PSP Games Not Selling in Japan

[if76]

Gamespot (http://www.gamespot.com) is reporting that sales of PSP games in japan are quite poor (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/06/03/news_6126940.html) compared to those of DS games.

For the week of May 23 to 29, only four PSP games remain in the complete top 50 sales ranking charts of Media Create and Dengeki Online, and none cracked the top 20. ... On the other hand, six Nintendo DS titles ranked in the top 20 of the two sales charts, three of them being different editions of Nintendogs.
I think PSP should have stuck with cartridges in order to get >4 hour battery life. But then we wouldn't have UMD movies! Oh no!

[Royal Fool]

It was only a brief burst of increased sales, the DS has now slumped back down to a level equal to the PS2 and PSP. Still, nice performance.

To be honest, there isn't a lot of exciting software coming to the PSP or the DS right now, at least not over in Japan. In my opinion of course.

[Dirty Harry]

Remeber this is the country that has sold thousands of those sony robot dogs......

[hideouslywrinkled]

I'm sure the sales will pick up as soon as there are games worth buying.

It's sad if you think about it, many of us were willing to buy a PSP on the assumption that eventually there would be good content.

To me, the PSP has felt like the first few months of life for the N64. Lots of potential... no games.

[Metal Jesus]

I own and love my PSP, and I'm not too worried about it. There are a bunch of games coming out this fall for the PSP that look very good:

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty Cities Stories
SOCOM
Burnout Legends
Star Wars: BattleFront II
Tomb Raider: Legend
Frantix
Mortal Kombat

...just to name a few.

[gracenote]

The UMD movie thing is quite pointless in my opinion. For that size of screen Sony would have been smarter to just allow downloading of some DRMed up movie straight to a PC or a memory stick. That is how they could have still used cartridges. It has always bothered me that if I wanted to watch a movie on my PSP, I either got to rip it myself (right or wrong), or spend twice as much on a movie that I only want to watch once anyway, and can't watch on my regular TV or laptop. I have a hunch that UMD movies are going to be a huge bust. No stats to back that up, just opinion.

[sTubbs]

In my opinion, one of the things that will keep the PSP going is the surprisingly large hacking / modding / content community that has sprung up. The number of interesting independent projects are promising to say the least. I feel that I will eventually have to break down and buy a PSP for myself - probably after the first price drop.

[manu_pkp]

I have a hunch that UMD movies are going to be a huge bust. No stats to back that up, just opinion.

For example:
(UMD versions of) Resident Evil 2 and House of the Flying Daggers have sold 100,000 copies each.

http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000737044553/

[Chandler]

The reason why UMD movies are doing so well is its so freaking hard to put movies on Microsoft's portable media players. Converting a DVD so that a Creative Zen Media player can play it takes hours.

There was a niche of people who wanted movies on the go, Sony filled it.

[Royal Fool]

For example:
(UMD versions of) Resident Evil 2 and House of the Flying Daggers have sold 100,000 copies each.

Oh man, that makes me sad.

[Borys]

Oh man, that makes me sad.

But it's true.

DS games sales > UMD movies > PSP movies

Mind boggling.

I seriously fear for PS3 sales now :( If a DS can beat PSP think what 360 can do to PS3.

[if76]

I seriously fear for PS3 sales now :( If a DS can beat PSP think what 360 can do to PS3.

What?...What? I really don't know what logic you're using to base this premonition on. I guess if PSP proved to you that sony isn't invinsible, this statement makes sense. I really dont' see alot in common with the DSvsPSP battle and the X360vsPS3 battle. The DS and PSP are very very different while the X360 and PS3 are virtually identical.

Now if you meant to say PS3 vs. Revolution I can see where you're coming from.

[KDups]

I seriously fear for PS3 sales now If a DS can beat PSP think what 360 can do to PS3.

This is a joke, right? It's a $250 portable system with a rather limited selection of $30-$50 games. I could barely justify buying one, imagine Joe Nongamer.

This says nothing about the console market.

[kizke]

What?...What? I really don't know what logic you're using to base this premonition on. I guess if PSP proved to you that sony isn't invinsible, this statement makes sense. I really dont' see alot in common with the DSvsPSP battle and the X360vsPS3 battle. The DS and PSP are very very different while the X360 and PS3 are virtually identical.

