Japanese hardware sales, Feb. 19 - Feb. 25: never say noir edition

by Ludwig Kietzmann on Mar 3rd 2007 12:30AM

CASE FILE B-853, "A MATTER OF NO LAUGHING"

I get hired to track down a lot of things. Money. Criminals. Dames. Sometimes it's all three rolled into one. The important thing is that these things are ... things. Things you can hold on to. Things you can rough up a little. Things you can press your lips up against in passionate embrace, only to have your heart shattered like a stack of porcelain plates frolicking on the train tracks.

And that's just the money.

What if the thing you're looking for is no thing at all? What if it's an idea or a feeling or a state of mind? How the hell was I gonna find missing humor? How the hell was I gonna crack this case?

ATTACHED EVIDENCE: SALES CHARTS FOR FEB. 19 - FEB. 25.

- DS Lite: 136,128

718 (0.52%)
- PSP: 100,210

65,705 (190.42%)
- Wii: 78,506

14,888 (23.40%)
- PS3: 19,315

1,361 (6.58%)
- PS2: 15,054

1,138 (7.03%)
- Xbox 360: 4,183

1,027 (19.71%)
- GBA SP: 1,035

192 (22.78%)
- Game Boy Micro: 907

46 (4.83%)
- Gamecube: 323

24 (6.92%)
- DS Phat: 132

21 (13.73%)
- GBA: 59

19 (47.50%)

[Informant: GamesAreFun]

For reference: Previous Japanese hardware sales charts

The time. 11:54AM. The place. Grink's. A seedy sort of establishment, where the oxygen was alcoholic and the language was nothing but a series of belches and grunts. In the corner, a busted jukebox screeched like a cat going through a printing press. It wasn't the sort of place you'd take your children to, not unless you wanted them to become little psychopaths that hide scorpions in the cookie jar. Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long.

"I'm SUPER glad you came!!"

They say the eyes are the windows into a man's soul. I could see plenty of this guy's soul. Hell, a wrecking ball had gone through the house around it. I could see everything inside. The chairs, the plants, the glossy wooden flooring, the chandeliers ...

"Umm, I said I'm glad you came!"

... the grand piano, the marble kitchen countertops, the dusty bookcases ...

"Hello? Are you ... with us?"

... the priceless Ming vases, the stuffed yak ...

"Excuse me? Hello?"
"Why do you have a stuffed yak?"
"I'm sorry, a what?"
"Why is there a stuffed yak in your soul?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Of course you wouldn't. You have a stuffed yak in your soul."
"Okay, uh, I'm going to ... I'm going to remind you not to inhale so deeply. They smoke a lot of weird stuff in here."

He was right. I had a distinct feeling that there was something strange in the air, like when you see a walrus flying by on a Sunday afternoon. I tried to remain calm, slowly gather my thoughts like lambs going to the slaughter.

"So, I need you to find something for me."
"Ah, isn't that always the case?"
"Well, you are a detective, are you not?"
"I am today."
"Were you a detective yesterday?"
"Yes."
"How about the day before that?"
"Yes."
"Well, that's three days of experience at least! I'm satisfied. How about you?"
"What is this 'something' you need me to find? Some things can't be found, you know."
"No, this is something that can be found, I'm sure. Especially by you!"
"Meaning what, exactly?"
"You cracked the Xbox case right? The one with the Japanese hardware sales?"
"This is related?"
"It is! You see, last week's sales charts ... they just weren't funny."
"What's your point? These things aren't meant to be funny."
"That's just it, they usually are... or at least, they desperately try to be and are amusing simply for being such pathetic attempts. But last week, the humor just vanished."
"Vanished?"
"Gone! Not even a hint of comedy."
"And you want me to find this missing ... humor?"
"Yes! I know you can do it! I just know it!"

You just don't turn down a man with a stuffed yak in his soul. I took the case. To be honest, I felt a personal connection. The missing humor was upsetting. And it certainly wasn't funny, registering about as many laughs as a plane full of puppies crashing into a burning orphanage. I figured I'd begin with Joystiq, the same video game blog that played a role in my last case. I still didn't have time for the French, but I had to start somewhere.

Like a step on an escalator, one name kept coming up over and over again. My quest to find something without form had just become easier. All I had to do was find this guy, rough him up a little, and find out why he screwed up. First, I hit the streets.

Damn shoelaces coming untied all the time.

I then tried my old contacts. The blurred vision that resulted didn't help me at all.

Finally, I looked his name up in the phonebook. Phone, address, easy. I barely knocked on the door before it swung open.

"Hello, can I help you?"

I'm not sure what it was, but I was unable to describe this fellow. The usual narration in my mind had come to a grinding halt, like someone had thrown a bucket of...

"...wrenches into the cogs of your mind."
"Now hold on there mister. How did you --"
"Know what you were thinking?"
"And how do you --"
"Finish your sentences?"

A long pause wedged itself into the conversation.

"What are you waiting for?"
"You're just gonna keep interrupting me."
"No, I stopped that. I was just making a point."
"A what?"
"Don't you get it?"
"Well, I'm looking for --"
"A thing. Yes. That running joke is done. It's been round the block three times and now it's exhausted."

This guy was more confounding than a basket full of singing marzipan question marks.

"Oh, I haven't explained it to you yet?"
"Explained what?"
"Oh. I'm the writer, you see."
"The ... writer?"
"Yes. The writer of this story. The writer of you. The whole thing."
"I don't understand."
"You're just something I made up to prove a point. See, I have to explain why last week's sales chart was all boring and straightforward. So, I used you."
"So, this case ..."
"Yeah. The humor hasn't gone anywhere. It's not missing at all. I just took a break or something."
"I'm just a tool?"
"Yeah, you're a tool. And now I'm blackballing you. Goodbye."

