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PSP, PS2 Sales Skyrocket
Spurred by the scarcity of the PlayStation 3, hungry consumers are buying all the PSP and PS2 units they can get their hands on. The PSP's sales have shot up by 280 percent over last year, while the PS2 was up a respectable 115 percent. From the Eurogamer article: "Additionally, sales of first-party software are also up, according to SCEA. PS2 game sales rose by 120.6 per cent, with PSP software sales increasing by almost 168 per cent. Sony has yet to publish figures for exactly how many PlayStation 3 units have been sold in North America since the console launched there on 17th November."
Poor kids getting a PlayStation 2 for XMas.... :)
Just as a question, is this really from interest in the PS3 or could it be something else? I don't know about the PSP but The PS2 has had Final Fantasy XII and Guitar Hero II released in November with Okami and Bully released not too long ago. Could the sales actually be more directly releated to the fact that these systems are providing more gaming content for far less money than any of the "Next Generation" competition? Seriously, with budget games you could buy a PS2 a second controller and 4 or 5 games for the price of a Wii; compared to the XBox 360/PS3 you could probably get close to 20 games ...
A big factor in this, I would assume, is that Walmart was selling them for $160 each on Black Friday, with no apparent limit. One of my co-workers bought three - one for him, two for his kids. Combine that with some new, non-sucky games and the prospect of PS3 integration, and it could be the PSP will see a revival of sorts.
Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
Spurred by the scarcity of the PlayStation 3...
You mean, "Spurred by the impending holiday." It's highly unlikely that the upswing in PS2 sales has any meaningful correlation with PS3 scarcity; after all, I still don't know a single person who actually plans to get one. The PS2 and PSP, however, are still as viable (and cheap, comparatively!) as they were a month ago.
got standards? --- http://www.w3.org/
So... PSP software sales increased from 100 total units to 268? Or am I being generous?
-Rob
Biblical fiscal responsibility
I don't buy the "hungry consumers" line at all. People saw the $600-700 price tag of the PS3 and choked in addition to the extreme shortage of PS3s, so they bought the next best thing. That's all.
I was in EBGames to pick up a Wii yesterday and saw brand new PS2s for $129. The PS2 already has a huge established base of games and it's much cheaper than the PS3. Think about it! You can get a Wii, PS2, and base XBox 360 for the same price as a PS3! I'm still considering getting a PS2 if only to play the Guitar hero series.
I don't think it has anything to do with "hungry consumers" as much as it does people who lost their appetite over the whole PS3 debacle. Instead of buying some $600-$700 gourmet dinner (to keep up the "hungry consumers" metaphor) at an elite restaurant that few people can get into, they came to their senses and decided that not only would a family meal at a quality restaurant be cheaper, it has a better variety of dinners, can hold more customers at a time, and is a much, much better value overall.
If news about a surge in PS2 sales comes as a surprise to anyone, the human gene pool is in need of a bit more chlorine.
The Overrated mod is for reversing inappropriate, positive mods, not for voicing disagreement with a post.
Slashdot has determined the true cause of increased product sales before holiday season -- the release of something better!
How many of the PS2s are being purchased by Grandparents who don't realise that when Little Billy asked for the new Playstation for Christmas, he meant a PS3, not just any version...
I was walking through the local Fry's last night and was wondering why they were stacking the PS2s in the main walkway. Seemed to me there might be a more popular item to stick in the high traffic areas, but maybe they were sold out of everything else.
Just off the top of my head:
Okami
Final Fantasy XII
Guitar Hero II
Bully
are new major releases. And God of War 2 is on the horizon. And then you have the massive number existing PS2 titles - the single greatest game library for a console ever all at cheap prices now. Huge numbers of major PS2 titles can be bought for 19.99 now.
All that for 130 dollars.
And PSP sales are most likely going to continue to go up now that the PS3 has arrived and has so many PS3/PSP connectivity features - remote viewing of your PS3 over wireless and soon remote play of PS3 games on your PSP.
