The PSP has been out since 2005, but developers are only now beginning to realise what makes a good game for PSP, admits the PSP marketing boss.
Talking of the recent good fortunes for PSP, Sony's John Koller said: "developers and publishers are now just starting to see what the keys to success are on the PSP.
John Koller: "We've talked about the PSP being a 10 year product, but a 10 year product in the continued... how can I put this... in the continued lifecycle, so we obviously had the 1000, we have the 2000, so the PSP as it was first launched in March 2005 isn't going to the be the PSP that it ends up as in 10 years"
I am really, really interested to hear how John Koller arrived at the "85% up" figure. I have the NPD data, but could not figure out how he can get "85% up over last april" from them.
According to John Koller, Sony's PSP senior marketing manager, US sales of PSP are up 85 per cent over last April. The console's price cut and new streamlined design has helped the company target a whole new demographic – namely the teenage consumer rather than the 20-something one – and users are adopting PSP for internet browsing on the move, listening to music and watching videos.
Sony recently released an updated version of the PSP which has accelerated sales. They could certainly do it again in the future as sales slow down. They are also tying in better ways to view media on the device which can add sales in the future. Who knows if they will even have to release a totally new portable console that replaces the PSP entirely. If they don't, the lifetime sales could certainly hit 60 million...but I do think the console stocks have been drifting upward uncontrollably.
i'm not much of a console lifetime sales predictor nor have I really followed the trends.
But if 30 million is sold thus far, is 60 million feasible? don't sales decline over time? at 3 years currently, how long do you think it will be till sony releases a new handheld?
Based on our forecasts, the PSP is about to reach its half life point in terms of sales. This is believable if we assume Sony will continue to release updated PSP machines that still count under our PSP stock.
To think that over 30 million PSP’s are floating out there somewhere is quite a thought. The resent jump in hardware sales is most likely due to the resent release of Final Fantasy: Crisis Core and God of War: Chains of Olympus. The sales figures will jump even more when Monster Hunter 2nd G gets released worldwide. I did however expect Japan to have the majority of PSP console sales but to my surprise America came out as the victor with 12 million sales versus the 8 million from Japan.
Piracy is ruining the PSP. Although quality titles continue to come out on the handheld, many have been wondering: where are the software sales? Rlan from NeoGAF took a look at just one torrent site and found the number of downloads of PSP games to be absolutely disgusting.
According to Video Business, Wal-Mart has been exclusively offering six Sony catalog titles that come loaded with a digital copy for playback on the PSP, PS3 and the PC. "The embedded copies-within Blood & Chocolate, Bobby Z, The Contractor, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and Wind Chill-all expire within three to six months of going on sale at Wal-Mart."
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