Oh, it wasn't over. Not yet.

Tags: DS, GameCube, Japanese hardware sales, JapaneseHardwareSales, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox-360

Reader Comments (93)

'' I mean, seriously. 25 million in a little over two years... without a price drop no less.''

Erm what? 25million shipped maybe, just over 20million sold. http://www.vgcharts.org/ngwars.php

I wouldn't even try and question those statistics since we know there were around 1.5million PSP's shipped more than sold in November. As evidenced by Sony's huge slashing of units shipped.

Also the DS caters to everyone, I can't be bothered listing all the games that are aimed at hardcore gamers because I will be here all day. 3 perfect examples though, castlevania, children of mana, FF3. Your fears for DQ are ridiculous as well. I bet you were one of the naysayers who said RE4 would suck and isolate many gamers. RE4 COMPLETLY changed and yet it attracted far far more fans than other recent RE games.

LaughingTarget (48):

"Remember, the Xbox 360 and PS3 aren't going to give us a breathtaking new AI. They have those pesky in-order processors that keep that from happening. Both of them are just the previous version on steroids."

Where's your proof of that? While I haven't personally played them, I've heard of games like GRAW, GoW, and Resistance praised for their AI.

"Both of them are just the previous version on steroids."

And how is that diffrent from NES/SMS to Gen/SNES, or PSX/SAT/N64 to DC/PS2/GC/Xbox? Where those leaps similarly useless leaps that produced no great games taking advantage of the new system's power?

"A new console should bring an experience that can't be quantified."

Again, when has that ever happened, besides the inital leap to 3D? Do you feel that going from the NES/SMS to Gen/SNES, or PSX/SAT/N64 to DC/PS2/GC/Xbox was useless?

"The Xbox 360 and PS3 are being treated as a video card upgrade. The high-end PC gaming market is tiny for a reason. Expense and lack of anything new; these new consoles have that in common. Expense and nothing new."

Yeah, but as the same time isn't the Wii being treated basically as "just" a controller upgrade? I haven't heard of any games on either the PS3, 360, or the Wii so far being anything signficantly "new". The improved visuals/AI in PS3 and 360 games have been seen on the PC, and motion sensing electroncis have been sold that were similar to what's being offered on the Wii (and controller innovations in general have been seen on things like the EyeToy and DDR).

And I also don't understand how so many have said that the DS "caters to everybody" or appeals to casual gamers while the PSP doesn't. I've had friends who rarely play anything beyond internet flash games sit down and play Burnout: Legends or Wipeout Pure. Unless if I'm missing what all of you are saying, casual games are those people can pick up and play for short periods. I fail to see how the majority of PSP games don't fit this criteria, at least in part. The only games really that I'd say are not pick-up-and-play are things like RPGs, which both systems have plenty of.

I agree with you about the PSP, Zebulunite.

What I don't understand is how people keep saying that the PSP's games can't touch the DS's. Both systems have fantastic games. I know this because I own 35+ games for each of the handhelds. Both systems have their own great games, and both systems should be respected. I really can't believe that we're given one of the greatest handhelds we've ever had and it 'sucks' 'cause it can't match up to 'the greatest'.

Now, regarding the Wii/360/PS3...

None of them are simple 'upgrades'... The 360 and the PS3 may be called 'video card upgrades', but they can do much more than that. And the Wii, even without its 'omgf shinney grafix', can still provide quite the gaming experience (I prefer my Wii COD3 over my PS3 COD3... although the 360 version trumps both, heh).

And to whoever said 'There hasn't been a significant shift in how we experience games since the N64/PS1 era'...

NES to SNES/GENESIS - Much more capability including much larger cartridges and sound effects which the NES would have never been able to produce

SNES/GENESIS to N64/PS1 - Larger cart/disk data once again, plus 3d, which truly did revolutionize how we play. But... thats not where it ends.

N64/PS1 to GC/XBOX/PS2 - Huge amounts of disk space and a large amount of power in the systems, allowing for graphics which at the time were unheard of, along with a huge amount of new things which the N64/PS1 would have NEVER been able to do.

Wait. Not done yet.

GC/XBOX/PS2 - Wii/360/PS3 - More power underneath the hoods allowing for new effects never seen before on a game system, new motion-sensitive technology, and streamlined online gameplay DON'T revolutionize the way we play? Anyone who says otherwise simply dosn't own any of the next-gen systems (I might have to rephrase that for some of the harder-headed Sony fanboys so that they don't try to twist it against me ~ Anyone who says otherwise simply dosn't own any of the next-gen systems OR the Wii).

What I don't agree with you on, though, is the fact that you say most of the people here are MS/Ninty fanboys. From what I've seen lately, a hell of a lot of Sony fanboys have been coming out of the woodwork to try and combat the huge amount of bad Sony PR being thrown at them (and for some reason, they try to blame Joystiq on the bad PR which completely makes no sense, cause its coming straight from Sony's mouth. And when they provide coverage on it, they start whining about it as though they're in denial).

Monster Hunters made the PSP sell 65k more consoles? How god damn dumb are the Japanese?

David didn't play the game before he critiqued it? How god damn dumb are the Americans?

Very.

@David

Apparently not as dumb as you. Everything happens for a reason and if you're going to be too lazy to make a criticisim without actually trying to find out why then that makes you ignorant and just plain look stupid.

@sheppy "The ultimate goal of a console is to cater to both hardcore gamers and casual gamers. Nintendo and Microsoft both failed to do this last gen."