Now if you meant to say PS3 vs. Revolution I can see where you're coming from.

Yeah...I'm kind of with if76 on this.

And honestly, you'd have to be a little ignorant not to realize that Sony came out on top by getting third party licenses (they can't make a decent game in-house to save their life) while manufacturing shoddy hardware that has lots of gimmicks.

Bear in mind that three of those DS games are Nintendogs, too. :P Those wacky Japanese...

[bapenguin]

Everyone was knocking on the battery life of the PSP...but I"ve found it to be quite decent. On my 3rd full charge I got about 7 hours of gameplay on it, including watching abit of spiderman 2.

They do need some more games now, even though Sony had a solid launch, there's been little after that...

[Borys]

What?...What? I really don't know what logic you're using to base this premonition on. I guess if PSP proved to you that sony isn't invinsible, this statement makes sense. I really dont' see alot in common with the DSvsPSP battle and the X360vsPS3 battle. The DS and PSP are very very different while the X360 and PS3 are virtually identical.

Now if you meant to say PS3 vs. Revolution I can see where you're coming from.

It only makes sense if you thought that people will buy everything made by Sony (I thought that).

Looks like the Playstation brand isn't as tough as I thought it was.

Remember the believers saying PSP will steamroll over last-gen, inferior, "you know, for kids!" DS?

[Blade]

Also, remember that the PSP's battery is eminently upgradable.

Those 4 hours could turn into 8+ hours with a simple purchase.

[if76]

Also, remember that the PSP's battery is eminently upgradable.

Those 4 hours could turn into 8+ hours with a simple purchase.

Ok this may be true but the question is does a portable gaming system really need such a large media format as the UMD? Since the screen is much smaller compared to a TV or computer monitor you really don't need to use up space with high-resolution textures. If you absolutely must have FMV in your games the fact that the screen is relatively low-res means that with compression you can get your movies down to a pretty small size. All the PSP games I've seen so far could easily fit on a DS-sized cartridge. Not only would this considerably increase battery life but it would also virtually eliminate load times, something the average play-on-the-go portable game could really do without. After playing San Andreas I dread to think of the loading times a PSP GTA could have.

[Rirath]

Japan buys a billion copies of Nintendogs. Who really cares what tops their sales charts? Hot Shots Golf has been selling fine over there, as well as a good deal of other titles. It's pointless to expect the PSP to dethrone Nintendo overnight. The PSP is winning developer support from all the major sources, it's selling fine, and it's doing fine.

[kizke]

Japan buys a billion copies of Nintendogs. Who really cares what tops their sales charts? Hot Shots Golf has been selling fine over there, as well as a good deal of other titles. It's pointless to expect the PSP to dethrone Nintendo overnight. The PSP is winning developer support from all the major sources, it's selling fine, and it's doing fine.

And is that a good thing?

I for one don't want to spend exorbitant prices on a handheld. And I don't think Sony coming in and dominating the market would be good for the games industry.

[Hellstorm]

But it's true.

DS games sales > UMD movies > PSP movies

Mind boggling.

I seriously fear for PS3 sales now :( If a DS can beat PSP think what 360 can do to PS3.

or what Rev will do to both. :o

[Hellstorm]

It was only a brief burst of increased sales, the DS has now slumped back down to a level equal to the PS2 and PSP. Still, nice performance.

To be honest, there isn't a lot of exciting software coming to the PSP or the DS right now, at least not over in Japan. In my opinion of course.

That "brief" burst was long enough to propel the DS past the PSP in total units sold this year. And let's take a look at last weeks sales charts from the land of the rising sun:

01 PS2 NAMCO × CAPCOM 87,000 [87,000]
02 PS2 Tear Ring Saga ~Berwick Saga~ 85,000 [85,000]
03 NDS SD Gundam Generations DS 53,000 [53,000]
04 NDS Brain Training for Adults 48,000 [90,000]
05 PS2 Racing battle -C1 GRAND PRIX- 39,000 [39,000]
06 PS2 Iris Aria Eternal Mana 2 37,000 [37,000]
07 PS2 Semi- ripening hero 4 33,000 [33,000]
08 PS2 Yu Yu Hakusho FOREVER 20,000 [100,000]
09 GC Metroid Prime 2 16,000 [16,000]
10 PS2 Romancing Saga 14,000 [379,000]


7 PS2 games
2 DS games
1 GC game
0 PSP
0 Xbox

Wow, quite the comeback by PSP.

