The first 2 years: PSP has sold better in the US than PS1, DS, more
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Mar 16th 2007 at 3:00PM }
Misinformed reader comments across gaming blogs (such as Joystiq) are becoming increasingly frustrating. As we approach PSP's 2-year anniversary, many gamers seem to believe PSP is somehow a failure. Objection! If we align sales data to look only at the first 24 months of a console's US life, we'll see that PSP has actually done better than most other consoles, including the original PlayStation 1, and Nintendo DS.
The numbers and charts are provided by VG Charts, and they document a truth that may be hard to swallow. Please note that these numbers only cover US sales. Regardless, the following data should provide compelling evidence that PSP is not a failure, at least in terms of units sold.
PSP versus PlayStation 1:
The original PlayStation turned out to be one of gaming's most popular systems ever. But, looking at the first two months of PS1's life, one can see that PSP has had much more momentum. While PSP may not match PS1's final sales figures, Sony can certainly be proud that their handheld has been so successful.
PSP versus Dreamcast:
No contest here. Sega's last console, beloved by many hardcore gamers, didn't have enough in it to even get close to what Sony's been doing with PSP.
PSP versus Xbox:
It seems like Sony's PSP matches the original Xbox the closest in terms of sales momentum. The sales for the first two years of each console's life are pretty close to each other, with PSP having a slight advantage at the end of month 24.
PSP versus Gamecube:
Looking at the first two years of Nintendo's last generation console, one can see that PSP is consistently outpacing Gamecube. One thing's very clear: there was more demand for PSP at $250 than there was for Gamecube at the same price.
PSP versus Nintendo DS:
Looking at the first two years of sales of PSP and the first two years of DS, one can see that PSP has actually sold better than the cumulative sales of DS and DS Lite. While the recent months have been in Nintendo's favor, it's foolish to think that Sony is trailing that far behind.
PSP versus Xbox 360:
Think Microsof'ts Xbox 360 is doing well? Xbox 360 actually sold less in its first year than the PSP did in its first 12 months. Sure, 360 had shortage problems at launch, but misinformed gamers seem to disregard these errors.
PSP versus PLAYSTATION 3:
There isn't enough data to see where PS3 will end up, but PSP's launch has easily outperformed Sony's newest console offering.
Conclusion
Is PSP a failure? Definitely not. However, it could be even more of a success with better support from Sony. Clearly, Sony is doing something wrong if gamers have painted this inaccurate, fatalistic vision of PSP's doom. With PSP having started off with more momentum as PS1, why shouldn't Sony try to match the wild success of their first gaming console? The dream to have "PSP" as ubiquitous as "Walkman" doesn't have to seem like an improbability.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ProPorn @ Mar 16th 2007 3:18PM
It feels good to see Joystiq headlining some PSP news without bashing it :)
pixelator @ Mar 16th 2007 3:52PM
Well, I wouldn't brag *too* much about having better sales than the Gamecube, but I think it's important to note that these charts show a very constant upward movement for the PSP with sharp and regular holiday season spikes. Shipped vs. Sold and backlogged sales (72% drop my ass) even out in the end, as is evident here.
As others will likely add, though, it's those pesky software sales that need to start doing the same thing. Otherwise, down the road, we may indeed start losing publishers or at least see more 'we're putting more emphasis on DS' announcements like EA and Sega made.
Hoffer @ Mar 16th 2007 4:07PM
I finally bought a PSP in December. It usually doesn't take much to convince me to get a gizmo, but it took a while on the PSP. LocoRoco and a new Ratchet & Clank finally swayed me. Also, I bought it like 3 days after getting my PS3. I wanted to try the downloadable PS1 games and figured future integration would pop up.
Tristan @ Mar 16th 2007 4:22PM
Whoa, as people have said, although the PSP is trailing the DS (there are only two major handhelds PSP and DS), it is strange to call the one in second place a failure. Like said, it isnt like Sony is losing money over the PSP>
Biphster @ Mar 16th 2007 5:03PM
Tristan, LOOK at the graphs... The PSP ISNT SECOND to the DS.. THE DS IS SECOND IN USA (Just). The problem is that the whole internet focuses too much on Japanese hardware sales, purely because their figures are free to see. People then take this as the state of the WHOLE WORLD sales. It wouldn't be so white wash if US and Euro figures were published weekly and for free. Europe is especially pro Sony.
coyurtney @ Mar 16th 2007 5:17PM
Wow, I didn't know the spin doctors were still together.
Nice try guys.
Shane @ Mar 16th 2007 5:43PM
What is spin about data? For the time period they have and the data they have, everything said is correct.
