Something that's always in the back of my mind is the thought of the DS toppling PS2's lifetime sales in the United States. The closest system to PlayStation 2 in the US is Game Boy Advance. Do you all think DS can do it, or for that matter, any of the three new consoles: Xbox 360, PS3, Wii?

And to ivoodoo and xi, what's the purpose of bringing my name into the discussion of hardware and software sales for the month of May in the United States?

no offense Ivoodoo but that sucked.
Should've said something like
"I hear your mom gets touched than the DS"
or
"Wii sales are so high because you mom gets so many"

On Mario Party: the game is definitely Nintendo's "Madden", but it gets hit just as hard as Madden. How often do you see a Madden title with an average 68% score on Gamerankings? Meanwhile, EA and Nintendo are both laughing all the way to the bank.

On Sony: The company is starting to admit some problems, Stringer has been talking about a price cut, so at least they're not totally blind.

what i dont understand is... knowing the psp software sales are so damn low.. why is the psp still getting support?

the psp is basically doing what he gamecube is doing in terms of software sales, yet the support for the psp is still strong, strange. do the developers still have hope, that the psp software sales might pick up? i mean the psp has sold 7 million in the states, yet never seem to ever make it to the 10 software list, thats kind da strange.

again. are psp's being sold for its video gaming playback? or is people just buying it for other things like mp3, movie-playback, hacking, ect.

all i know is even when it had GTA, the psp still didnt make it to the top 10.

I own pearl.

If you look at Sony's hardware numbers as a whole, it doesn't look half as bad people say it is. But for nintendo, I have to say I'm honestly pretty impressed with the numbers worldwide. Oh they hit the gold mine, and now they just started digging!

I wonder how much the licence fees are right now for ps3 and xbox 360 games.

i would say at least 1 mario party per gen would be enough if you don't feel like getting all of them.

buying them in quite big gaps is good. like getting #2, #6 and #9 (i feel that mp9 will be better than 8, just like 5 was better than 4)

Stop buying Mario Party... it's the same tedious game every single year!

Is there any reason why there's quite a big difference between the two Pokemon games? Do people just like the sound of diamond more than pearl?

Because Diamond is a little less gay sounding than Pearl.

I concur.

Because Diamond is a little less gay sounding than Pearl.

I'm totally serious.

Why is Diamond outselling Pearl?

It makes me feel good to see Guitar Hero doing so well on both of its systems.

And what the hell, people are still buying Mario Party? If these numbers are seen on #9, I'm gonna have to get my eyes checked.

Does the 'lifetime' GH 2 number count the non-bundle version at all? If it doesn't, it has to be over 2 mil.

I'm utterly shocked the despite the 360 Elite introduction at the beginning of the May NPD period sales for the system were 20K less than April NPD. I expected 360 sales to shoot up dramatically for at least the month.

d.lo said this:
"Personally I think people DO play games on it, it's just that they don't pay for the games since piracy is so easy on it."

And 60 fps said this:
"The problem with the PSP is that it feels more like a console than a "pick-up-and-play" handheld."

Both are very true. You can put the handheld game in a console, but not a console in a handheld (a very good pre-PSP example is Metroid 2).

But still believe that easy piracy is the best reason the PSP is having so much conflicting sales. It sold a decent amount of hardware but the software sales are almost zip, zero, nada. The only reason for that to happen is to make piracy easier like the Dreamcast. GTA: LCS sold great but GTA:VCS sold poorly, you can see the shift in those 2 GTA PSP games that piracy was more acceptable now than 2 years ago.

Now the question is: Are the PSP hacks the reason for PSP's declining software sales?

The answer is a, HELL NO!

Sure hacks don't help the PSP but the biggest thing to blame is the PSP memory. Who in their right mind put a memory system that is bigger that the UMD? Krazy Ken that who. So at the end of the day, it Sony fault not the hackers.

The problem with the PSP is that it feels more like a console than a "pick-up-and-play" handheld. The load times, battery life and software don't really make it optimal for portability. Owning a PS2 would seem a little more convenient to most people.

