-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
PSP sales sluggish?
- Thread starter jetsetmario
- Start date
- Status
gamergirly said:
A little perspective, girly, goes a long way. With as much hype as the PS2 had back in 2000, did they move 1 million units on day one? No. What made you think the PSP would suddenly outperform its console counterpart? Your biggest mistake was filtering reality through the eyes of GAF.
gamergirly
Member
chespace said:
Now that we ALL know the fact of the degree pertaining to PS2's hype and how much it sold, I would say that it could be VERY likely that it would happen. I had an opinion that PSP would sell out on day 1 but the reality is that it didnt. An opinion is an opinion, but fact is fact.
GAF doesnt come close to factoring in what I buy(otherwise I would probably cave in and buy a PSP too) and I think that many opinions sometimes here do not follow the mainstream. It, however, does give me a proportioned view of what other PS2 owners and fellow gamers like myself think when it comes to many issues.
gamergirly said:
If you thought that a video game system that's priced at $250+ would sell 1 million units in a single day then I don't know what to say... err stay in school? I think many of you will be eating crow when Sony drops the bomb (ie announces sales numbers) and PSP becomes that fastest selling system in history. We'll see soon enough.
Eh, I'm just going by what others have said. Obviously something can get lost in translation, but what's been said doesn't really clash with your first hand account of the SCEA presentation. Or do you know for a fact any 3rd parties have these libraries? Was Sony at all specific regarding online or did they just say "similar to PS2"?Argyle said:
Well why would SCEA compare it to GameCube? And there's 4 online capable GC games btw, all from 3rd parties. Meanwhile, PSP has yet to get one.Argyle said:
Again, all you can do is speculate right now. The only concrete facts are Nintendo's working with Gamespy, and online will be both free and simple to use from the consumer standpoint. Observe what you like, but if you're proposing anything that flies in the face of that, then you're most likely wrong.Argyle said:
So really, it's closer to 90% of PS2s required some extra hardware investment. This doesn't even include publishers who plan to charge for their games or anything that might use the HDD (though both those seem to be more Japanese concerns for now outside FFXI).Argyle said:
More or less. Just saying there's more involved in terms of setup and/or investment than what you laid out.Argyle said:
Sgt. Killjoy
Member
Wasn't there a point though when Sony said they would ship x amount of units, and the sales numbers were far short of that?
Link1110
Member
The demand IS out there. I just had someone over that is the prime example of what I think alot of people think of PSP. They think its really cool, they want it, but they're just not willing to pay the $250 for it and are waiting for a price drop. If you can't find a PSP, just go to a neighborhood where most people don't have $250 to shell out. Odds are you'll find it there.
And outside of the commercial games and bigger memory cards, what does PSP offer that GamePark 32 doesn't? Fact is both system's features have been done before, but they're just being used differently now.
AlphaSnake
...and that, kids, was the first time I sucked a dick for crack
chespace said:
Well they sure did move that much in about 30 hours of operating business time in Japan.
Sgt. Killjoy
Member
You know what i think kinda hurts PSP? No instore kiosks to try it out on.
jarrod said:
That's all they have to say - similar to PS2 - it's a room full of developers, who just about all know what the score is on PS2
Sorry, I didn't take pictures of all the slides but I'm sure someone has it online somewhere.
Incidentally, what proof do you have that Sony 3rd parties don't have access to the networking libraries? Since Sony has ported their middleware which is available to 3rd parties on PS2 to PSP, I'd suspect you could license that if you wanted, but I bet the low level networking libraries are freely available to 3rd parties. (It's possible they were not available to third parties in time for launch, however.) Or are you just speculating again?
jarrod said:
Right, I guess two of them would be PSO games. Wasn't there a bugfixed version of PSO 1&2 that came out, are you counting that separately as well?
And there's at least three 1st party PSP titles with online play...meanwhile, GC has yet to get one (as far as I know - even if it has one - PSP has more
)! Spin is fun!jarrod said:
Well, then you are wrong - no more of an investment than I would have had to made for my DS. Unless you really believe Nintendo is going to have free nationwide hotspots for the DS with a coverage area that includes my apartment...
