DS and PSP tied in Sales?

[bapenguin]

Could the DS and PSP be a lot closer in sales than most people think? Next-Gen (http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1960&Itemid=2) thinks so.

Thus compares with Sony's October declaration of 10 million sold into retail a figure that has likely increased given hoq quickly units have sold thrrough in the West. In December, SCEA's Kaz Hirai claimed PSP's U.S installed base would be doubled over the peak Holiday season, to six million. If achieved, (and assuming all released figures are accurate) PSP's global figures may well be closer to matching DS's than ever before.
Now we get into the fact of whether or not that's sold through to the consumer or sold through to the retail shops. Where's the NPD (http://www.npd.com/) when you need them.

[Vandenh]

An article on Eurogamer had DS at 13M and PSP at 7M *sold* worldwide.

[Cool AN]

I have had this theory to, based on interviews and numbers from both companies.

[doyama]

No matter how you fudge the numbers, it's pretty obvious that the DS is doing better than the PSP. Though without Nintendogs and the "Brain" series, I think the numbers would have been more even, those games really came out of left field.

I think on both ends though, there needs to be much more compelling games to play. Nintendo has FINALLY caught up and started releasing their AAA gaming list onto the DS which is helping to propel it now (Mario Kart, Pokemon, etc). Sony needs to get their act together and get something worth playing on the PSP. I mean seriously its kinda ironic when the best game I have on my own PSP is Nethack! God I can play that forever :)

[Scaryboy]

Here's the current Japanese sales chart:
1. NDS Brain Training 2 414,556 NEW
2. NDS Animal Crossing DS 205,119 (1,382,228)
3. NDS Mario Kart DS 168,680 (836,478)
4. PS2 Kingdom Hearts 2 156,837 (884,428)
5. NDS Brain Training 153,189 (1,157,870)
6. PS2 Front Mission 5 146,209 NEW
7. NDS Mario & Luigi 2 132,726 NEW
8. NDS Gentle Brain Training 82,789 (935,535)
9. NDS Tamagotchi 63,433 (784,537)
10. NDS Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon: Blue Rescue Force 61,154 (572,858)

Maybe the hardware sales are similar but when it comes to software.. whew.

[Stormwatcher]

Wow, almost all Next Gen shit I read here sucks. Are they stupid? Nintendo Haters?

[thecrazyd]

Wow, almost all Next Gen shit I read here sucks. Are they stupid? Nintendo Haters?
I think they are just really stupid. Why do you and Evil read that crap, bap?

[AntB]

This is why I don't own a DS, games like {Brain Training 2, Animal Crossing DS, Mario Kart, Mario & Luigi 2 AND Tamagotchi!? AND Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon: Blue Rescue Force] don't really interest me all that much, they might my 7-13 year old peers.

I need something a little more mature, I had plenty of time to play these kind of games when I was younger and now I don't have a desire to.

[thecrazyd]

This is why I don't own a DS, games like {Brain Training 2, Animal Crossing DS, Mario Kart, Mario & Luigi 2 AND Tamagotchi!? AND Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon: Blue Rescue Force] don't really interest me all that much, they might my 7-13 year old peers.

I need something a little more mature, I had plenty of time to play these kind of games when I was younger and now I don't have a desire to.
More mature? Don't give me that crap. Stop stroking your cock and allow your self to have fun while playing games. Blood / violence / dark colors != mature.

[alienchild]

I'm boycotting Sony, so no PSP for me. Not that I care though, I love my DS, although I have to agree that it does lack some "mature" games. Resident Evil will rock, even if its a remake.

[AniAko]

I'm holding out for the Gizmondo sales......

[Reanimated]

NPD says that the PSP had sold through 2.5 Million units in North America through the end of November.

Since the US is the largest gaming market by far, I'd say that the PSP has nowhere near the sell through numbers of the DS.

It all goes back to games. GAMES sell systems. The DS is a fantastic GAMING device, while the PSP is... well... it has a nice screen for watching overpriced cropped movies that you already own on DVD...

