Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

PSP Slim Sells Over A Million in Japan

Posted by Zonk on from the kicking-ds-taking-sales dept.

GameDaily reports that Sony has had a lot of success with the PSP Slim in Japan, with sales of over a million units since its launch in September of this year. That's more units sold than the original PSP did in its several-year-long lifespan. "Titles such as Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Monster Hunter in particular have helped boost Sony's portable in Japan. Sony is maintaining a sales forecast of 10 million units worldwide by the end of its fiscal year next March. The portable sector is still dominated by the Nintendo DS, however. Nintendo is aiming to sell 28 million units of its handheld by the end of its fiscal year."

39 comments

  1. Over a million? by s.bots · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    That's OVER 9000!!!!!!one!!!11!!eleven!


    For the uninformed: http://encyclopediadramatica.com/index.php/Over_9000

    1. Re:Over a million? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nobody cares, dude.

  2. Fact check much? by Aladrin · · Score: 4, Informative

    FTA: "The PSP slim model (which is lighter, thinner and features video out capabilities) reached this milestone two weeks faster than the original PSP nearly three years ago."

    FTS: "That's more units sold than the original PSP did in its several-year-long lifespan."

    The summary is blatantly stupid. It only took the original model -2 more weeks- than this model. Demand has not increased all that much, considering the considerable user base and available games.

    --
    "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
    1. Re:Fact check much? by Total_Wimp · · Score: 1

      The summary is blatantly stupid. It only took the original model -2 more weeks- than this model. Demand has not increased all that much, considering the considerable user base and available games.

      Selling a million units two weeks faster than the original launch is pretty good by anyone's accounting.

      It was bouncing around in the 27K to 33K range most of the year. Now, after a huge spike at re-launch, they seem to be hanging out in the 60K range. That's about 3/4 of the DSs current 80K rang which is MUCH better than the 3 to 1 or 4 to one ratio they've often had.

      I agree with you about the stupid summary, but saying demand hasn't increased is not accurate at all. This is a big deal.
    2. Re:Fact check much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ....saying demand hasn't increased is not accurate at all. Good thing for us all, then, that this is not what the OP said.
    3. Re:Fact check much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's Zonk; of course the summary sucks!

    4. Re:Fact check much? by aliquis · · Score: 1

      That's just because everyone in japan already own a DS now! ;D

  3. Great, but people still aren't buying games for it by rrdm2k · · Score: 1
    There haven't been any PSP titles in the Japanese all console chart top 20 since the launch of the PSP slim/lite. Last weeks sales, for example, has the highest PSP game at no 25! http://www.the-magicbox.com/topten.htm

    It looks as if these sales are more likely down to people trading in their old fatter PSPs for the new slimeline model rather than sales to new customers.

    --
    "Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane." - H.P. Lovecraft
  4. Did they fix it? by Detritus · · Score: 1

    I remember reading many complaints about disk ejection and hard to use controls on the original model. Did they fix it?

    --
    Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
    1. Re:Did they fix it? by bluemonq · · Score: 1

      Yes and no. The controls area little more tactile. The UMD slot now just cracks open and the user manually puts in or takes out the disk.

  5. PSP isn't very good by GreatDrok · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I got a PSP as soon as they appeared largely to play the GTA games which I had enjoyed so much on the PS2. I have both games and I haven't finished either of them. The screen is poor because it has very slow response so you get trails all over the place. The controls are cramped and mean I can't use the thing for more than a few minutes at a time. Memory capacity is low and expensive to add and still limited so as a movie player it isn't very good either because you have to compress the movies too much and the dreadful screen doesn't help. The speakers are rotten so you really have to use headphones too and the time it takes to load a game seems like forever.

    So, to summarise, poor controls, poor screen and poor performance. Making it thinner isn't going to change things much.

    --
    "I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
    1. Re:PSP isn't very good by taquitosgmail.com · · Score: 1

      Load times are faster http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZr9CaVpkHQ (youtube), but I am wondering about the crappy screen. I have an old one and I really really hate the screen. I don't think I would get one until a version comes out with dual analogue sticks.

    2. Re:PSP isn't very good by bluemonq · · Score: 1

      ...except the controls are reportedly improved and the internal RAM has been doubled, cutting down on disk loading. The speakers have also been moved to a more appropriate location. As for the screen, f it were higher resolution, you id be complaining about diminished battery life.

