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PlayStation (Games) Sony

PSP, PS2 Sales Skyrocket 196

Posted by Zonk from the can't-imagine-why dept.
Spurred by the scarcity of the PlayStation 3, hungry consumers are buying all the PSP and PS2 units they can get their hands on. The PSP's sales have shot up by 280 percent over last year, while the PS2 was up a respectable 115 percent. From the Eurogamer article: "Additionally, sales of first-party software are also up, according to SCEA. PS2 game sales rose by 120.6 per cent, with PSP software sales increasing by almost 168 per cent. Sony has yet to publish figures for exactly how many PlayStation 3 units have been sold in North America since the console launched there on 17th November."
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PSP, PS2 Sales Skyrocket More

PSP, PS2 Sales Skyrocket

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  • Poor kids not getting what they want... (Score:5, Funny)

    by JoostSchuttelaar ( 863737 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @12:26PM (#17050368)
    Poor kids getting a PlayStation 2 for XMas.... :)

  • Is this from the PS3 (Score:5, Insightful)

    by HappySqurriel ( 1010623 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @12:27PM (#17050386)
    Just as a question, is this really from interest in the PS3 or could it be something else? I don't know about the PSP but The PS2 has had Final Fantasy XII and Guitar Hero II released in November with Okami and Bully released not too long ago. Could the sales actually be more directly releated to the fact that these systems are providing more gaming content for far less money than any of the "Next Generation" competition? Seriously, with budget games you could buy a PS2 a second controller and 4 or 5 games for the price of a Wii; compared to the XBox 360/PS3 you could probably get close to 20 games ...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Skreems ( 598317 )
      Two weekends ago, I bought a PS2, GH 1 and 2, Katamari, and several other games. Yeah, Guitar Hero had something to do with wanting it. I'm also hoping to get a Wii once they're readily available. I'd owned an Xbox for a while but got rid of it a year ago because I never used the thing.

      I have to say that this was at least in part spurred by my realization that I never, never wanted to get a PS3. Too damn expensive, too much focus on flashy graphics rather than gameplay. I'm a big believer in the idea tha

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Skreems ( 598317 )
        Gah... hit post too early.

        To continue the thought above: I hope that developers look at the PS3 and see it for the giant money sink that it is, then take their teams and put them back on developing great games for the PS2. Think about it: the machine's powerful enough to get some great graphics out of it; instead of an install base of 300k, you have 100 million (plus all of the 300k as well); known tech means lower cost means more money to spend on art, story, gameplay testing, etc. Look at Shadow of The
    • My early-gen PS2 has been broken for a while now. I figured rather than waste time or money repairing the old one, I'd just wait for the PS3 thing to happen and die down, since this would surely result in a price drop for the last batch of PS2s, and I could replace my cranky old console on the cheap. This certainly does seem to be the case at the moment, and I imagine after the holidays the price of a PS2 will go down even further.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DrXym ( 126579 )
      It might also be a sign of things to come. All those people who are denied a PS3 (because of shortages) buy a PS2 and games for that because they know they can move up to a PS3 when they become more available. In the meantime Sony makes money and denies a potential convert to another platform.

      Anyway concerning the PS2, it is interesting to note that there are new games coming out for it and it is still selling by the shitload. Contrast with the XBox which Microsoft have virtually killed stone dead barely

      • If you discount people who were looking to buy a PS3 to sell it on eBay, I'm willing to bet that over 90% of people who were looking to buy a PS3 already owned a PS2. $500/$600 is a lot of money to most people, and you'd have to be a pretty dedicated gamer to be willing to spend that kind of money which implies that you have been a dedicated gamer for a while and have "faith" in the Playstation brand; in other words you're probably among the to 5% most "hard-core" Playstation 2 owners.

        No one wakes up one mo

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Maul ( 83993 )
        Even Nintendo have shown a disturbing trend with their handhelds of putting out one revision after another, each promising to fix the flaws in the last version.

        The GBA, GBA SP, and GB Micro are all basically the same system as far as the games they can play. The same goes for the DS and the DS Lite. This is not exactly comparable to the original XBox and the 360.