The DS is still outselling the PSP. Many stores around here either have discounted old stock DS and are out of the DSLite which is the current model. Yet they still have plenty of PSP's.
Glad to see them sell a bit faster, considering now they are reasonably priced at $199.00 new..
The PSP is a cool device, it feels nicer than the PSP, It simply does not have the games or the game prices to entice parents to buy them.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
they are selling 2-3x the amount of hardware and software then they did at the same time last year for the PS2 and PSP (all of this is for USA/Canada). I honestly don't see any reason WHY.
IT has nothing to do with people wnatign a PS3 and setteling for a PSP/PS2, as that is just faulty logic. It might be people buying PS2/P when little timmy wants a PS3 (but that does not really seem like sound reasoning to me either).
Mabey it has something to do with the 360 already being out for a year now. I am willing to bet that the introduction of the 360 into the market hurt sony/nintendo hardware sales during that time, and thus also game sales.
The same could be said about the PSP and the DS, the PSP launched a few months before the DS and thus people already had picked it up, and their games. Then, intime for the holiday season, Nintendo released the DS.
What about there being better games out?
Yah, PS2 has some great games out atm, did it lack in games last holiday season? honestly not sure, can any one vouch for/against that?
PSP? Not that I know of. As far as I can tell the PSP still has lack luster games, jsut like last year.
any one got some better ideas?
Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
How many of these PS2 and PSPs will be returned after christmas because (grand)mom/dad picked up a "Playstation" branded product because they didnt have any PS3s. And as stated above FF12/Bully/GH2 played their parts.
Well, no shit that you'd have to buy the games for each one! That's, you know, a given, so it makes to sense to throw those into the mix.
Oh, and with MicroCenter's $100 rebate on the XBox360, that total comes down to $578. (Supposedly there's also a $200 rebate with the purchase of an Xbox 360 at MicroCenter if you switch to Vonage as well, but I have no interest in Vonage.) So, yes, the three can be purchased for the cost of a PS3 or less. And at least the Wii gives you Wii Sports, unlike the others that don't give you a game at all.
The Overrated mod is for reversing inappropriate, positive mods, not for voicing disagreement with a post.
Could be many of these sales are people who waited to buy a console gambling they would get a PS3. Now they are realizing that the PS3 is not worth the money and are buying a PS2 and a PSP with the money they had saved up.
It could also be people replacing the old PS2 systems they sold to get money to get a PS3.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
I don't see this as odd. I've just been thinking that now would be a good time to purchase classic Gamecube games, so I can play them when I have a wii.
My early-gen PS2 has been broken for a while now. I figured rather than waste time or money repairing the old one, I'd just wait for the PS3 thing to happen and die down, since this would surely result in a price drop for the last batch of PS2s, and I could replace my cranky old console on the cheap. This certainly does seem to be the case at the moment, and I imagine after the holidays the price of a PS2 will go down even further.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
PS3's strongest contender is the PS2.
How sweet is that ?
I agree the scarcity of the PS3 argument is a bit of a stretch, but the sales figures are compared with last year (according to the summary), so any holiday-related factor is already being considered.
Sorry, the anti-zonk contingent seemed mysteriously quiet, so i thought i out to step in and field this one for them.
This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Well about a month ago I got all excited about the upcoming ps3 and wii release, and in impulse bought an xbox 360, so all this hype in general is helping the entire console industry.
98 % of the slashdotters answered in some poll that they won't buy it. So the question is: who's buying then?
It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
I generally wait a good 3 years or so into a console's life before buying it (except for the SNES...got that for my 11th birthday a couple days after release) The advantages are numerous:
-Large title selection
-CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP prices (example: just got quantum redshift for my xbox for 3 dollars from gamestop. THREE DOLLARS!!!)
-consoles have had their hardware revisions and work better
-gives me more time to finish the games that have been released
I have a 360 (again, a gift) and I am VERY seriously considering buying a Wii, but my Xbox and PS2 get MUCH more action than the 360...Just 8 months ago I finally finished the dreamcast games that I have (all 10 of em...yea, my 'cast didn't get much playtime, but I loved the playtime it got) and am jonesing to buy a gamecube soon.