Well I quickly called 4 stores here in Dallas, Texas, and the situation looks rather grim for the PSP at this moment. The below numbers are as of Friday, March 25th, 2pm.
GameStop still has PSP in stock, but are only holding those for those that preordered. They had around 40 preorders prior to launch.
My local Wal-Mart has roughly 40 PSP left. Sales have been low.
The Target store in Mesquite, Texas still has 50 PSP units. The sales representative told me "A We have a lot." When I asked how at first, and then revealed the 50 units number.
The Target store in Garland, Texas still has at least 30 units. Exact number is unknown off hand.
The Fry's Electronics in Arlington, Texas still has around 10 units. What is quite surprising about this situation, is the fact that not only is the Arlington school district out for Spring Brake this week, but The University of Texas in Arlington (UTA) is also located here. One would expect a total sale out by now in such a prime location for the product.
I work at the Target store in Rockwall, but I have no idea how many my store has sold yet. I go into work later tonight, and seeing how many PSP's we have sold thus far is #1 on my list of things once I get there. Rockwall is a very rich city with MANY spoiled children. Trust me on this fact. If we still have a large number left here, then I will be shocked!
Now, I am by no means saying that PSP is doomed and DS will rule the world (though I would really like to say that); however, I am saying that this appears to a much weaker launch than what most PSP supporters were expecting. If this trend continues for the foreseeable future (at least until May), then Sony may find them in deep trouble.
GameStop still has PSP in stock, but are only holding those for those that preordered. They had around 40 preorders prior to launch.
My local Wal-Mart has roughly 40 PSP left. Sales have been low.
The Target store in Mesquite, Texas still has 50 PSP units. The sales representative told me "A We have a lot." When I asked how at first, and then revealed the 50 units number.
The Target store in Garland, Texas still has at least 30 units. Exact number is unknown off hand.
The Fry's Electronics in Arlington, Texas still has around 10 units. What is quite surprising about this situation, is the fact that not only is the Arlington school district out for Spring Brake this week, but The University of Texas in Arlington (UTA) is also located here. One would expect a total sale out by now in such a prime location for the product.
I work at the Target store in Rockwall, but I have no idea how many my store has sold yet. I go into work later tonight, and seeing how many PSP's we have sold thus far is #1 on my list of things once I get there. Rockwall is a very rich city with MANY spoiled children. Trust me on this fact. If we still have a large number left here, then I will be shocked!
Now, I am by no means saying that PSP is doomed and DS will rule the world (though I would really like to say that); however, I am saying that this appears to a much weaker launch than what most PSP supporters were expecting. If this trend continues for the foreseeable future (at least until May), then Sony may find them in deep trouble.
Mrbob said:
This I can vouch for, I did notice based off where I've been last night and today, however, that if you look hard enough you can find them in... uh... less financially well off areas. UChicago is surrounded by Hyde Park which is such an area and you can find them. However, downtown they're sold out, just as they are in Oakbrook, for example.
While it's not Sony's fault, there needs to be a better dispersal of units based on demographics by the venders instead of a uniform distribution policy. There is demand, but the supply just isn't mapping to it well at all.
I've been calling around for Ridge Racer this afternoon and just as a matter of curiosity asked how many systems they had in. From what I gathered stores like best buy, target, walmart were still well stocked. Game stores like eb and gamestop are not and in fact I was told by both that they didn't receive enough for their preorders yet and hopefully by next week would be stocked again. So I guess it's a matter of perception(and really when isn't it?). From the looks of it I think the psp is going to surprise everyone in terms of attach ratio, so far games have been pretty hard to come by and it's the first time I have encountered software being scarce and systems being plentiful. I just hope I can find myself a copy of Ridge Racer!!!
JoshuaJSlone
Member
Seriously. I remember everyone thinking DS's Japanese launch lines were pretty pitiful, until reports came in about the hundreds of thousands sold.captmcblack said:
What exactly stops you from doing both - responding intelligently AND responding to the perceived attack in kind? Can't control your temper?gamergirly said:
Honestly, I think if you take a step back and look at my original comment to you, you'd see that it didn't deserve a comment like "I've seen nothing but hype" unless you were more interested in preserving the sanctity of your rhetoric rather than addressing the real state of people's response to the PSP who have had experience with it over the past few months.
