• Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!

PSP sales sluggish?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Sgt. Killjoy said:
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"
Click to expand...


Yeah, I was in the Tri-County Best Buy yesterday, and there were signs everywhere for "PSP is HERE!" but there certainly wasn't a mad rush or anything, considering I've seen that Best Buy swamped before for other sales.
 
Argyle 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! :)

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.
Click to expand...
Nitpicking or not, your evalution was essentially oversimplifying Sony and wildly speculating about Nintendo. Speculation's fine too... so long as it doesn't contradict what actually is known. You sort of fumbled that part. :/


edit:
Argyle said:
(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...)
Click to expand...
Well, I've been a bit one sided too. Sorry. :)
 
Sgt. Killjoy said:
In either way, you can't play either of them.
Click to expand...

Oh? I just logged into Twisted Metal to see how broken it was.

Lots of games at 9999 ping, but I managed to join a game on the East server (I'm in California) and had a pretty good game against six or so people...
 
Seems like a few people are wee bit sensitive to this not selling out. About the hype, lots of people know about this. I live in the Chicagoland area. It's been hyped as the next Walkman. That is big enough. Price is turning the average consumer down. That is just basics
 
Fresh Prince said:
PSP needs piracy. iPods = piracy, DVD's = piracy and $20 movies, Ps2's and Xbox's= piracy.
Click to expand...

True, to some degree, PS1 and PS2 was a quick nero copy away, UMDs are closed, so no go there
 
first of all, people need to calm the fuck down. It's the 2nd day that the PSP has been on the market!

secondly, I think we'll see a barebones package or a price drop within the next few months just because it might become clear to Sony that the $250 price point isn't going to move systems as fast as they (or their publishing partners) want units to move. When the PSP hits $199, it's going to move loads of units and when it hits $150 it'll move even more. I don't think it's even possible for the PSP to be a "bomba", but it's entirely possible that it won't demolish the DS or GBA SP anytime soon.
 
A Sony rep gave a presentation on campus last night about disc manufacturing. I showed up thinking they'd be raffling a PSP, but the cheap ass just brought an empty box to advertise it.

He boasted about how all the 1 million PSPs in the US were already sold out, and how they'd sell 10 million by christmas this year, and 50 million by christmas next year. I immediately thought of this thread :lol

PSP is awesome, but seriously, 50 million in less than two years? at that price? And I think most of us knew the first million would take far more than a day to become scarce
 
This thing is going to pull great sales.

But looking at the marketing side of things, I can't say I'm surprised. I go to Gamestop, Wal-Mart, FYE all the time and watch a great deal of television. Sony hasn't done enough to promote the PSP, IMO. I felt bombarded with Xbox and Gamecube advertising, kiosks, and other promotions. With the PSP, I was exposed to the machine 95% through the internet. Furthermore, the most Gamestop displayed it was just a hanging piece of cardboard showing that GT4. This was all that was up right up until the point they put games out. And of course, everyone tries to act like this makes no difference, but it's still March, the price is still $250, and it's still a new product.

The PSP is brilliant, but what gets a product from "That's awesome." to "I must have that." is much more promotion than Sony has done so far. Heck, Nintendo sucks at advertising and sales promotions, and has done a better job than Sony with the DS promotion.

But again, it's going to sell whatever it's going to sell regardless. Like many have stated, word of mouth is the key. And I think the PSP has a blindingly bright future.
 
So day two of the PSP launch weekend and thus far my store has sold 5 of the 40 units we received. Again this is very much the story throughout our stores. None of our stores have seen significant sales jump even though some have resorted to opening a PSP as a demo to generate interest and sales. Hopefully with such a weak launch Sony will re-evaluate their pricing structure for the hardware and software.
 
Despite all the spin, I'd be surprised if Sony's not a little surprised by the slow sales. I know I am. I expected there to be fewer units out there than there are today. Saw some of the "rarer" basic/non-bundle packs today, and Wal-Mart had a ton of both systems.

I'm sure I've said it before, the console has a long life ahead of it, but I don't think the early sales are going as well as most people expected.

When I went to Best Buy yesterday, the guy who looked at the demo before me (at least in his mid-40s), bought one on the spot. If I had the cash, I would have too :)

But I've seen some people going "wow" over it, and today more people just sort of ignoring it. I find it very weird, but I guess despite a few articles, it hasn't been heavily promoted....

EDIT: Still, given that the DS seemed pretty hard to find within a day or two, I guess I'm still surprised, even though there were only 1/3 of the units.
 