However, both are trying this generation.

Microsoft is trying to build a base of casual and kiddie games by having Rare (who they own) develop Viva Pinata and Banjo Kazooie 3, very much like how Microsoft is trying to build a base of Japanese games by funding and publishing Blue Dragon. Microsoft knows that those games will lose money, but they are willing to lose money on them in an attempt to expand the 360's market. However, Microsoft can't do it all themselves. They really need 3rd party publishers to also release casual, kiddie, and Japanese games, and so far 3rd party publishers aren't biting.

So far, Nintendo has attracted a better mix of games to the Wii than Microsoft did in the early days of the 360. The Wii has casual games (Wii Sports), kiddie games (Rayman) and hardcore games (Red Steel, and the upcoming Godfather). However, it's questionable if the ability to beat the shit out of people using the Wiimote is enough to lure hardcore gamers away from the high-definition 360 and PS3. The potential problem is, if 3rd party hardcore games don't sell on the Wii, publishers will blame the Wii (instead of blaming the games for being ports that everyone's already played) and the Wii could turn all-casual like the DS.

(Note: I don't mean "kiddie" in a derogative way - I have 25~30 year-old coworkers who enjoy the Wii's Rayman game. And I'll buy Banjo Kazooie 3 when it comes out if it gets good reviews.)

When has david ever said anything that wasn't completely stupid and off base? From what I've noticed anyway...

Second, I'm quite annoyed at some peoples typical response of "DS is for the hardcore gamers too, you fucking idiot! RAWR!" Seriously. Do yourself a favor and look at the games that started to turn the tide. PSP was well on it's way to beating DS at one time, you know. And hell, just look at the top sellers! Aside from Mario Bros, what else can be considered strictly for the hardcore? Sure, DS has Castlevania (which is soooo great that series had a bad chapter forcing me to scribble on bosses and draw away blue block because "Da DS is teh INNOVATION" btw). Yes, DS games has games for everyone. But Xbox has Japanese RPGs. That doesn't make it that consoles focus, now does it? DS is focusing on casual games and there is nothing wrong with that. NOTHING.

@fatass of kickassness

I have noticed that of late. But surely you must admit that one particular Joystiq blogger has a history of posting either negative Sony news or even adding snide comments to the good news. I speak, of course, of Blake Snow. My personal favorite of his was in the article about where PSP went wrong and decided to add a blurb along the lines of "So much for meeting their goal of 50 million sold by 2013." Which is funny to me for two reasons. The first is because Sony said 50 million shipped and the second is Sony is halfway there and while it's not a rapid seller, it is a steady seller. People love to point at the Japanese sales figures but forget Japan is PSPs weakest region by far. So somehow, Sony now has the impossible task of doubling the shipped numbers with 6 years to go on that goal.

Joystiq isn't biased, but Blake Snow sure is.

In order to get the "total" experiance you need all 3. Anyone else who thinks otherwise lives in fantasy land.

360: Online, long driviven competitive gaming.
Wii: Party & Casual gaming with the odd entertaining mature title
PS3: Sequels to some of the biggest video game series.

The three companies are all playing it safe, each mastering their biggest appeals. That was the problem in the last gen. All 3 wanted to nail the success of the PS1 and the industry bottlenecked with the PS2 the only one making it through.

It doesn't matter who comes out on top in 5 years, it's just a popularity contest. Fact is all 3 are going to do well, and the current market is so large that it would be impossible to do bad. No matter what your numbers are comparatively.

I wish Joystiq would post North American and PAL sales numbers too.

@Fatass of Kickassness "None of them are simple 'upgrades'... The 360 and the PS3 may be called 'video card upgrades', but they can do much more than that."

Many 360 and PS3 games are PS2 games with tacked-on graphics, just like how many Wii games are ports with tacked-on controls.

The Wiimote could be integrated into the gameplay, but publishers are too cheap to create new games designed from the ground up for the Wiimote, and developers don't yet know how to use the Wiimote to its maximum potential, so they just tack new controls onto old games.

Likewise, developers haven't yet developed new techniques that take advantage of the 360's and PS3's processing power. The game engines are built on last-generation ideas! Most games are still using scripted character animation, scripted damage, and the same level of intelligence in the AI. We are starting to see physics engines and other middleware based on new algorithms, but its slow progress.

@Evan

If you were trying to prove Fatass's point then you just did in a long winded form.

@General Reader
All systems are upgrades for a reason and it's always up to developers to figure out how to use these upgrades in the best way possible. If they don't manage to turn anything out but a prettier PS2 game, that is no fault of the system and to say otherwise would be pure stupidity on one's part. A system is an object and it can only do what the programmers tell it to do.

Ex. Genji is a nice looking PS2 game on PS3, but if you were to say that the PS3 lack potential based on it then they'd have to be a complete moron. Do PS2 games of current say resemble that of the early PS2 games? A good one sure as hell doesn't. So why would someone base the potential of the Wii/PS3 based on their first gen games unless they're a complete idiot.

Like your post Fatass of Kickassness and agree with most of what you said.

“What I don't understand is how people keep saying that the PSP's games can't touch the DS's. Both systems have fantastic games. I know this because I own 35+ games for each of the handhelds. Both systems have their own great games, and both systems should be respected. I really can't believe that we're given one of the greatest handhelds we've ever had and it 'sucks' 'cause it can't match up to 'the greatest'. “

Definitely true. It seems to me that most people saying so are either irreconcilable fanboys (i.e. nothing will change their mind) or people who haven't looked at the PSP recently and are only basing their opinions on the initial, post-launch drought.

