Sony sells 50 million PSPs worldwide, Mario unimpressed
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Feb 13th 2009 5:01AM
posted Feb 13th 2009 5:01AM
As of January 2009, Sony Computer Entertainment claims to have sold 50 million PSP handhelds worldwide. A number that includes all PSP-1000, 2000, and 3000 series devices sold since December 2004. That's a big number, no matter how you slice it... unless it's Nintendo wielding the perspective knife with its claim of 96.22 million DS handhelds sold between December 2004 and December 2008. Then again, PSPs have sold a bit better than Gizmondos, so there.
Read -- 50m PSP
Read -- 96m DS
Read -- 50m PSP
Read -- 96m DS
Congrats Sony! It's a shame you can't do what you did with the [original] playstation and change the market, but I'm guessing no one will ever steal the hand-held crown from Ninty.
....If anyone mentions the bloody iPhone as a console, I'll shoot them [Oh, the irony of me mentioning the iPhone, hence I will need to shoot myself].
dammit!! 1st to view but 2nd to comment, well u beat me this time Samo but we'll meet again..... someday, somehow, somewhere, something, someguy, somegirl, somestuff, some ummm.... somefood?
Can't believe you forgot "sometime"? :)
What are you talkin' about?? The PSP HAS changed the handheld market. Nintendo's consoles are underpowered pieces of crap. The games are so friggin' childish and immature. Its just for big babies. The PSP delivers a solid console experience almost like a TV console, and thats how it should be.
@kurian: and the DS is still "underpowered", and still "childish", so nothing has been changed by the PSP. Don't get me wrong, that's not a bash at Ninty, it's still a great console (I own both the handhelds), but to say the PSP changed Ninty's game plan is short-sighted.
Before I get bashed, I should clarify, by "childish", I mean aimed at children, which is doing well for them.
"but to say the PSP changed Ninty's game plan is short-sighted."
Chances are, that if it wasn't for the PSP catching up in sales to the DS Phat, we would have had to wait at least a few more years before we would see the DS Lite.
The same applies to the PlayStation Store on the PSP, if it wasn't because of it, Nintendo wouldn't have been pushed to releasing theirs as well.
So yes, the PSP did change Nintendo's game plan
@Noshino: I respectfully disagree on the first point, thinking that they would've released a *little* later, but not too long, as part of Ninty's "it prints money!!!" plan for the DS.
However, in hindsight, I agree with your second point, in that they wouldn't have released a store for the DS without the PSP doing so.
50/50, not bad :)
Mario should be impressed, I play SNES and GBA on the PSP all the time :D (Mario Kart anyone?!)
"The PSP HAS changed the handheld market."
Agreed. PS2 level quality games on a handheld, amazing.
Even Nintendo copied things from PSP for the DSi (upgradeable firmware, flash card slot, multimedia functionality, web browser, app store)
Hell, if you do your research, PSP had wifi announced almost a full year before the DS did. For all those people who claim Sony copied motion sensing, Nintendo copied Wifi by that logic
AkumaXYZ, they should just write a whole bunch of Mario games FOR the PSP.
No more of this buggy and/or slow and/or 4:3 screen lame emulator BS.
@ Samo's last comment: 50/50 is 100%.
(:
good for them, PSP games are pretty sweet
I think there are some great PSP games out there, but as is true for all console, MAN! Are some crappy ones too!
Not bad for a NON-NINTENDO handheld.
Nintendo never had this kind of rival in handheld business before
its pretty good considering the demographic PSP was aimed at...
i still see more psp on tubes than DS
Not bad for such a poorly designed piece of hardware.
I'd say the PSP's hardware is its strength (minus the fact that it doesn't have a second analog control), but software for the PSP could be much better.
@Down
The screen is so reflective that I can't use it outside, it is also so slow that many games have very noticeable motion blur. The Layout of the controls is such that I get cramps in my hands on longer sessions and the UMDs can be easily smudged (due to no protective door) but not easily cleaned.
Even internaly they realised that the control layout needed to be improved but the designer refused to allow anything to ruin the aesthetics!
uh, if sales were based on the design, both the DS and iPhone wouldn't have sold as much as they have.
Have you played on the DS for over 2hrs? it is as bad as the infamous arcade claw hand...
