Josh H

Um, I didn't call you a fanboy, just saying I'm not seeing much pro PSP buzz anywhere but on the Sony only forums.

The multi-console forums like this are pretty mixed and lean negative on opinons of the game line up.

If you want to lump yourself in the group, feel free to. But that's not my intent.

All I was saying directly about you is that you're too loyal to sony and get way too sensitive and defensive when people post anything negative. Especially with all the negative crap you spew about the other consoles.

Michael Corvin

That is exactly my point. I don't think that GTA is exactly a system seller anymore when you factor in that, for example, I can purchase it for the 360 which I already own, six months later after it comes out for PS3. Why plop down $400 for a PS3 when I can get it for the 360 after a short wait?

The only other "system seller" that comes to mind for Sony is Gran Turismo, and even that has a limited audience. Educate me, what else is there?

And wow. Sounds like I had the whole handheld thing backwards.

Goldblum

How old are you?

Josh H

In reality, Sony's system seller is just the Playstation brand name.

The PS2 sold like hotcakes when it came out and there was nothing really worth playing for it's first 6 months until GT3 came out. And this was against the excellent Dreamcast library at the time.

They also have several big franchises that combine together kind of like one big system seller. i.e. GTA exclusive for a while, ratchet and clank, sly cooper, gran turisimo, tekken, jak etc. None are big time system sellers, but when one considers they can only play ALL those games on the playstation, that moves some consoles.

PixyJunket

I know three people (in person) that have bought PSPs. One of them has bought and then sold a PSP.. twice. One of them only bought one because he was being sent games to review on it. One of them bought it for the "cool" factor and after three months still has zero games for it; he won't admit he's disappointed with it.. but going that long as it being solely an MP3 player says he too, isn't too excited about the games. I've teetered on and off about one since launch.. but ultimately decide that the emulation aspect would probably wear off after a while and most of the few games I were eyeing were all games I've already got on my PS1 (the new Ghouls & Ghosts I think being the sole exception).

Following both threads here, I've seen a lot more people disappointed in lineup for the PSP than the DS.. which says A LOT in my eyes because I generally see this forum as one that favors technology over innovation.

An interesting observation (based almost entirely on these forums, not sure how it is elsewhere) is that the DS started off to a lot of negativity and has picked up an amazing bit of steam in its first year. The PSP started off as a gift from God Himself and has since lost a lot of that steam.

Josh H

Yep, that's the general feel I get from here, the gaming press, other boards etc.

namja

While I'm willing to agree that your "fanboy" comment wasn't directed AT joshd2012, comments like that in general aren't appreciated in threads discussing consoles.


Okay, you've just described 90% of the people in this forum. You all have your consoles that you're loyal to, and there's nothing wrong with that.


Please tone things down ... or we'll just have to lock this one up.

Josh H

Sure, but not everyone goes to the extreme of starting arguments everytime someone makes a legitimate negative comment (i.e. not a console bash/thread crap) about their console of choice.

People that are like that cause just as many problems as the console bashers we had in the past. I never understood why only one side of that problem was dealt with.

And the ignore user function only goes so far as these people always seem to get quoted repeatedly.

The Franchise

Draw your own conclusions. ~200M consoles sold is not a fluke. (that's 3% of the world's population assuming 6B people)

Worldwide Hardware Sales (End of June 2005)
PS2 - 91 million
Xbox - 21.9 million
GameCube - 18.76 million
Game Boy Advance - 67.77 million
Nintendo DS - 6.65 million
PSP - 5.06 million
PSone - 102.49 million

Josh H

And with the DS 1.6 million up on the PSP, there's more evidence that the DS was clearly not DOA.

Michael Corvin

Thanks Josh. Rub it in.

200mil isn't shabby at all, but a few missteps here and there(the point of the article/thread) and they give the number one spot to the next candidate (probably MS). Nintendo ruled all at one point as well, made a few mistakes and are now in 3rd place.

*edit - and I don't buy into that % of the world's population crap. Most of the people that owned PS1s bought PS2s. It is the same market. Not to mention the millions of people with overheated/faulty systems both generations changes things as well.

Noonan

DS has had a few games which I would qualify as system sellers (Advanced Wars, Nintendogs, Castlevania, Animal Crossing). I have friends who have specifically bought a DS because of one or more of these games. Even with GTA just being released I still wouldn't consider any of the games for PSP a system seller. There are some really good games, but nothing original.

Josh H

Very true.

As I've said before, it would take a fuck up on par with Nintendo shunning Sony and going with catridges for the N64 to drop Sony fron the top spot.

Really the only potential thing I see happening is if they launch at more than $500. and I don't see that happening. I really think it will be $399 at most when it comes out. They'll take a hit to get back ahead of MS.

Josh H

Yep, exactly what I was saying. The PSP has quality games, just nothing you can't get on the consoles. Thus no reason to play it at home.

And not everyone has a need or desire to game on the go. It's kind of embarassing to many adults to even think of playing a game in public. So I really don't think playing console games on the go is a gigantic selling point. The media features are really driving sales.