Then again, if I bought a Wii, I would effectively have a Wii AND a gamecube...regardless, there is nothing wrong with waiting for systems to be around for a bit. I actually encourage people to do so! It will give you much more entertainment, much less money spent (or more for the same amount of money) and allows you to build MASSIVE game libraries for next to nothing.
I'm sure people have way more than this, but between NES, SNES, Game Boy & GBA, Xeye (that's a Genesis and a SegaCD in one case), Dreamcast, N64, Xbox, PS2, I EASILY EASILY have over 250 games...that doesn't include my PC either!
How was I able to afford all this? Not buying them the instant they come out:-)
Living With a Nerd
Hey guys, I totally agree with you too!
--
The war with islam is a war on the beast
The war on terror is a war for peace
Posting to myself is my greatest release
Ok I can understand the PS2, but I own a PSP and I have to say there's not much reason to give it to a kid. It's great for a inexpensive music player that plays games, but I bought mine for 200 dollars, and 6 games came with it and I still think I overpaid.
280 percent? That's definatly a case of mistaken identity.
There are several different options when buying a game console for Christmas. The Xbox and Gamecube have been all but discontinued because of the next generation game consoles. The PS3 is in such short supply that getting one is unlikely. There are more Wiis, but devoted Nintendo fans will snatch them up as soon as they hit stores. The average parent won't be monitoring the stores for new shipments. This leaves the Xbox 360 and the PS2. The high and low cost consoles. The console-educated consumer will buy the console that has the experience that they want. The console-uneducated consumer (most parents) will buy whichever falls into their price range. If the parents have plenty of money, they'll buy a 360. If they want to save money during Christmas, the PS2 is the good choice. If there were more Wiis available, things might be different.
If you compare the price of a 360 and a PS2, the 360 looks too expensive. There is no way that Microsoft can close that gap. However if they bring the price of the 360 closer, more customers will be spend the extra money for the newer console. Sony wants gamers to use the PS2 until they can bring down the manufacturing costs of the PS3 and lower the price. Microsoft has to win over as many gamers as possible before the PS3 comes down in price.
That is not over the past year; that is a week-to-week increase.
Two reasons:
(1) Almost every entertainment good sees a rise in sales post-Thanksgiving;
(2) As others have pointed out, those who could not get PS3 may have opted to get PSP instead (hence the huge rise in sales, rather than the small bump for the PS2).
Newsflash: Company says its products are selling better in the US during the holiday shopping season.
Nothing to see here, please move along.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
I just picked up my first game console ever. A PS2 with Bully, and I can get like 3 or 4 pretty good used games for the cost of a new Xbox 360 game. I am not a serious gamer so this works great for my budget. Maybe next year if I get a little more serious I'll think about spending the money on one of the new ones.
See, a troll is where you say something you don't believe to elicit a desired response. I know this is complicated; maybe I should stop using the word "elicit" when I say this. However, this is a true story. I'd call the guy up and ask him to corroborate but I haven't talked to him in a few years. On a lighter note, I just metamoderated and got to wipe out two total bullshit moderations. One of them was a politically motivated downvoting. The other one was a comment saying something to the effect of "too bad you're a big faggot" that had been modded up for being "insightful". It's too bad that the so-called editorship of slashdot isn't actually doing anything.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Percentages mean nothing without the actual sales numbers behind them. While a 280% increase sounds great, that's just a number you say to sound big, because you don't know what the hard sales numbers were before and after this increase. For example, in the most recent sales numbers available for Japan, the DS Lite sold 128,621 units, versus the PSP selling 16,690 units. So, even a 280% sales boost wouldn't mean much against its rival handheld hardware.
Plus, Sony is notorious for talking "sold" when they actually mean "shipped," so. And when NPD numbers for November comes out, showing hardware sales in the U.S., I'm sure we'll see ALL pieces of video game hardware up by sizable amounts.