Hehe. Remember when someone said the DS offers anything anyone would buy it for. LOL.

[zsears]

or what Rev will do to both. :o
Ha, I will believe it when I see it.

[31 Flavas]

Yup, evil has made some choice quotes regarding the DS. That it 'Doesn't offer anything at all that anyone would want' or something along those lines. And that the "Please mommie" factor would have the PSP steam rolling the DS and GBA.

Whoops....

[Kamalot]

It was only a brief burst of increased sales, the DS has now slumped back down to a level equal to the PS2 and PSP. Still, nice performance.

I believe you are referring to the sales of the hardware, which indeed has dropped down to a level close to that of the PS2.

PSP software sales are quite low indeed.

[AspectVoid]

And yet another article to bring out the annoying fanboys. Sheesh, this is getting more annoying by the day. People, systems don't hit their stride until AT LEAST a year to two years after launch. So just relax and quit fighting over this pointless stuff.

[TrackZero]

Also, remember that the PSP's battery is eminently upgradable.

Those 4 hours could turn into 8+ hours with a simple purchase.

Technically, so is the DS battery, FYI.

[KamenGamer]

I think PSP should have stuck with cartridges in order to get >4 hour battery life. But then we wouldn't have UMD movies! Oh no!

I certainly get much more than 4hrs on my PSP. I regularly play Ridge Racer and on a fully charged battery, I can play RR easily for 7 hrs (though not in one sitting :D ). I only charge my battery after it's been fully drained so I don't know if that affects my battery's charge.

[31 Flavas]

And yet another article to bring out the annoying fanboys. Sheesh, this is getting more annoying by the day. People, systems don't hit their stride until AT LEAST a year to two years after launch. So just relax and quit fighting over this pointless stuff.I dunno how long was the Game Gear around? The lynx and Nomad certainly weren't around very long at all. And didn't the N-gadge hit its stride BEFORE being released?

[mister_slim]

This is way too early to be complaining about low PSP game sales. Give it some time. It still hasn't launched in Europe, for fuck's sake. The more interesting thing is how well the DS software is doing considering the size of its install base.

[TrainwreckX]

I own and love my PSP, and I'm not too worried about it. There are a bunch of games coming out this fall for the PSP that look very good:

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty Cities Stories
SOCOM
Burnout Legends
Star Wars: BattleFront II
Tomb Raider: Legend
Frantix
Mortal Kombat

...just to name a few.

And to my knowlege GTA, MK, SOCOM, and Battlefront don't sell well in Japan, though they do fine here.

But compare that list to upcomming DS titles

Metroid Prime Hunters
Mario and Luigi 2
New Mario Brothers
Mario Kart DS Online
Final Fantasy III
Animal Crossing DS Online
Metroid Pinball
Nintendogs (3 different games)
Castlevania DS
Goldeneye: Rouge Agent (which I thought would be dumb and played awesome at E3)
Kirby: Canvas Curse
Bomberman DS
Meteos
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory

All of those come out this year, and those last 5 come out this month. In addition, a few titles were announced a few weeks ago that will probably be out sometime next year, including

A new zelda game
A new Mario RPG game
A new 2D metroid (BTW can somebody link me to that Game Informer scan with all those new DS games)


Japan buys a billion copies of Nintendogs. Who really cares what tops their sales charts? Hot Shots Golf has been selling fine over there, as well as a good deal of other titles. It's pointless to expect the PSP to dethrone Nintendo overnight. The PSP is winning developer support from all the major sources, it's selling fine, and it's doing fine.

The PSP is winning developer support from all the major sources? Rockstar Games is not "all the major sources." Who else are they winning from Nintendo, please, share with us.

[AspectVoid]

I dunno how long was the Game Gear around? The lynx and Nomad certainly weren't around very long at all. And didn't the N-gadge hit its stride BEFORE being released?

The NGage was a rotten design with bad games. It doesn't really compare to the PSP or DS. The NGage should have been marketed to the cell phone community (and not been built like a taco), not the gaming community. Add to the fact that the NGage ads were rather insulting (IMO at least) and its not helped at all.