Of course kids love to game on the go, but Nintendo has a stranglehold on that market.

dcswirl

The DS being DOA is absolutely ridiculous.

fumanstan

The Final Fantasy series is a pretty big system seller for Sony.

In regards to DS/PSP, I don't own either but from the outside looking in, I see a lot more buzz around Nintendogs then anything on the PSP. From what i've seen, Liberty City Stories is the only thing that's a "must play."

Josh H

Yep, I knew I was forgetting some of games, hence my "etc."

Can't believe that was one I was forgetting though.

The Franchise

Wow it only took 2 replies before the "faulty Playstation" argument came up. I'm sure people bought 2 each so we can cut the figure down by half.

And no the DS is far from dead.

josepotato

Good point, and I think this could become the norm very soon. I've been very tempted to buy a DS lately but trying to hold out for the redesign (DS SP?) and I plan on the Revolution being my first new consol since the Dreamcast.

fujishig

Well, there were a number of faulty systems. And when both PS1 and PS2 were redesigned, there were a bunch of people that "upgraded" as well.

Just to add to the DS/PSP debate: I own both, and fully expected the DS to fail and the PSP to prosper. This may just be a case of the DS's head start and cheaper pricepoint (and this is what Sony needs to watch out for with the next gen consoles), but I do think that there are more good to great games on the DS than on the PSP (add the GBA games and the DS wins by a landslide). Comparing the mediocre games isn't really fair, because hey, if we're just going by sheer number, the PS1 had way more mediocre games than the N64.

The PSP had a good launch, then nothing for months, and only now are we getting great ports like X-men Legends 2 and Burnout. The DS had a pretty weak launch, followed by months of tech demos and short games, until it hit its stride, so the same may be happening with the PSP. I also think that the DS has a bigger variety at this point: for instance, my wife will readily play Nintendogs and is looking forward to Animal Crossing, but won't touch any of my PSP games.

As far as Sony goes, I think Sony has learned from Nintendo's mistake, and they won't let go of the grip they have on the market. Not that things won't turn around, but they won't make the same mistakes Nintendo did. This is especially true because unlike Nintendo, they can't rely on the sales of their first party games: while Ratchet, Jak, God of War, Socom, etc. may be great franchises, they inspire nowhere near the level of adoration as Nintendo's offerings. They realize they are dependant on the 3rd party developers, and will use their existing clout to garner exclusives and the like. I have to admit, the majority of my Xbox games are not Xbox exclusives, but stuff released across all three platforms. I chose Xbox because of the usual upgrade in graphics and the hard drive. If the Xbox didn't have that added benefit over the PS2, I'm not sure I would have bought one. And this generation it should be exactly the opposite, with Sony having the edge, albeit slight.

I also don't see them launching at a ridiculous price: after all, the PSP, even with the value pack was sold at under what most speculation had it going for before it was released. Like I said, Sony as a whole is not doing well, and they NEED the PS3 to carry them.

kgrogers1979

Don't forget these Sony system sellers:

Devil May Cry 4

God of War 2 (not officially announced yet but the end credits for the first game said there would be a sequel.)

Metal Gear Solid 4

Resident Evil 5 (I would personally be surprised if it came to 360 because Capcom is not a big Xbox supporter, and they never ported any other Resident Evil to the Xbox.)

Japanese RPGs in general and especially Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest (Xbox is not that good of a choice if you want Japanese RPGs.)

Dan Average

Resident Evil 5 has already been announced for the 360.

joshd2012

Thanks namja. I know you hate me, but I love you, man. I love you right here. *points to heart*

I would just like to point out that I think it is sad when arguments like "its only being used as a media player" or "they probably had to buy two consoles because the first one broke" are being used to describe sales. Understand that you do not know everyone who has purchased a PSP, and can therefore not know what everyone - or even the majority people think about the games or why systems are being purchased.

I don't have numbers, but I believe the PSP is the most successful competitor to go up against a Nintendo handheld. You don't sell 5 million of them just because it plays movies, or because the games are mediocre. People are buying the system because they think the games are great and they want/need to play them.

hail2dking

With Halo selling 6 million plus and Halo 2 selling upwards of 10 million, I think plenty of people (xbox owners) care about it. Almost 50% of all Xbox owners purchased Halo 2. Halo 2 had the biggest one-day sales ever (most money made in one day by any console, game, movie, etc).

When MS announces a black Halo 3 Edition of the 360 bundled with Halo 3 at a price point (potentially well) below PS3 and puts millions into a marketing campaign (since they didn't need to for the 360 launch) days before the PS3 launch, it will definately have an affect on the PS3 momentum.

jeffdsmith

All these posts an no discussion of Sony's serious internal issues. The company lacks any form of cohesiveness among its divisions. For years Sony's product quality has continued to fall and has failed to keep up with competitors. While Sony rested on the profits of media sales and foolishly tried to enforce said market, competitors improved product and innovated new media delivery formulas.

Only with the PSP have they shown some ability to cross engineer a product. For their sake I hope the massive restructuring is working. Sony still has a very stong leveraging arm with their Playstation name and IP assets, but if they don't move fast and with a purpose they will only continue to lose market share as a product and content provider.