So it's not an attack for you to make such observations about me based on the content of my posts, but when I applied the very same process in my first comment to you, it was an attack?
The End said:
Stores all over the place -- rich and "poor" areas alike (though I don't think there are any big box electronic areas in seriously poor neighborhoods) still have it in stock... and the city as a whole is relatively flush with oil money...
I think they'll sell in the end, but it's clearly not some monstrous blitz. I don't have any doubt the PSP will become the handheld standard.
I don't get it... so sony didn't sell 1million systems in one day and thats dissapointing?!
even if they sold 50% of that 1 million that is still 500,000! I think it will even out in the end. If you couldn't buy a psp this week you can still buy one next week or even the week after. There will be plenty of systems on the shelves for people to buy rather than no systems on the shelves for a month cause sony could only produce 200,000 units.
And yesterday in Denver it was raining, snowing, cold and an all around depressing day. When I went to go get a psp I asked myself a couple times what was i thinking going to go get it. In the end I became straight headed and went through with it. the Best Buy I went into was Dead! no one was in the store. Once the weekend comes and the weather picks up people will want to shop again.
I also brought it into work today. Me and another guy who also bought one played wipeout and lumines and it made two other people want one. They didn't think the price was that bad but they also don't know how much a NintendoDS costs so they aren't comparing it to that but comparing it to with what it can do.
thats just my little .02
even if they sold 50% of that 1 million that is still 500,000! I think it will even out in the end. If you couldn't buy a psp this week you can still buy one next week or even the week after. There will be plenty of systems on the shelves for people to buy rather than no systems on the shelves for a month cause sony could only produce 200,000 units.
And yesterday in Denver it was raining, snowing, cold and an all around depressing day. When I went to go get a psp I asked myself a couple times what was i thinking going to go get it. In the end I became straight headed and went through with it. the Best Buy I went into was Dead! no one was in the store. Once the weekend comes and the weather picks up people will want to shop again.
I also brought it into work today. Me and another guy who also bought one played wipeout and lumines and it made two other people want one. They didn't think the price was that bad but they also don't know how much a NintendoDS costs so they aren't comparing it to that but comparing it to with what it can do.
thats just my little .02
I've been reading reports of some stores selling out 300+ and some stores only selling 50 of their 300. Lets take the middle ground and say half the stores sold out and half still have ample stock. That is still 500,000 sold in a little over a day. Remember, one million were shipped at launch so there should be ample supply. I'm a little shocked expectations were for the PSP to sell out in 24 hours. I kept on telling one of my friends weeks in advance to not buy an abundance of PSPs to sell on ebay as they aren't going to sell out.
Three reasons:
1) There isn't nearly as much hype for the PSP as there was for the PS2 launch
2) Sony is shipping double the number of units at launch for the PSP as they did for the PS2
3) Spiderman 2 UMD movie isn't that great of an incentive. Most people already own it on DVD.
The one million will sell out. Sony just needs to add a $199 core package to go along with the $249 Value Pack.
Three reasons:
1) There isn't nearly as much hype for the PSP as there was for the PS2 launch
2) Sony is shipping double the number of units at launch for the PSP as they did for the PS2
3) Spiderman 2 UMD movie isn't that great of an incentive. Most people already own it on DVD.
The one million will sell out. Sony just needs to add a $199 core package to go along with the $249 Value Pack.
I'm just curious why, if PSP's online infastructure "is similar to PS2", SCEA officials have to assure that to developers who're already making PSP games? Or why nobody else evidently is making online PSP games? Not to say it won't happen but it certainly doesn't sound like it is right now... that's a far cry from PS2 online, which had 3rd party announcements and commitments lined up immediately, even before Sony actually.Argyle said:That's all they have to say - similar to PS2 - it's a room full of developers, who just about all know what the score is on PS2
Sorry, I didn't take pictures of all the slides but I'm sure someone has it online somewhere.