[see colon]

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6141960.html
DS sells well, sells out?
Sales exceed 13.5 million worldwide; Nintendo may be struggling to keep enough units in Japanese channel.
sony has shipped 10 million units worldwide, nintendo has sold though 13.5. assuming every PSP they shipped has sold through, nintendo is still up by 1/3 more units.

in the US alone, however, the PSP and the DS are pretty close. 300k units of so in favor of the DS last time i checked.

[boratika]

This is why I don't own a DS, games like {Brain Training 2, Animal Crossing DS, Mario Kart, Mario & Luigi 2 AND Tamagotchi!? AND Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon: Blue Rescue Force] don't really interest me all that much, they might my 7-13 year old peers.

I need something a little more mature, I had plenty of time to play these kind of games when I was younger and now I don't have a desire to.

bran trianing is teh khiddy shit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[see colon]

i'm currently boycotting the words "mature", "innovation", and "non-stop creature action violence". although, "non-stop creature action violence" does slip out every once and a while.

[lewsid]

I'm pleased with my decision to get the PSP. Having a GameFly account works out well - no having to waste money on sub-par releases, and they have the entire movie library (which is now huge). GTA:LCS has kept me pretty occupied lately and I can't effin' wait until Katamari gets released sometime in the next few months. Not to mention Metal Gear: Solid is now on the horizon somewhere.

What the PSP really needs at this point is some high(er) quality games, something original. RPG's need to happen. There's a turn-based war game coming out soon as well, but I have my doubts about it being as good as Advance Wars (GBA). We'll see how it goes. I'm not a big fan of the DS, but I will not deny that the game line-up should make Sony more than a little worried. Not to mention the online RPG Nintendo is supposedly working on. And Zelda. And Pokemon. And Advance Wars.

My fingers are crossed for the next round of PSP releases. Hopefully Sony is getting the picture and starting to figure out that PSP owners don't just want hastily ported games and a large list of movies, we need a few super-high quality games that will keep us happy.

Whatever. There's always homebrew.

[jacktion]

Here is a story saying the PSP had sold around 2.7 mil in North America as of Dec.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Handheld_Game_Sales.html

Nintendo has sold 13 million worldwide.
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/01/05/nintendo-ds-sales-near-13-million/

Lots of sites are reporting that Sony has sold 10 million but actually they have only shipped 10 million units, of which most sit on shelves judging by sales figures.
http://psp.joystiq.com/2005/10/21/psp-hits-10-million-units-shipped-worldwide/

So, just to review, Sony has sold 2.7 mil in America as of last month. They have sold less than that in japan. Their CEO about a month ago said that they were going to sell a lot over the holidays, so this story is just assuming that that happened? When you add it up Sony's known sales are about 5 or 6 million? Versus Nintendo's conservatively assessed 13 million? So Nintendo has almost triple the sales (and they are usually modest in their numbers, while we all know Sony lies through its teeth about their numbers) and yet every website is copy and pasting this story that they are neck and neck? That is stupid. Sorry to be blunt.

[netcraazzy]

If Sony would just get some good games they'd have me as a customer for sure. I love the PSP hardware but not the games. On the flip side I love Nintendo's games but not their hardware.

[Selar]

This compares with Sony's October declaration of 10 million units sold into retail. A figure that has likely increased given how quickly units have sold [snip] in the West. In December, SCEA's Kaz Hirai claimed the PSP's U.S installed base would double over the peak Holiday season. This would bring the install base up to six million. If achieved, [snip] the PSP's global figures may well be closer to [snip] the DS's than ever before.

There we go. Much better. Now I can work at Next-Gen!

As for the actual PSP sales amount, this article doesn't really help either. It specifically says (poorly) "10 million sold into retail" meaning shipped.


I'm pleased with my decision to get the PSP. Having a GameFly account works out well - no having to waste money on sub-par releases, and they have the entire movie library (which is now huge).