“None of them are simple 'upgrades'... The 360 and the PS3 may be called 'video card upgrades', but they can do much more than that. And the Wii, even without its 'omgf shinney grafix', can still provide quite the gaming experience “

Right, exactly my point.

“What I don't agree with you on, though, is the fact that you say most of the people here are MS/Ninty fanboys “

Well, I wouldn't say I completely agree with that, but in any case my original comments were directed towards the MS/Nintendo fanboys unfairly criticizing the PSP (i.e. I was focusing on their comments, versing trying to broadly say which system is more targeted by fanboys).

@ Sheppy:

“I have noticed that of late. But surely you must admit that one particular Joystiq blogger has a history of posting either negative Sony news or even adding snide comments to the good news. I speak, of course, of Blake Snow. My personal favorite of his was in the article about where PSP went wrong and decided to add a blurb along the lines of "So much for meeting their goal of 50 million sold by 2013." Which is funny to me for two reasons. The first is because Sony said 50 million shipped and the second is Sony is halfway there and while it's not a rapid seller, it is a steady seller. People love to point at the Japanese sales figures but forget Japan is PSPs weakest region by far. So somehow, Sony now has the impossible task of doubling the shipped numbers with 6 years to go on that goal. “

Yeah, I agree with you there. As many PSPs sell as Xboxs or Gamecubes in HALF the time, and the console shows no signs of significantly slowing down, and yet Sony's failed of doubling the total sold in 6 years. Even if they weren't able to by 2013, I think thus far what they've done has been very impressive, when you consider they launched the system against a company who has held a monopoly on the market for 15 years.

Evan, only one game in the history of gaming proved a generational change at launch. Super Mario 64 (which is sad to me because so few platformers have gone beyond that point and Super Mario Sunshine sure as hell isn't one of them but that also speaks volumes about Super Mario 64).

Software generations usually follow three concepts to the original philosophy.

A> How can we use this power to enhance existing franchises and genres?
This is always the launch drops...

B> How can we use this power to redefine and innovate existing genres and franchises?
Usually shortly after launch. See Bioshock, Mass Effect, or Motorstorm.

C> How can we use this power to create all new gameplay experiences?
And this is the tough one. This new generation hasn't had their GTA3 yet. We don't have anything in the immediate pipeline that screams "ah-ha!" in validation of the next generation. And truthfully, don't expect it anytime soon. The stakes are higher than they've ever been before and not too many studios are willing to splurge on that "ah-ha" moment because it's unproven. Wii controls are a superficial "ah-ha" moment since no one has yet created an all new experience to go with the controls, but rather controls tailored around the old experiences (in a way, many Wii games have skipped A above).

Until we get that "ah-ha" moment, the generational change will continue to be questioned.

Look, Nintendo keeps making games based on the "old franchises" because they SELL.
I can understand people bitching about it if the new Marios, Zeldas, and Metroids suck, but they don't. All of those games throughout the past 2 decades have been amazing. If anything, people need to praise Nintendo for sticking to their franchises AND making the games great every time.
Whatever happened to Crash Bandicot? All XBox has is Halo franchise.
Nintendo must be doing something right, since these games sell everytime. Not just for one franchise, but 3 of them.

I know that this isn't going to solve anything, or stop the fighting in the gaming world, but I'm going to say it anyway.

The market place is too large to try and justify it from one perspective. There are three systems for a reason and it's not becuase everyone likes the same thing. For thoes who wants to compare system specs or discuss if FF8 is better then FFVII then by all means. But for a Nintendo fanboy trying to convince a Sony fanboy that games like Mario and Zelda are better then MGS4 and DMC4 then you're totally missing the big picture and quit wasting your time. Everyone has different likes and dislikes and the market is never going to be 80% system A and 20% systems B&C in this post PS2 era. So get over the fact that your system may or may not be the most popular system on the market and go play your games because just like me you're wasting your time that you could be spending beating Super Mario World for the 102nd time or getting the Big Boss rank in MGS3.

"Whatever happened to Crash Bandicot?"

It was taken away from the original developers (Naughty Dog) and horribly deved from there. Meanwhile, naughty Dog not only created a new brand but a new engine which plenty of PS2 games used to great effect.

The psp hardware sales are something that should concern people even if they are consistently in third place but even if they were in first place it should concern people.

Sony doesn't make a profit on the psp. It makes a profit on the games. Third parties are ditching the psp in droves because oddly unlike the DS the software tie ratio is abysmal.

Most people seem to not be buying the psp to play games. At least not legal copies.

Also DS games remain much longer on the charts and off the charts still sell steadily whereas PSP games plumment off into oblivion and then are heavily slashed in price. This is Japan.

America and Europe they haven't reduced psp game prices by much even though the psp still has abysmal game sales.

Nintendo makes both a profit on their hardware and software so even if they are a third place in hardware and software they still make as much money as the first place guy. If they are the first place guy they make more then the other two companies had their profits tripled.

The wii sales in Japan are supply constrained.

Stores in Japan keep slashing PS3 prices in weekly sales to get rid of excess inventory.

Used Wiis and DSs go for above retail. PS3s go for below retail and have a shockingily low trade in price. Lower then a wii's retail price.

As for PS3 game sales they are in the toilet. With certain companies stating that a PS3 game has to sell half a million copies to make a profit how long do you think it is before they start abandoning the moneypit that is the ps3?

The PS3 isn't the Gamecube "since the gamecube had gamesales equal to the xbox and made far more money" it's the 3DO or Apple Pippin.

Hardware spikes when there is demand for a new game. DS had Brain Age to make it a huge hit amongst causals, 360 did it with Blue Dragon, and PSP is doing it with Monster Hunter. PSP is a nice little unit, it just needs more titles and more originals rather than rehashes of a crippled console version.

