The chart looks compelling, but it might be more reasonably titled "If Nintendo hadn't released the DS Lite".

Compare September 06 through December 06 cumulative sales, again with figures from vgcharts.org:
DS: 3,759,500
PSP: 1,863,000

This includes the all-important holiday season and accounts for roughly 2/3 of the 2,818,500 sales gap between the two consoles' US sales totals. In fact, the figures pretty clearly show the momentum shifting in Nintendo's favor beginning in June 06 with the DS Lite redesign; as of May 06, the PSP was only about 100,000 units behind the DS in total sales, despite the four-month headstart of the DS.

Basically, only the last six months have counted towards sales differences between the systems. Looking at the length of time the consoles have been out is of limited use when the data readily show that (barring a console redesign) console sales tend to track holiday and seasonal spending patterns. Compare October 05 to December 05 for both systems, for example. Charting sales data against number of weeks since release compares apples to oranges.

However, I do commend Sony on taking more handheld market share away from Nintendo than anyone else. Competition is usually good for gamers.

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Hey Andrew....

I guess I'm of two minds on your post...

While it is certainly surprising to me to see this comparison based on US sales I don't think we can ignore Japan as if it 'doesn't matter'..

I assume most PSP fanboys are PS fanboys too and PS fanboys are CONSTANTLY throwing Japan's sales over Xbox in XBfanboys' faces.

Overall I think Sony has done a great job selling as many PSPs as they have given the failure of every other company that has tried to sell portable gaming into the Nintendo world.

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I also think you have to take into account that the name
gameboy has been around since 89 and parents are clueless and just assume gameboy is the only thing going. PSP is fighting that. and the only thing that parents see is little to none advertising, (very poor advertising at that)that does not show off many games that appeal to a larger audience.
My new way to refer to the Nintendoz DS
---> DeeS

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oops I meant to say
DeeS as that is a 4 letter word to me :)

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Good article. I think if the PSP had just one or two exclusive games on it that were remarkable, it would start a trend of more good exclusive games coming out. Just imagine if there was a modern-day FF7 that came out exclusively on the PSP. Rox

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@PSP_Trekster

It's not Nintendo Gameboy DS, just DS or Nintendo DS. Your reasoning doesn't really work. And this:

"My new way to refer to the Nintendoz DS
---> DeeS"

what does it mean?

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@ #3, exactly, my mom used to call my psp gameboy all the time, now she refers to it as "pcp"..well its still progress

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You can't forget price drops as well. Cheaper hardware = more sales.

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#6 Sponge
Read my correction it came right after my post.....
and I said Nintendo DS.
DeeS- For letter word same SHIT as the DeeS is a piece of one compared to the PSP

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If nintendo had released the ds lite in the first place instead of the ds phat

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That statement is a little broad, don't you think? I am an american and I certainly don't "love" my psp. I mainly use it as a web browser to look at gamefaqs while playing my 360. It fails in almost every capacity that it tries. Too big to be a decent mp3 players. Too much load time on most games. No expectional sound options for movie watching. No expectional storage/protection solutions. Internet browser is obscenely slow. It is a decent system, but not great. The DS is a much better gaming system, although I still prefer the GBA. Smaller, more durable, and doesn't require the stupid touch screen. I bought it in week one for metal gear acid. Loved it, beat it, but in all the time since I have only played a single other PSP game to completion (Untold legends 1). The point is, the fact that they bought it, does, by no means, mean they "love" it. In fact, the horrible software and UMD sales would tend to very strongly indicate the oposite.

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Didn't you just make a post about how PSP owners don't buy PSP games? >_

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This is the lamest thing EVAR (sorry ;) )

But seriously, the PSP is being bested soundly in its' strongest territory (the US) by the DS, and pretty much equaled by the 'dead' GBA - and the software sales are lousy. The system is not dead, but it is the equivalent of the GameCube of the last gen consoles.

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Seriously, why the hell do you people come to this site if all you want to say is "PSP sucks, DS rocks". Go to the damn DSfanboy site and effin stay there. I come on this site to read positive things about the PSP, and I dont want to read your retarded flaming posts. GO TO DSFANBOY AND EFFIN STAY THERE!

Seriously, can we get a "requires approval" on comments? DS-loving flamers really annoy me on this site, and it makes me not want to come to it. I like the PSP and I dont want to read flames about it on a site for positive PSP news/comments.

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DS is a better gaming machine how??
Lets See

Oh yes it must be the memory yah thats it, all that mamory for a huge great game
now let's see...

DS 1Gigbit (128 Megs)
PSP UMD 1.8 GIGS and soon 8 GIG Memory Cards
well that cant be it

Maybe its the Hardware??
Oh wait the DS cant really do any 3d games to save it's life.. Just look at ANY I mean ANY 3d game that has come out for both and taken advantage of the hardware
DS Piece of Crap fails in every instance
so I guess it cant be the hardware...