I hate to tell you this, but all your doing is trying to justify your purchase. If the releases are so poor that your happy to not have paid for them, then that's not really a shining endorsement. And most people don't care about the movie library. Who wants to watch a two-hour movie on a tiny screen? The PSP is supposed to be a portable gaming platform. It's what it was advertised as and what it was sold as. If Sony wanted to put out a video Walkman, they should have called it such, instead of a Playstation Portable. The movies should have been a nice additional feature, not the main focus (which if you go to the PSP wall in your gaming store, seems to be the case).

[lewsid]

I hate to tell you this, but all your doing is trying to justify your purchase. If the releases are so poor that your happy to not have paid for them, then that's not really a shining endorsement. And most people don't care about the movie library. Who wants to watch a two-hour movie on a tiny screen? The PSP is supposed to be a portable gaming platform. It's what it was advertised as and what it was sold as. If Sony wanted to put out a video Walkman, they should have called it such, instead of a Playstation Portable. The movies should have been a nice additional feature, not the main focus (which if you go to the PSP wall in your gaming store, seems to be the case).

Aren't I allowed to justify any purchase I make? I mean, what's the point in spending a few hundred dollars on something if you have no justification for doing so? And as far as watching movies on the PSP, I can understand the small screen argument. However, I travel quite a bit and find it a convenience; being able to rent a movie and send it back is quite nice. I will not deny that the movie library is not as important as the game library - perhaps I should have made that more clear.

However, to ignore the PSP game library as it currently stands is a bit rash. I understand it's the opinion of some, but certainly not my own. There is no denying the superiority of DS game quantity and quality at the moment, but I don't think Lumines, Metal Gear Acid, Wipeout Pure, Burnout Legends, GTA:LCS, Socom, and the soon-to-be-released (in the US) Katamari Damacy are terrible games. In fact, I've played all of them and numerous others (with the exception of KD) and have to say that I'm pleased. I'm still sorta floored how well GTA plays on the little system. I've always been a fan of Nintendo games and Nintendo hardware, but even with Sony's limited offerings up until now I still prefer it to the DS without question.

I also want to make a point real quick about the movies being the main focus for the PSP in the game stores. I remember when the PS2 first came out this was a similar issue. For months nothing much outside the initial launch titles were released and EB and other gaming joints had entire walls of DVDs to try to maintain interest in the console. Considering the PS2 is now a very accomplished system, I have no doubt that Sony will pull through and do the same again with the PSP, especially given their focus on it at recent gaming conventions.

[Royal Fool]

The PSP is supposed to be a portable gaming platform. It's what it was advertised as and what it was sold as. If Sony wanted to put out a video Walkman, they should have called it such, instead of a Playstation Portable. The movies should have been a nice additional feature, not the main focus (which if you go to the PSP wall in your gaming store, seems to be the case).

Well, I agree that the PlayStation brand name on the PSP does imply that it's a games machine. However, let's not forget that the PSX could play your music CDs... and the PS2 could play DVDs. The PSP is marketed as an all-around multimedia device - or at least in Europe (http://www.yourpsp.com/psp/psp.html#locale=en_gb&section=homepage&setlocale=true).

[Raven_payne]

At this point I see the DS like this a portable gaming platform stright out it can do a little more then that but Nintendo made sure to keep games the main focus and on the other hand Sony was making a multimedia device there is no main focus with that infact I'm almost more then sure the most of the memory used for peoples PSP is on music and MP3 movie clips.

For a long time I was thinking about selling my PSP because of the lack of good games. The system's main media that was appealig to me (as a gamer) was the games but the PSP not only appealed to gamers but also tech geeks and the "trendy" hipsters of the world it dosen't come as that much of a suprise to me that the sales are equal because Sony is targetting a larger more general range of consumers.

[51|RandoM]

This is why I don't own a DS, games like {Brain Training 2, Animal Crossing DS, Mario Kart, Mario & Luigi 2 AND Tamagotchi!? AND Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon: Blue Rescue Force] don't really interest me all that much, they might my 7-13 year old peers.