    3. Re:PSP isn't very good by hudsonhawk · · Score: 1

      I've heard ghosting was a problem with the launch PSPs. The PSP I got in April doesn't have any ghosting at all.

      Memory capacity isn't really a burden anymore either - I got a 4GB memory stick for $30 a few months ago. That's plenty of space for some high-bitrate movies.

      Now the GTA games aren't very good for the PSP, but that's not really the PSP's fault.

    4. Re:PSP isn't very good by Fozzyuw · · Score: 1

      I've heard ghosting was a problem with the launch PSPs

      I owned an original PSP and I never heard of Ghosting as a problem. Dead Pixels, yet. Not ghosting. I had 3-4 dead pixels on mine. Only one was annoying, but livable. Either way, I thought the screen was beautiful and never had a complaint about it.

      --
      "The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
    5. Re:PSP isn't very good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The DS has neither the "trails" problem (which is a result of high response time, not low resolution as you seem to believe) nor a short battery life.

    6. Re:PSP isn't very good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed. However, when used with a PS3, and a computer with tversity, the psp becomes a GREAT video player that can be used to watch all your videos on the pc anywhere.

    7. Re:PSP isn't very good by bluemonq · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't know; I own a DS and not a PSP.

    8. Re:PSP isn't very good by dank+zappingly · · Score: 1

      I think the ghosting might be from the game, i have a really old psp and that never happens, but I have never played GTA. I was always impressed by the screen. I don't know what you consider to be cheap for memory, but 4GB memory sticks are currently around 30-40 bucks. The slim version is supposed to speed up load times.

    9. Re:PSP isn't very good by GreatDrok · · Score: 2, Informative

      " have an old one and I really really hate the screen."

      I've read reviews of the new one and they say the screen is the same. For that reason alone I wouldn't bother buying the slim.

      --
      "I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
    10. Re:PSP isn't very good by GreatDrok · · Score: 1

      "if it were higher resolution, you id be complaining about diminished battery life."

      Nope. The resolution is fine. It just has these horrid trails which annoy me. Take an area of light colour, have something dark move across it, nasty trails. The slim reportedly has the same problem. Does it in games and movies. I prefer my Video iPod even though the screen is smaller because it is a better screen. Oh, and the 80GB capacity means I have loads of material to watch whereas with the PSP I have to decide what I want to watch in advance.

      --
      "I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
    11. Re:PSP isn't very good by GreatDrok · · Score: 1

      "I think the ghosting might be from the game, i have a really old psp and that never happens, but I have never played GTA. I was always impressed by the screen."

      The ghosting happens on all material, games, movies, you name it. Dark objects moving over light backgrounds make it very obvious. The screen can look nice but this really does annoy the heck out of me and spoils an otherwise attractive video device.

      "I don't know what you consider to be cheap for memory, but 4GB memory sticks are currently around 30-40 bucks. The slim version is supposed to speed up load times."

      4GB doesn't really result in much of an improvement compared with the 80GB Video iPod I use most of the time. The screen on the iPod is smaller but better (no trails, brighter) and the capacity means I can just choose to watch something on a whim rather than having to plan to have the material available on the PSP. Convenience wins every time. I wouldn't even consider an iPod Touch because the capacity is too small.

      --
      "I have the attention span of a strobe lit goldfish, please get to the point quickly!"
    12. Re:PSP isn't very good by LKM · · Score: 1

      I bought mine about a year ago, and it still had the crappy screen. At first, I thought all games on the PSP had motion blur, until I figured out that it was just the sucky screen.

    13. Re:PSP isn't very good by LKM · · Score: 1

      Owning both a PSP and a DS, I hardly ever used the PSP for gaming (even though I own about 20 games). None of the games are very good for portable use, and when at home, I prefer "real" consoles. I used to use the PSP for watching movies, despite the screen; since I've got an iPhone, I use that. Smaller screen, tremendously better quality.

      I don't use the PSP for anything anymore. DS for portable gaming, iPhone for portable movies.

    14. Re:PSP isn't very good by LKM · · Score: 1

      What, you mean Harry Potter magically introduced ghosting when I ripped his DVD and watched it on my PSP? :-)

    15. Re:PSP isn't very good by LKM · · Score: 1

      You probably simply don't notice it. I got my PSP about a year ago, and it definitely has the ghosting issue. It's not equally obvious in all games, and it's more obvious in ripped movies than in UMD movies (I think they have a slower framerate).