Although prices have dipped a little, most 60GB PS3's are still selling for over a thousand on eBay - around $1200-$1400 if you are a seller with any kind of reputation.
So if people are "choking on the price" why are they still selling for so much on eBay?
I went into a Target yesterday and asked if they had any PS3. He said they had a shipment a few days ago, but they were gone within a few minutes. If the price is a problem, why does it take minutes to unload them at retail?
There probably is a point at which sales would drop off at the current price. But from the looks of things, that point is probably well over a million units, after which Sony can start slowly giving price breaks (or at least incentives like pack-in games).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The thing is, I don't really see this particular article as anti-Sony - the people that buy PS2's now are more likely to buy PS3's later instead of some other console (since they can keep playing the same games).
So even if the intent was anti-Sony, if the effect is not I don't really raise any objection to the story. At least this one is fairly factual.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The PS2 is now very "family priced" with a huge library of games to choose from. Add to that the fact that I think this years new PS2 games are some of the best we've seen in at least a couple years makes for a great deal and a great system.
The PS3 is still a few years out of reach of most people anyway, giving the PS2 a comfortable bit of time before it's "dead".
As for the PSP, I prefer the DS, but the system is finally seeing some titles that make it worth the time, and the prices have dropped from "insane" to "worth consideration".
"Spurred by the scarcity of the PlayStation 3, hungry consumers are buying all the PSP and PS2 units they can get their hands on."
I don't doubt people are buying the PSP or the PS2 in large numbers, but I doubt it's the scarcity of the PS3 causing it. If you're going out to buy a PS3 and can't, that means you have $600 burning a hole in your pocket. Even if you get a PSP, you'll still have $400 you'll feel the need to spend. You can get a low-end HDTV with $400.
No, instead I can see the sales of the PS2 and the PSP spurred on by the unavailability of something in the $250 price range.
So worthless, in fact, that he even gets his BS summary wrong. Sales are not up because of the scarcity of the PS3, they are up because of the massive mob attacking retail outlets post-thanksgiving.
/.? From inane, painful-to-read game reviews to editorializing about marketing (in which he OBVIOUSLY has no experience whatsoever), Zonk time and again shows that he should be severed from the internet for the good of humanity. To use the quote at the bottom of the submit page: "It's men like him that give the Y chromosome a bad name."
Who in the hell is in charge of hiring at
Last-generation systems have a number of advantages over new systems. They already have a well-established library of games, and most of those games have been around for so long that there are all sorts of "Top 25" lists that let you sort the good from the mediocre. The bugs have been worked out. And everything is MUCH cheaper.
The last non-portable console I owned before last week was the SNES. I thought about buying an XBox 360 this year. But then I realized I could buy a PS2 and a GameCube, with component cables and several games for each, for the same price as just the 360 system would have cost. So after sleeping in on Black Friday, I walked over to GameStop, and walked out with enough games to keep me occupied until the Wii becomes an attractive option.
The article doesn't say an increase since last year, it says week on week.
"In a statement, communications boss David Karraker said the top five retailers in North America were reporting a week-by-week rise in PS2 hardware sales of more than 115 per cent over the Thanksgiving period. Sales of PSP units, meanwhile, were up by 280 per cent."
According to NPD (US numbers sold, not shipped):
October 2005 PSP = 131,000
November 2005 PSP = 353,000
which gives us an 269% increase for November 2005.
Did everybody just fall for an announcement of a sales increase that can pretty much be attributed to seasonal variations?
People that believe in their opinions don't post AC.
...is lack of anti-alaising. I would have no problems with sticking with the ps2 generation and only paying $10 for games, but I've gotten so used to anti-alaising that it is distracting when games don't have it.
Take final fantasy XII for example. A beautiful game, but so detailed that practically everything in the environment is wavy or jagged. I try not to be such a graphics snob, but when something is distracting enough for me to remove immersion, it begins to be a problem.
