No PSP price cut planned News

They'll have to do something: it's losing them money anyway, the games aren't selling well and it makes the PlayStation brand look less-than-invincible.

Classic marketing tricks. A price cut is on the way, there is no denying that, the DS is already eating up all PSPs in sight.

Big mistake.

I love my PSP, but its support from Sony has been woeful.

We're now a over a year and a half into the consoles life and so far we've seen a handfull of AAA titles, a grand total of three (!) demos released and the PSP download spots offer little else than a great way to fill your memory stick with Nike adverts.

What a wasted oppertunity.

Shame - id buy a PSP is it was cheaper. £200 is too much for a load of PS 2 remakes

the DS is already eating up all PSPs in sight.

it's 22 million sold vs 20 million shipped...

I'm wonder if Sony are banking on the back catalog of downloadable PS1 titles to re-invogorate the PSP has a superior format above DS.... or the fact they know GTA VCS will sell.... very well this christmas.

With MGS PO, Killzone Liberation and GTA VCS the PSP seems to be having an alright Christmas, need the third party suport to get off their asses and make some ****ing PSP titles that are designed for the PSP those ****head money grabbing piece of **** who just port titles to the PSP willy nilly.

EA concentrating on supporting the DS is one step up for the PSP.

Sony? Pricecuts?

/raises one eyebrow

Seems unwise to cut the PS2 instead of the PSP with the PS3 coming. You'd want the PSP to become more accisible with the promised PS3 to PSP functionality. So one will help sell the other.
Cutting the price of the PS2 instead will make that one even more of a competitor to the PS3 and the PSP (after Liberty City stories was ported over to the PS2 for less then half the price, a lot of people seem to have decided to wait for the PS2 conversion of Vice City Stories rather then get it for their PSP).
Christ what a ruddy ammound of PS* acronyms.

As I said in the "EA supporting the DS more" comments...

Shipped does NOT equal sold.

Anyone read the industry mag MCV?On the front page this week was some EA bigwig basically slamming the psp,saying that it was too pricey,games weren't original enough (Funny coming from an EA guy) and that EA are now going to put a lot more focus on developing new games for the DS as it seemed to be enticing the public more as of late.That's quite a major company to start losing interest in Sony's product:/
Edit:Haha ohhh I'm a tart,I really should read the other stories before posting in the future!The DS news is like 4 more down the page.

@DDevil No but it's as good as. ;-)

PSP is shite, and PlayStation brand is hurting alot. It ain't mid 90's anymore Sony, wake up you a**holes!

Were the fuck is Gran Turismo Mobile, yeah I thought so, Sony is losing it...

I think the PSP is a lovely piece of hardware and I toyed with the idea of buying one once the price dropped for Lumines, Ridge Racers and Wipeout Pure but that was when it launched. Now a year later, all I see on the machine are lazy/lacklustre ports of PS2 games I've played before and with Lumines coming to the Xbox 360 and me already owning Ridge Racer 6 there's now fewer reasons to buy one. The Nintendo DS might be tacky in terms of hardware alongside the PSP but it has far more interesting games that aren't just ports of SNES or GameCube titles. Sony should be doing more to ensure original games are released on the PSP, like Loco-Roco, so as to tempt more people, like me, to buy one.

Shipped vs sold argument - old :-(

Anyway the problem with the PSP is not hardware sales, its the dearth of decent PSP games. :-(

Lowering the psp's price wont mean it'll sell any more. If making a console cheaper helped it sell then the cube would be the best selling console on the planet.

Only way to shift consoles is with lots of games people want to play (which is the problem the cube had and the problem the psp is having), preferably ones which they dont already own.

There is never an officially planned price cut. Would be a very stupid move to tell your customers "if you buy our product now, you are paying more than you should". The sales would drop dramatically and maybe won't even pick up fast enough after the cut to compensate the loss.

Sanity enforces denial until the very day it happens.

Sony should be doing more to ensure original games are released on the PSP, like Loco-Roco, so as to tempt more people, like me, to buy one.

