Japanese want not the PSP!!!
PSP almost sells out the first day in Japan!!!
NDS launch sucks in Japan!!
NDS sells 500,000 in four days in Japan!!!
NDS expects to sell 5,000,000 by March 2005!!!!
PSP launches in US, stores selling out like crazy!!
PSP launch...not as sold out as people thought!!!
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Donkey Kong sucks!
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There could be a significant urban audience that you are missing. In an urban setting, people will have plenty of time to play the PSP, either walking destination to desination, riding the bus or taxi, or just sitting outside in a park rather than in the home. Also, the PSP would be attractive to the young professionals who do a lot of airplane travel.
There is a psychological barrier that transcends economic conditions, a point at which something simply feels too expensive for the majority of consumers. For handheld videogames, that number is $100. And for game consoles, it is $200. Below these price points, there is mass market appeal.
The DS, thanks to years of Gameboy momentum, has surprised many of us by having an impressive launch despite the $150 price tag. People could look at recently $100 GBA-SP, then at a DS, and see a lot of hardware added to a system that keeps on delivering great entertainment. It made the price point acceptable, if still a bit high.
Then along comes the PSP, priced much higher than a full blown PS2 and yet clearly not as powerful as one, and the mass market chokes. Clearly it is a beautiful, even elegant machine, but $250?!? Holy crap!
But we shouldn't ignore timing. Nintendo rolled out there new baby in time for the Christmas holidays. When many people are not only running about in a frantic orgy of consumer spending, but are also contemplating the long winter months of indoor confinement. Sony, on the other hand, launched the PSP when many people are preoccupied with their tax bills, and those with extra cash are looking forward to fun in the sun during the impending spring and summer months ahead. If anything, I'd say the Easter launch window was just as bad an idea as the $250 price point.
Must... think up... something... clever!
the DS didnt sold out in any store here or in Japan that I know of
Then you're not paying attention. There were stores where the DS sold out.
yes the PSP has more sales than the DS
Actually no, it doesn't.
Nintendo for better or worse is releasing a new handheld by the end of this year.
Again, they're not. I have no idea where you've come up with this stuff, but you're blatently wrong. Honestly, who modded this "interesting"?
Those with lots of time to play something like this will likely skip over the thing that doesn't give them much time to play with it.
Wait, Game Boy DS? Do you mean the Nintendo DS? Nintendo has already stated that the DS is not intended as the next system in the Game Boy line.
Also, what did you not like about how the touch screen was used, especially in relation to Metroid? I (and all of my friends who have tried it) agree that the way the touch screen is used in Metroid Prime: Hunters is easily the best control system for a FPS game short of a standard mouse and keyboard (and face it, you're never going to get a mouse and keyboard with a handheld gaming system).
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