The Experiment's Misadventures featuring the PSP

I hate the PSP with a passion. Before you think of something like price or games, I have a new reason: extreme pimpage from salespeople. My guess is that the managers shit a brick when they found out that the PSP wasn't the insane seller they thought it was yesterday and with the fiscal end to many stores in just a few days, I doubt they want their department to explain $5000+ in unsold PSPs. I live in a college town so considering how many spend up to a grand of spring break, it would be stupid to assume that people have even more money for the PSP.

I was running some errands. The bus route took 40 minutes so after getting some groceries (that took a few minutes), I went to Walmart for some shit. I head to the electronics to find good and cheap DVDs. I passed by the game section to find a dozen or so PSPs, taking a whole shelf unit without a dent. It could have been restocked. No Lumines or Darkstalkers but a lot of NBA and Ridge Racers. Whats funny was that Walmart moved all the DS games to its GBA bargain bin section. Now Wario Ware Touched was along the likes of Jimmy Neutron. Classic. No DS units found anywhere.

Went to Gamestop to find some DVD deals, to wait for the bus, and confirm that PSP was not the huge seller. Sure enough. When I first arrived, there were two men working there. Both were morbidly obese. Before I had the opportunity to walk more than five feet, one of them waddled towards me and told me that finally, the PSP is out and its "only $250." I told him that I knew about it and wasn't interested in it. This fucker was determined to make a sale. He tried to tell me all its features. When he stopped to take a breath, I said that I knew all about it but I didn't think it was worth $250.

The other man said that when he found out about the PSP, he sold his DS because he knew that it was all over for Nintendo. :lol He also said that on his way to work, he was watching a Family Guy on it. I told them that I don't ride the bus often and therefore, have no real need for a handheld. I peer over to see two big PSP boxes and about a dozen or so PSP unit boxes stacked on top. Apparently the demand was just so high that putting it in the back would be a waste. I asked how many they sold. One guy said about a dozen pre-orders were made and about a dozen more have been sold since then. They said they got 50 units in. So about half. They were still telling me about the features and I just ignored them. I was getting creeped out so I decided to leave when the fucker comes up to me with his PSP to show me Family Guy. I told him I wasn't interested and quickly left.

Went to Sam Goody as there was maybe 14 minutes left until the bus. Went to find some budget DVDs (from there, it sounds like an oxymoron) but boom, more PSP pimpage. This time its from some scrawny dork. He came up to me and said, "Dude, the PSP just came in." I said oh. For the time there (nobody else was in the store), he was telling me all the cool features and how its the greatest thing to happen to gaming. He said, "Dude, I swear to God, I seen Gran Turismo 4 on it and it looked like how it was on PS2." I said I knew about it but was too expensive. I asked how many the sold and he said the employees had a pool about first day sales. They got in 25 units and thought all 25 would be gone. Answer? 0. Not a one.

I quickly left. It does not end here folks.

A few friends of mine and I went to Best Buy and boom, PSP city. PSPs were in three tables spread out across the store. I had to get a new memory card for my camera. Then I went to the gaming department and many a PSP found.

PSP was not that big of a success here, folks. Oh well.
 
I'm not which side of this thread I'm enjoying more... those folks who took local surveys to show the PSP is selling... or those folks who took local surveys to show it's not.... :lol :lol :lol :lol
 
I'm enjoying all sides of it to be honest.

I just think its like what I'm thinking: its good but not $250 good. I expect sales to explode when it hits reasonable prices ($100-150).
 
The Experiment said:
I'm enjoying all sides of it to be honest.

I just think its like what I'm thinking: its good but not $250 good. I expect sales to explode when it hits reasonable prices ($100-150).
Click to expand...

The PSP is not hitting that price point anytime soon IMO.
 
The Experiment said:
I'm enjoying all sides of it to be honest.

I just think its like what I'm thinking: its good but not $250 good. I expect sales to explode when it hits reasonable prices ($100-150).
Click to expand...

Yeah, we all know how often the PS2 drops in price :\ I don't think we will see much of a price drop any time in the near future, especially considering how much it must cost to manufacture the item. Maybe a few better bundles, or a cheaper unit without all the "extras" but no price drop.

May as well buy it now, you'll be spending the same amount, but you'll have it a lot earlier.
 
The PSP is threatening enough to make normally placid geeks concoct fanciful tales on an internet messageboard!

SONY HAS DONE SOMETHING OH SO VERY RIGHT
 
I like the idea of Nbabes calling the stores with pencil in hand. Awesome. If their 30 ft. away from one another they could pictochat the results.
 