"Sony doesn't make a profit on the psp. It makes a profit on the games. Third parties are ditching the psp in droves because oddly unlike the DS the software tie ratio is abysmal.

Most people seem to not be buying the psp to play games. At least not legal copies. " - idioteraser

It has been over 2 years since the launch of the PSP, the price has not dropped once, and apparently Sony has been unable to lower the cost of manufacturing?

Third parties are ditching the PSP? That's why Sega has a new campaign called "Sega Loves the PSP"? That is why Squeenix is holding a PSP event? Is that why we keep getting anouncements about new games?

Most people pirate psp games and do not buy them? Is that why 700k Monster Hunter Portable 2 discs sold, because most people pirate it? Is it really wise to take the stance of the RIAA?

Either you are living 2 years ago and havn't updated yourself on the PSP or you are just smoking something insanely strong. Which is it?

Error on my part, Squeenix is not holding an event just for the PSP, just a general Squeenix event.

@37.

Do you realize that Nintendo's system sales have been steadily dropping since their first? See for yourself.

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/nintendo-sales-graph-how-low-can-you-go-213798.php

You claim that they are such a great company, blowing away their competition, yet this graph proves that they have consistently been failing more and more on consoles each time they try. Whilst other companies are competing, they are becoming less competition. Maybe that's the price of investing all your time in old characters and old franchises. Sure they may be succeeding now, but the race isn't over for another couple years. I still hope that each system is competing closely since that is best for gamers. I anticipate it will be a 33%/33%/33% market or close to that, and that would raise a lot more competition and a lot more cross-platform titles.

All i know is this; Wii will do better than GameCube in terms of marketshare and units sold

I mean, they've sold 1/4 of what GC sold over 5 years in 3 months, if they keep up this pace, they could be at 1/2 of the GC install base by the end of the year (given the general summer slowdown that will impact everything)

Wii may not win, but the concept will definitely have a lasting impact on Gaming as we know it

@ Aberu

The answer is that they got more competent competition. Sega was good during the 16-bit generation but due to financial mismanagement they lost.

And now Nintendo is competing with TWO major companies.

Despite what their console sales say, the GC had much more 3rd-Party support than the N64 though it still wasn't enough. With Wii they are close to catching up with that goal.

Wii may not end up first, but they are a STRONG contender for 2nd. Japan alone pretty much sets that in concrete if the success there continues.

For all we know we could be into the first few months of a 10-year Sony rut, if they decide to stay that long without being #1. But that would be looking too far ahead.

Aberu, stop being a huge dumbass. The reason Nintendo system sales has been dropping...

...is because they've been getting more COMPETITION, and not everyone can afford all 2/3 systems.

Duh.

"It has been over 2 years since the launch of the PSP, the price has not dropped once, and apparently Sony has been unable to lower the cost of manufacturing?"

PSP in Japan is just a few more dollars then the DS lite. Retailers often bundle the psp with five games in Japan.

At last mention of psp price of the compoments manufactoring Sony was losing 200 dollars per psp. Sony has to anyone's knowledge refused to admit what they have made on psp hardware sales or what the manufactoring costs currently are.

Heck until recently Sony didn't break even on the PS2.

"Third parties are ditching the PSP? That's why Sega has a new campaign called "Sega Loves the PSP"? That is why Squeenix is holding a PSP event? Is that why we keep getting anouncements about new games?"

Compared to the announcements in the first year these supposed new games for the psp either keep getting cancelled or made multiplatform.

EA has expressed displeasure with the performance of the psp as have other companies.

SEGA has absoletly the poorest business sense. Take for example that a multiplatform title of a series sells the best on the gamecube. What does SEGA do they put the sequel on the other consoles except the gamecube and the sequel bombs even though it was just as good or better then the previous one.

Sony has to give deals out to put games on the psp. DS on the other hand companies are rushing to put games on it or struggling to think of games to put on it since the psp development costs are as much as a ps2 game if the title is exclusive. Hence why a lot of upcoming titles are multiconsole ports or ports of ps1 or ps2 games.

Look at psp games for the past year they are abysmal. Only one out of a hundred psp games seems to get on the charts while torrents of psp games are found by the hundreds of thousands.

Get on any web forum and you will see far more requests on how to hack a psp to play pirate games then ask what games are fun to play that you can buy from a store.

Square-Enix has about a dozen games on the DS. Only three on the psp two of those did horribly while the DS version of those two games is expected to sell extremly well.

Crisis Core may as well be vaporware.

PSP million sellers worldwide is about three. DS if I am not mistaking is close to 20.

We'll see. I seriously doubt that the newest console concepts in the PS3/360 are going to create new boundaries. They'll stretch and push the current ones, but won't move the line like the previous generations did.

Super Mario World cannot be done on the NES. They'd have to try and shoehorn a whole experience into a two-button pad.

Goldeneye cannot be done on the SNES. No way no how.

Gears of War can be done on the Xbox 1. Just without the fancy shaders. Nothing down the pipes cannot be done on last-gen hardware. Nothing.

The systems are too bottlenecked by the wrong processor to build a new AI experience. All AI is are a series of if-then statements. If situation A, then do B. Gears AI isn't that hot. They still do bonehead things. They hide behind cover that falls apart or isn't even big enough to hide them. The enemies run out in the open and are easily stomped into the ground once the pattern is discovered. It doesn't learn, it doesn't adapt. The only reason it seems better is because the AI programmers added a longer list of if-thens into the world. Any Xbox 1 game can match that with just more time to write code for AI.

