We're pretty sure that no one calls the PSP a failure anymore. In fact, over the past few months, as more and more games release on our handheld, we've seen less and less flame comments from rabid DS fans -- maybe they realized that two handhelds can happily coexist?
Courtesy of
GamePro, here's a list of the ten worst selling handhelds of all time. Thankfully, Sony's PSP is nowhere close to being on the list:
- Gizmondo (<25,000 sold)
- Zodiac (<200,000)
- Game.com (<300,000)
- Lynx (<500,000)
- Nomad (1 million)
- NEC Turbo Express (1.5 million)
- Neo-Geo Pocket (2 million)
- GBA Micro (2.5 million)
- N-Gage (3 million)
- Game Gear (11 million)
PSP has sold at least twice the amount of the Game Gear, and with the redesign coming out later this year, the system will sell plenty more. (Too bad the Neo-Geo Pocket didn't do as well ...)
[Via
digg]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-30-2007 @ 9:52PM
sonofnone said...
What about Wonder Swan? I know those Koreans love them some handhelds. Got any numbers?
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7-30-2007 @ 10:24PM
thundercat said...
I have a game gear and it was pretty sweet back in the day, but it doesn't work any more. :(
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7-30-2007 @ 10:28PM
Kspraydad said...
How about Virtual Boy ... 900,000 sold.
@Sonofnone...here are some WS ads...
http://gameads.gamepressure.com/tv_games_commercials.asp?S=30
;)
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7-30-2007 @ 10:40PM
Andrew said...
Agreed on the game gear, mine broke too. Loved playing Streets of Rage on it. though i have to say, i am waiting for the DS Extra Lite before i buy a DS.
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7-30-2007 @ 10:42PM
Sircolby45 said...
I used to play the Game Gear. It was actually a fairly decent handheld back in the day.
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7-30-2007 @ 11:01PM
Marasai said...
You know, it seems every few months this site makes another article about how the psp is 'totally not failing!' Yet I wonder if that were true....would you really need to keep telling us? Success is self evident. You don't see people talking about how the DS or the PS2 is not a failure, or how others have 'done worse' because no one would ever make the point to the contrary.
Fact is, there are many ways in which you CAN consider the psp a failure. The UMD trojan horse didn't pan out. And the PSP was supposed to swarm over the DS and extend sony's dominance of home console to the hadnheld market. And yet the DS came from behind and not only sold better WITH competiton than the GBA did without competition, but it also allowed nintendo to extend their handheld domiance to home consoles. It doesn't get much worse than having your opponent do to you what you were expected to do to them.
People always mention that the psp is the first competition of nintendo to survive....and yet it is also the first playstation to be in last place.
How many psps are bought not as game machines, but media players? How many are bought strictly for homebrew? How many, like mine, see use every few months but largely gather dust as more and more DS titles (and PS2 titles to be perfetly honest) pile up?
The Bard said it best "The lady doth protest too much, methinks."
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7-30-2007 @ 11:08PM
Random said...
Marasai... you think too much, it's just a list... crack a smile once in while :D
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7-30-2007 @ 11:33PM
Marasai said...
Random
You are talking to a guy who while supporting the ps3, took IGN's "reasons to wait for a ps3" and took it apart point by point...just because.
I've always found the list to be the WORST form of argument.
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7-31-2007 @ 12:10AM
NoBullet said...
The NGPC was the best of that bunch. Has the best dpad ever made.
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7-31-2007 @ 12:58AM
333mzh said...
Marasai:
The reason this topic re-surfaces is that idiots and DSFanboy Trolls like you try and try again to say that the PSP is a failure when they are blinded by there hatred for a far superior hand held.
UMD is not a failure, and now with the Video Out on the new PSP it will heve even more validity by naysayers. There is more than enough of a market for the top 2 to co-exist, but the PSP is gaining ground all of the time. Ever since the pricedrop the PSP has been gaining ground. No matter how many DS kiddie toys sell, there is an ever growing market for the PSP. The PSP and sequels are here to stay. If you don't like the topics then maybe you should read the URL PSPFanboy and move on as we don't welcome your ignorant statments here.
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7-31-2007 @ 1:02AM
333mzh said...
sorry one more thing:
I still have and love my Atari Lynx II and Gamegear, they was so superior to the GB. Sure they was bigger and batteries did not last longer, but you got some much more! I would rather have less battery life with much better sound and graphics anyday, well at least back then ;)
No I enjoy all of those games on the Mighty PSP!
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7-31-2007 @ 1:43AM
pixelator said...
"the lady doth protest too much"
That would be the DS fanatics and Nintendo devotees like you, Marasai. The ones doing the protestations, I mean.
'PSP is a failure'
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7-31-2007 @ 3:24AM
Sohei said...
its shocked me when to say that..
# GBA Micro (2.5 million)
# N-Gage (3 million)
GBA micro? 2.5 million sold :O quite shocking really for what you get out of it, is just tiny verison of the GBA? seems like waste of money for people to spend on? maybe people pay for it cause it was cute? i dunno:S
N-Gage... now that is a embarrasment for few owners i met, never ever saw em use it as a portable game console but i tried a game and tbh it was awful, also using it as a phone was awkward to say the least!
people like to bash at Sony and PSP, fair enough i do too sometimes, i had psp for year and well i kinda only now realising and using it to potental. although i dont use homebrew and also a big bummer to have psp-lite thing coming out does seem like i wasted money on the darn psp, but kinda glad i did on some boring night-shifts. real life saver. i mean yeah the umd kinda was bit of a flop but i love em, if ya too weary to be bothered gaming, slap in a movie and volla lovely bit of high quailty movie footage.