"What? The PSP has its fair share of a solid library as well, but at this point, the DS just has a few incredibly strong titles that trump the PSP library (Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, Planet Puzzle League, Mario Kart DS, etc.). That doesn't mean that the PSP is not fun for its games though."

He meant the sales prove PSP isn't being bought for games. It's sold 2/5 the hardware the DS has worldwide at this point, yet it's only sold about 1/10 the amount of software. The 360 and Wii have sold less then half the PSP, yet both are dominating software sales charts - see above.

Personally I think people DO play games on it, it's just that they don't pay for the games since piracy is so easy on it.

The great thing about the whole switch around after the PSP release when everyone ended up buying a DS is that Nintendo proved yet again that they are the handheld kings.

seriously. no one should ever attempt to give the psp a pat on its sholder for standing strong in sales against the Ds.

the psp doesnt only have one feature like the ds. the Ds just plays games. if the Ds didnt have any games at all the handheld would fail and fade away.

the PSP selling point is clearly not its games. it makes you wonder how would the psp be selling if it only had one main funtion, which is games. imagin it the psp was currently putting out software the same way it did and it didnt have all this extra media features to keep it selling. would the handheld still sell?

the psp is selling well, but how come none of the games every make it to the top 10 list? how come none ever make it to the top 15? these things are in question.

what are people actually buying the psp for? seriously!

"I don't doubt the numbers one bit, but the haters might bring up that you didn't provide a link."

Ok, I'll quote the numbers I've got. It's actually slightly less dramatic then I said now that I've checked, it seems the PSP actually did worse then was reported in 2005, but since it started later in the year in 2005 compared to a whole year in 2006, it's still done very badly.

PSP 2006 3 million US (NPD), 1.8 million Japan (Media Create). We don't have European figures, anecdotal evidence (such as no PSP games in most PAL software charts) show it did badly, but let's just leave it at 4.8 million US Japan.

PSP 2005: 3,815,000 (NPD), 2,682,962 (Media Create, includes a couple of hundred thousand from 2004). US Japan 2005 = 6.5 million.

Now, to get PAL figures.At the end of 2005, Sony claimed to have shipped 15.03 million units. Here is the source:

http://www.scei.co.jp/corporate/data/bizdatapsp_e.html

This included shipping 10 million to USA Japan, when we know they'd only sold 6.5 million based on Media Create NPD. They had shipped 5.02 million to Europe at the time and were doing well there, so let's say it sold 4 million. This means it had sold 10.5 million at the end of 2005.

Now, at the end of 2006, Sony claimed to have shipped 24.70 million units, including 15.81 to USA Japan, when we know they'd only sold 11,221,109 (Media Create NPD) Assuming a similar discrepancy in Europe, then about 2.5 would have been sold to Europe in 2006, giving a worldwide total of 17.5 million at the end of 2006.

So even though these are all rough because we don't have true PAL figures, it means PSP sold about 10.5 million in 2005, and about 7 million in 2006. This is despite it launching in mid/late 2005 in US/PAL.

And based on the fact Sony only shipped 69,000 WORLDWIDE so far in 2006, including shipping NONE to USA and Europe in 1st quarter, it's got to be well behind the 2006 figure so far in 2007. I'm guessing it will sell less then 5 million this year worldwide.

Excellent post, d.lo.

The part where you explained that the 2005 PSP sales were 13 million as compared to 2006's 7 million is actually quite eye-opening. I knew it was much worse in '06, but I didn't think it was that bad.

Also, what was the DS's '05? It was pretty much dead even with the PSP, so we'll call it 13 million, just for the heck of it. That would mean the DS nearly doubled its previous year's sales (which were about equal to the PSP), while the PSP's sales were cut nearly in half in comparison to the previous year.

I don't doubt the numbers one bit, but the haters might bring up that you didn't provide a link.

"It's no coincidence that as the PSP sales numbers increase, the amount of PSP trolling on GAF decreases."

"I've always pretty much said that the PSP has fought a fantastic battle against Nintendo and the DS, despite its complete lack of software for most of its life (not ALL of its life)."