The Game Gear was too far ahead of its time. The gaming demographic back then was both different and younger then it is now. Remember, back then gaming was a geek thing. It really wasn't until the Playstation that gaming started going mainstream and higher end systems started to get light. The NeoGeo console fell for the same reason, too expensive for its time. A Game Gear these days would have a pretty good shot at taking a nice chunk of the handheld market, I think.

The Lynx and Nomad fell more to lack of support and poor advertising then anything else. I never saw either system taken seriously anywhere. The DS and PSP both are getting solid support, though I think the PSP is on top in terms of advertising. When I have my father (who's in his 60s and hasn't looked at a game since the early 80s) asking me about the PSP, that tells me the advertising is out there in full gear. As for support, at e3, there were 70 or 80 titles for each system, which to me means some solid support.

None of this really matters to fanboys though. They let their blind fanaticism drive them forward to shred anyone who doesn't agree with their view. Seriously, a system with this level of support can't have people screaming "FAILURE!" three months after release.

I admit, though, I find it VERY amusing to watch all of the fanboys jump on news from Japan. Why don't they trash the X-box since it sold like utter crap in Japan, too. Oh, wait, could it be because for their personal taste the X-box is a good system, and it has a fairly solid US install base?

Do you see how ridiculous this whole thing is?

[AspectVoid]

And to my knowlege GTA, MK, SOCOM, and Battlefront don't sell well in Japan, though they do fine here.

But compare that list to upcomming DS titles

Metroid Prime Hunters
Mario and Luigi 2
New Mario Brothers
Mario Kart DS Online
Final Fantasy III
Animal Crossing DS Online
Metroid Pinball
Nintendogs (3 different games)
Castlevania DS
Goldeneye: Rouge Agent (which I thought would be dumb and played awesome at E3)
Kirby: Canvas Curse
Bomberman DS
Meteos
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory



It's a matter of personal taste. The only game on that list that holds any interest for me is Final Fantasy 3. The rest of the games are all from series that I don't like except for Nintendogs. And since I have a real dog, I don't need a virtual one, do I? Oh, and I don't like puzzle games, either.

[drk421]

Meteos is damned awesome, the most addictive puzzle game I've played since Tetris.

[31 Flavas]

None of this really matters to fanboys though. They let their blind fanaticism drive them forward to shred anyone who doesn't agree with their view. Seriously, a system with this level of support can't have people screaming "FAILURE!" three months after release.Well, you know the saying, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall." But, perhaps, that's just me being overly cynical...

I admit, though, I find it VERY amusing to watch all of the fanboys jump on news from Japan. Why don't they trash the X-box since it sold like utter crap in Japan, too. Oh, wait, could it be because for their personal taste the X-box is a good system, and it has a fairly solid US install base?

Do you see how ridiculous this whole thing is?Oh geez, you've got that right. I don't come here for the brilliant converstation or hard hitting news. I come here to be entertained.

[Kamalot]

This is way too early to be complaining about low PSP game sales. Give it some time. It still hasn't launched in Europe, for fuck's sake.This is Sony's own fault. We should measure the market as it stands. If Sony can't get their act together to launch in Europe with units that have working screens (no dead pixels) then they only have themselves to blame.

6 months after the console's release? That's plenty of time for an analysis of trends.

[Hellstorm]

This is Sony's own fault. We should measure the market as it stands. If Sony can't get their act together to launch in Europe with units that have working screens (no dead pixels) then they only have themselves to blame.

6 months after the console's release? That's plenty of time for an analysis of trends.


Yes, I mean Sony declared the console war over at the E3 that saw the debut of the GC and the Xbox. I remember that powerpoint slide like it was yesterday.

I think Nintendo can get a powerpoint slide and declare the handheld war as over already as well.

Also, don't think developers and publishers aren't taking notice of the PSP's inability to sell games and how well software does on the DS.

[mister_slim]

This is Sony's own fault. We should measure the market as it stands. If Sony can't get their act together to launch in Europe with units that have working screens (no dead pixels) then they only have themselves to blame.