  6. Re:Great, but people still aren't buying games for by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What games? Most of those available for the PSP in the US pretty much suck, which is why I ended up going for a DS Lite the other week instead of a PSP slim even though the specs were so much better they mostly go to waste. (The craptacular battery life didn't help either...)

    Not to mention the homebrew and other possibilities are MUCH greater with the DS at this time.

  7. Re:Great, but people still aren't buying games for by Saint_Waldo · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "There haven't been any PSP titles in the Japanese all console chart top 20 since the launch of the PSP slim/lite."

    That's flat out false. Two words: Crisis Core.

    http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=28885
  8. Re:Great, but people still aren't buying games for by rrdm2k · · Score: 1
    Sorry, I realised I was wrong after I typed that since I thought it came out in October. I couldn't be arsed deleting my post though and I humbly ask for forgiveness for my inaccuracy and laziness.

    I still stand by my end point though. The PSP is selling well but apart from a few blockbusters like CC:FF7 it doesnt seem to sell any games unlike the DS. Mind you it could be down to people like me - I've owned a PSP since the European launch over two years ago but I've only ever bought 6 games for it.

    --
    "Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane." - H.P. Lovecraft
  9. Re:Great, but people still aren't buying games for by darkhitman · · Score: 1

    More to the point, that same site seems to show that the PSP console itself was #2 on sales last week (?). Not too bad... the DS is still kicking its ass, though :P

    --
    Tell me something...it's still "We, the people"... right?
  10. Re:Great, but people still aren't buying games for by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I couldn't be arsed deleting my post though You couldn't even if you wanted.
  11. Indeed, compared to the DS... by Bazar · · Score: 1

    Nothing is changing in japan.
    If you compare it to the DS, its failing behind.

    Each year, the number of DS units shipped grows massively in japan (and worldwide). 3.7 Million in their first year, 8 Million sold in their 3 year. (20M sold to date)

    Compared to the PSP, which after 3 years, is selling only marginally faster then it did at release. (2M the first year, 2.5M the 3rd year, 7M Sold to date)

    The DS sales are effectively snowballing into something gigantic, meanwhile the PSP is just taking a stroll around the block.

    Its not just in japan, its worldwide as well, the PSP is slowly slipping into a footnote when compared to the success of the DS
    http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=DS&reg1=All&cons2=PSP&reg2=All&cons3=X360&reg3=------&weeks=187

    --
    To avoid criticism; Say nothing, Do nothing, Be nothing.
    1. Re:Indeed, compared to the DS... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem is that the DS hardware is a piece of shit. Homebrew is way funnier on the PSP hardware.

  12. Re:Great, but people still aren't buying games for by Doctor_Jest · · Score: 1

    Bah...

    Coded Arms, Jewel Summoner, Monster Hunter, Platypus, Castlevania!!!!, Wipeout Pure, Gradius Galaxies, Legend of Heroes, Jeanne D'Arc, FF Tactics, Valkyrie Profile:Lenneth, Field Commander, Dungeon Siege, and so on and so on....... If you can't find something by now, you're missing out... ;)

    And the battery life isn't as craptacular as you might believe... ...to each his/her own.

    --
    It's the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
  13. Increased RAM == *More* loading, no? by LKM · · Score: 1

    How does the increased RAM cut down on disk loading? I would guess that it would lead to *more* loading as games make use of the additional RAM.

    1. Re:Increased RAM == *More* loading, no? by somersault · · Score: 1

      Presumably because more can be cached into RAM, which would result in slightly longer loading times initially sure, but then in game less loading of textures and such needs to be done from the disk, so you have smoother gameplay? I don't have a PSP, so I can't comment on how much of an issue that is..

      --
      which is totally what she said
    2. Re:Increased RAM == *More* loading, no? by flynn_nrg · · Score: 1

      The extra 32MiB of memory are used for UMD cache, although custom firmware makes that area visible to homebrew code, so you can use it in your own apps.

    3. Re:Increased RAM == *More* loading, no? by LKM · · Score: 1

      The extra 32MiB of memory are used for UMD cache

      ...which gets filled by reading from the UMD, a.k.a. more loading.