To quote something a read in a couple of other places:

"The reason people say PS is a failure is created solely out of Sony's (and their fans') own dialogues about their competition for the past 10 years. Being #1 is all that matters. 2nd place is the first loser. Next Gen doesn't start until we say it does. This was also the press' idea too.

Now when the PSP comes out and does mediocrely well against the the gimmicky stupid DS that all the press was dogging down on and suddenly it's alright for the two to "coexist." Bulls***. These are your rules. You can't change them now that you are losing. Nobody did this for GC when in 2003 it was called an "unmitigated disaster" by mainstream magazines and such. Nobody did this for N64 or Saturn. Why should Sony dodge the judgment of their own world?"

You guys are grade A hypocrites. When Sony leads, you claim 2nd place is worthless. Sony gets their ass handed to them, and all of a sudden 'we shouldn't compare top the competition, it's doing good i it's own right'

PSP will not outsell the N64. And it's possibly the worst major console of all time in terms of software sales. Current shipment projections show that the DS has sold something like ten times the amount of software. The Gamecube had sold four to seven times the amount of software at the same point (based on shipment figures).

More to the point, a minor sales recovery for the PSP, on the back of a major price cut, still only brings it to half the DS. IN Japan it's still 5:1 week in week out.

It's about 5% ahead of where it was in 2006 in the US and Japan, and behind in Europe and worldwide. IN 2006 it only sold about 7 million worldwide, compared to 13 million in 2005. DS sold 26 million last year, and is on track for 30 million this year. A huge chunk (still 2/3)of PSP sales were from it's launch months, and it's been going downhill ever since. Minor bumps like this are statistical noise.

PSP is a miserable failure based on the terms Sony set out for it. Is it doing ok with VASTLY decreased expectations? Yeah, I suppose. It's like a portable N64 that can't sell any software.

Now how about you tray and spin the PS3 numbers eh?

When did Mario Party 8 come out anyway? wasn't it closer to the end of the month?

If the DS did GBA numbers in the US, the PSP would look much worse, you seem to forget that the GBA sold much better than the DS is selling right now in its time.
Check the past NPD numbers and see for yourself.
The DS will have a hard time doing 40 million like the GBA in the US.

It's an intense battle between the GBA and PS3...

Oh, unforgiving, how arrogant can you be? You were the third comment in the string, and somehow, you think that everyone has suddenly changed their minds and now the PSP is a strong performer?

I have never said the PSP was a complete failure, and I have always said it is not a success. "Not a success" =/= "complete failure."

The PSP has failed to perform as a software mover. That is what consoles are designed to be, primarily. It has failed and continues to fail in that area miserably.

It has had moderate (not extreme, but moderate. N64-like, possibly slightly better) success as a hardware device, likely because of its PS1 compatibility and its ease of use as an MP3 player and movie player in comparison with the DS.

If you're going to brag about 220,000, and pretend that it's a turnaround for the PSP, you're smoking something that I want to get a hold of.

The PSP is never going to be a hardware giant, and it will never be a software giant. That certainly doesn't spell success in my book.

Oh, and I'd also like to point out that it wasn't a tough guess at all that the PSP would stick around for a sizable life-span. It was the heavy favorite coming into the generation. It's easily twice as powerful, it has more functionality, it has the best screen BY FAR that a handheld has ever seen, its format was extremely promising, and still, as a software device, carries far more information than DS carts, and on and on and on. The PSP is a marvel in comparison to the DS. The real people who deserve any credit for "sticking to their guns" are the ones who put their money on the weaker, uglier, technical drought of the DS (especially with the immense lack of games for the first 10 months).

Please.

I've always pretty much said that the PSP has fought a fantastic battle against Nintendo and the DS, despite its complete lack of software for most of its life (not ALL of its life).

Once Silent Hill Origins comes out, I will have one, and all will be right with the world.

Until then, I'll continue to pray for a PS2 or Wii port of SHO.

i have a question.
will the wii reach to 5 million before the ps3 reachs 2 million?(on US i mean)

not trolling just asking for opinions