6 months after the console's release? That's plenty of time for an analysis of trends.
Yes, but that analysis should be based on sales per unit, or some valid benchmark, not a top ten list. I mean, look at points of comparison: PS2 (huge install base), DS (double install base of the PSP), GBA (huge install base, and software is compatible with the DS). Not too many GBA games on that list. Let's not celebrate too soon. The DS is doing very well, yes, and that makes me happy, but the PSP is not dying. Sony does need to get their act together, because I'd give them 12-18 months before the next GB launches, which is going to cause them real problems.

[TrainwreckX]

[QUOTE=AspectVoid]As for support, at e3, there were 70 or 80 titles for each system, which to me means some solid support.QUOTE]

ROFL, where did you get 70 to 80? I saw MAYBE 30-40 DS games, but when I was in Sony's booth, I saw like 5 or 6 PSP games, and there were a few at EA and numerous other developers. You see, 70 to 80 is about as many games as you see on this list http://www.gamespot.com/psp/allgames.html, not not NEARLY all of those games were at E3.

Call me a Nintendo fanboy if you like, but I'm good enough to not make up numbers.

[Darkholmme]

The reason that Sony forced Americans to buy PSP's in bundles is precisely because they learned from the Japanese market.

This is not a recent development: in Japan, software sales are nowhere near on par with hardware sales for the PSP. There are enough other uses for the system that it seemed like many just did not need to think of it as a gaming system.

The downside to this is that it flies in the face of traditional Sony strategy: sell systems at a loss, and make up the difference in software sales. Since this is not happening, Sony is losing money hand over foot at a time of financial danger both from without and within. Funny that the PSP's main selling point, its multitude of functions, is also the reason for its ultimate unprofitability, no?

[Dracula-X]

Yet again, much ado about nothing. All consoles since the snes/sms days have had dry periods, with low software sales.

[Metal Jesus]

Fair enough...
...and yes, I also own a DS as well. That said, the DS hardware is not nearly as compelling. If a handful of these games turn out to be great, I will also pick them up.

You know what I use my PSP for mostly? Videos I download off the internet and reading the countless PSP formatted magazines:

http://pspmagazines.net/

Sure...I keep Hot Shots Golf in the drive bay and play it nearly every day, but the sheer amount of things you can do with the PSP is where the genious lies with the device. My 512 memory stick holds about 200 photos, 2 music CDs, saved sames and videos. It's amazing!

[Vandenh]

I think DS & PSP are doomed... they arrived just when handheld gaming is transforming. While the PSP is very sexy and powerful, it is just to big, to short battery and has bad mp3 support to sell for very long. And the DS suffers from bad software...

The mobile market is still very much GBA and increasingly mobile phones (especially in Japan). Nintendo has done well by announcing a GBA mini...

[Carnifex]

I only charge my battery after it's been fully drained so I don't know if that affects my battery's charge.
Depends on the battery type. Check out Battery University (http://www.batteryuniversity.com/).

[KeeBaud]

How much do sales in Japan reflect sales elsewhere? Japan has always seemed to me to be nuts crazy about Nintendo in the past. Besides, I would expect Nintendo games to sell quicker simply because of their demographic.

I don't think that the PSP will suffer the fate of older colour handhelds. The only gripe I have is with UMD movies. Dumb dumb dumb. IMHO they should have given full support for full rez MP4 off of memory stick and possibly offered DRM downloads of popular films.

[Kamalot]

I think PSP should have stuck with cartridges in order to get >4 hour battery life. But then we wouldn't have UMD movies! Oh no!Why couldn't they have sold movies on cartridges? Can't you get movies on GBA carts?

[netcraazzy]

Why couldn't they have sold movies on cartridges? Can't you get movies on GBA carts?

I think that the cost of the medium is one of the major motivating factors behind why Sony went with UMD. Discs, even proprietary ones are cheaper to make than cartridges and have a larger capacity. Sony learned that this could give them an advantage back in the N64 vs. Playstation days. Interesting that Nintendo's handhelds use cartridges and now Sony's handheld uses UMD discs. I'm not saying this is the ONLY reason but history has shown that discs have worked for Sony in the past so it's not surprising that they decided to go that route again.

[Pumped'Up]

Like a said at the PSP launch, the PSP is an over rated uselss proprietary pos. It won't last long unless better games start showing up and that Sony provides a better tools for the system.