It seems all we both have is fundamentally speculation here.Argyle said:
Nope, I was counting Chun Soft's Home Land and one of Konami's Power Pro games had network updates (I *think* it was PPY 11). Both are Japan only though. PSO 1+2 Plus would make 5 SKUs, though that's really cheating.Argyle said:Right, I guess two of them would be PSO games. Wasn't there a bugfixed version of PSO 1&2 that came out, are you counting that separately as well?
Well, one good snarky remark deserves another.Argyle said:And there's at least three 1st party PSP titles with online play...meanwhile, GC has yet to get one (as far as I know - even if it has one - PSP has more
I'm not really concerned with 1st party online GC support though, it's never going to happen. 3rd party PSP online games are the worry right now.
I'm not wrong, PS2 and PSP are more involved that simply buying a game a playing it online. Meanwhile, you not only oversimply PS2/PSP online, you start imagining extra hardware investments and troublesome log in schemes for DS when Nintendo's been pretty clear that's what they're not going to do. Come on.Argyle said:
Sgt. Killjoy
Member
Best Buy
Western Hills, OH 20 left
Easgate, OH Her:"We have enough"
Me: "How many?"
Her: "We have enough"
Florence, KY Over 30
Tri-County, OH "A bunch"
Wal-Mart
Fort Wright, KY About 30
Cincinnati, OH About 20
Alexandria, KY "Quite a few"
Western Hills, OH 20 left
Easgate, OH Her:"We have enough"
Me: "How many?"
Her: "We have enough"
Florence, KY Over 30
Tri-County, OH "A bunch"
Wal-Mart
Fort Wright, KY About 30
Cincinnati, OH About 20
Alexandria, KY "Quite a few"
Drinky Crow
Banned
jarrod, most of the PSPs big forthcoming titles for this year are going to be anounced around E3. How many will feature Internet play? You probably oughtta wait and see.
And no, Nintendo hasn't been very clear at all about how they plan to handle the FACT that the DS doesn't have support for Wireless Privacy nor any other salient infrastructure-friendly features. Nintendo's very good at making vague promises -- just because you'd love the playing field to be level between the PSP and the DS doesn't mean you hafta BELIEVE them. Sony has a LOT more experience in the Internet gaming arena than Nintendo does.
And no, Nintendo hasn't been very clear at all about how they plan to handle the FACT that the DS doesn't have support for Wireless Privacy nor any other salient infrastructure-friendly features. Nintendo's very good at making vague promises -- just because you'd love the playing field to be level between the PSP and the DS doesn't mean you hafta BELIEVE them. Sony has a LOT more experience in the Internet gaming arena than Nintendo does.
CrimsonSkies
Member
No need to get a PSP until some killer games come out for it. And those launch titles are anything but killer.
jarrod said:
Uh, so the developers know that they don't have to really learn all new tools to get their games running online?
And how do you know there AREN'T online PSP games being worked on right now? Publishers don't have to keep you in the loop on what they are developing internally.
Oh, and I wouldn't spark a fight with Argyle if I were you. He could own you on this subject in the same way Juice was owned in the Gamerankings thread
jarrod said:
Then how is Nintendo going to do it? Magic?
jarrod said:
Because the two talks you're referring to were for people who aren't PSP developers? One was more of a business talk about getting a PSP game approved and the process of becoming a registered PSP developer, the other was a more technical introduction to PSP programming targeting the software engineers.
SCEA would NOT give a talk with information intended for existing PSP developers at GDC (because any new information that would be relevant would probably be under NDA) - they would save that for one of their own DevCons instead.
jarrod said:
Yes, you ARE wrong. Here is the process for getting online with a PSP game.
If no network has not been set up yet...otherwise, skip to step 2:
1. In the PSP XMB interface, go to network settings. Configure your network connection. You only need to do this once for all games, the connection data is saved internally on your PSP.
Otherwise...
2. Boot network compatible game and select multiplayer option. The OS will pop up and prompt you for the network configuration you created in step 1. Even if you skipped step 1 and you didn't create one already, you can create and test one here, it's exactly the same as if you created it in the XMB browser.
