PSP "biggest disappointment" of 2010

By Fred Dutton Published 9 November, 2010

Retailer: Halo: Reach "biggest surprise".

Sony's PSP strategy has been the biggest let-down of the year, according to top US games retailer GameStop.

Senior VP of merchandising and marketing Bob McKenzie told Eurogamer, "If I were to pick a disappointment the only thing would be looking at the number of titles that have launched on the PSP format compared to the prior year.

"I think Sony did a great job two years ago in terms of coming out with a pretty good line-up of PSP offerings and I didn't see that breadth of titles this year. And it's still pretty meaningful to consumers."

Time for the PSP2 then? We couldn't draw McKenzie to comment but rumours have been flying around for the last couple of months about an impending follow-up to Sony's handheld.

At the other end of the spectrum, McKenzie touted Halo: Reach as the biggest surprise package of the year. Amazing as it may seem in the wake of such a successful launch, there was a lot of concern about the title before release.

"Initially the pre-orders we saw were really showing us that it may not be the opportunity that everyone, including Microsoft, was presenting it to be. It was being touted as Halo 4 but obviously without actually being called Halo 4.

"It gave us an opportunity to dig in real deep with our own stores, with some of our field people and then working in conjunction with Microsoft to make sure that we had the educational awareness around the title and consumers understood this really was a different game, that this was something that wasn't just half a game."

Half a game? Could McKenzie be referring to 2009's Halo ODST? Cheeky...

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (19) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Red-Moose #1 2 years ago

    I think there is zero point in the PSP2 as mobile phone gaming has jumped way wya way beyond what PSP could throw around with arrogance a few years back in terms of graphics.

  • Byblos1 #2 2 years ago

    How did we let all of the profit-hungry business and marketing execs take over the industry? I really hate seeing videogames being talked about in terms like 'franchise' and 'opportunity to sequel and annualise'.

    I really think the industry is headed on the road to ruin if it continues to court big money like it does now (i.e. ramming annualised games down peoples throats year-on-year) at the expense of helping truly creative people make great games.

    Look at the most successful publisher in the business - Activision. The people who made their most successful series, Guitar Hero and Call of Duty got the hell out of there, and I doubt Blizzard even let Kotick into the building.

  • RedSparrows #3 2 years ago

    Buhhhh Reach sold well buuhhhh.

    And fuck all this rubbish about ODST. It's an excellent game.

  • AidyD #4 2 years ago

    Its hardly surprising a Halo game sold well.....

  • General_Zod #5 2 years ago

    I remember when people were saying Nintendo's dominance of the handheld market was finished and that the DS was going to be DOA because of the PSP.

  • Cigol #6 2 years ago

    There was probably more games on the PSP this year than there was on the PS3... and very good ones at that. Maybe he'd prefer more fluff as a retailer but from my perspective there was loads of games worth playing, I'm struggling to get through those I have right now, let alone those I could buy on-top.

  • drumbaby #7 2 years ago

    Game have removed the new PSP games section in my town...2nd hand only. Looks like it's nearly dead at retail.

  • Goodfella #8 2 years ago

    @Red Moose

    That's why Sony are probably working on a mobile phone gaming device, probably.

    As for the DS, just how well is it doing software wise? I mean, even the most stupid people are fully aware that you can easily pirate games using an R4 and the like, and they do, you even get parents and their young kids coming into work (Comet) asking for them. Not that we sell them, obviously. Stupid people.

  • Raznilof #9 2 years ago

    Wish PSP was doing better, it's a great little console. But perhaps there is a point too in what was said above, mobile gaming now seems to happen on phones. Let's see if I cannot beat the number one person in my town with Phoenix, the whole "always-connected" angle is a real plus.

    The ODST-hate is getting ridiculous though. It was cheaper to buy (as it started 15 euro's beneath "normal" full price retail games) and still offered a decent campaign, a fantastic atmospheric city to explore and who knows how many hours playing firefight with friends. It also brought back single wielding weapons and health management making the "franchise" a bit more of a challenge again, something I personally missed in halo 2 and 3. Music was great too.

  • altitude2k #10 2 years ago

    ^_^ I agree. Why people rant on about ODST being a full priced game is beyond me. I don't remember seeing it for any more than £30 at launch. If you look, RRP was £10 less than a standard retail game, too.

  • JeroenZM #11 2 years ago

    Well, I liked Half-Minute Hero quite a lot.

  • drumbaby #12 2 years ago

    If I'm honest with myself I'm not really into portable gaming at all, and I'd rather read or listen to music when on the move. The PSP is only really good for me because it's the one PlayStation where Monster Hunter games keep getting released. If it had come to PS3 I'd probably have flogged my PSP long ago, but as it is I keep totting up the hours on MHFU, and still thoroughly enjoy it.

  • callum9999 #13 2 years ago

    Red moose - there is no way you can get the PSP experience - particularly of it's blockbuster games - on (current) mobile phones. People whine enough about there only being 1 analogue stick.

    Then there is the huge cost of these phones - up to around £500. I know I never have any intention in spending that amount on a phone. I know someone who spent that on an iPhone, which bought me a HDTV, PS3 and my phone - which does more or less what an iPhone can, just less polished with fewer apps.
    Edited by callum9999 at 09/11/10 @ 22:27

  • Shotofen #14 2 years ago

    Oh look this Gamestop VP again! His comments have nothing to do with Sony's shift to digital do they (bypassing brick and mortar stores like Gamestop)? Oh wait...

  • Toothball #15 2 years ago

    @JeroenZM

    I really enjoyed Half Minute Hero too. Tried to persuade others to try it, but only a couple of them picked it up and then didn't really get into it. Their loss I guess.

    I still play my PSP, but I bought a Go so have basically ditched retail. Still would have liked to have seen them put somewhat more effort into it though.

  • tee_lau #16 2 years ago

    eurogamer, the biggest m$ fan
    psp is great,mgs pw, gow gos,mh3rd.....why don;t you guys give it a try ??
    Edited by tee_lau at 10/11/10 @ 04:40

  • coolbritannia #17 2 years ago

    Fuck this guy, ODST was a very complete game, it just needed an attention span to follow it and appreciate the FPS noir aspects it had going for it in the night of New Mombasa.

  • systems #18 2 years ago

    I play my PSP more than my PC, PS3 and 360 combined. I've got to finish Monster Hunter Freedom Unite before Portable 3 comes out next year. Then there's Phantasy Star Online 2, God Eater Burst, Half Minute Hero, Persona, Disgaea and Chinatown Wars to get done.

    What have I got to look forward to on my consoles? Casual gaming with motion controls and annual franchises which 10 years ago I would have called an Expansion Pack.

  • jonsaan #19 2 years ago

    The PSP line up for the last year or so has probably been its strongest ever. Just not in store.