[didragondi]

After E3 highlights, one of the things about the DS that interests me is the stylus and its ability to essentially duplicate mouse functions, such that strategy titles like age of empires and a shogun game are coming to the DS. I would say that opens a segment of the older market, such as myelf which usually would not buy a handheld.

[TrackZero]

I think DS & PSP are doomed... they arrived just when handheld gaming is transforming. While the PSP is very sexy and powerful, it is just to big, to short battery and has bad mp3 support to sell for very long. And the DS suffers from bad software...

The mobile market is still very much GBA and increasingly mobile phones (especially in Japan). Nintendo has done well by announcing a GBA mini...

Apparently you haven't been paying attention, so let me bring you back up to speed. The DS has a butt-load of new kickass looking titles shown at E3 for release soon, go find the list for yourself.

Secondly, if the GBA is still the dominant force as you claim, that still helps the DS, as my GBA games look better on it! Yeesh.

As for the mini, that's still the silliest thing I've ever seen. I can't contimplate who they think the target market is for it. But that's their problem, we'll see how well it does, but frankly, I don't give a damn. Now that developers are finally having their first DS games coming out, I'm a happy camper. As for the PSP, I hope it gets along well enough too, I have nothing against it (I'll probably get one down the road when the price is lower, it has a better battery, killer app games, etc).

[TrackZero]

Why couldn't they have sold movies on cartridges? Can't you get movies on GBA carts?

Yes, you definitely can. Since Nintendo using the new memory card format on the DS, they can be larger/better res as well. Though Sony's choie of their media is fairly standard to their console design.

Though as was pointed out, Sony went the optical route as it's what they're used to. It also stands by their policy of using larger media, which holds with most of the games designed for the PS2. It's easier to adapt a final fantasy game, for example, if you can still have tons of space for all those movie sequences. If that were to be taken away, it wouldn't be as easy to port games, also it would take away the defining factor of the PSP. Imagine the PSP uses the same game format as the DS, now suddenly you have a system that only has faster graphics hardware, but is obviously limited in it's controls compared to it's competition. It's simply not as interesting a unit in people's mind. UMD's space does give them some different capabilities thanks to the additional space (and negatives as well, power consumption and loading times).

Long story short, I still think it was a good idea from Sony's standpoint to use optical media, though it would have been smarter by far to make it an open format that people could make their own discs/mod. I don't think they realized that, unlike the N64 vs PSX situation, they needed to make a fast market grab by giving more features, instead they stuck to their proprietary setup. The portable market is NOT the console market. You need to make concessions for power consumption, which Sony did not. They thought their horsepower would simply allow them to dominate the market.

Though this can still change over time, if they can continue to lower the pricepoint, get that battery upgraded soon and release some great exclusive games, they can still come out of this "generation" with 15-20% of the market IMHO (still considering GBA as part of the market, not simply a DS versus PSP in market percentages).

Anyways, enough out of me, I'm sure I'll just get flamed for this (even though I tried to take a fair stance on the realities of the situation here).

[31 Flavas]

As for the mini, that's still the silliest thing I've ever seen. I can't contimplate who they think the target market is for it. But that's their problem, we'll see how well it does, but frankly, I don't give a damn.So you can't contimplate who the market for the new slimline PS2 is, either? You think Sony designed the PS2 slimline only to sell to existing customers? Not everyone will want a slimline PS2. Samething things apply to the GBA Micro. Belive it or not there are people who have not bought a GBA yet, GBA Micro just gives them a choice.

[TrackZero]

So you can't contimplate who the market for the new slimline PS2 is, either? You think Sony designed the PS2 slimline only to sell to existing customers? Not everyone will want a slimline PS2. Samething things apply to the GBA Micro. Belive it or not there are people who have not bought a GBA yet, GBA Micro just gives them a choice.

It's not the same thing as the PS2->PS2 Slim. PS2 Slim had a massive price drop and was also there for all those people who's original PS2s were finally dying. The GBA SP is as "complete" a version as one can really get (aside from the missing headphone jack). The micro has made the controls and screen even smaller. There's no price drop on it, it's to be the same cost as the SP, which is what's truly mind-boggling.