      • Why would anyone buy an XBox when the 360 has been in stores for a year?

        I just bought a PS2 to play Guitar Hero. It is inferior to the original XBox in every respect but game selection.

        Don't expect Microsoft to be hampered by exclusivity contracts this time around.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by DrXym ( 126579 )
          Why would anyone buy an XBox when the 360 has been in stores for a year?

          The XBox was killed stone dead virtually the second the 360 came out. From the looks of it Sony intend to have some overlap between their PS3 & PS2 just like they did with the PS1. IIRC The PS1 lived for something like 3 years after the PS2 came out.

          • That's how it is with all highly-successful consoles. By the time the next-generation comes out, you have leftover momentum. Not using that momentum to your advantage would be foolish.

            I remember buying Castlevania III for NES even with the Genesis already out, and the SNES (with Castlevania IV no less) just over the horizon. I even remember buying NES games after the SNES release, although none of them were AAA releases. Nintendo released a heavily revises NES at a low price to meet this demand.

            Sega did

  • Also driven by Walmart (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Erwos ( 553607 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @12:27PM (#17050390)
    A big factor in this, I would assume, is that Walmart was selling them for $160 each on Black Friday, with no apparent limit. One of my co-workers bought three - one for him, two for his kids. Combine that with some new, non-sucky games and the prospect of PS3 integration, and it could be the PSP will see a revival of sorts.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by The-Bus ( 138060 )
      Actually, the consoles are only $129. It looks like Wal-Mart is actually doing some decent bundling. For $129, you get the console. For $154 ($25 more) you get an extra controller and two games (not the best, but decent ones). Thanks to the PS2's huge install base, games get "Greatest Hits" status quickly: Shadow of the Colossus (a fantastic game) is only $20. As great as the Wii and the 360 are (and as the PS3 might become), for $300-$400 your best bet is still a previous gen console.

  • It's that time of the year (Score:4, Insightful)

    by medeii ( 472309 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @12:28PM (#17050416)

    Spurred by the scarcity of the PlayStation 3...

    You mean, "Spurred by the impending holiday." It's highly unlikely that the upswing in PS2 sales has any meaningful correlation with PS3 scarcity; after all, I still don't know a single person who actually plans to get one. The PS2 and PSP, however, are still as viable (and cheap, comparatively!) as they were a month ago.

  • PSP game sales (Score:5, Funny)

    by lpangelrob ( 714473 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @12:28PM (#17050418)
    So... PSP software sales increased from 100 total units to 268? Or am I being generous?

  • Hungry consumers? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by WidescreenFreak ( 830043 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @12:32PM (#17050496) Homepage Journal
    I don't buy the "hungry consumers" line at all. People saw the $600-700 price tag of the PS3 and choked in addition to the extreme shortage of PS3s, so they bought the next best thing. That's all.

    I was in EBGames to pick up a Wii yesterday and saw brand new PS2s for $129. The PS2 already has a huge established base of games and it's much cheaper than the PS3. Think about it! You can get a Wii, PS2, and base XBox 360 for the same price as a PS3! I'm still considering getting a PS2 if only to play the Guitar hero series.

    I don't think it has anything to do with "hungry consumers" as much as it does people who lost their appetite over the whole PS3 debacle. Instead of buying some $600-$700 gourmet dinner (to keep up the "hungry consumers" metaphor) at an elite restaurant that few people can get into, they came to their senses and decided that not only would a family meal at a quality restaurant be cheaper, it has a better variety of dinners, can hold more customers at a time, and is a much, much better value overall.

    If news about a surge in PS2 sales comes as a surprise to anyone, the human gene pool is in need of a bit more chlorine.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Don853 ( 978535 )
      You're using the base price of the 360 and the deluxe price of the PS3, so there's a $100 discrepency you're ignoring.

      The xbox 360 core (no hard drive) is far more gimped than the PS3 base model.

      The rebate [mentioned elsewhere in the thread] is only useful to a pretty limited number of people - Microcenter doesn't sell the 360 online and there are only 19 retail locations in the country, at least according to their website.

