Sony's handheld surged ahead in the Japanese market last week, beating not only the Nintendo DS, but all the other consoles combined.
TOKYO--The PlayStation Portable slim has landed in Japan, where it started going on sale on September 20. The new and improved PSP is now available here in a total of six different colours--piano black, ceramic white, ice silver, rose pink, lavender purple, and felicia blue.
But the Japanese evidently couldn't wait for that--this week sales of the PSP surged ahead to 95,487, making the handheld the top-selling hardware unit in Japan, according to figures from Media Create. In comparison, the DS Lite clocked in 79,974 units, the Wii was in third place with 26,181, followed by the PlayStation 2 with 13,128, the PlayStation 3 with 13,101, and the Xbox 360 with 1,243.
The upswing in sales has been attributed to the release of a new Square Enix Final Fantasy game on the portable--Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII--which debuted at number one in the Japanese games charts, and has already sold 486,659 units. A special bundle called the FF VII 10th Anniversary Limited was made to commemorate the occasion, with only 77,777 sets being available, and these have now almost completely sold out.
Originally announced in 2004, the game is set before the events of the PlayStation title Final Fantasy VII. Gamers play as Zack Fair, a trainee soldier working for the Shinra Corporation's private military. The events of the game fills in some of the backstory of the characters from Final Fantasy VII.
The PSP has now sold 6 million units, and with the release of the new and improved PSP, Media Create expects the portable to stay on top for a while to come.
The USA needs to get the good stuff. Yeah, the new PSP is awesome,... but I'd like to see all the colors available. I just got the silver Daxter bundle, but I would have gotten the Felicia Blue in a heartbeat. Why do we never get ALL the good stuff???
I can't believe this!! The PSP number one again, for what? 5 weeks now? That's insane. I didn't think it would ever pass DS sales, not even for a week.
Congratulations to Sony. That being said, I'd be more surprised if these sales didn't have to do with something related to FF7.
Its been such a long time since i played FF7, i forgotten what the story was about...(especially after you've played the newer Final fantasy games..). I know you play a character with amnesia names Cloud and he has a friend/girlfriend named Rosa. His mortal enemy is Kefka (or Garland.. or Sephiroth.. i dont know anymore.) All i know is FF7 wasn't my favorite of the series, yet i have no idea why its the most popular (must be the turn to 3d).
I knew that PSP will be seeing its glory moments. PSP has still lotsa titles up in its sleeves making people more interested with the hardware. I'm getting myself this Christmas 'cause i wanna PLAY them damn FINAL FANTASY spin-offs!!! Of course, i'd be buying DS, too 'cause FF games are there too!!! HEHEHE!
Wow! Good news indeed! Now Nintendo has to work harder now to make great software. I have both portables and now playing the best Rpg game on the PSP: Jean d' arc till I get my hands on FF tactics and disgea later this month. I also love my ds since phantom hour glass will be here next week. A good time to be a gamer and hopefully crisis core and dragon quest series will be released early next year!
Testament don't forget crush, and silent hill and the slew of older good games like daxter, metal gear, the burnout games, there's a bunch.I guess early adopters that played every game as they came might be a little bored of it but for people just getting into it, the game selection is very nice.
you said it best njbritta. so many people on here spout of numbers and sales figures. Who cares? I don't work for nintendo. I'd rather play psp than DS because it's more fun. DS can sell all it wants, it's not making it anymore fun.
my DS has literally been gathering dust since FF3 while my psp is usually in my pocket everywhere i go. sales? who cares? i don't want to play games on the top selling handheld, i want to play them on best handheld. psp. hands down.
I've been a Nintendo supporter for a long while, but when my DS Lite broke in half, I didn't exactly race to the store in a crying rage to replace it. I have a PSP and it has kept me incredibly happy. I love the fact that almost no matter where I am or what I'm doing, it can entertain me. Movies at work. Music on the go. Games on the train. I can carry around my digital art portfolio in my back pocket too. I've always loved Nintendo's works, and I continue to enjoy my Wii, but I want more out of my handhelds now, and DS games generally lack the depth I want these days. I'd rather pay $40 for a game that will take me a few weeks to beat than $30 for one I'll race through in a weekend.