Heck, I would even shell out $700 for a PS3 if I could play final fantasy XII with AA, but I doubt Sony goes through the trouble of enhancing last-gen games on the ps3.
I just went out last week and bought a PS2 for the kids for Christmas. Why did I buy a PS2 now? A couple of reasons: 1. I'm not going to spend $600 for a PS3. 2. I'm not going to spend $400 for a Xbox360 3. While I considered buying a Wii for $250, I don't buy first-generation consoles. 4. The games that my kids want are all available on the PS2, not so on the other three console games. Can I afford the other game consoles - yes. But because my kids don't need the horsepower of a PS3 or Xbox360, I'd rather spend the money on something that they will get a good deal of enjoyment out of, and wait for the next generation of consoles to get debugged and cheapened before I go spend good money on them. Now, if I had been one of those lucky people who got a Xbox360 for $100 from Amazon last week, I might have bought one of the PS2's, but I still might have. Basically, the PS2 hit the sweet spot in terms of both money and software, and while it may not be what I want for a final console, it's good enough to do for a few years.
More like "the only thing I want to know, LALALALALA, I'm not hearing you, reality, LALALALA!"
Your "statistic" is neither a statistic nor real. It's your subjective feeling which you project onto your "reality."
Personally, I see probably about as many PSPs as DSs - maybe a bit more DSs. I own both a PSP and a DS, but all of my friends own DSs. The DS is clearly selling more, although the PSP isn't a total failure either - just nothing like Sony expected it to be. Nothing at all.
You're right, it is a mystery. Surveys have shown that the younger the kids, the more likely they are to prefer Sony and Microsoft over Nintendo. The PS and the Xbox are the real kiddie consoles. If anything, Nintendo's consoles are targeted at parents, not at children.
Apart from the "wrong gift" theories, I think the other likely cause of this is that people were waiting to see what the PS3 launch was like before the committed to a PS2 or PSP. If you really want a PS3, you're not going to be buying a PS2 now. And given the price of the PS3, only people that could have bought a PSP whenever they wanted are likely to go into a store for a PS3 and come out with a PSP and the intent to buy a PS3 when the next shipment arrives. I think this sudden surge is more likely due to the PS3 being received poorly than it's due to the PS3 being recieved well.
By this token, Sony could pretend to make a new console, hype it up, and never ship it! They would rake in loads of cash!
I just loved that one; all these fanboys get pissy about rehashes of company ABC and feel that the high selling franchises suck, but feels the same stuff doesn't apply to their favorite company XYZ.
I'd say you're mostly correct, except that there are a couple of games on the gamecube that outclass MOST of the titles for the ps2. I mean, who really plays more than 5 or 6 games regularly?
At MY house, all we ever play are:
Mario Kart 64 on 1964 with high res textures
Super Mario All Stars & World on Zsnes with HQ4X enabled
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Multiplayer (NOT multitheft auto!!!)
Flatout 2 (Royal Flush Multiplayer)
Mortal Kombat (All versions)
and Urban Terror (GREAT FPS!!!!)
Now since most of those console games play VERY well on an emulator, I don't even see the point of a ps2/ps3/gamecube/xbox/xbox360, etc.. I mean, just a bunch of extra controllers and extra cords.
I DO wish that mario kart double dash played in emulation, but that's a small gripe.....
rhY
PS. If somebody has a better example of any of those games for any system, I'd like to know. I haven't found better gameplay than those games for the most part, though I haven't gone extensively through the catalog of recent versions of Mortal Kombat, to be fair. For raw fun as an FPS, though, Urban Terror is still the best.....
I hold very few opinions. I hold information based on observation and fact. If you wish to disagree, please use facts.
Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst
Maybe PSP sales "skyrocketed," but if EA officially acknowledges that they simply "exploit their franchises on the PSP," I can't see any reason to get one. And yes, I do own a PSP. I call it "my portable LOST viewer."