      The PS3 costs $500-$600, not $600-$700. Presumably you use these numbers to mak
    • Although prices have dipped a little, most 60GB PS3's are still selling for over a thousand on eBay - around $1200-$1400 if you are a seller with any kind of reputation.

      So if people are "choking on the price" why are they still selling for so much on eBay?

      I went into a Target yesterday and asked if they had any PS3. He said they had a shipment a few days ago, but they were gone within a few minutes. If the price is a problem, why does it take minutes to unload them at retail?

      There probably is a point at w

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by euxneks ( 516538 )
      If news about a surge in PS2 sales comes as a surprise to anyone, the human gene pool is in need of a bit more chlorine.

      That's a bit harsh, isn't it? I mean, so what if someone can't predict the software/hardware gaming - it's not like they need to be taken from the gene pool. How useful is a trait like predicting hardware or software sales - I doubt it's enough that if one doesn't have it they should be removed from the gene pool...

  • The question is... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Robot Randy ( 982296 )
    How many of the PS2s are being purchased by Grandparents who don't realise that when Little Billy asked for the new Playstation for Christmas, he meant a PS3, not just any version...

    I was walking through the local Fry's last night and was wondering why they were stacking the PS2s in the main walkway. Seemed to me there might be a more popular item to stick in the high traffic areas, but maybe they were sold out of everything else.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by SomeoneGotMyNick ( 200685 )
      How many of the PS2s are being purchased by Grandparents who don't realise that when Little Billy asked for the new Playstation for Christmas, he meant a PS3, not just any version...


      The sad thing about this is Little Billy(tm) will obstinately shun the PS2 in front of the Grandparents. Billy is such an ingrateful bastard.

    • Re:The question is... (Score:4, Informative)

      by HappySqurriel ( 1010623 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @12:49PM (#17050798)
      How many of the PS2s are being purchased by Grandparents who don't realise that when Little Billy asked for the new Playstation for Christmas, he meant a PS3, not just any version...

      I was walking through the local Fry's last night and was wondering why they were stacking the PS2s in the main walkway. Seemed to me there might be a more popular item to stick in the high traffic areas, but maybe they were sold out of everything else.

      I think you overestimate the demand for new consoles (not just the PS3), this is the sales numbers for 2006 up to (and including) October

      1. Nintendo DS: 3,152,500
      2. PS2: 3,131,500
      3. XBox 360: 2,533,500
      4. GBA: 2,060,500
      5. PSP: 1,889,000
      6. Gamecube: 525,500
      7. XBox: 424,000
      8. Playstation: 9,500


      Now, the Nintendo DS was being outsold by the GBA until they released the DS lite ...

      The fact is that most people buy a system really late in its life, and that all those people who bought a Playstation since 2000 may now be starting to upgrade to the PS2. Most of the time we think of how average (or below average) our income is compared to everyone we know, when you actually compare your household income to the mean you'd probably find out that you were quite wealthy (the mean household income in Canada is $50,000 meaning that 50% of households make less than that; I expect that the US is very similar). Half of consumers aren't questioning whether they should 'upgrade' to a HDTV, they're thinking whether they should replace their 20 year old 20 inch TV with one of those fancy 32 inch CRT TVs.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Tronster ( 25566 )
        What's your source for those #s?

  • Massive Numbers Of Quality PS2 Titles (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RichardMarks ( 1011125 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @12:37PM (#17050578)
    Just off the top of my head:

    Okami
    Final Fantasy XII
    Guitar Hero II
    Bully

    are new major releases. And God of War 2 is on the horizon. And then you have the massive number existing PS2 titles - the single greatest game library for a console ever all at cheap prices now. Huge numbers of major PS2 titles can be bought for 19.99 now.

    All that for 130 dollars.

    And PSP sales are most likely going to continue to go up now that the PS3 has arrived and has so many PS3/PSP connectivity features - remote viewing of your PS3 over wireless and soon remote play of PS3 games on your PSP.