SuicideNinja @ Mar 16th 2007 5:52PM
Brace yourself:
Hasn't the PSP sold/shipped (whatever) more units than the Xbox and the Gamecube individually? That should say a lot.
I don't think the PSP is doomed...I just don't think there's anything entertaining to do with it. I'm sure others enjoy its frivolity.
coyurtney @ Mar 16th 2007 6:38PM
This just seems like people bought into it on the Sony name alone but as they started seeing that good games were far in between it started slowing down. I think this has part to do with the PS3 doing so bad, people are tired of eating SONY's lies.
I mean I am not really that much of a hater. I want a PS3, but not at the price and not without good exclusive games and I had a PSP until I realized I could get a DS and a couple good games for that money.
pixelator @ Mar 16th 2007 6:42PM
"I'm sure others enjoy its frivolity."
Yes, playing awesome games like Ratchet, MGS:PO, Loco Roco, Ace Combat, Monster Hunter, Burnout, Daxter, Pirates, Gurumin, TOCA, and many other excellent PSP titles is indeed frivolous. One could say any form of video game playing is, when you get right down to it.
The question is, how big a dipshit does it take to draw this imaginary line of 'frivolity' between portable gaming and console gaming? Thanks for answering that.
pixelator @ Mar 16th 2007 6:42PM
Tristan, the PSP isn't 'ahead in the USA'. It may have been true at each system's RESPECTIVE 24 month mark, but the DS has passed that by here in the USA and the tally stands 11.3 million DS vs. 7.9 million PSP.
And as I've said before, NPD isn't ALL USA sales. They do not track online or certain brick & mortar chain sales.
supergear @ Mar 16th 2007 6:43PM
Piracy is what is hurting PSP software sales
pixelator @ Mar 16th 2007 6:52PM
BTW, looks like software sales in the USA aren't really bad at all:
Launch to Date: (remember DS launched at Christmas with 4 month head start over PSP)
DS: $41,943,250 (November 2004)
PSP: $29,866,750 (March 2005)
That comes out to a monthly software sales average of:
DS: $1,497,973
PSP: $1,244,447
Not such a huge DS-crepancy after all, is it?
jay @ Mar 16th 2007 7:30PM
People need to realize that the psp isnt the Ngage..It is doeing really well...the Ngage was crap! hence why it hardly sold.
daschupa @ Mar 16th 2007 7:33PM
Sooo, what I'm hearing is that the PSP beat the DS in a certain amount of time in a certain location, but now they are being beaten by 3 million units. Y'know the gc beat the crap out of the xbox and xbox 360 combined in Japan, maybe we can do an article on that...wait, no, it died...hmm
Anyhoo, the psp is a good system and I wish it were doing better, especially since I have one. It would behoove Sony to create a better marketing tactic than its current "it plays everything and games too!" and a lowering of the price would be nice too. Now that it finally has some great games, people have already written it off as an expensive gimmick.
myst @ Mar 16th 2007 8:11PM
How to say this without offending all the fanboys... hmm...
You're all idiots.
Go to http://www.vgcharts.org/aconscomps.php?name1=DS&name2=PSP&type=2&align=1
Now have a look. Doesn't the DS seem to have sold a FEW more than the PSP? And yes, we all know the DS had a headstart on the PSP, but it DOESN'T MATTER. What does matter is this chart. Look at the curves - for a while the PSP was matching the DS, but not for long. And oh - just in case you can't see it, you might notice the PSP has NEVER outsold the DS in America. And if you want to look at the other charts on the site, not ever in Europe, Japan, or worldwide.
Aditionally, if you distrust Vgcharts (despite having been happily willing to believe it if it showed the PSP winning), have a look at Nintendo's quarterly sales and Sony's quarter shippings. I made a spreadsheet which I might upload somewhere - Worldwide the DS has been selling more than the PSP's sold.
My last point is if you look at the Vgchart Tristan gave, obviously you'll see that there's no more data past the 24th month (as we can't predict sales for the future). But if you look at Sony's most recent shipping figures, you'll note they cut shipments by 75%. So I think they'll be taking a dive.
Lastly because I know everyone will be saying I'm just a DS fanboy, although I do have a DS, three of my friends have PSPs and I think it's a good handheld, but you have to admit that it's not outselling the DS.
So please, stop with all this "PSP has beaten DS!!111!I'MAFANBOY!!" crap. The DS has constantly outsold the PSP. No amount of fanboy spindoctoring will change that.
Nik @ Mar 16th 2007 8:19PM
Bottom line for me is that a PSP is $50 more than a DS and a PSP game is $10 more than a DS game.
pixelator @ Mar 16th 2007 8:45PM
"This just seems like people bought into it on the Sony name alone but as they started seeing that good games were far in between it started slowing down."