Another great AI example is Rainbow Six: Vegas. Also acclaimed to have great AI, but all you have to do is stand behind a pane of glass and it becomes apparent the AI isn't that hot. The AI can't "see" you through the glass.

There are currently two methods to handle glass. Since glass is a solid object in the game world with see-through effects, the AI programmers have two options. Option A - create a sight radius that ignores objects. This is the older style, which is why games like Goldeneye allowed enemies to see you through some walls when near windowed areas. Bad move. Option B - the AI "reads" the shaders and reacts. Ubi apparently forgot to code this if-then into the game because you can shoot enemies through glass and as long as the pane doesn't break all the way, they'll never see you.

A dynamic AI, which cannot be done in Cell or Xenon, would not have this problem. Dynamic AI will see the environment the same way the player sees it. Enemy AI won't have eyes in the back of their head, they won't hide behind insufficient cover (like behind a banister with slats that can be fired through), the won't run out into the open and they sure as hell won't be ignorant of your presence when hiding behind a see-through piece of glass. The AI in RFoM and GoW is absolutely sad when you identify the range of if-thens being used. The videos of RFoM prove that in many cases, where in one an enemy failed to see the player through a see-through green forcefield.

We are just not going to see anything new in this new generation. At least Nintendo is creating the option. Yes, it is up to the developer to create the new experience, but the hardware needs to be conducive to it. The PS3/Xbox 360 hardware isn't conducive to creating a new experience. It takes more just to keep the graphical parity with other titles which leaves little for advancement, however, due to the designs of the consoles, there is little available for new ideas.

Slower hardware would not offer the same experience, so what does it matter if the basic gameplay could have been done on a previous generation? So many forget that a Video game is not JUST gameplay, or JUST graphics, or JUST mechanics, or JUST story.

How much would the game would have to be hindered? How many things on the screen would have to disappear? How many cooperative npcs would have to disappear? How much of the world would have to disappear? Improved power of a system brings something to the experience, be it Visuals, AI, Physics, Sound, or the number of objects/enimies/sounds on/in game/screen. So, to say this generation offers nothing over the last generation is just wrong. If the games that review/sell so great this generation could have been done last generation, why werent they?

If Michelangelo painted on a canvas instead of the cieling of the Sistine Chapel would his work have been as amazing? The form of delivery is as important to art, as is the piece of art itself. You cannot seperate the two.

Except in the world of video games, where people feel it is necessary to disect the basic elements of a game and segregate them until they believe they can prove their argument. Many people make the mistake of thinking now the ONLY way to change gameplay is by offering a new way to control the game. There are many more elements to gameplay than just the controller.

Now this is what I love....

"PSP in Japan is just a few more dollars then the DS lite. Retailers often bundle the psp with five games in Japan."

Hehe...
Price of the core in Japan, 19,800 yen
Price of the DS Lite in Japan, 16800 yen

And where are these bundles you speak of? Only bundles I can find are the ones either with used games or the LE bundles which tend to not go for very cheap. And even then, it's with one, maybe two games.

"At last mention of psp price of the compoments manufactoring Sony was losing 200 dollars per psp. Sony has to anyone's knowledge refused to admit what they have made on psp hardware sales or what the manufactoring costs currently are."

Actually, I could have sworn they made the statement of becoming profitable within the first year.

"Heck until recently Sony didn't break even on the PS2."

PS2 became profitable by the end of it's second year.

"Compared to the announcements in the first year these supposed new games for the psp either keep getting cancelled or made multiplatform."

What games are being cancelled? And, incidently, PSP had a horrible post launch drought in the meanwhile, very few new games were being announced. Meanwhile, nowadays, it seems like two or three games get announced a week. Yep, a tragic scenario all around... if you believe these stats you made up.

"EA has expressed displeasure with the performance of the psp as have other companies."

Only EA has come forward announcing their displeasure. But let's take a look at what EA was doing on PSP, shall we? Straight PS2 ports. Hell, they even went as far as releasing no less than three games with console crashing glitches in the main modes of the game. It was only AFTER they announced their displeasure did they finally drop their first non-port in the way of LOTR: Tactics and this game was just a straight model rip from The Third Age. I have one huge reason why EA fucking bombed on PSP. Because EA sucks. Period. Meanwhile, Capcom, Konami, Ubisoft, Atlus, NamcoBandai, NIS America, Mastiff, and even THQ have been seeing more than decent numbers and keep announcing more and more games.

"SEGA has absoletly the poorest business sense. Take for example that a multiplatform title of a series sells the best on the gamecube. What does SEGA do they put the sequel on the other consoles except the gamecube and the sequel bombs even though it was just as good or better then the previous one."

Umm, you of course realize this "third" Super Monkey ball game you mention is, of course, simply a compilation of the first and second games levels with a few more thrown in. HOLY SHIT! A LAZY PORT DIDN'T SELL WELL!

"Sony has to give deals out to put games on the psp. DS on the other hand companies are rushing to put games on it or struggling to think of games to put on it since the psp development costs are as much as a ps2 game if the title is exclusive. Hence why a lot of upcoming titles are multiconsole ports or ports of ps1 or ps2 games."

Sony said it best. "We don't pay for exclusives." It's never been, nor will it ever be their policy. The only "deal" Sony makes is sharing advertising costs and hyping the game. That's it. Find me evidence of these deals Sony is making and I'll retract this point. But you can't because they don't.

"Look at psp games for the past year they are abysmal. Only one out of a hundred psp games seems to get on the charts while torrents of psp games are found by the hundreds of thousands."

You know what's funny? I just did a torrent search and managed to find over 1000 torrents for various DS games. Granted, I found roughly the same amount for PSP but all this point does is invalidate your claims.