Sony's First party titles like LocoRoco can only go so far especially if they're original IP's.

All Sony can do is let their first party titles show what the third party publishers what type of games are greatly accepted on the PSP... unfortunately non of them are listening. :-(

Weren't the UMD films available and MP3 playback, along with far superior graphics and processing power supposed to ensure that PSPs flew off the shelves?

or was it that it had "Playstation" in the name, was made by the mighty Sony and was being rammed down our throats as the best thing EVARRR at every oppurtunity?

Sony's marketing shpeil seems very similar to Cisco's

Consumer: "Why should I buy your product, when the competitions product is far cheaper, does exactly the same thing plus adds some features I actually want, whilst not shoehorning in several that I don't but will still have to pay for?"

Cisco Sales Rep: "Because it's made by Cisco of course."

I'm the first to admit that I'm anti Sony, but come on, surely people must be noticing that the Emperor is bollock naked by now!!!!!

Is the PSP still running at 222mhz? Where is the 333mhz update that we were promised and where is GT mobile? Sony, uncap that processor and release a proper GTA game!

"I'm the first to admit that I'm anti Sony, but come on, surely people must be noticing that the Emperor is bollock naked by now!!!!! "

http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.p...

"it's 22 million sold vs 20 million shipped... "

It wouldn't really matter even if DS and PSP had sold in equal numbers, all that really counts are how many games they sell because that's where console makers get their real profits. Consoles lose money or at best make a token profit.

DS has had a continual stream of mainstream hits, while PSP has mainly had the occasional underground success and a load of PS2 ports, and to top it all off the DS costs about 60% less to develop for than the PSP (partly due to the less sophisticated graphics, ironically enough). Even if DS and PSP games sold in equal numbers, DS games would give the publishers more profits.


"Is the PSP still running at 222mhz? Where is the 333mhz update that we were promised and where is GT mobile? Sony, uncap that processor and release a proper GTA game!"

They can't uncap the processor without making the battery life turn to mush, and that's another reason why Nintendo has won every handheld battle in the life of handheld systems: Nintendo has always had about double the battery life of their rivals.

In any case, what makes you think an improvement in processor speed would help matters? The Nintendo DS has a 70 Mhz processor, the PSP already outclasses it in every way technically. The problem isn't with technical abilities, it's with the selection of games available for the PSP which the public seems to be very indifferent to so far.

" Mapster
14-Aug-06 11:42:05

So the DS is CURRENTLY outselling the PSP by a ratio of 4:1

Good one Sony, way to address that! "

Woa, easy little girl. Don't wet your panties with anti PSP excitement. In he "real" world (you know, the one where the rest of us live) the worldwide sales are actually neck and neck with about 21 million units.

You're all in such a rush to be anti Sony fangirls that you constantly igrnore that facts.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/08/11/commenta...

"PSP sales have been solid so far, with 20 million units shipped worldwide (with over 8 million of those to the U.S.). That's essentially a tie with the Nintendo DS"

Sorry to bust your little hate bubble.

That amount is SHIPPED for Sony and SOLD for Nintendo. That means the 20 million is actually the amount of DS units that are in the hands of consumers. The 20 million shipped PSPs is just the number of PSPs that are produced in the factories and shipped away to be sold. That doesn't mean they actually sold 20 million PSP units.

Canadian_Mike, sorry to burst YOUR bubble. DS has sold 21 million units. PSP has shipped 20 million units. As I seem to keep saying today (broken record and all that) shipped does not equal sold. Shipped means actually sent to shops for sale, whereas sold actually means sold by the shops to the punters.

For all we know Sony could have shipped 20 million, but only sold 10 million (it's obviously going to be millions more than that, but the example is still valid I feel). I don't care who is doing better, as I think they're both excellent machines, but if you're going to compare sales, at least use the same measurements.

"That amount is SHIPPED for Sony and SOLD for Nintendo. That means the 21 million is actually the amount of DS units that are in the hands of consumers."