Exactly, MS screwed up not doing a 100% perfect xbox1 emulator on the 360, even if it required them
to redownload new binaries or make a program do realtime optimizations taking 10minutes.
As you release new systems, the old ones still sell in cheaper markets, there by increasing you base massively.
5x more poor people than rich people can have a better say.
Eventually, all those ps2 people will get a ps3, even if it is in 2010. But all those xbox1 people will go anywhere, not guaranteed to a 360.
Sony with all their mistakes, did one thing right, they turned games into something as basic as movies on VHS, they just work, on any machine, regardless
, just plug it in and bingo it popsup, even if its from 1995 it works in a 2006 machine, just as VHS tapes do.
Ironically, Sony learned from the VHS BETA wars, and that is its a must to run X content ANY WHERE, but its not critical that its the BEST, but just GOOD enough
and not UTTER CRAP.
More eyes equals more sales, which equals more profits which equals being number 1.
I do agree MS has better software, etc... Sony is like a school kid amature, they need to spend 10x more on software, ie HIRE 50 geeks damn it, is it that
hard to develop a damn IDE (using eclipse) to make PS3/2 games via some java/c++ opengl api that works on ps2/3/macs/windows/linux ?
Pay the damn geeks $120k ea, they will leave their current jobs for that. Sony you have lots of dollars, why waste it on utterly useless LAWYERS, (as useless as
a CHOCOLATE KETTLE) , lawyers dont MAKE any thing, they are not CREATIVE.
Btw, what happened to the Connectix PS1 emulator, it rocked, and yes its good, is that what Sony ported to the PsP??? A little slow and why the need for
hardware ps1 emu, when that did it well, what is that development team doing, they were good at connectix, where are you!!>!?!? Tell those
business ANAL-LYSTS to get a clue, make a ps1 EMU for windows 100% FREE that will get even more people buying ps1 games from Sony Online Entertainment..
No games analyst should be older than 35yo, otherwise, they are fakers and they should be sacked for no talent.
Liberty freedom are no1, not dicks in suits.
Except for online games. With online-playable games, you will only find oppenents/allies online if you play the game within the first year or two of release. After that (or after a sequel comes out), there is non one online.
Objectivity.
I've known enough people in the welfare system to know that you're both right.
This mother buying her child a Genesis was better than many welfare parents in that she actually thought about her kids. I know around here, kids are often viewed as a source of income to the more lazy welfare parents, as a lot of the money dries up when the kid turns 5. Trust me, those parents aren't spending that extra income on their kids, either.
However, a parent buying their kid a brand-new video game system with the welfare check is also a sign of how broken the system is. Too many of the welfare parents I see don't know how to get out of the system, only how to work it to their advantage. If they get a job, their welfare money dries up faster than their income outpaces the additional expenses (read: childcare and healthcare.) The system doesn't teach them the skills they would need to get a GOOD job. They also make you run around to all kinds of classes and things, but none of these seem to teach the important skills of budgeting and making do on a low income. Things that the rest of us take for granted were never taught to this group. Ideas like: Run the A/C at 78, not 65; Don't buy cable if you can't afford it; Don't spend your entire income the day you get it; and, yes, buy older or used products(including video game systems) to save money; don't occur to this group. Dealing with these problems is key to getting the ones who want out of the system out.
I make a good salary, and I still take all of the above money-saving tips very seriously. I buy video game systems a generation (or two) behind. I only buy games once they've hit the greatest hits, and even then I often buy them used. I have tried to teach these kinds of things to a friend I have who is on welfare, and she always gives me the brush-off, saying that it won't make a difference. This is out of ignorance on her part, not laziness. The system needs be be redesigned to help people with this kind of ignorance get out.
On the other hand, the system also needs to be redesigned to prevent the kind of abuse where the parents *INTENTIONALLY* barely feed and clothe the kids, while spending the welfare money on their own frivolities. One way to help would be to provide less cash and more restricted coupons like food stamps, while expanding the food stamp program to cover non-food items like toilet paper and children's clothes.