You are just one of those kids that doesn't know what to complain about
@Noshino
I own both a DS and a DS lite along side my PSP, 360, Wii, Dreamcast, Spectrum 48k, Amiga, Playstation, Playstation2, Atari Lynx, Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Advance SP, PC, Neo Geo Pocket Color. And yes I have played the DS for over 2 hours without the same problems as using the PSP for 30mins. I have also been playing games for over 28 years so I am not "just one of those kids that doesn't know what to complain about"! I also went to the trouble of Importing my White PSP from Hong Kong as I could not get hold of even a black one at the time over here. So I gave it good go before complaining.
Owning both psp fat & slim, and a ds phat & lite (and a gaming history that goes back to the vic-20 and 2600 neener neener) I'd say the PSP is a solidly designed piece of hardware, and for long play sessions of several hours the PSP seems to be way kinder to my hands than the DS is.
@hemmy
What about using outside in the sun? The DS screen gets even better, the PSP screen becomes virtually invisible. Pretty bad for a device designed to be used on the move....
@coolblue
The DS probably has the edge, it has a natural shield by virtue of the clamshell design. Having said that I don't have that problem as when I'm out in the sun I'm typically doing something else. When not at home I play the PSP/DS when Im on the train or bus or whatever...
Who the heck plays videogames outside under the Sun? You play basketball outside under the Sun, you play tennis outside under the Sun, you play the bikini competition judge under the Sun, not videogames for Christ's sakes.
Good. Can we have the PSP2 now?
Seriously, IT'S BEEN 5 YEARS. I'd buy a DS if it were thinner...
Dont you mean a psp if it was thinner?
The DS lite is thinner than the PSP and the DSi is thinner than the PSP slim. How much thinner do you want?
I meant the DS is too thick for its hardware. I could pick one up if it's on ebay with many decent games and for no more than $50...
And I'm never getting a PSP; I'm waiting for a second generation handheld.
Congratulations, well done, and so on.
Now get the PSPhone out pls kthxbye.
Chances are, its gonna be sold exclusively undet NTT docomos phone line leaving the rest of the world to drool and dream over it.
Shipped, not sold. It's an old Sony trick. They have the money for it, sure, so for financial reports and stuff this is all legit, but there's around 5 million PSPs out there sitting on retailer shelves. Still, it's already the biggest selling 2nd place console in history by a VERY long way.
All companies make use of Shipped numbers, it is harder to keep count of sales figures from each one of the retailers.
Hell, if you are calling out Sony for using said units, then you might as well call out Nintendo as they also make use of Shipped units.
I cannot knock Sony on using shipped units. Shipped units in this case means sold out of Sony's inventory. This is how all of the console makers report and track sales now. It is almost impossible to track the number of sales after they have left the manufacturers warehouse. That is the reason that NPD clearly calls their numbers estimates.
The companies should be able to track sales based on serial numbers. I know your warranty with Nintendo starts when you check out (which is how they knew I bought my Game Boy Advance SP on whatever date it was, even without registering it), so if they know how many they've shipped they should be able to tell how many have sold.
Sony have been known for more underhanded statements, like quoting retail orders as shipped even when they haven't left the warehouses. Comparing PSP shipped vs sold and then saying it's the same for Nintendo is rather disingenuous, when we're all aware that recently Nintendo products often sell out as soon as they're stocked, while Sony games systems, well, don't. Quoting shipped numbers may be typical, but stuffing the retail channel and bragging about it isn't, (or is at least a little bit iffy). Not to say that's exactly the case here, but it is a 10% excess on a product that's been out a really long while. Not that positive really.
I wish the movies were louder on PSP (yes, I use headphones). I cannot understand the movie when watching on the bus.
nearly all Sony devices have 5mW+5mW (into 16ohms) headphone outputs (Walkmans, etc), which I agree they need to improve, especially with less sensitive and/or higher impedance headphones.
Their headphone outputs are almost universally weak.
Sony, are you listening?
http://blog.us.playstation.com/
...that said, the DS is not any better :)
I'd be more interested in seeing overall total software sales (which I'm not sure if they ever actually reveal) since licensing is where the real money is and the PSPs status as an emulation station and both platforms ease of piracy makes hardware sales mean nothing. I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo had 4x the sofware sales to go with their 2x hardware sales since the broader mainstream audience of the DS probably means a larger percentage of users actually buy games.