To be honest, I was suprised too. I almost bought one on impulse with darkstalkers, but I resisted as I can't afford it right now. But i've seen PSPs everywhere - 30-40 at target, 56 at CC (probably cause they are forcing TM:HO with it), and about 30 at Wal-Mart. It was at least comforting to know that when I can afford one they won't be hard to find.
 
The PSP is threatening enough to make normally placid geeks concoct fanciful tales on an internet messageboard!
Click to expand...

Enjoyed the story? The PSP is no great shakes here people as much as people want to deny it.

The PSP is not hitting that price point anytime soon IMO.
Click to expand...

Probably not until 2007-2008 by my estimations (Note: pulling this out my ass)

May as well buy it now, you'll be spending the same amount, but you'll have it a lot earlier.
Click to expand...

The PSP is a pretty low priority purchase for me now. The only games I'd enjoy right now would be Ridge Racers and Darkstalkers. They are arcade games that would last me a short while. At the very least, I'll be waiting until some real substance hits the PSP. I'm not interested in Acid either

There's just better investments with my paper.
 
Musashi Wins! said:
I like the idea of Nbabes calling the stores with pencil in hand. Awesome. If their 30 ft. away from one another they could pictochat the results.
Click to expand...
This is a really bizarre tangent, but according to my calculations by placing each currently sold Nintendo DS 30 feet apart, we should be able to go entirely around the world.
 
Here's the thing, if Sony wanted to they could take over the handheld market with the PSP. If they could have the vision of destroying the traditional console/handheld life cycle with the PSP than it could become something very much akin to the walkman. The problem with the current lifecycle is that as soon as a system enjoys a broad userbase they dump it in favor of newer harware. If they went the route of any other traditional consumer electronic device and just stuck with it for a longer period of time they could own the market.
 
jetsetmario said:
Here's the thing, if Sony wanted to they could take over the handheld market with the PSP. If they could have the vision of destroying the traditional console/handheld life cycle with the PSP than it could become something very much akin to the walkman. The problem with the current lifecycle is that as soon as a system enjoys a broad userbase they dump it in favor of newer harware. If they went the route of any other traditional consumer electronic device and just stuck with it for a longer period of time they could own the market.
Click to expand...
Like... Game Boy?
 
JoshuaJSlone said:
This is a really bizarre tangent, but according to my calculations by placing each currently sold Nintendo DS 30 feet apart, we should be able to go entirely around the world.
Click to expand...

Quite frankly, that is awesome and it should be immediately accomplished.

I do figure someone will draw a penis and balls once or twice.
 
Kinda, but you see that is where Nintendo screwed up. In the past five years they have completely confused and abused the consumer. Here is the thing the average consumer looks at nintendo as having released three gba's in the past few years. Granted the sp was an upgrade to the advance, average consumers don't see it this way. I can't tell you how may times a day people come in and ask where the gbasp games are at. When I tell them they are the same as the gba games they look really confused. Than there is the DS which despite its postion as the "third pillar" is simply looked at as the new gameboy. If Nintendo continues down this path and releases the real succesor to the gameboy in the near future they are simply going to further piss off the average consumer. This is Nintendo's weakness in the handheld market and Sony would have to be total morons to not recognize this.
 
Now that the handheld wars have begun and with e3 around the corner, I don't think this place will be civil until at least 2007.
 
Perception is everything in the retail space and right now the perception is that Nintendo has screwed you three times by releasing its handhelds so close together.
 
Only on GAF can a $250 base price handheld not sell 1 million units in less then 24 hours and sales be considered "sluggish" :lol
 
POST PSP RELEASE AT BB goes something like this

Cust - "My screen has dead pixels"
Emp - "OH...lets exchange it for a new one"
*cust tries new psp
Cust - "OMG this has dead pixels too"
Emp - "Ok lets get another one"
Cust - "Hope this doesn't have dead pixels"
Emp - "You should get the replacement plan and the accessories to make sure this doesn't happen in the future"
*cust satisfied with a lcd with no dead pixels looks at emp
Cust - "you are right lets do that"

All and all this has happened numerous times probably not in so many cycles but you get the point.

Also my best buy got 200+ psp in stock on day one and we have about 120 left since i left.
 
SickBoy said:
Despite all the spin, I'd be surprised if Sony's not a little surprised by the slow sales. I know I am. I expected there to be fewer units out there than there are today. Saw some of the "rarer" basic/non-bundle packs today, and Wal-Mart had a ton of both systems.

I'm sure I've said it before, the console has a long life ahead of it, but I don't think the early sales are going as well as most people expected.

When I went to Best Buy yesterday, the guy who looked at the demo before me (at least in his mid-40s), bought one on the spot. If I had the cash, I would have too :)

But I've seen some people going "wow" over it, and today more people just sort of ignoring it. I find it very weird, but I guess despite a few articles, it hasn't been heavily promoted....