Which all respects as a portable console for my needs hits em. Although it be cool if i did buy the new verison of the psp then it be ace to watch the umd movies on bigger screen. like a portable movie player!
Alas for people who hark on about the greatness of the DS... Value for money? and long lasting battery life. And touch screen.
Faire enough lovely points but i played few games on it, they unique but doesnt stand ground to psp lovely graphics at times. i mean yeah the jump , game with all your favourite anime characters is fantastic.
last note... no one mention game park 32. Not a flop it seems but its a rare sight to see any, and its a fantastic little bit of joy with all its homebrew games.
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7-31-2007 @ 3:27AM
Don said...
hee hee, I bought a Game Boy Micro in Feb 2007. I enjoy it.
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7-31-2007 @ 4:57AM
billster said...
Why do all these debates turn into PSP vs DS?.....
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7-31-2007 @ 5:12AM
Duscrom said...
The PSP failed Sony's expectations... I guess that's assuming we know sony's expectations. Over course every company wants to lead in whatever market they are in, but let's be real. Nintendo has Dominated the Handheld market for 20 years, destroying the competition, as this list shows..
The reason articles like this exists, isn't so much the argument, but just a nice point about the handhelds that have failed before. So they make mention of the competition, Much like DSFanboy would do, pointing out how the PSP is a joke and a failure. THe PSP may loose to the DS, but in theory so does the GBA. But remember, the PSP is the 2nd/34d best selling piece of gaming hardware in the world. The PSP has outsold the Gamecube, and outsells the PS2, and PS3...
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7-31-2007 @ 6:25AM
Benjamin_198 said...
seriously, just give it a rest and stop arguing and ignore any posts by ds fanboys, and dont post replys to them, its not helping.
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7-31-2007 @ 6:40AM
dannygcork said...
PSP is going to get even better with sonys recent Announcement that they are looking into a way to safely enable homebrew use on the psp. If this goes ahead the psp will defently be the best handheld on the planet.
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7-31-2007 @ 6:55AM
Stranger said...
The PSP has too many 8/10 scoring games that no one cares about.
http://xevon.awardspace.com/pspstuff/PSPvsDS.html
As a PSP owner and fan, I really hate how developers release games for the PSP that score 8/10, but no one cares about them and no one buys them. Looking at the chart above, you would think that PSP is overflowing with so many great games because it seems like the chart is accurate. But that is where the chart is nothing but a lie and a facade and trying to trick us PSP owners into thinking the library is much better than it really is..
The PSP library is filled with games that are "easy 8/10" scoring games. What is an easy 8/10 game? Any game that got moderately good reviews on PS2 and were ported to PSP guaranteeing an 8/10 even if no one cares about them or buys them (as evidenced by completely non-existent message board activity and no one even talking about the games and the fact is everyone already played those games on the ps2). Games like Gun, Lego Star Wars, Tomb Raider: Legend, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, MLB 06: The Show, 50 Cent Bulletproof: G-Unit Edition, Tony Hawk's Underground 2, NBA Street, Tiger Woods, WWE Smackdown vs Raw, Need for Speed, Fifa, X-Men Legends II, NBA Live 07, Madden 07, etc. (I can honestly go on and on and on but I'd get Carpal Tunnel Syndrome from typing everything).
Sony needs to start releasing games that PSP owners such as myself care about. As much as I love showing the link above to all the DS fanboys, all it proves is that the PSP's overall score is "padded" with easy 8/10 games. We need more original titles. If it were remakes that never came out to the USA like Dragon Quest IV, that would be great too. There is also the excuse of why would I pay 50 dollars for a portable title that is inferior to the ps2 verison i already played?
here is an example, Tomb Raider Legend DS wasn't a port. It was a completely different game (kinda like how Guitar Hero III will be completely different on DS than the PS3). However the PSP and PS2 versions of Tomb Raider are nearly identical. the DS wasn't build in the mind of receiving ports from the consoles, but rather, original handheld games...
anyway, all that aside I think the PSP needs more first party support. a console will never float solely on third party. sony has so many amazing dev teams under their wing but I see so little come out for the handheld under the sony name. I could be missing the games but it just seems like they favor their console. probably rightfully so as the PS3 is still in some deep waters but the PSP isnt in the best position yet either. I still think they need to start working on the PSP2 and give themselves a re-launch of their handheld. but thats probably a year or two away at least.
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7-31-2007 @ 7:29AM
Kspraydad said...
Re: GBA Micro.
Until I purchased my PSP (instead of DS) 6 months ago I had had every version of GB/GBA (except Virtual) and that included the Micro.
I picked up 3 of them last year for my kids. Brand new for $29 CDN. With that kind of price you HAD to buy one (or 3).
Anyway...PSP has a 33% market share and seems to be doing fine by me.
BTW...Sony just got me as a cell phone customer (2 of them actually) now because of my PSP experience. Prior to the W810i I was a Nokia user for the last 7 years or so.
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