I need something a little more mature, I had plenty of time to play these kind of games when I was younger and now I don't have a desire to.

if anttripz was more than a troll, he'd realize that the appeal of the braintraining games is to the adult segment...

On the other hand, I can see why he'd want to avoid anything with braintraining in it, LOL.

Remember, "mature game" is an oxymoron when it comes to videogames.

[51|RandoM]

Well, I agree that the PlayStation brand name on the PSP does imply that it's a games machine. However, let's not forget that the PSX could play your music CDs... and the PS2 could play DVDs. The PSP is marketed as an all-around multimedia device - or at least in Europe (http://www.yourpsp.com/psp/psp.html#locale=en_gb&section=homepage&setlocale=true).


Yeah, and do you think sony would be the leader of the market if the psx library at your local gamestore was 90 percent music cds?

How about if the PS2 library at your local gamestore was 90 percent DVD movies?

The media features of these devices are nice "extras". When instead of being a nice "extra" and start being the only draw of the hardware, there is a serious problem, imho.

[see colon]

the difference being that the PSX and PS2 could play media from an existing standard. DVD's and CD's had been on sale for years before those systems hit the market. with the PSP, sony is selling UMD music and UMD movies. the saving grace for PSP has (and will continue to be) it's flash memory drive. without it there would be no homebrew, EMU, or personal media (unprotected audio/video).

[CapnBob]

At this point I see the DS like this a portable gaming platform stright out it can do a little more then that but Nintendo made sure to keep games the main focus and on the other hand Sony was making a multimedia device there is no main focus with that infact I'm almost more then sure the most of the memory used for peoples PSP is on music and MP3 movie clips.

For a long time I was thinking about selling my PSP because of the lack of good games. The system's main media that was appealig to me (as a gamer) was the games but the PSP not only appealed to gamers but also tech geeks and the "trendy" hipsters of the world it dosen't come as that much of a suprise to me that the sales are equal because Sony is targetting a larger more general range of consumers.

ow ow OW OW OW OW! Please use a period every once in awhile!

[Hellstorm]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/Torch_31/edit3.png

[AniAko]

...pic...

LOL!!! Reggie's gonna rough all you BigN haters up! lol

[vivafletcher]

I guess I'm a pretty simple gamer. I just want a good looking system with games that are fun to play. I've played the DS and I don't really need the "innovation" of an extra screen. It gets in the way more than it helps anything. I've also played the PSP and was impressed at how great it looked and played. But I don't want to watch movies on it and there aren't many games to justify paying $250 for it. A PSP system with Nintendo's price point and game selection would be excellent-- and impossible, I know.

So I'll keep playing my GBA. Once screen, good price, fun games.

[holycrapper]

only game i have played for any amount of time on my friends psp is lumines

[bobster]

Most recent japanese console sales from magicbox

Japanese hardware sales for the week of Dec 26, 2005 to Jan 1, 2006: [Year to Date]

Nintendo DS - 390,181 [4,151,356] units
PSP - 110,741 [2,225,810] units
PlayStation 2 - 78,646 [1,968,846] units
GameBoy Advance SP - 15,998 [696,263] units
GameCube - 12,579 [273,180] units
Xbox 360 - 12,300 [70,567] units
GameBoy Micro - 11,234 [415,088] units
GameBoy Advance - 447 [25,407] units
Xbox - 121 [12,405] units

Adding 0.5 million units for the PSP in 2004 and 1.45 million for the DS in japan, the installed base in japan is about 2.68 million for the PSP and 5.6 million for the DS, so approximately 1:2.

http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm

[bobbler]

The usa and europe numbers are much much closer for PSP and DS. Japan is rather an anomaly than the norm, actually.