EDIT: Still, given that the DS seemed pretty hard to find within a day or two, I guess I'm still surprised, even though there were only 1/3 of the units.
Click to expand...

Well, I checked around town a bit more.:

Gamestop = Only 3 or 4 systems left. Sold most earlier this afternoon and Thursday night.

EB Games = Completely sold out. Expect the next shipment in mid April.

Target = Tons of systems. Were trying to sell me one pretty hard. Got to play with another PSP for a little from one of the reps :D

Walmart = Same thing as Target with the huge abundance of PSP systems not sold but of course with a higher amount. The other Walmart already had its PSP section up, however.

Best selling games so far: Ridge Racer, Dynasty Warriors, and Twisted Metal
 
PSP sales sluggish? I don't think that'll last long.

We had 60 preorders. Two people cancelled that I know of (potentially three). 25 preorders for 3rd shipment already.
 
The EB I got mine from had 1 left after me but we went to Wal-Mart after for another friend to pick one up (had a lot of credit there) and they had a TON of units left but I imagine they ordered a large number.
 
Stop telling us what is happening in your town/store. Who gives a fuck if [insert your town/store here] is or is not selling PSP's. Its all about national sales and those are down bigtime. There will always be strong sales and campouts in major markets but for the most part in smaller cities the PSP is sucking ass.
 
Hah. Stupid game store clerks OWNZORED. Every time I'd go into a EB or Gamestop one would be trying to get me or another customer to pre-order a PSP, and I'd hear the exact same line: "You'd better pre-order or else you'll be hard pressed to find one anywhere when they arrive!"

Yet another reason I rarely pre-order anything...
 
Ristamar said:
Hah. Stupid game store clerks OWNZORED. Every time I'd go into a EB or Gamestop one would be trying to get me or another customer to pre-order a PSP, and I'd hear the exact same line: "You'd better pre-order or else you'll be hard pressed to find one anywhere when they arrive!"

Yet another reason I rarely pre-order anything...
Click to expand...

Never work at a game store, eh?
 
I'm starting to really get pissed off at game store clerks though.

Yeah it's occassionally funny when they try and talk about games like they know everything (when usually half or more of the stuff they're talking is BS), but the worst is the freaking attitude.

You know they played up the PSP like something you'd never get unless you pre-ordered, and now today they're jumping on anyone coming into the store trying to get them to buy one.

And the nerve of some of these retailers in Canada who are flat out lying to customers saying they don't have the regular Value Pak trying to unload the Gretzky bundle ... what a load of shit. EB is the worst for this.
 
acidviper said:
Stop telling us what is happening in your town/store. Who gives a fuck if [insert your town/store here] is or is not selling PSP's. Its all about national sales and those are down bigtime. There will always be strong sales and campouts in major markets but for the most part in smaller cities the PSP is sucking ass.
Click to expand...

Well, let's just summarize all of these "stories":

Big areas are selling fairly good when compared to medium and smaller populated areas

Specialty retailers like Gamestop and EBGames are fairly much better

Non-specialty big retailer chains like Best Buy are doing average

Target and Walmart are doing bad. I suspect Walmart is because of all of the budget buyers. Unfortunately, it makes up for a ton of gaming sales.

There, if you havent read anything else in this thread, that's the shortcut version. It more or less reflects sales across the USA. IGN has just started a story on it as well, apparently they've been bombarded with emails from visistors just like GAF. So, its looking to be a more widespread problem than some would want to think....
 
gamergirly said:
IGN has just started a story on it as well, apparently they've been bombarded with emails from visistors just like GAF.
Click to expand...

Thank God we have Nintendo fans to serve as the media watchdogs of the industry!
 
The reason the PSP has sold well at specialty retailers like EB and Gamestop is because you do not have to do a lot to convince hardcore fans of any market to buy a new product, they just do it. The fact that the PSP is not selling well at traditional retailers is just more proof that Sony failed miserably at showing the rest of America why this was something they had to have.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

everything feels sluggish in RDR2
2 3
124
7K
tmlDan replied
ARC Raiders sales top 12.4 million
Sales-Age  2
94
668
Digity.exe replied
Detroit: Become Human sales top 15 million
Business Sales-Age  2
58
457
Jilted replied
Nintendo shares sink with sluggish switch sales
2 3
107
9K
Thick Thighs Save Lives replied
Famitsu Sales: Week 03, 2026 (Jan 12 - Jan 18)
Sales-Age 
49
241
Sohurmk833 replied
Top Bottom