Nintendo DS trouncing PSP sales in Japan

As of the end of September of this year, the Nintendo DS has sold 3.2 million units while the Sony PSP has sold just 1.7 million units in Japan, according to sales figures provided by Japanese games site Dengeki Online. The culprit? Sony’s just not coming out with games that Japanese gamers want to buy. The PSP’s game lineup is a source of major dissatisfaction for Japanese gamers, with just 15.3 percent of them satisfied about the games available for the system. Compare that to nearly 50% of DS owners who are happy with the games available for the DS.

This isn’t a shocker. We’ve been hearing from reader comments for a while now that the PSP’s line-up is somewhat lackluster. The top-ranked PSP game to date is launch title Lumines, and that’s kind of puzzling, considering how well Sony has done lining up developer support for the PlayStation consoles.

Maybe this is only a short-term problem. There are currently around 50 PSP games available, and Sony has promised that nearly 150 will be available by Sprint 2006, but we still have to wonder whether Sony might have taken on more than it can handle in trying to launch the PS3 and support a brand new mobile console at the same time.

But as we all know, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. Another way to look at these same figures is in terms of gross sales. At twice the price of a DS, the PSP only needs to sell half as many units to match gross sales. That’s not too shabby for Sony’s first-ever game console portable

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Another way to look at these same figures is in terms of gross sales. At twice the price of a DS, the PSP only needs to sell half as many units to match gross sales. That’s not too shabby for Sony’s first-ever game console portable

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well... not realy... what good is an expensive hand held when theres no good games for it, if for some reason you pick up a ds and dont like ANY of the games that are out *Cough*FREAKS!!!*Cough* then your not gona sit there and go 'I PAYED THAT FOR THIS!!!????' the PSP would have more dissapointment with it if you think of it, your paying loads for something purpose built to entertain you... and if it done entertain you... your gona be dissapointed. see where im coming from??

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Originally Posted by wraggster

But as we all know, there are lies, damned lies, and statistics. Another way to look at these same figures is in terms of gross sales. At twice the price of a DS, the PSP only needs to sell half as many units to match gross sales. That’s not too shabby for Sony’s first-ever game console portable

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Not entirely, I'd be interested to know where the profit margin is on these. Nintendo has traditionally always made money on each console regardless of any games sales, whereas sony has often sold consoles at a loss and made thier money back on games sales.

I know this is just stating the obvious, but the DS has been out for a little longer than the PSP. Just putting it out there.

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Originally Posted by souLLy

Nintendo has traditionally always made money on each console regardless of any games sales.

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Virual Boy :D the one and only loss to nintendo... why? coz a couple of people got headaches so evryone got rid of them, who knows... it might come back someday, maybe as an addon for the Rev, being as you do have so much control in games with the new controler, imagine it... headset so your in hyrule... sword in one had and another conroler for the sheild... that.. would... ROCK!

The ds sure has a lot of games to the taste of the japanese gameplayer's and gimmicky or fad like warioware or nintendogs. perhaps this gives some reflection on the sales in japan. Kingds, you cannot really believe that there are no good games on the psp...shit I can think of plenty....ridge racer, wipeout pure, winning eleven, madden 06, virtua tennis, twisted metal, etc, etc. However all of these titles seem more suiting to the western pallet. Maybe the psp is in dire need of some archaic japanese rpg titles like another goddamn ff title or or a little furry mascot with lsd eye's.

That reminds me... final fantasy 3 Remake on DS aswell as Final Fantasy CC. :D BO-YAH! and lunar thingy... to think about it... got some Decent RPG's coming to DS now, infact... LOADS of decent games! im SO gona get Truama Center!

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Originally Posted by plungmonies

The ds sure has a lot of games to the taste of the japanese gameplayer's and gimmicky or fad like warioware or nintendogs. perhaps this gives some reflection on the sales in japan. Kingds, you cannot really believe that there are no good games on the psp...shit I can think of plenty....ridge racer, wipeout pure, winning eleven, madden 06, virtua tennis, twisted metal, etc, etc. However all of these titles seem more suiting to the western pallet. Maybe the psp is in dire need of some archaic japanese rpg titles like another goddamn ff title or or a little furry mascot with lsd eye's.

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It's funny how when all you want is the same old stuff, new ideas become 'gimmicks' and when all that is out for the psp is games that you can already play elsewhere but now on the go, you think the solution is MORE of the same old stuff.

There is a reason why nintendo moves more units than sony in japan, and why the american gaming market is going to collapse and they are one in the same.

this applys to all... isnt Wipeout SUCH a copy of F-zero? its the same fricking idea!!! they just think a sony stamp will make it diffrent. OH GOD i would slay a thousand chavs to get my hands on F-ZERO DS!!!! :D would be a Bitch to play on the bus! but still it would be so good you would dribble just looking at the box :p

think of it this way... your playing... might and magic, do you want the 'Sony psp dagger' thats the same as the other 'sony ps2 sword' its the same but smaller, or the 'DS Battle Axe of Total Destruction coz its Revolutionary and not the same as everything else'

do you see my point? psp is just a ps2 sized down with a screen on it. ds is diffrent and stands out more, hence the big arse name :p

Yeah quzar you are probably right about your theory on the american gaming crash and it will probably reflect the crash of the mid eighties with nintendo pulling the industry out of the ashes like so much phoenix. The way sony and m$ are pitching there latest consoles I sincerely wish nintendo best of luck to hopefully clean up the stagnant market, The revolution looks as though it could do that.

kingds...please do your research as f-zero was hardly original (a few games predate it)
and final fantasy? Well that is hardly testament to innovative game design now is it.

Oh by the way I own a great deal of consoles including a ds and psp and have no bias which way. funnily enough my favourite console in my collection is still my trusty old neo-geo AES with the brilliant microswitch joysticks and whopping big carts. the biggest gripe I have with my psp is the fact that there is litteraly no comfy way to hold the thing.

Guys I really did not want to sound like a prick in my last post but I really dislike pointless console flaming.....its like a broken pencil




pointless

f-zero Rocks!!

yes fzero is a very classy series....though an alternative to the cheesy synth-rock-esque soundtrack would be more than welcome. I still slightly prefer wipeout 2097 though as the track design was tight and soundtrack, perfectly suiting (even though I cant stand the chemical brothers) gotta love fsol.

Imagine playing f-zero on revolution with your mate's and a couple of brew's using the rev's controllers.......happy day's indeed.

F-Zero really rocked, especially with that metal style they had!

but anyways, why wasn't this in the PSP news? it involves PSP....

well anyways, the game's i wanted on PSP were games like Metal Gear Solid (die you Ac!d B****) and devil may cry... Burnout is really good, as is tony hawks underground... and i think we can safely say, all others suck!!!! we need something more original...

i owned a DS but didn't like it to much, so i sold it $105.00 USD
and bought a PSP

the only thing i was praying for on the DS was zelda, ZELDA!!!!