3. Sign into the lobby for the game you are playing.
That's it. I didn't have to buy any extra hardware, and the extra step of setup only needs to be done once, and it will work for every game that will ever come out. Seriously, have you used a PSP yet?
Contrast this on the DS where at best (free solution) I will have to perform step 1 for every online game that comes out, every time. I think that's a lot less elegant, don't you
ManaByte said:
It's just the usual distorted perspective you find on GAF. If a new system doesn't sell out everywhere on launch day, that launch is automatically a 'bomba' (and the system itself is probably 'doomed'), regardless of how many units the manufacturer may have shipped. Much like how any game that scores below a 9 in magazines and websites is worthless crap, and a 0.2 difference in review scores represents a major gulf in quality.
Sgt. Killjoy
Member
Argyle said:Contrast this on the DS where at best (free solution) I will have to perform step 1 for every online game that comes out, every time. I think that's a lot less elegant, don't you
Boy, im sure gald you know, even when Nintendo hasn't said anything!
jackass.
Sgt. Killjoy said:
Please explain to me how this will work, otherwise.
The only other way this could work would be if the OS got an upgrade, but it's unclear how such an upgrade would be delivered. If Nintendo are smart, I suppose they could put wifi points in game stores that could upgrade DS units, but your DS would be online-crippled until you bring it in for an upgrade.
You could ride the upgrade into a game but how can you guarantee that everyone who needs it will buy that game? If Nintendo mandates that the upgrade is in every network capable game, then you're asking publishers to eat the cost of however much ROM that upgrade would take when it could be used for game data. (On the other hand, a ~16MB firmware upgrade is pretty small compared to a 1.8GB PSP disc - less so when you're talking about the DS cartridges, although I would bet a DS firmware upgrade would be more like ~4MB.)
And this is all based on the assumption that the DS firmware is upgradable, which we aren't sure about.
So please, if you have a better idea on how to implement this, enlighten us.
I have $250 to drop on a PSP, but I am not. I think about having to upgrade to an 1GIG momeroy stick and paying $50 for those PSP launch games and go, "I'd rather wait until this fall and buy the XBOX 360 for $200." Or just buy more games for the consoles I already own.
Paying that much just to play Ridge Racer and Wipe Out is not worth it.
Paying that much just to play Ridge Racer and Wipe Out is not worth it.
Sgt. Killjoy
Member
Argyle said:Please explain to me how this will work, otherwise.
The only other way this could work would be if the OS got an upgrade, but it's unclear how such an upgrade would be delivered. If Nintendo are smart, I suppose they could put wifi points in game stores that could upgrade DS units, but your DS would be online-crippled until you bring it in for an upgrade.
You could ride the upgrade into a game but how can you guarantee that everyone who needs it will buy that game? If Nintendo mandates that the upgrade is in every network capable game, then you're asking publishers to eat the cost of however much ROM that upgrade would take when it could be used for game data. (On the other hand, a ~16MB firmware upgrade is pretty small compared to a 1.8GB PSP disc - less so when you're talking about the DS cartridges, although I would bet a DS firmware upgrade would be more like ~4MB.)
And this is all based on the assumption that the DS firmware is upgradable, which we aren't sure about.
So please, if you have a better idea on how to implement this, enlighten us.
Have you considered that maybe its a feature in the OS that hasn't been activated? Remember when someone put a flash cart in their DS and it asked about a rumble pack?
Sure, I agree with all that. Which is why I mentioned it will probably happen down the line.Drinky Crow said:
Nintendo's not exactly new to online network application though, they've had game centered R&D going since before Sony was making videogames even. Maybe you should start applying your "wait and see" logic more universally?Drinky Crow said:
Shouldn't those tools already be in place though? Why would Sony need to tell developers these libraries and this support is similar to PS2 if it was well in place already? Shouldn't they just know by using their SDKs? Shouldn't they already be working on online games in fact?ManaByte said:
I don't... but this isn't exactly playing out like PS2 did, where 3rd parties were accouncing speicific games before Sony even.ManaByte said:
So... where's Rebel X again?ManaByte said:Oh, and I wouldn't spark a fight with Argyle if I were you. He could own you on this subject in the same way Juice was owned in the Gamerankings thread
Maybe. They clearly have connections with Satan.ManaByte said:
On the other hand "Publishers don't have to keep you in the loop on what they are developing internally.".