Why do people still believe that? It's not possible for Sony/MS to gather these numbers, so why is Nintendo able to do that?

"Why do people still believe that? It's not possible for Sony/MS to gather these numbers, so why is Nintendo able to do that?"

These numbers are easy to gather. It's not possible to make an exact statement but large numbers of stores give sales numbers to larger authorities which Nintendo can query for these numbers, so it is possible to make an accurate estimation.

It's similar to the way top charts in the music industry are made.

"DDevil
14-Aug-06 13:20:47

Canadian_Mike, sorry to burst YOUR bubble. DS has sold 21 million units. PSP has shipped 20 million units"

Oh my! You busrt my bubble! LOL

Shipped, sold whatever...don't put so much weight behind those terms. There are not 20 million PSP sitting on store shelfs somewhere. They've sold about the same...which is what i said.

Hardly 4:1 as was mentioned. Like it or not the PSP is just as sucessful as the DS.


I think it needs to be mentioned that both of these systems have sold VERY well in their time. 20 mil a peice in under two years (very close to the closing numbers on the Xbox and Gamecube) is big and both companies should be commended!

Good job Sony and Nintendo!

"I think it needs to be mentioned that both of these systems have sold VERY well in their time. 20 mil a peice in under two years (very close to the closing numbers on the Xbox and Gamecube) is big and both companies should be commended!

Good job Sony and Nintendo!"

The difference is that Nintendo has made a profit and Sony hasn't, because DS games have sold very well and PSP games haven't. A lot of PSP owners seem to have bought one just to have one, which doesn't help Sony because they don't make any money from selling PSPs, only from selling PSP games.

Also, Sony has destroyed the myth that anything with "PlayStation" on it will be a market leader.

What exactly has Sony gained from this little adventure? A reputation for making poorly-supported handhelds?

And how has it helped Sony in its home territory of Japan, where the DS currently outsells the PSP by five to one?

A lot of people have watched the 70mhz DS beat the 220mhz PSP, and now wonder if the similarly-underpowered but innovative Wii can outsell the much more expensive and powerful PS3.

The PSP might do better if there weren't so many people pirating games on it. Although i'm convinced most ISOs come from someone on the inside at Sony anyway!

"It's not possible to make an exact statement but large numbers of stores give sales numbers to larger authorities which Nintendo can query for these numbers, so it is possible to make an accurate estimation. "

Yeah, to track big stores is possible, rest are estimations.

Think about it....why would Nintendo do this (release sold to users)...they could report much bigger Shipped numbers and it would make Nintendo DS numbers look even better than now.

"A lot of PSP owners seem to have bought one just to have one"

Now that's silly, I can assure you most people who bought it, did so to USE IT, and also bought games for it.

""A lot of PSP owners seem to have bought one just to have one""
"Now that's silly, I can assure you most people who bought it, did so to USE IT"

Yes, but using it doesn't mean they bought any games.

Sony kept pushing it as a rival to the iPod, as a multimedia wonder-machine that you could use for more than just games. If someone fell for this, they'd be using their PSP for running video, music and photos from the memory card, in which case Sony makes zero profit.

Even PSP owners who buy games seem to be buying fewer titles than DS owners. The games charts of almost every shop in every country are full of DS titles, but hardly any PSP titles. That's what I meant about buying it just to have it, they'd get some impressive-looking titles like Ridge Racer etc, drool at the graphics but then get bored and not buy any more games.

Also, the standard writeable memory stick slot made the PSP especially vulnerable to software piracy so there may indeed be lots of gamers who bought a PSP for games but never bought any actual games. Do you think all those people wanting 1.5 firmware are REALLY just hankering for homebrew?

The DS doesn't suffer from these problems because there's literally nothing you can do with a DS other than play games. If someone gets a DS, they will have nothing in mind other than getting some games for it. There's some piracy on the DS, but it's much less widespread than on the PSP and requires specialist equipment rather than just a standard memory card.

In a way Sony made a huge mistake allowing the PSP to use massive capacity memory sticks because it's opened the door to piracy, not to mention emulation of other formats, and also reduced the sales of UMDs. If you can watch compressed movies from DVDs on it and play older classic games too as well as listen to MP3s then that's three reasons to buy fewer actual PSP games.

"I can assure you most people who bought it, did so to USE IT, and also bought games for it. "

And were also dissapointed!

"In a way Sony made a huge mistake allowing the PSP to use massive capacity memory sticks because it's opened the door to piracy, not to mention emulation of other formats, and also reduced the sales of UMDs. If you can watch compressed movies from DVDs on it and play older classic games too as well as listen to MP3s then that's three reasons to buy fewer actual PSP games"

Yeah, exactly. I think Sony would be doing themselves a massive favour if the removed the memory stick slot from future PSPs. It would mean giving up the multimedia side of things, but that side of things does nothing but lose them money. The DS sells very well with no multimedia abilities at all, so there's nothing to be afraid of in going games-only.

But I fear the real reason for the memory stick slot is to do with internal politics at Sony, they keep wanting to use PlayStation platforms to promote their technical standards, even if it means dragging the platform down with them when it causes problems (q.v. the blu-ray on the PS3).

@ chupachups: I agree with most of both your posts. The PSP was used as a trojan horse to get widespread adoption of the Memory Stick Duo over estabilished standards like SD cards.
As far as games are concerned, there is also a good reason for people not to buy as many games for the PSP as they do for the DS: the price tag. DS games are priced in the compulsive purchase region, whereas PSP games have to be pondered as if they were investments. This influences sales even more than the debated sparse amount of quality titles - with which I do not wholly agree, but that's another discussion altogether.

@TurboBailey

Christ, £200, where you you going shopping.

http://www.play.com/Games/PSP/4-/923163/...

And that was the first one I found.


P.s. to everyone,

Sold vs Shipped = ZZzzzzzzzzz

err Kanga that doesn't seem to include a memcard...

And FWIW I own a PSP. I don't own a DS. If I'm genuinely honest its the most disappointing console I've ever owned and the only thing stopping me selling it is that MGS:PO is on the horizon.

The PSP is a bit of a letdown. I'm mainly Nintendo through and through but also have a PS2 and a 360 and I know a good thing when I see one. The issue with the PSP is the lack of originality. As has been said so many times, the PSP just contains ports and adaptations of existing PS2 games, with the odd gem such as LocoRoco. The fact is both consoles suffer from stereotyping. I work for my local GAME and the number of kids who come in demanding PSPs just so they can play FIFA, Need For Speed and Grand Theft Auto on the move is more or less equalled by the number of girls who come in and demand a DS just so they can play Nintendogs. Both Sony and Nintendo know what market they're aiming at and they've hit them just right.
However, that said, we do shift many more DSs than PSPs. Sony needs to do something. We only sell 1 or 2 PS2s a day compared with about 5 PSPs and something between 10 and 15 DSs. Either cut the price of their hardware or do something about the games on offer. More originality for the PSP or just better quality control on all the titles coming out for PS2.

Sigh. One of these days we'll be able to have discussions about such things without all the fanboy nonsense.

And people wonder why I occasionally put in a "anti console" quip just to wind the geeks up.

Sold vs Shipped = ZZzzzzzzzzz

1+1=2 ZZzzzzz, also old, but still true.

They've been making a lot of money from the PSP, actually.

Errm, no. It wasn't a total loss, but it's far from what everyone was expecting (which was a level of success like the PS2 had). That's starting to show on many levels, and it gets worse as per the usual cycle of developers developing games for the most successful system, and the most successful system being the one with the most developers.

I really enjoy the lesson Sony is currently receiving: That's what you get from not learning from your opponent's mistakes.

I really enjoy the lesson Sony is currently receiving: That's what you get from not learning from your opponent's mistakes.

