I’m quite sure that this story’s already been around the web under far more sensationalist headlines – “PSP was a trial by fire” and “PSP was doomed from the beginning” just two easy hit-baiting headlines, but the truth is that Ready At Dawn’s Ru Weerasuriya, co-founder of the company, did say both of those things in the latest Edge magazine.
The man behind the ‘flawless’ Ghost of Sparta isn’t holding back on Sony’s first venture into the portable market, indeed saying both of the lines above, and in context too. “There are so many things that publishers and the manufacturer and Sony dropped the ball on,” he said, but reflecting that “it’s natural, it’s the first one.”
He’s confident that whatever Sony bring out next can reverse the fortunes of the PSP, hoping “that [Sony] learn from that experience … and that they solve the issues with the PSP and the PSP Go,” additionally suggesting that they should learn from what other manufacturers are doing, presumably refering to Nintendo and Apple.
He’s not entirely negative, though, and rightly so. “It’s a good platform and you can make amazing things on it,” he said.
Paranoimia
PSP – launched December 2004 – 62m sales
360 – launched November 2005 – 44.6m sales
PS3 – launched November 2006 – 41.6m sales
If the PSP is doomed, what does that make the PS3 and 360?
Really don’t get why people say it’s “doomed”. Well, maybe I do – because there are too few new games for it. But why? Surely pubs/devs can’t say “piracy” with a straight face while still making games for 360/Wii.
teflon
I think they mean that the PSP has sold plenty of hardware, but is crippled by an astronomical piracy rate and low game sales. Also, whilst 62m sales is impressive, the DS has well over 100m to its name, putting the PSP in a clear 2nd place.
The hardware itself was top notch (outside of needing a second analogue nub), but is now very underpowered and in desperate need of a new release, but how can that new PSP gain traction against the iPhone?
I think Doomed is the wrong word to use, but the PSP is slowing down a lot outside of 1st party games, and a PSP2 will have a very difficult time of it.
bunimomike
Comparing a handheld to a home console is utterly redundant in this particular situation.
I don’t think the PSP is a failure but it’s certainly under-performed.
PoorPaddy89
Nintendo DS – launched November 2004 – 135.58m sales
See the difference? :P
I love the PSP and I’m not a fan of the DS, but I can see why many people prefer the DS and find PSP lacking in some/many areas. I do think it harsh to label it a failure though.
Paranoimia
Yup, I know the DS has sold boatloads more, but I still don’t see how a system that’s sold more than both the PS3 and the 360 can be called a failure.
There’s a massive market there for any developer, and we’re not all pirates with custom firmware install to play crappy old Nintendo games.
I have to admit, the DS sales baffle me. My mum has a DSi (which I bought for her), and as a system, I think it’s great. So much so that I looked seriously at getting one myself. But the games, for my tastes, are utter toss.
I looked through the entire library and couldn’t find a single thing that I’d want to play. I even borrowed games and a system from my cousin to try it out, and it was utterly dire stuff. I was pretty gutted that I couldn’t justify buying one for myself.
I do like the look of the 3DS, and if this year’s E3 is anything to go by, they seem to have a far better range of games lined up for it. But graphically, it still didn’t look as good as the PSP – though that may have been down to the quality of the E3 video feed.
And I am of course looking forward to PSP2.
jimmy-google
The Gameboy & Gameboy Advance have also sold more than the PSP but every non-Nintendo handheld has sold less. The PSP appears to have sold more than all of Segas consoles put together. The Game Gear only sold 11mil compared to the Gameboy’s 110mil.
The ipod Touch was still only at 32Mil in January this year. You also need to remember that the PSP may have been released in Decemeber 2004 but it wasn’t available worldwide until September 2005 and has matched the 360’s sales in the US and UK for most of it’s lifetime.
The DS is about to become the biggest selling console of all time (roughly even with the PS2 at the moment). The PSP is far closer to the DS sales total than the combined sales of xbox & gamecube are/were to the PS2.
The PSP is the biggest competition a Nintendo handheld had ever had. Every second placed console before it (home & handheld) had sold less than the PSP in figures and relatively to the 1st placed console.
The DS v PSP war is actually one of the closest since the SNES era.
bajere
I think gamers have just gotten past the wow graphics factor when first released, and are now comparing the gameplay to consoles… PSP games always have funny/odd controls due to the lack a 2nd stick and triggers, once Sony fix that, and gamers can pass from KZ3 to KZ:portable seamlessly, all will be fine and game sales will rise
Charmed_Fanatic
I prefer the PSP to the DS, much better games IMO
gazzagb
When I first got my PSP 1000, I thought it was the greatest thing ever. I thought the PSPgo was going to improve on what was good about the PSP, but pretty much just changed the look of it and gave it a massive price tag. Hopefully the PSP2 will correct this.