"Get on any web forum and you will see far more requests on how to hack a psp to play pirate games then ask what games are fun to play that you can buy from a store."
Wow, people on the internet asking how to properly steal software. Why, this isn't a problem at all and it's solely concentrated on PSP, fucktard.

"Square-Enix has about a dozen games on the DS. Only three on the psp two of those did horribly while the DS version of those two games is expected to sell extremly well.

Crisis Core may as well be vaporware."

Wait, wait, wait.... so far, SE has only released two games on PSP. You have Valkerye Profile, which did poorly first time it was released, and DQ meets FF Itadaki Street which is a Mario Party style game which actually DID make the charts for a while. Meanwhile, SE still has Crisis Core, FF Tactics (PORT!), FFI (PORT!), and FFII (PORT!) in the pipeline. If SE is doing poorly, it's because of the ports. Crisis Core is assured good sales as well as their mario Party style game has already received them.

"PSP million sellers worldwide is about three. DS if I am not mistaking is close to 20. "

You are mistaken. They only have 12 and of those, only three are third party. Stroke your peachfuzz, let that sink in.

to #36 Avinash_Tyagi

Again, that's 1 game, adding to a library of many. Yes, that 1 game will tilt the scale further into DS favor. No, that 1 game does not prevent people from releasing more games for the PSP.

So long as people continue releasing games people want for the PSP, there's still no reason to believe that the PSP will falter. It's the same reason why the GC is deemed to be dead (ever since most/all the games migrated to the Wii), and the DC still survives (abeit barely, but people are STILL releasing games fans want).

to 82:sheppy

You are mistaken. They only have 12 and of those, only three are third party. Stroke your peachfuzz, let that sink in.

Try 24 DS million sellers and 5 3rd party games
http://www.vgcharts.org/worldtotals.php?name=&console=DS&publisher=&sort=Total

But There are 8 on the PSP and 6 3rd party games
http://www.vgcharts.org/worldtotals.php?name=&console=PSP&publisher=&sort=Total

The problem is how many of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories were on the PS2

Awesome.

My million seller numbers on the ds and psp were a few months old. The point is the DS outsells the PSP games by a factor of ten to one.

Square-enix has so far published on the psp:
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Portable

Crisis Core was supposed to have been published last year.

Tell me why is their investment on the DS much much more substanial then the psp?

A DS game that sells 50,000 copies can make back the development cost making it quite attractive.

PSP game development is as costly as a pS2 game for original development. Since most psp games don't break over a 100,000 copies it's a losing proposition for game companies.

"Price of the core in Japan, 19,800 yen
Price of the DS Lite in Japan, 16800 yen"

You aren't looking too hard. I am refering to weekly sale specials. You know like when Amazon or some other store will knock off a hundred dollars off the xbox 360.

That knock off the price frequently happens to the psp.

I guess when stores sell PS3s at drastically reduced prices you don't see that either.

The thing is the price difference between the two systems in Japan isn't as extreme as it is in the states.

Lik-sang got hated by Sony since they found a lot more profit to be had by buying Japanese psps at the price Japanese retailers buy them from Sony then selling the system outside Japan at the price consumers pay for them which is a quite considereable difference.

More profit to be had selling psps that way. Sony of course lost out on quite a lot of money due to that.

Nintendo doesn't care if Japanese DS lites are sold at the price the Japanese pay for them since Nintendo gets more money that way.

@catprog, consider me corrected.

@nintendofan

"Tell me why is their investment on the DS much much more substanial then the psp?"
Why was SE's support to PSX much more substantial? They favor the DS. They claim they don't want a console to obtain a dominating support but it's rather hard for them to make this case when they are dropping casual RPGs like a mother fucker on DS.

"A DS game that sells 50,000 copies can make back the development cost making it quite attractive.

PSP game development is as costly as a pS2 game for original development. Since most psp games don't break over a 100,000 copies it's a losing proposition for game companies."

I said it before, I'll say it again. The ONLY company that has come forward stating PSP support is a losing position has been EA. And EA didn't even properly dev their PSP games. Hell, console crashing glitch in FRANCHISE MODE in mother fucking Madden proves that. And in case you missed it, the past 4 years have been nothing but EA exclusives. They eliminate competition and the fans lash back at that and suddenly, "it's the console transition and 360s fault for not being here yet." They have a couple horrible holiday seasons because their software sucks and once again, "it's console transition" not game quality. They horribly port PS2 games to PSP and it's Sony's fault they're being lazy and sales reflect that. While EA is bitching, other companies are finding ways to profit on the console. Some through ports, some through original content. If this was NOT so, PSP would be in the same state of affairs Gizmondo, GP2X, and N-Gage are in.

"You aren't looking too hard. I am refering to weekly sale specials. You know like when Amazon or some other store will knock off a hundred dollars off the xbox 360.

That knock off the price frequently happens to the psp."

And I'm constantly finding sales where, for $10 extra dollars, I get three cheapass DS games chucked into a deal. Your examples are shit because it is across the board with exclusions only to recent consoles and DS Lite (but I don't see bargains with iPods either).

"I guess when stores sell PS3s at drastically reduced prices you don't see that either."

I'm curious about that. Link it. Because I have seen, at most, $100 off a used console.

"The thing is the price difference between the two systems in Japan isn't as extreme as it is in the states."

You're right. It's only a $50 difference compared to the states and it's $70 difference.

"Lik-sang got hated by Sony since they found a lot more profit to be had by buying Japanese psps at the price Japanese retailers buy them from Sony then selling the system outside Japan at the price consumers pay for them which is a quite considereable difference."