Same lesson that nintendo got when it got complacent about being the market leader a few years back. Luckily it seems that nintendo has learned from its mistakes now and is potentially fighting back big style.

"...opened the door to piracy..." etc etc

Thing is, I can pirate whatever games I want but, and here's the thing - there's none that I want to. I havne't touched the PSP in months - and when I did, it was only to play snes games...

I used to be a bit of Microsoft fanboy on forums and sites like this,but then stopped a good few months back when I realised just how silly and pointless it is,defending a multi billion dollar company,trying to get one up on other forum users with your amazing 'facts' about your preferred brand,it's such a big waste of time,what the hell does it get you?(Apart from a massive excited erection judging by how some of you post on here).And reading threads like this just reiterates my feelings.Sad...

I think it's only sad when that passion causes people to lose any objective sense of reasoning and to blindy accept/defend anything. But in the main, I think it's good that people feel like this.

After all, it's not really any different to arguing who's the better football team - Forest or Derby. (Forest, natch).

if they brought out psp classic...1.5 some of the homebrew stuff thats coming out at the moment is so damn fun! just brilliant solid games!

who even buys PSP, what portable device could ever be worth 200-300 bucks

Classic post, captainrentboy.

I really like my PSP and use it whenever I travel. Got two games for it, both of which aren't possible on the DS - Wipeout Pure and PES 5. And yes, I know there's a WE game coming out or the DS, but it's going to be so inferior graphically that I don't count it as the same game.

They do really need to lock out the piracy side... though it's hard to judge really.

For me it's the PSP, though I've got both, that's been winning out recently... but that's just for me.... though maybe I'll give the DS another go soon ;)

The multimedia side has started to really kick in for me.

People can say what they want about the legal uses of 1.5 firmware, but I'm currently using mine as a wireless media player for my mp3 music collection and watching downloaded TV in bed.
Facilities that are harder if not impossible to do on a legit 2.8 machine.

But as others have said it's game sales that drive profit and success and the PSP isn't winning here..... but maybe that's since the games that are really worth it are quite long running.

"The PSP might do better if there weren't so many people pirating games on it. Although i'm convinced most ISOs come from someone on the inside at Sony anyway"

That argument dosn't hold. You'll find it's easier to pirate games on DS.

What's with all the PSP hate?

The PSP is a very nice little console. It's very powerful for a handheld, has a gorgeous and huge screen, has built in internet/movie/music playing capibilities, has a large optical media that can deliever all the space devs need and is designed beautifully. The battery life isn't as bad as many would make out either.

All this guff about it having "no good games" is pure garbage as well. Sure the PSP has it's fair share of ports, but wasn't that exactly what Nintendo was shoveling down your throats with the GameBoy's for the past ten years and you loved it? At least PSP ports are up to today's standards, they're not pushing 10 year old games at full price like Nintendo did (and still are in some cases with the DS might I add).

But then it also has plenty of really good original titles: Daxter, Wipeout Pure, the Metal Gear Acid series, Lumines, Exit, Loco Rocco etc.

Personally I find the DS highly overrated, especially when people bang on about how much better it is than the PSP and complain about PSP ports while happily playing Mario 64 DS or Animal Crossing. Shallow, derivitive games like Nintendogs hold little appeal to me, as do borefests like Brain Training. Likewise, just slapping a touch-screen interface on a game (and badly in many cases) doesn't make it any more exciting to me. If I'm frank, the games that appeal to me most on the DS don't even make much use of the touch screen: New Super Mario Bros and Advance Wars: Dual Strike.

Don't get me wrong though, I think the DS is good. Especially for those who like easy fun little games that you can play for a blast and the novelty of the touch-screen. I just don't think it's the holy grail of gaming like many make it out to be and for me personally it really doesn't do it.

Sony have done very well with the PSP, and it's a very nice little console. Anyone who can't see that needs to look at Nintendo's utter domination of the handheld market since it's conception. To come into that kind of market and do as well as the PSP has done is quite an achievement.