  • And yet the DS is ignored. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Lumpy ( 12016 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @12:37PM (#17050584) Homepage
    The DS is still outselling the PSP. Many stores around here either have discounted old stock DS and are out of the DSLite which is the current model. Yet they still have plenty of PSP's.

    Glad to see them sell a bit faster, considering now they are reasonably priced at $199.00 new..

    The PSP is a cool device, it feels nicer than the PSP, It simply does not have the games or the game prices to entice parents to buy them.

  • they are selling 2-3x the amount of hardware and software then they did at the same time last year for the PS2 and PSP (all of this is for USA/Canada). I honestly don't see any reason WHY.

    IT has nothing to do with people wnatign a PS3 and setteling for a PSP/PS2, as that is just faulty logic. It might be people buying PS2/P when little timmy wants a PS3 (but that does not really seem like sound reasoning to me either).

    Mabey it has something to do with the 360 already being out for a year now. I am willin
    • I think it's simple. The PS2 is still the best console out there, hands down. It's near the top in terms of performance, it has great backwards compatiblity with the PS1, it's *tiny*, it plays DVD's, it plays music, it has probably the largest number of available games right now, etc., etc. Hell, the PS2 is still the center of all of my AV stuff. It's my games box, my DVD player, and my CD player. And, I'm still buying new games for it, because the new games are really very slick right now. The develo

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Thansal ( 999464 )
        Sorta true. The PS2 has THE BEST line up of games, I am 100% behind you on that, and I am really tihnking of buying a PS2 for alot of those games (GH 1/2 come to mind in a split second, the FF games, Okami, and hundreds of other come to mind in a few secodns after that).

        2 points of contention:
        1) The hardware is the WORST of all systems in the game atm. This does not stop it from having the best games obviously (much as to why I argue the Wii will do so well, hardware is not the be all, end all, but it hel

      • Get a used XBox, put XBox Media Center [xboxmediacenter.de] on it, and then get back to me if your PS2 is still "the center of all your AV stuff". I haven't turned on my PS2 for months, but I don't really play video games anymore. Both the XBox and PS2 have decent games.

        Of course, the average consumer probably won't use XBMC, and the PS2 is a great system. I remember years ago when an acquaintance of mine bought a Dreamcast for his kids instead of a new XBox or PS2. His reasoning was that it was inexpensive and there were

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by BenjyD ( 316700 )
        The PS2 is at the bottom in terms of performance, in fact.
  • Could be many of these sales are people who waited to buy a console gambling they would get a PS3. Now they are realizing that the PS3 is not worth the money and are buying a PS2 and a PSP with the money they had saved up.

    It could also be people replacing the old PS2 systems they sold to get money to get a PS3.

  • Gamecube (Score:3, Insightful)

    by pubjames ( 468013 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @12:57PM (#17050962)
    I don't see this as odd. I've just been thinking that now would be a good time to purchase classic Gamecube games, so I can play them when I have a wii.
    • Gamecube games this generation should be like PS1 games last generation. PS1 games have only started to disappear within the last year. Gamecube games should still be readily available throughout most of the Wii's lifespan, one big advantage of backward compatibility. New GC games can still be made too for the same reason.
    • I've just been thinking that now would be a good time to purchase classic Gamecube games, so I can play them when I have a wii.

      I think you mean "so I can play them with my wii"

      Thank you and good night.

  • I generally wait a good 3 years or so into a console's life before buying it (except for the SNES...got that for my 11th birthday a couple days after release) The advantages are numerous:

    -Large title selection
    -CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP prices (example: just got quantum redshift for my xbox for 3 dollars from gamestop. THREE DOLLARS!!!)
    -consoles have had their hardware revisions and work better
    -gives me more time to finish the games that have been released

    I have a 360 (again, a gift) and I am VERY seriously consid

  • Must be mistaken identity.. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by kinglink ( 195330 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @01:40PM (#17051628)
    Ok I can understand the PS2, but I own a PSP and I have to say there's not much reason to give it to a kid. It's great for a inexpensive music player that plays games, but I bought mine for 200 dollars, and 6 games came with it and I still think I overpaid.

    280 percent? That's definatly a case of mistaken identity.