Actually, Sony is to be commended, they may have come in second, but they stayed alive and been successful against Nintendo and the Game Boy, which no one else has ever done.
Or to put it in perspective, Nintendo only sold 21 million Game Cubes, and 33 million N64s.
Hopefully Sony has a PSP2 in the works that won't repeat the mistakes of the PSP (goodbye UMD, hello second analog stick and better battery life).
It is not the clamshell design it is the screen design. The DS uses a frontlit LCD where as the PSP uses a backlit LCD. Frontlit means that the more light hitting the screen the better which is obviously a great thing for something which is designed for using on the move. In the summer I quite often take my lunch out in the park, My DS is excellent for this but my PSP is useless. Also when on Holiday I sometimes like to sit on the beach while playing my DS, again something my PSP is useless for. When I am at home I have home consoles to play rather than portables so I only really use them while outside. Also the speed of the PSP screen is really bad and very noticable on a lot of games (GTA being a prime example), however I have never once noticed any motion blur on the DS screen. The battery life is also a winner on the DS especially on long trips.
I don't know what magical DS you are using, but both PSP and DS are bad in sunlight, and both are back-lit. Nintendo's original Game Boy Advance SP was front-lit (and it was still hopeless in the sun), which they upgraded in a subsequent revision to a back-lit LCD.
Blur may be more apparent on PSP but IMO is just as easily seen on DS Lite, IMO. (play any Mario game, for example, and tell me you don't see some 'lag' in colours behind Mario when he moves). I haven't tried PSP-3000 to see if that's been fixed, so it may have well been (at the expense of other areas...)
As for long trips, only the PSP will let you replace the battery without a screwdriver and pop in a new one. I call that good design (who routinely carries a small Philips screwdriver with them?)
Erm, looks like tekdroid already said it so no point in belaboring the point that they are both backlit and both suck in sunlight, but the DS can function as a shield. There's a cheap 3rd party fliptop shield you can buy for the PSP that helps in the same way the clamshell design helps the DS, if you really needed it. The LCD response time on the PSP is nowhere near as bad as you make it out to be (improved on the slim however) and let us not pretend that DS screens don't have ghosting either. Quite a number of sites have reported on the quality of the DS screens and they WILL vary across the same product lines (some LCDs on DS lites have noticably more ghosting than others, and some have worse viewing angles). In the end, both Nintendo and Sony source their handheld LCDs from Sharp.
re: tekdroid
I believe what they were talking about is the PSPs highly-reflective screen, as compared to the DS screen, which is subset into the casing more and doesn't reflect light nearly as much (i.e. glare). While in the sun or other brightly lit areas, the DS can be viewed much more easily without having to tilt the unit around to compensate whereas the PSP is nigh unviewable in these situations.
Those of you complaining about the PSP battery life: you guys are aware that Sony released a higher capacity battery, right? The 2200 mah version extends the battery life by at least 2 hr over the 1800 mah version, depending on the content you're viewing. 4 hrs of play time still doesn't compare to DS, but it isn't too bad, considering the PSP's power and screen size.
Nice hardware, crappy game selection. Even with my PSP having modded firmware it collections dust. Every time I go to use the thing the battery is drained and I have to reset the clock and wait for it to charge before I can update firmware again just to try some new feature I will never use.
I loved the thing when it first came out, and I really never was a fan of Sony. I remember using it as an MP3 player for months before I started using an ipod.
"crappy game selection"
Disagreed. I own 41 PSP games. And that's more than I have for my flash-carted DS.
@Extinction:
You tell me you own a flash card for the DS but haven't hacked the PSP?? knowing you can do tons of stuff with it? LOL congratulations owning 41 PSP isos, but I bet you have a lot more of those. You deserve some kind of Sony rewards or something for buying so many games since you probably own at least 30 crappy ones.
That is one weird photo...
The next PSP in my opinion will overthrow Nintendo. Nintendo fans are realizing that nintendo games are becoming shallow repeats, while sony and microsoft are stealing away the creative video game realm. The Wii was great when it was new, but as time wears on, the Wii and DS will prove to be nothing but repetetive and bland.
If they hire Dark Alex for their next PSP2, you can bet they will ship at least 50 million again.
I like my DS... :D
Whooooo cares. Converge already, I'm sick of carrying around 5+ devices. But I'm done with Sony anyway, so I'm just being a curmudgeon here.