Spongeskeeter, Crisis Core might be celebrating the FFVII anniversary, but it's not a port. Its an original based on Zack, and don't forget the Final Fantasy Disidia game for psp coming out from SquareEnix. Its a totally new game too, supposedly a fighter. As for ports, don't hate on FF Tactics, theres plenty of updated content on a game that not everyone got their hands on back in the day anyway. (FF I & II were a little money grubbing, I'll admit, for lack of graphical upgrade past the GBA version.)
FFVII, Gow CoO, Castlevaina X with SOTN, Metal Slugs, unpcoming SNK anverisary with games like samuri showdown, KOF, and Fatal Fury. PSP RULES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i hope to see the casltevania on the DS finds its way to PSP one day, it looks like it could be a good game.
DS is an awesome console, respect to Nintendo! BUT THE PSP WHIPS ITS ASS HARD!!! BUHAHAHA!! I'd be lying if I said that I don't want a DS, but I really love my PSP and I was so happy seeing all of the games that Japan's bringing out for it soon. However, I'm dissapointed at the fact that Square Enix keeps porting games for it, instead of making new originals...
wargraymon @lostn let me rephrase that, top 10 original games, every list of psp games i see all seem to be sort of ports, not original. "games" like brains age and nintendogs outsell psp games. don't get me wrong, i have nothing against the psp, i wanted to get one but still don't see a reason why. all the people i know who do own one don't even play games on them, and it seems they've been using them less and less porting all their stuff to the ipod or zoom. Locoroco, eccocrhome (or however its spelled), Crush, Exit, WTF (an actual game), Practical Intelligence Quotient. There are original tittles for the PSP, is just a matter of looking.
dhfial1: The reason why the psp was trailing the DS was because of the lack of quality software and too much emphasis placed on the multimedia features. Now the psp is getting great software and that is what moves units not hardware and cheap gimmicks. The DS got better when they started focusing on the gameplay and not worrying so much about the touch screen controls ie: New Super Mario Bros, Castlevania. The same goes for the psp.
LOL. The PSP fanboys are saying "Ha-ha! For one week the PSP beat the DS!". This won't last a month. The hype over the PSP Slim will die shortly and the DS Lite will soon regain the #1 spot. The DS's game library is far better than the PSP, both in quality and quantity. Just wait, Sony fanboys. This won't last long.
It's funny how people keep motioning that 'games' sell consoles, yet when a game actually does, people bang on the hardware saying its only cause of that one game (case in point FFVII:CC), that it's even selling. Forgive me if i'm wrong, but isn't that the whole point? I fail to see why fanbois are out banging the psp for this. It's sad mostly... I don't own either handhelds, the DS has never interested me, but the PSP has grown strong lately, I think I may just pick up a slim version sometime. There are a lot of games that I would play available for the PSP now.
plus, every other handheld that has came out has always been more powerful then nintendos handhelds, atari linx, turboexpress, sega game gear, neo geo pocket color, wonderswan, the list goes on and the nintendo has always dominated, even now.
@lostn let me rephrase that, top 10 original games, every list of psp games i see all seem to be sort of ports, not original. "games" like brains age and nintendogs outsell psp games. don't get me wrong, i have nothing against the psp, i wanted to get one but still don't see a reason why. all the people i know who do own one don't even play games on them, and it seems they've been using them less and less porting all their stuff to the ipod or zoom.
I love the DS Lite. Its small and a lot of fun. Nothing but love for the very portable hand held. However for long plane flights and hours of fun it can't beat the PSP. UMDs, Video clips, Music, Demos, Wallpaper, and Internet. Its a little entertainment system. The PSP slim would allow me to watch my UMDs on the Motel TV during business trips. However I'll wait for the PSP 2 before I purchase another one. I mean I did get a gameboy and a gameboy color before the DS lite came out.