Sgt. Killjoy said:
Have you considered that there is absolutely no logical reason to hide this feature in the OS at this point? At least we would know where Nintendo stands on online gaming if this were exposed, do you really believe that this is "hidden" in the OS right now?
BTW I heard there's also a hidden pot of gold in the DS operating system, you'd better go play some PictoChat to see if you can find it
Sgt. Killjoy
Member
Argyle said:Have you considered that there is absolutely no logical reason to hide this feature in the OS at this point? At least we would know where Nintendo stands on online gaming if this were exposed, do you really believe that this is "hidden" in the OS right now?
BTW I heard there's also a hidden pot of gold in the DS operating system, you'd better go play some PictoChat to see if you can find it
I heard you've been deepthroating Sony cock for quarters. Catch that sperm, Argyle!
gamergirly
Member
Razoric said:If you thought that a video game system that's priced at $250+ would sell 1 million units in a single day then I don't know what to say... err stay in school? I think many of you will be eating crow when Sony drops the bomb (ie announces sales numbers) and PSP becomes that fastest selling system in history. We'll see soon enough.
No need, PSP will get that first million sold. No doubt about it. AFTER the initial orders are filled(as in all of those preorders), how is it going to sell then? These reports of piles of units in the stores is not a phantom situation. After all, if the demand was that fierce, people would be going to where they wouldnt normally go to buy the system and buy it there. That's one of the biggest factoros of a sell out.
Thanks for the clairification. Hopefully PSP online is a far along as you're suggesting. I'd feel better if we were getting PS2 levels of PR from around the world though.Argyle said:
But by your own admission here it isn't simply "you just buy a compatible game and off you go" but there's a 3 step setup process. How's this work with public hotspots?Argyle said:Yes, you ARE wrong. Here is the process for getting online with a PSP game.
If no network has not been set up yet...otherwise, skip to step 2:
1. In the PSP XMB interface, go to network settings. Configure your network connection. You only need to do this once for all games, the connection data is saved internally on your PSP.
Otherwise...
2. Boot network compatible game and select multiplayer option. The OS will pop up and prompt you for the network configuration you created in step 1. Even if you skipped step 1 and you didn't create one already, you can create and test one here, it's exactly the same as if you created it in the XMB browser.
3. Sign into the lobby for the game you are playing.
That's it. I didn't have to buy any extra hardware, and the extra step of setup only needs to be done once, and it will work for every game that will ever come out. Seriously, have you used a PSP yet?
Granted, this is rather simple but the complaint was you were oversimplyfying it. Meanwhile you're imagining extra costs and setup trouble for DS which directly contradicts what Nintendo have said. That was my only complaint.
Contrast with more blanket speculation on your part.... sure it sounds less elegeant. Consider the source.Argyle said:Contrast this on the DS where at best (free solution) I will have to perform step 1 for every online game that comes out, every time. I think that's a lot less elegant, don't you
Sgt. Killjoy
Member
Argyle said:Have you considered that there is absolutely no logical reason to hide this feature in the OS at this point? At least we would know where Nintendo stands on online gaming if this were exposed, do you really believe that this is "hidden" in the OS right now?
BTW I heard there's also a hidden pot of gold in the DS operating system, you'd better go play some PictoChat to see if you can find it
I hear that the PSP online is working great.
jarrod said:
Now you're nitpicking, but maybe you're right! I almost forgot the steps where you have to buy the PSP and the game itself! And then you have to stand near a hotspot, too..and don't forget to insert the game and turn the power on!
(Sorry for being so snarky, but I can't help myself
Maybe all the cough syrup I've been swigging has been getting to me...)About public hotspots - a new network configuration would probably have to be made. The process is simple enough, especially if the network is free to use and is unencrypted. It takes about 9 keypresses, most of which are the right arrow on the d-pad to accept the defaults.
- Status