  • There are several different options when buying a game console for Christmas. The Xbox and Gamecube have been all but discontinued because of the next generation game consoles. The PS3 is in such short supply that getting one is unlikely. There are more Wiis, but devoted Nintendo fans will snatch them up as soon as they hit stores. The average parent won't be monitoring the stores for new shipments. This leaves the Xbox 360 and the PS2. The high and low cost consoles. The console-educated consumer wi

  • Oh, that summary is way way off (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Red Flayer ( 890720 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @01:59PM (#17051954) Journal
    That is not an increas eover the past year. FTA:
    In a statement, communications boss David Karraker said the top five retailers in North America were reporting a week-by-week rise in PS2 hardware sales of more than 115 per cent over the Thanksgiving period. Sales of PSP units, meanwhile, were up by 280 per cent.
    That is not over the past year; that is a week-to-week increase.

    Two reasons:
    (1) Almost every entertainment good sees a rise in sales post-Thanksgiving;
    (2) As others have pointed out, those who could not get PS3 may have opted to get PSP instead (hence the huge rise in sales, rather than the small bump for the PS2).

    Newsflash: Company says its products are selling better in the US during the holiday shopping season.

    Nothing to see here, please move along.
  • "Spurred by the scarcity of the PlayStation 3, hungry consumers are buying all the PSP and PS2 units they can get their hands on."

    I don't doubt people are buying the PSP or the PS2 in large numbers, but I doubt it's the scarcity of the PS3 causing it. If you're going out to buy a PS3 and can't, that means you have $600 burning a hole in your pocket. Even if you get a PSP, you'll still have $400 you'll feel the need to spend. You can get a low-end HDTV with $400.

    No, instead I can see the sales of the PS2
  • Last-generation systems have a number of advantages over new systems. They already have a well-established library of games, and most of those games have been around for so long that there are all sorts of "Top 25" lists that let you sort the good from the mediocre. The bugs have been worked out. And everything is MUCH cheaper.

    The last non-portable console I owned before last week was the SNES. I thought about buying an XBox 360 this year. But then I realized I could buy a PS2 and a GameCube, with comp

  • Summary Incorrect.... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Psychotext ( 262644 ) on Thursday November 30, 2006 @04:08PM (#17054580)
    The article doesn't say an increase since last year, it says week on week.

    "In a statement, communications boss David Karraker said the top five retailers in North America were reporting a week-by-week rise in PS2 hardware sales of more than 115 per cent over the Thanksgiving period. Sales of PSP units, meanwhile, were up by 280 per cent."

    According to NPD (US numbers sold, not shipped):
    October 2005 PSP = 131,000
    November 2005 PSP = 353,000
    which gives us an 269% increase for November 2005.

    Did everybody just fall for an announcement of a sales increase that can pretty much be attributed to seasonal variations?
  • ...is lack of anti-alaising. I would have no problems with sticking with the ps2 generation and only paying $10 for games, but I've gotten so used to anti-alaising that it is distracting when games don't have it.

    Take final fantasy XII for example. A beautiful game, but so detailed that practically everything in the environment is wavy or jagged. I try not to be such a graphics snob, but when something is distracting enough for me to remove immersion, it begins to be a problem.

    Heck, I would even shell out $7
  • Apart from the "wrong gift" theories, I think the other likely cause of this is that people were waiting to see what the PS3 launch was like before the committed to a PS2 or PSP. If you really want a PS3, you're not going to be buying a PS2 now. And given the price of the PS3, only people that could have bought a PSP whenever they wanted are likely to go into a store for a PS3 and come out with a PSP and the intent to buy a PS3 when the next shipment arrives. I think this sudden surge is more likely due

  • I'm not so sure that I agree with the premise that we're strategically focused on building original product for the PSP. That's news to me. It's more likely that we would target platforms like the PS3, Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii if we had an original in mind. Our strategy on PSP has typically been to take the franchises that we build on other platforms and exploit them on the PSP.

    Electronic Arts CEO Larry Probst [newsweek.com]

    Maybe PSP sales "skyrocketed," but if EA officially acknowledges that they simply "exploit

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