Funny, that's why I sold my DS during its first year and why I've kept my same PSP since launch. The PSP has far and away more games that I enjoy playing.
txa1265 @ Mar 16th 2007 8:24PM
I think that putting up the DS comparison is just inviting arguments ... I mean, when comparing the XBOX & GC sales to the PS2, how many people say 'ZOMG the PS2 had such a big head start no fairsies!'
After 2 years, a few months don't matter. All that chart tells me is that while the PSP was leading the DS in US and tied worldwide only a year ago, it is now lagging in the US by ~33% and worldwide by ~50%.
Also, what is the top growth in the game industry - the only one really gaining over the last two years? Handhelds!
But I think it is good to remember that the PSP is selling very well. And to refute the BS that there are no good games on a regular basis.
pixelator @ Mar 16th 2007 9:44PM
"The DS has constantly outsold the PSP. No amount of fanboy spindoctoring will change that."
No, it hasn't. The PSP outsold the DS for much of the first year of their respective lives here in the USA and even for several months in Japan. Fact. Don't need no spin for that.
"But if you look at Sony's most recent shipping figures, you'll note they cut shipments by 75%. So I think they'll be taking a dive."
Who's spinning, now? Look at the sales. Fuck this 'cutting this or that' and who'll be taking what dive. The bottom line is, the PSP hardware sales have climbed steadily and well since launch. End of story.
"And yes, we all know the DS had a headstart on the PSP, but it DOESN'T MATTER."
Sorry, Nintendo Fanboy, it most certainly does. When that 4 month head start includes NOVEMBER and DECEMBER, it was QUITE a lead. PSP launched in the gaming DEAD ZONE of MARCH, perhaps the second to worst month in the calendar year for game sales.
"How to say this without offending all the fanboys... hmm... You're all idiots."
Don't worry, we read your plat-biased ego-invested jealousy between the lines. No offense taken.
Thomas @ Mar 16th 2007 10:26PM
If sony can do what the DS Lite did, when it released... (releasing on a price drop) then the PSP remake will blow the DS out of the water... I hope that that the psp 2 can be priced at 180 - that's a good price.
the psp didn't beat the DSL... but it's performing well though, and this further proves it.
txa1265 @ Mar 16th 2007 10:34PM
Re # 18. "The PSP has far and away more games that I enjoy playing."
Quoted for absolute truth - THIS is all that matters. Everything else is just something that feeds into (a) conjecture regarding future game production, (b) conjecture regarding the future of the platform or (c) the usual 'mine is bigger than yours' crap that fuels these debates.
Sure the PSP is a hardware monster compared to the DS, and sure the DS is outselling the PSP 2:1 globally in total figures as of the end of last month, but what does any of that matter. If you don't want the type of games available on the DS, sales don't matter to you. And if you don't like the games for the PSP, then the nice graphics don't matter.
I happen to like both, I like more games for the PSP, but find the DS better in many genres I care about. My play time is dominated by the PSP ... but the pairing has converted me from a PC Gamer to a 'PC & Handheld' Gamer.
And I don't think that a Sony-less field would have brought about the amazing explosion of handheld titles we've seen - or the DS Lite for that matter. The PSP is good by itself, it has made Nintendo work harder, and it has helped make handheld gaming the place to be!
Extinction @ Mar 17th 2007 12:32AM
"people are tired of eating SONY's lies."
I'm tired of eating lies from people like you, STFU.
They should post how IGN, gamerankings, gamelemon, and metacritic all rate PSPs game library as being better than DSs. It's the games that count right?
Which means DS sucks
TwoLOUD @ Mar 16th 2007 11:24PM
I wish I owned a DS so I could be mainstream cool! Damnit! :( Oh well..yea stats dont lie. But for people like me Ill never subject myself to that DS. I always liked the PSP, never liked the DS. Features are better on the PSP then DS any day. Accessories are better, screen is better. Graphics are better. MP3s. Customization. And yes the piracy aka homebrew (no matter what you idiots call it..its piracy) is by far hurting the PSP market. (tis why the ds is beating the psp) I dont use homebrew. I support the game industry as I do the music/movie industry. I do feel sorry for some people that ruin it for others...well basically cheap ass people that want things for free. "Ill just buy the unit, and download the games"
sonymnms @ Mar 22nd 2007 8:37PM
I like PSP.
But so I can offend as many fanboys as possible,
NGAGE PWNS all!!!!!! WOOT! WOOT! WOOT! Ngage is way better than DS or PSP COMBINED!