Phoenix Wright is a DS port of a GBA game. Fun game, but not very replayable. Elite Beat Agents is fun. Brain Training is entertaining for a while, and so is Nintendogs, but I don't consider either of those two to be games any more than Pictochat. I didn't like the rest of the games Tyrannus listed. Pokemon is getting old, and FF3 just sucked. What I found common about most DS games is that they lacked depth. They were fun but too simple in most cases, and didn't hold my attention for too long. But to each their own.
Crisis Core was a key factor here along with the offering of a new and improved system. The change from DS to DS lite factored much improved sales along as the many changes of Gameboys before that. It's incredible to see what sales are generated from an improved system, let alone games. (Madden anyone? With "improved" gameplay, millions sold every year perhaps.) Both the DS and the PSP have their share of great games. Where the PSP keeps reserved with titles we are accustomed to, the DS offers a different form of gaming that some of us in the US still think is taboo to the naked eye. Where gamers do not prefer Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops, they may prefer Pheonix Wright..And the opposite can be said about Pheonix Wright. Two completely different styles aren't they? The same about their hardware counterparts. Whatever you are into, there's a system for you. Want to continue system bashing each other? These companies grow to offer consumers a chance to work in their world if you choose to.
This is great! Finaly Sony rocks the Handheld Gamer world by nocking Nintendo off the top! Good Job Sony! Finaly mabe now Sony will step up it's community support and open up the DL service, and stuff to non PS3 onwers! YEAH! BTW other good games for new PSP owners to check out are the fallowing: Rachet&Clank: SizeMatters(4 player online play), AceCombat X: Skys of Deception, Syphonfilter: Dark Mirror(4 player online play), WormsOpenWarfare2(8 player online play). Also for those wondering what new games you should keep your eyes on try these of for size!: Wipeout: Pulse(8 player online play/free DL content), StarWarsBattlefront: Renagade Squadron(16 player online play), Medal Of Honor: Heros2 (32 player online play), God Of War, Secarate Agent Clank (8 player online play), SyphonFilter: Logans' Shadow(8 player online play), FinalFantasyTactics: War of Lions, FinalFantasy: Crisis Core There are many more lots of em have online play and MP support. Get a PSP while you can all! It's here to stay!
wow thats impressive and of course it is. all of these game consoles made are the best even the games they make are awesome
lostn Are you serious? You honestly can't find 10 good games on the DS? Wow. I don't know why you can't find them, but for you sake I will name a few of the more famous good games. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, Super Mario Bros. DS, The New Super Mario Bros., Nintendogs, Age of Empires DS, Star Fox Command, Metroid Prime Hunters, Mariokart DS, Animal Crossing WW, Final Fantasy III, Advanced Wars Dual Strike...................The list goes on.
It cool the PSP hitting the top Crisis Core and the Slim are great ...... breaking number 1 in Japan now that's a shock.
"ok, quick, some tell me the name of 10 decent psp games......no, make that 5" MG Solid PO, MG Acid, Tekken, Daxter, Lumines, Every Extend Extra, Loco Roco, Killzone, Exit, Burnout, Virtua Tennis, Ridge Racer, Katamari, Jeanne D'arc, GTA, FF Tactics, FF Crisis Core, Monster Hunter, Outrun, Ratchet and Clank, Wipeout, Syphon Filter, Ace Combat X. Coming soon: God of War. Okay, now your turn to do the same for DS. By the way, most of those above games are not single games but a series of games.
Good job Sony! If u could make more system selling games than PS-3 could be like PS-2....
Some of those many more to come are Silent Hill, Star Ocean, ecchocrhome, God of War, Kingdom Hearts and the game in which board you just posted wargraymon.
Winning Eleven, Burnout, Locoroco, Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy, Dexter, Tekken, Metal Gear, Lumines, Grand Theft Auto, Syphon Filter.........etc..... Above list not a single game but "series" of them still have many to come....
Sweet PSP is awesome. I love mine. My PS3 rocks too. Sony makes great hardware and the software is showing up now
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