Interest in PSP is returning, says Infected dev
by Andrew Yoon 
{ May 9th 2008 at 5:30PM }
Planet Moon has been a strong supporter of PSP, dedicating itself to the creation of exclusives on Sony's handheld. Their titles, Infected and After Burner, tried new things on the handheld, but neither title found the success that they were looking for. "We're very proud of them. We wish they'd found a bigger audience, but I think most people who've made PSP games wish that in retrospect," Planet Moon's Aaron Loeb told Gamasutra.Sluggish software sales for (relatively) expensive games forced Planet Moon to abandon PSP development, just like many other developers. While they're currently working on Wii games, they do note that PSP may experience a resurrection of sorts. "Interest in the PSP is definitely coming back among the publishers, though. That little puppy just keeps on selling!"
We're certain that many publishers were caught off-guard by the sales resurgence of PSP, after the introduction of the redesigned PSP-2000 and big-name releases, such as God of War and Crisis Core. However, games do take quite a time to create -- it may be a while before we're able to reap the fruits of any new PSP development.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Maninatrunk77 @ May 9th 2008 6:43PM
I'm suprised, most developers said screw the psp due to piracy and how people downloaded the game illegally more than they bought it. That or they wait until they can find it used to get it cheaper, but that isn't as big of a factor, I was looking into the game infected, but I just never looked in to it very much. The thing is people are too weary still for the psp to just buy any old game, with games like god of war and crisis core, the game is sure to be pretty good, just because we know they will put a lot of time into making the game. As I was saying, because of how many crappy games came out for the psp, most people won't buy the game if they arn't EXTREMELY sure it will be a good game, I mean in my case that's no so, but for the main stream, it is.
Maninatrunk77 @ May 9th 2008 6:43PM
Grrr, you at PSP fanboy need a better way of letting us post comments. I just had a long comment but entered my password wrong, now I would have to re-type the whole thing and try again, why can't we just log in and stay logged in or something????
Dr Haisook @ May 10th 2008 3:42AM
I second that. The system of logging in here is weird.
strike @ May 9th 2008 7:02PM
I was thinking of getting Infected when I first got my psp, but I just werent sure about it. I didnt want to gamble my hard earned cash on a game I was clueless about.
Mr.ESC @ May 10th 2008 11:34AM
I have to repair the PSP lite I got.Its broken,weird my old PSP which I'm currently using was a lot more resistant.
Also are they going to develop an Infected sequel?.That game was badass.
Jeremy @ May 10th 2008 1:18AM
Hardware sales don't count; software sales, do. And I have to think the poor sales of GoW and Crisis Core pretty much killed off any remaining PSP development in the west.
(I know, they actually hit the bottom of the top ten charts, but given the popularity of the IP and size of the userbase, which is about as much as that of the 360, they flopped badly)
TheHuntIsOn @ May 10th 2008 4:37AM
I'd say so. A year ago I wouldn't have considered getting a PSP and I'm not playing them for God of War, Wipeout. I'm loving the (admittedly ported) RPG's, the emulation, the wifi radio. And maybe a smidgen of Crisis Core.
The PSP would be doing better in the UK if they lowered the price of both consoles and games.
Lord Bowser @ May 10th 2008 8:38AM
Cheaper games will boost sales. I only have three legitimate games on the PSP and I'd buy more, but paying £25+ for a game lasting 5-6 hours doesn't seem like a good deal to me. Oh yeah, bring about that FF7 remake already.
Alien @ May 10th 2008 11:32AM
Jeremy : your one of the most ignorant , clueless poster Ive had ever seen . CoO will have bundles and it already shipped over 700k worldwide . CC sold over 1.2 million games and its still not out in Europe . You have no idea about how games are selling or how much they need to . CC was budget restricted and that means that the game was made probably from ~ 3 million . If they sell lifetime 2 million copys worldwide they will have ~ 40 million pure profit .
CoO will be bundled and its a first party published game . It will do at least 1.5 million when the bundles will come out . Seeing that GoW2 barely passed the 2 million on the PS2 thats petty damn amazing if you ask me .
Yes , interest in PSP development luckily went up , and I cant wait to see the fruits of this in ~ 1 year or maybe even this Q4 ...
Alien @ May 10th 2008 10:28AM
Jeremy : you have no idea about development budgets and game sales do you ? The 360 needs ~ 15 million $ to make a good game . The PSP needs ~ 1-2 million . That means that CC and CoO probably got in the green zone afther ~ 200k copys . That means that both had made it in first week , and afther that its all profit . CC was budget restrained and CoO had o be done in 1.5 years , so I doubt that either had more than 3-4 million put in them ;)
Great to see interest comming back :D With some luck we will see the first results this Q4 :D