AND guess what its SOO good the're gonna make an NGAGE2
Just typing that felt sooo wrong, anyways Ill post my lies without all this frivilous commentary on dsfanboy.com and see the results with a malicious grin upon my face.
Morzas @ Mar 17th 2007 9:04PM
Aside from people that work for these companies, why do people care about sales numbers?
Hipac @ Mar 26th 2007 8:29PM
Well i bought a PSP last year so i have had myn for about a year. Now before that i had a DS, i got rid of it, sure it had touch screen and meteroid, but what decent games were available and that are available now that make good use of the touch screen , oh NONE. I had a couple of games burnout sumthin, meteroid,and played many others. Evry single game that i played on the DS and i played nearly all of them that were around at the time, were the crapest things i have ever played for these reasons: Graphics were allways pathetic, gameplay was up the creek with no paddle.
Another thing the both PSP and DS had a different market. DS was designed alot for the lower age group, this is displayed with the types of games released, nintendo dogs etc etc..there are alot of little kiddies out there that want these games and consoles and so the parents buy them. On the other hand the PSP is not designed for the lower age group but rather teenage years and up that is why you dont get these stupid kids games on PSP.
So in reality the charts dont mean anything becuase the marketing focus is different.
If microsoft were to bring out sumthing similar to the PSP then compare but i think that the comparison between the PSP and DS is...ohh how does it go...NO COMPARISON.
thanks
Calypto @ Mar 21st 2007 10:53PM
I have to agree with Hipac here,
There is NOTHING on the market that
You can compare the PSP to NOTHING
How many handhelds are on the market?
I look at it this way, from a hardware perspective
The Nintendo DS,
One 64bit arm processor, that runs at 70 megahertz aprox,
One LCD display, one LCD touch screen, internal rechargeable battery, and
Is basically the DS
The PSP
The unit measures 170 mm (6.7 inches) in length, 74 mm (2.9 inches) in width, and 23 mm (0.9 inches) in depth, and has a mass of 280 grams (a weight of 0.62 lb) including the battery. The SHARP branded TFT LCD screen measures 110 mm (4.3 in) diagonal with a 16:9 ratio and a 480×272 pixel resolution capable of 16.77 million colors. It has four possible brightness settings, the brightest of which is disabled unless on A/C power in normal Sony firmware.
The main microprocessor is a multifunction device that includes a MIPS R4000-based CPU, hardware for multimedia decoding, as well as a vector unit dubbed "Virtual Mobile Engine". The MIPS CPU core is globally clocked between 1 and 333 MHz. During the 2005 GDC, Sony revealed that it had capped the PlayStation Portable's CPU clock speed at 222 MHz for licensed software. Its reasons for doing so are unknown, but are the subject of some speculation. However, recently released games such as Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters use a 266 MHz clock speed. Various homebrew tools enable users to operate at 333 MHz, generally leading to a higher frame rate at the expense of battery life.
The system has 32 MiB main RAM and 4 MiB embedded DRAM. There is no memory management unit for the CPU. No evidence of a TLB has been found. The co processor that normally manages the TLB-based MMU seems to be a custom effort by Sony and has no integrated memory.
The 166 MHz graphics chip has 2 MiB embedded memory and through its 512 bit interface provides hardware polygon and NURBS rendering, hardware directional lighting, clipping, environment projection and texture mapping, texture compression and tessellation, fogging, alpha blending, depth and stencil tests, vertex blending for morphing effects, and dithering, all in 16 or 24 bit colour. The graphics chip also handles image output. Specifications state that the PlayStation Portable is capable of rendering 33 million flat-shaded polygons per second, with a 664 million pixel per second fill rate.
So……
Need I say much more?
PAIRRIS @ Mar 27th 2007 9:29PM
THE BOTTOM LINE OF ALL THAT I'VE READ AND HEARD IS THIS, SONY IS NOT A FAILURE BECAUSE IT IS NOT BEATING NINTENDO. THE PSP IS A SUCCESS BUT IT IS IN DANGER OF LOSING MONEY AND BECOMING A FAILURE UNLESS SONY STARTS CONCENTRATING ON AN INOVATIVE SOFTWARE LINE WHICH IS THE MAIN REASON SALES ARE NOT WHERE THEY SHOULD BE AND THE REASON NINTENDO DS IS DOING SO WELL. SONY IS TRYING EVERYTHING ELSE EXCEPT THE ONE THING THAT WILL SOLVE THE PROBLEM, UNLESS SONY WAKES UP TO THAT FACT THEY ARE GOING TO CONTINUE TO LOSE.