In NA the PSP actually has beat the DS in software sales, even though it has sold a few less units (PSP is a little bit past 4m units in the US). The 10m unit sales are probably pretty accurate -- the major difference between PSP and DS sales are in japan, where it has a ~2.5m unit lead... the other territories they are within a couple hundred thousand units of each other.

I wouldn't say they are tied worldwide, but everywhere except japan they are doing equally well (the western markets software sales for psp are doing very well, but japan's software sales make up for that and then some). The UK, for example, has PSP beating DS by a small margin, even though the DS has been out there quite a bit longer (around 790k to 800k units).

Regardless, it doesn't matter so much as both are doing well enough that they'll prosper for a long time to come.

[Nintendo Revolution]

As far as I'm concerned, thats a bunch of bullshit. If numbers are going to be given, they should be given in uniform. At my local GameStop, they still have 30 PSPs in the back, so what does that say? Well, the holidays are over and only about 20 of them sold throughout the entire december month. Now these PSPs sitting in the back until at least March...

So if it's anything like that in other stores (this is a high volume mall store), Sony has shipped a lot out to retail, and sold a fraction of them. It just doesn't make any damn sense why they base their numbers on units shipped to retail. Its just false hype.

And it's bullshit for obscure news sites to try to make it seem like Sony is doing much better than they really are.

[bobbler]

Go look for the NPD numbers.

And your little story is called anecdotal evidence. I know more people who got PSP's in december than I do that got DS', and I know more people overall with PSP's -- that's more anecdotal evidence, it doesn't mean anything.

Let's not be stupid, okay?

[Hellstorm]

The usa and europe numbers are much much closer for PSP and DS. Japan is rather an anomaly than the norm, actually.

In NA the PSP actually has beat the DS in software sales, even though it has sold a few less units (PSP is a little bit past 4m units in the US). The 10m unit sales are probably pretty accurate -- the major difference between PSP and DS sales are in japan, where it has a ~2.5m unit lead... the other territories they are within a couple hundred thousand units of each other.

I wouldn't say they are tied worldwide, but everywhere except japan they are doing equally well (the western markets software sales for psp are doing very well, but japan's software sales make up for that and then some). The UK, for example, has PSP beating DS by a small margin, even though the DS has been out there quite a bit longer (around 790k to 800k units).

Regardless, it doesn't matter so much as both are doing well enough that they'll prosper for a long time to come.


By software you mean UMD movies right? Because that is the only thing the PSP has that outsells anything on the DS. Of course the DS would need UMD movies as well, but these things called games always seem to get in the way of that.

[bobbler]

By software you mean UMD movies right? Because that is the only thing the PSP has that outsells anything on the DS. Of course the DS would need UMD movies as well, but these things called games always seem to get in the way of that.

Actually, I think it only beat the DS in YTD software sales (meaning DS still wins) -- misread it. Regardless, it's still doing fine (GTA:LCS helped).

[Sl1pstream]

As far as I'm concerned, thats a bunch of bullshit. If numbers are going to be given, they should be given in uniform. At my local GameStop, they still have 30 PSPs in the back, so what does that say? Well, the holidays are over and only about 20 of them sold throughout the entire december month. Now these PSPs sitting in the back until at least March...

Same goes for the store I work at. We have about 11 more PSPs ready to be sold, the other stores (3) in the mall have about the same amount. Up until the Christmas period, they didn't sell that well either.

[Kelegacy]

I had a buddy come over last night and try out my new DS with Mario Kart. He's as casual a gamer as can be expected (Madden lover, likes...I don't know what else, really) and was surprised by the graphics on the little machine. Casual gamers usually follow pretty graphics solely, but for a guy like him to say something like that, it says a lot.

Mario Kart is so goddamn fun that it's worth a DS alone. I am a little scared about the future releases besides Metroid Hunters, so I'll probably end up with this handheld that I play to death in the coming months but leave it collecting dust until the fall releases hit. By then a redesign will have been announced and shown and I'll be pissy and throwing tantrums that I bought this one instead of the new comfortable version.

Blood, spit and ashes!