I'm sure there's some people out there this will appeal to, but it seems like a silly waste of time on Nintendos part, I can't imagine it growing the GBA market by more than 1-2%, they have better things they should be working on. As always, I might get proven wrong, but in this case, I doubt it.

[Kamalot]

PS2 Slim had a massive price drop and was also there for all those people who's original PS2s were finally dying.
PS2 slim had no price drop. Same price as regular PS2.
True that it was available for people whose PS2s were broken. That happens a lot. :-(

[TrainwreckX]

It's not the same thing as the PS2->PS2 Slim. PS2 Slim had a massive price drop and was also there for all those people who's original PS2s were finally dying. The GBA SP is as "complete" a version as one can really get (aside from the missing headphone jack). The micro has made the controls and screen even smaller. There's no price drop on it, it's to be the same cost as the SP, which is what's truly mind-boggling.

I'm sure there's some people out there this will appeal to, but it seems like a silly waste of time on Nintendos part, I can't imagine it growing the GBA market by more than 1-2%, they have better things they should be working on. As always, I might get proven wrong, but in this case, I doubt it.

PS2 slim had a massive price drop? You call $0 massive? Sony Fanboys to the rescue! Talking out of their ass one day at a time.

So I suppose you have a definite source that says the GBA micro will be the same price as the SP, don't you? Please, by all means, post it. Or are you just gonna be a coward like all the other Sony fanboys I've torn apart on EA for the last couple months.

[TrackZero]

PS2 slim had a massive price drop? You call $0 massive? Sony Fanboys to the rescue! Talking out of their ass one day at a time.

So I suppose you have a definite source that says the GBA micro will be the same price as the SP, don't you? Please, by all means, post it. Or are you just gonna be a coward like all the other Sony fanboys I've torn apart on EA for the last couple months.

Wow. Dude, this is so funny, I don't know where to begin. I'm definitely not a Sony fanboy. I don't own a single Sony console/portable. I don't like the way they do business. However, I'm willing to generally take a step back and evaluate them fairly. They're certainly not without some merit. I'm also a Nintendo fanboy if I'd be called anything, though again I try to take off my fanboy goggles and be impartial when I look at Nintendo. So all that being said, back to your points at hand.

I meant by the time the PS2 slim was out, it was a large price drop from the original PS2 when it was released. My mistake, I did word that wrong and I apologize.

Also, Nintendo themselves said the micro will most likely be priced in the same range as the SP (I believe I've read the comment on gamespot and I've also heard it on the G4 E3 coverage), but they had said the price is still not 100% confirmed. Though even if they knock off $20, it's not some magical saving grace for the device. Going back to what I was saying in the first place, I simply don't understand the market for the Micro that Nintendo is targetting.

Though re-reading your comment, I keep laughing, you totally assumed I was some Sony fanboy and acted as such, which I'm soooo not. Go check any thread on the gamecube or DS, you'll see me right in the thick of it, usually defending their design/business decisions/strategys. I just don't "get" the micro as I can't see any benefits to it over the SP (and some cons to it's design), but I hope they have a good go of it, it just doesn't make any sense at all to me.

[Kamalot]

I just don't "get" the micro as I can't see any benefits to it over the SP (and some cons to it's design), but I hope they have a good go of it, it just doesn't make any sense at all to me.

I didn't 'get' the GameBoy Micro either until I showed it to one of my co-workers. They flipped over it! They barely play any games but now they can't wait for the Micro cause it looks 'cool' and 'not geek'.

There is a huge audience that puts style above functionality. Just like there are more feature-rich MP3 players, iPod is king.

When I saw his face light up at the photos of the Micro, I knew Nintendo hit it right. Something that looked frivolous to me, to others is a must-have item.

[Kamalot]

Though this can still change over time, if they can continue to lower the pricepoint, get that battery upgraded soon and release some great exclusive games, they can still come out of this "generation" with 15-20% of the market IMHO (still considering GBA as part of the market, not simply a DS versus PSP in market percentages).

This sounds like a lot of work for things that could have been done right out of the gate.

So overall, what you are saying is the situation is salvageable for Sony to pull out this generation ond not call the PSP a failure but not without stepping up to the plate and addressing the issues?

Battery
Games
Price

I'd also put quality on the list as well as I'm not buying a system with so many free dead pixels.

Good points though.