Oh I read so much about the Load Times, hmm I have 9 games and the only slow loader is Star Wars Battlefront II, but then againt this game does not load nearly as fast as other games on the PC either, but wait the DS can't do this game can it??? Well I guess if they turned it into a side scrolling and some guy names Mario with a light sabre was in it they would try...

I am trying, really trying to find a good reason why DS user think the DS is better at gaming... Oh wait it must be the MIC and Touchscreen, you know these are just absolute things that you need for a good game. Just look at the consoles they use them extensively.

Oh, I think I know now why. It's the many many clones of
Mario
Pokemon
Yoshi
Nintendogs
and the mindless button mashing pixelated games that dominate this CHEAP little system... Wait maybe I hit on something it's CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP
I think that has to be it.

OK DS fans name me some games that look anywhere nearly as good as the PSP that are more in depth, as the PSP?
If they drop the price of the PSP to that of the DS the PSP would sale more.
If I wanted to play games that look like they was made a decade ago then I would just dust off the n64, which still has BETTER graphics.

Say what you want, I think maybe for the most part the public just does not know the real difference between the 2 and they think that the Cheap, Ugly, Inferior DS
is just the same when we all know, (say what you want you DS losers) the PSP can handle and proving this with many many already released games) bigger, better looking and sounding games. I love the PSP, I wish Sony would take there collective head out of there arses and wake up and let the people know about the Mighty PSP.

Who knows, as often as they release a new NINTENDO GAMEBOY DS SP COLOR they might get it right, I mean isn't it time for a new one?? I mean it's been longer than six month's....

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agreed.
but thoughtfull arguments are appreciated.

wish we could get more of them.

actully i know why i'm buying as many psp games right now. i'm at home more playing with my ps3.

if my ship were underway more these last few weeks (i'm in the navy) i would have picked up a psp game or 2 in the last 2 months.

that and i need more varity in my games now. (and a touch screen is a gimmick to me. new control method does not equal better gameplay by default.) with ps1 and ps2 i saw games that came out with the new hardware that made games that were beforehand impossible pretty early on. i wan't original ip that really takes advantage of what the psp and ps3 can really do.

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The psp needs a price drop NOW!!!!! I think that if the psp drops to 149.99 ds owners will drop the DS and never look back. Wait a minute... people say that the psp is dead... how can that be?!

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What in god's name are you talking about?

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Ok, to clarify. First off, I'm not a DS or nintendo fanboy. I hate the company and the direction it is leading (and sadly now, that statement is true. They are LEADING, god help us all) the industry. The touch screen IS a gimmick that hinders more games than it helps. What I meant was it's a better PORTABLE gaming system. Most of the points made by #17 are valid. However, the DS, and its games, are more durable. The clamshell design protects the screen. The software on the DS is far more varied. Yes, there is a whole lot of crap there, but there is some really good stuff too, same as with the PSP, just not so much for the PSP. The important point is #15 is dead on. I know this site is PSP fanboy, but seriously, face reality. It's not gamecube dead, but it's not that far off either. The PSP needs a redesign and a price drop. An internal hard drive would be an immense help as well. And a second analog stick wouldn't hurt either. It's just not very well designed to do what it is supposed to do. The only true technical problem is the load times, all other problems, IMO, are at the design level. And really, the main reason the DS outsells, and will continue to outsell, no matter what, the PSP is very simple. MANY, MANY parents buy DSs and GBAs for their children. Again: systems are durable, games are durable, can't get porn (at least not yet), etc. Very few parents are going to buy their children, at least not their young children, a PSP. If the sales charts were only for those over 18, the PSP would look a whole lot better. And really, my main point was the generalization by the blogger that all american PSP owners love their systems. That simply is not the case. The video gaming press doesn't want to admit it because it isn't true.

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Nice rant #17, but this coming from a site called PSP fanboy? I take it with a grain of salt.

Have you noticed Nintendo's handheld sales? They managed to beat the turbo graphix, game gear, lynx, as well as any other competator. Oh wait, they had ALL you wanted in your "dream" handheld. They had the power, they had the games, and they had all those nifty gadgets that you'd want in your handheld gaming device.

Funny thing is, a handheld gaming device is exactly what it should be. A GAMING device. See, the fact is, Nintendo dishes out some first party titles that seem to be so addictive to some people, that they play it for hours and seem to go on playing. Which is what a gaming device should accomplish.

Also, handheld gaming is what it's supposed to be. Portable. You want to have a short game session on the go. PSP games defeat this purpose by offering long winded sessions comparable to a console. Although nice to have at home or when your on a long trip, I'd prefer to have a nice quick little level into my DS, save, then go to work.

You mention CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP about Nintendo. Just to let you know, thats the whole point on why it's selling. The thing is inexpensive, the games are fun. It does its purpose.

Your satirical writing is nice, too bad your stupidity and ignorance makes you look like a stereotypical PSP fanboy.

(Disclaimer: If you think I'm a Nintendo fan, please think again. I just hate idiots.)

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