Dude, research is your friend. All the way until May, (and that's a full six months), PSPs were hard to find in japan. Sony was ramping up productions but it really was a shortage stock. And then you had companies like Lik-Sang who hung around Aki district and bought out entire shipments whenever they could. PSP had a console service and Lik-Sang was scalping the fuckers for $150 profit. Play-Asia, not so bad but still. Sony dispersed cease and desist letters (like the ones Nintenod has already distributed to Euro import shops in regards to the upcoming US release of Pokemon Pearl/Diamond). Most every other company stopped. Lik-Sang, fresh from a lost lawsuit with Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft took their previous stance of "fuck you, sue us" and guess what happened?

"More profit to be had selling psps that way. Sony of course lost out on quite a lot of money due to that."
Oh yeah, Sony should totally support the console scalpers that gave PS3's launch a completely fucking abysmal reputation. Way to tard it up, helmet boy.

"Nintendo doesn't care if Japanese DS lites are sold at the price the Japanese pay for them since Nintendo gets more money that way."
Yeah, but here's the problem, Lik-Sang was also scalping DS Lites for $150 profit. Trust me, I saw my preorder notice go from $200 to $300. Jumping to the defense of Lik-Sang only shows ignorance. Especially since they have a history of piracy, bootlegging, and console scalping.

@ sheppy

I'm sorry, but too many people (myself included) have GOOD memories of Lik-sang to allow you to dump on the company with your trivial "facts" ;)

@Mr. Kahn

I'm sorry, but a vast majority of the time when someone brings up Lik-Sang, it's simply because Sony shut them down. Very few people imported games but once Sony shut them down, so many people suddenly act like they were the ones importing games since childhood.

Lik-Sang had a history of selling bootlegging and piracy devices (trust me, I bought my V64 from there... and it died 6 months later, but bootlegging consoles rarely last regardless). Lik-Sang had a history of scalping consoles. Lik-Sang had a history of ignoring companies request, forcing them to go to court. And most of all, Lik-Sang has a history of never even bothering to go to court.

You can mourn them if you want, I won't stop you. But my busted GP2X holds too many memories of an 8 month back and forth in customer service and I hated having to cancel my DS Lite (Enamel Blue) preorder because the cost went up from $200 to $300. It was Lik-Sangs shitty customer support and downright shady experiences that drove me to Play-Asia and YesAsia.

Perhaps I should clarify the above statement before I'm jumped....

Yes, it sucks that Lik-Sang was shut down to many people (and likewise, I'm upset they shut down before I could recover the $250 for my defective GP2X). But the fault isn't entirely Sonys.

After all, Lik-Sang wasn't the only one who received the cease and desist letter. Lik-Sang, however, was the only one who chose to ignore it and vowed to "fight this injustice." Which is curious because they had just finally ended a long term lawsuit with Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo a year before over their sales of piracy devices. You'd think, and this is just common sense speaking, that if a company that just ended a lawsuit with you threatened to sue you again unless you do something, that you would do it. Not throw caution to the wind and cry when the lawsuit ends out of your favor (like the one before).

It sucks that Sony shut down Lik-Sang but it also sucks that Lik-Sangs inability to follow requests from a company like Sony forced their hand.

I don't think it sucks Sony shut down Lik-Sang at all. In fact, Fuck Lik-Sang. I had more than my fair share of shitty Lik-Sang service. I only wish it would have happened sooner, that they would have went out of business during the joint MS, Nintendo, Sony lawsuit, then Lik-Sang wouldn't have been glorified for their less than shitty service and quality.

I went to this web page

http://www.x-rates.com/d/JPY/USD/graph120.html

And looked up the most recent conversion rate from dollars to yen. As of March 2nd, 1 dollar is 116.82 yen.

"Price of the Core in Japan, 19,800 yen
Price of the DS Lite in Japan, 16,800 yen"

So basically...
The Core is $169.49.
The DS Lite is $143.81.
So yeah, I think that a $25.68 difference is within the range of the "few dollars apart" comment made earlier, with or without bundles or discounts.

Fanboy shouting matches are hilarious...I love the DS more than the PSP but could never give a rat's ass which sells more. You shouldn't care about these sales either...much less toute how much better you're console is with unreleased flagship titles that still have a chance of sucking.

Previous 50 Comments

Japanese hardware sales, Feb. 19 - Feb. 25: never say noir edition

Reader Comments (93)

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 10:48AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 10:58AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 10:58AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 11:36AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 11:50AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 11:52AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 11:57AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 12:05PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 12:10PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 12:13PM erh said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 12:19PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 12:24PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 12:31PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 1:03PM erh said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 1:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 1:34PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 1:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 1:48PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 2:01PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 2:01PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 2:58PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 3:13PM Ironhide Delta said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 3:19PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 3:33PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 3:36PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 3:49PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 4:16PM NintendoFanbot said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 4:23PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 5:29PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 5:34PM LaughingTarget said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 7:12PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 7:17PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 7:34PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 8:11PM Catprog said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 9:13PM JoshMilewski said

Posted: Mar 3rd 2007 9:29PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 4th 2007 11:28AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 4th 2007 2:08PM Mr Khan said

Posted: Mar 4th 2007 3:13PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 4th 2007 3:54PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 4th 2007 6:10PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 5th 2007 6:59AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Apr 7th 2007 2:51AM (Unverified) said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning had to sell 3M 'just to break even,' RI governor says

Featured Stories

Our own Alexander Sliwinski talks 38 Studios with Fox 25 News

The politics of making games: Disconnect between 38 Studios and Rhode Island in quotes

Exploring the patterns of Diablo 3

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW