Slashdot Mirror


PSP Still Struggling For Notice

TheStreet.com is reporting that the 360 has captured the hype machine for this Christmas season. The PSP, meanwhile, is still struggling for mindshare compared to Nintendo's offerings. From the article: "Sony launched the PSP in the U.S. to great acclaim earlier this year and sold more than half a million units in the first two days. The device marked the first effort by Sony, the leader in the console game industry for the last 10 years with its PlayStation and PlayStation 2 systems, to enter the portable game market, which has been dominated by Nintendo ... Right now, the PSP's threat to Nintendo -- much less to Apple -- remains hypothetical. Sales of the PSP are disappointing thus far, particularly this holiday season. Through the end of October, Sony had sold just 1.6 million of the devices after the first days' sales flurry."

11 of 111 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe... by dlvu5 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I bet if they stopped pissing off their consumer base we'd be more apt to purchase their products. Just a suggestion Sony execs...

  2. Who are these people? by MMaestro · · Score: 4, Insightful
    "It's just been slow out of the gate."

    Slow out the gate? Wtf? Slow out the gate is having your console selling game released 6 months AFTER the system is released. Having a PS2 port come out a YEAR after the system is released is trying to breath life into the dead.

    Sony just plain mismanaged the PSP. The movies offer little that DVDs don't outmatch, let alone the bonuses. The games are few, far and are often times nothing more than ports. Online capabilities is a joke, and trying to stop the PSP hackers has more or less alienated the PSP as a portable hackable Xbox.

  3. It gets worse for the PSP by buffer-overflowed · · Score: 3, Informative

    in Japan. Where Animal Crossing[Forest] is pulling another Nintendogs and widening the gap even further. Nov 21 - 27.

    --
    The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
  4. Still trying to decide... by Havenwar · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hmm.. I don't know... should I buy one... hmmm... Do they come with a free rootkit, or is that extra this time around?

  5. Re:What the-- by buffer-overflowed · · Score: 5, Informative

    You're confusing shipped with sold. The article makes the distinction.

    IE: If retailers order 10 for their stock and don't sell them, you've shipped 10 units, but you're not shipping more until some of those 10 units sell.

    I'm not sure how many units Nintendo has actually shipped worldwide. I'm positive it's higher than 10 mil if they've sold 8 mil.

    --
    The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
  6. Keep it or ditch it? by ajservo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I thought about selling mine a few months back, but then decided against it when a working SNES emulator came out. SNES and NES games ALONE make the thing worth the $250. No amount of money could convince me that those $20 game in a joystick things are worthwhile when I can play Super Metroid, Bionic Commando, or Burgertime in my hands.

    The PSP's been the best handheld ever in my opinion.

    As soon as someone cracks the new firmware, 2.6?, I'll go games shopping again, since the two games I've waited for are out now. (Boku no watashi no katamari damashii and GTA, for those keeping score...)

  7. PSP needs more good ORIGINAL games by spir0 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    99% of the games are just rehashes of older games or properties. There's nothing new and exciting..

    Gripshift is the most original game I've seen in a while on any console. Currently it's the only PSP game I'm playing. I own several others, but they just didn't last long because I've played them all before..

    Even better, Gripshift was made right here in little old New Zealand. :)

    --
    The reason girls and Windows users don't understand UNIX is because all the documentation is in Man files.
  8. Well by Strell · · Score: 4, Funny

    Any system where you can play a lot of Nintendo games HAS to be a good system.

    ...

    Wait...

    --
    I'm not scared of anonymous cowards.
  9. I wonder why.. by Durinthal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As of this posting, the only positive comments about the PSP I've seen in this article are solely based on emulating older Nintendo consoles. I guess it's not a Sony product that people really want, is it?

  10. Where are the games? by MBCook · · Score: 3, Interesting
    As with most systems, the problem is the games. What great PSP games are there? Lumines was great, but it launched with the system back in Spring. I liked Hot Shots Golf (not a new title), but it came out in July. There hasn't been much since then. I played Burnout: Revenge when it came out (October?), but it wasn't fresh (just Burnout 3 repackaged). GTA:LCS came out to little fanfare (which suprised me). I've played it, and while it was interesting, the controlls were terrible (they are bad enough on the consoles, but without the second stick things are VERY tough). I still don't see how all the reviews gave it high marks (9 or 10 out of 10) despite some obvious flaws as such (it is a technical marvel, but it had flaws).

    So I'm left with my PSP and almost no games. I've played others (Mercury, Twisted Metal, and a few others) but there is no killer game for the PSP in my eyes (Lumines is great, but I don't think it was THAT great); and there doesn't seem to be in anyone else's (I figured it would be GTA:LCS, but I guess I was wrong).

    Compare that to the DS. It was slow at first but we got Yoshi's Touch & Go, Wario Ware, Castlevania, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing, Mr Driller (not new, but the second screen really helped), Phoenix Wright, Kirby: Cursed Canvas, Trauma Center, Mario & Luigi, and I know there are some I'm leaving out. Nintendogs was a massive breakout hit.

    The DS has more great games right now, the PSP doesn't. Some of the titles they promoted haven't done well (Death Jr. turned out to be a bit of a dud). The mainstays aren't there (no MGS, Acid doesn't count; GTA didn't have a big impact; a Ratchet & Clank or Jak & Daxter game isn't out yet; we're waiting on Gran Turismo Mobile; etc). A quick look at the release date calendar over at IGN shows nothing I am interested in with a real date, or even a quarter. The next stuff is just "TBA '06". The only thing I can think of that is out now that I want to see is Tokobot which looks interesting but the reviews range from a 50% to a 90% and are all over the map (means it will be a rental at best).

    I've had fun with my PSP, but it will be a while before the next game I'm interested in comes out. (Can't even think of what it is). But the DS has those games that just came out I mentioned (Mario & Luigi, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart) plus more comming (Metroid Prime Hunters) in the not to distant future. There is even a title in the Black & White series scheduled to come out in February. And let's not forget the new

    --
    Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
  11. Overheard... by porcupine8 · · Score: 3, Funny
    While Christmas shopping this weekend, I heard a staff member ask a customer on the phone: "You're looking for Mario Kart for PSP?"

    Doh! Looks like someone will be asking for a DS for Christmas... Even when Sony manages to get one sold, they still haven't truly taken the "mindshare"...

    --
    Warning: Apple/Nintendo fangirl. Likes her electronics cute & cuddly. May be rabid.