Millions and Millions
[EDIT] Sony just can't stop grinning over 50 million sold PSPs. And neither can we.
Published: February 16, 2009
[Note] After reviewing this article closely, both Sam and I came to the conclusion that it had some serious issues. I therefore decided to edit some parts. Changes are quite severe regarding content and language. Just in case you were wondering.
A year into the life-cycle of Sony's "wonderbar" (aka the PlayStation Portable), many assumed the multimedia all-rounder couldn't win the fight against the tremendously successful Nintendo DS. Especially after the Nintendo DS Lite hit the market, it was all but over for the PSP. One big stumbling block was the UMD format. Though being supported by almost every major Hollywood studio initially, the format just didn't kick off the way Sony hoped. After all, playing games from the handheld's memory stick was - and still is - just more comfortable and sleek and that is even more true when talking of movies on the go. Who is crazy enough to actually buy a flick twice, once on UMD to watch on the go and once on DVD/Blu-Ray to consume at home, when ripping the film from the DVD to your PSP is such an easy thing to do!? (Note: The editor had to pull all of his strength together in order to resist the temptation of writing about illegal movie downloads at this point of the article. Our official statement remains: We do not support any illegal copyright infringement - no matter if you're a poor sucker or just too lazy to pay for your daily movie/game/music dose.)
Another huge problem was - and again, still is - the PSP's lack of software. Games suddenly stopped coming. There were literally months where we did not have a single halfway decent PSP title hitting stores.
But Sony is a long-time industry veteran who helped build the console market into what it is today, and one of their systems being a failure was simply not something they would have let happen without a fight. Sony did the only smart thing they could have done: They re-designed the PSP and released a new, sleeker, shinier and lighter version of the gadget called PSP Slim and Lite (and later even the PSP 3000).
What followed was a gigantic PR-campaign (PSPs were suddenly in every TV show, movie and commercial out there) which forced the good looks of the system into every kid's brain in the US, Japan and Europe.
Although the system is still not being flooded by new games, the software drought seems to have been beaten and one can expect to see a pretty cool new title being released every now and then (Sam just yesterday reviewed the fantastic Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? Head over there NOW and check it out!). In my opinion - and I'd like to think everyone else agrees with me - this quality over quantity concept is unintentionally good. Nintendo's DS is really "suffering" from a gamer's perspective (of course Nintendo wouldn't agree...): Hundreds and hundreds of crappy titles being released every month doesn't make it easier for the average consumer to figure out which one is worthy enough of being spent thirty bucks on. Though the system does offer tons of great titles to help balance that out, it still is an issue for the not so well informed consumer. Say my granny for example. One could argue that that's just an overall problem of any entertainment media (or any media whatsoever) and I would totally agree with that. It's just a good, somehow nostalgic feeling back to the times when video games weren't as big as they are today. Bad for Sony of course.
Good for Sony is however that over 50 million (!) PSPs were sold worldwide within the little more than 4 years of age the system has by now. Seems as if the PlayStation Portable does truly deserve the "PlayStation" part in its title after all.
A year into the life-cycle of Sony's "wonderbar" (aka the PlayStation Portable), many assumed the multimedia all-rounder couldn't win the fight against the tremendously successful Nintendo DS. Especially after the Nintendo DS Lite hit the market, it was all but over for the PSP. One big stumbling block was the UMD format. Though being supported by almost every major Hollywood studio initially, the format just didn't kick off the way Sony hoped. After all, playing games from the handheld's memory stick was - and still is - just more comfortable and sleek and that is even more true when talking of movies on the go. Who is crazy enough to actually buy a flick twice, once on UMD to watch on the go and once on DVD/Blu-Ray to consume at home, when ripping the film from the DVD to your PSP is such an easy thing to do!? (Note: The editor had to pull all of his strength together in order to resist the temptation of writing about illegal movie downloads at this point of the article. Our official statement remains: We do not support any illegal copyright infringement - no matter if you're a poor sucker or just too lazy to pay for your daily movie/game/music dose.)
Another huge problem was - and again, still is - the PSP's lack of software. Games suddenly stopped coming. There were literally months where we did not have a single halfway decent PSP title hitting stores.
But Sony is a long-time industry veteran who helped build the console market into what it is today, and one of their systems being a failure was simply not something they would have let happen without a fight. Sony did the only smart thing they could have done: They re-designed the PSP and released a new, sleeker, shinier and lighter version of the gadget called PSP Slim and Lite (and later even the PSP 3000).
What followed was a gigantic PR-campaign (PSPs were suddenly in every TV show, movie and commercial out there) which forced the good looks of the system into every kid's brain in the US, Japan and Europe.
Although the system is still not being flooded by new games, the software drought seems to have been beaten and one can expect to see a pretty cool new title being released every now and then (Sam just yesterday reviewed the fantastic Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? Head over there NOW and check it out!). In my opinion - and I'd like to think everyone else agrees with me - this quality over quantity concept is unintentionally good. Nintendo's DS is really "suffering" from a gamer's perspective (of course Nintendo wouldn't agree...): Hundreds and hundreds of crappy titles being released every month doesn't make it easier for the average consumer to figure out which one is worthy enough of being spent thirty bucks on. Though the system does offer tons of great titles to help balance that out, it still is an issue for the not so well informed consumer. Say my granny for example. One could argue that that's just an overall problem of any entertainment media (or any media whatsoever) and I would totally agree with that. It's just a good, somehow nostalgic feeling back to the times when video games weren't as big as they are today. Bad for Sony of course.
Good for Sony is however that over 50 million (!) PSPs were sold worldwide within the little more than 4 years of age the system has by now. Seems as if the PlayStation Portable does truly deserve the "PlayStation" part in its title after all.
