
Next-Gen compiled a list of the bestselling games from 2007, and PSP exclusives managed to get zero games on their list of 100 games. (Data is compiled from the US and UK. Japan is not included.) That means no PSP games managed to break 460k sales (the total of the 100th ranked game) in all of 2007.
Is piracy making a significant dent on PSP software sales? We'd say "yes." No wonder Sony is asking about the homebrew situation; and no wonder the PSP library for the rest of the year is so slim -- publishers have been burned.
[Via P3F]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
4-10-2008 @ 12:42PM
dabamf said...
That's lame...I didn't realize it while looking through the list. The same thing is happening to the PSP as is happening to the PC, and honest gamers are the ones that miss out.
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4-11-2008 @ 2:44PM
Lars said...
I don't know about that. I would think it's expected for a portable. I know I only buy PSP games when I'm going on a trip unless there's something really good that I just have to play like GoW:CoO.
The DS is completely different to me though. People use it as a pacifier for their kids. I expect anything meant for kids to way outsell anything for teens-adults. The DS is just another Furbie or Tickle Me Elmo. I'm not saying that there is nothing there for adults too, but it's generally geared towards kids.
4-18-2008 @ 1:47AM
midnightshade said...
That sucks, and it really sucks for me, as they are my 2 systems. PC, and psp. both of them are having less and less releases. It sucks big time, both are open type platforms (well the psp is with cfw) and are the most powerful systems in there category. My girl controls the tv, so consoles are out, not that I would want to pay $60 for dumbed down console games anyway! I love pc games, and psp games are great too. Sony needs to get some devs on this. The psp is selling a lot, but there is nothing to look forward to now that crisis core and gow are out.
4-10-2008 @ 12:49PM
calot said...
Dude most people in here download pirate games. PSP owners are destroying the psp. While some games sell very well, most dont. Jeanne Darc, final fantasy tactics, silent hill, and other great games deserved to sell much much more. Stop downloading games people youre doing a wrong to yourself and million other psp users
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4-11-2008 @ 11:48AM
Duffski said...
"...most people in here download pirate games..." How can you say that? What evidence do you have? I have never downloaded a pirate game, and although I somtimes wait for a game's price to drop before I buy (the new title price can be too much for me to justify spending on a game), I always buy the UMD game. I would prefer to do that to support the PSP and its sales - and that's the only way that the console will survive and more game come out.
I just wish that Sony would put the same effort into the UK that it does into Japan... If they put ads on TV, ads in mags, and ads at cinemas for games like GOW, Patapon, Syphon Filter, etc, (showing the game play, not the cr*p ads with stretchy-rubbery faces) then they may actually see increased sales - surely it's worth a try?!
I am really pi**ed off with Blockbuster who have just stopped selling all PSP games, and with W H Smith who have done the same - I don't live near a real game shop. All they seem to sell now are crap Nintendo games - like Nintendogs! Why are these useless games consuming so much space in shops? Where's all the decent stuff?
And finally - if Sony sorted itself out and released all games worldwide at roughly the same time I imagine that fewer poeple would turn to piracy to get hold of them. Why for instance can you only get hold of Resident Evil on the PSP store in Japan??? I'd love to play that, but will not turn to piracy so I can't. But no, instead we get 'quality' games like Reel Fishing and Judge Dredd... Who are Sony employing?! Are they all idiots not to understand that thay are pi**ing off their own customers?
4-10-2008 @ 12:50PM
GoBob said...
Interesting. What about the DS? Piracy is much worse on there. It's strange, I didn't really buy a lot of games(like 8?). I'm wondering if the sluggish sales are a combination of piracy and used game sales. Some people aren't too thrilled in paying $30-40 for a portable game. I know I bought 2-3 PSP games new off of ebay and one or two used games.
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4-10-2008 @ 12:53PM
GoBob said...
Also, those three great games mentioned were released when? Last April? When did you see an ad on TV for these games? I also blame poor marketing. Fortunately, Crisis Core is getting good TV time, so I expect sales to be quite good. That, and FF7 stuff sells itself.
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4-10-2008 @ 1:02PM
Kane The Second said...
ugh more whining and bitching about piracy. Piracy is EVERYWHERE PSP, DS, PC, 360, Wii, Movies, Music, Porn and Anime.
Its SONY's fault that PSP software isn't doing so well, first of all they should have made the PSP more secure and second they need to advertise their games more and by their games I mean all games and not just God Of War and Crisis Core.
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4-10-2008 @ 1:32PM
dabamf said...
I heard from one of the hacker websites that said when the PSP first came out the hardware was very easy to hack. Because Sony started with such a vulnerable system, even firmware updates would never be able to fully keep people out!
4-10-2008 @ 1:06PM
RadioScott said...
I have to admit that that's some sobering news. Kinda makes you wonder about the 10-year life cycle story that went around a few weeks ago.
This is part of a much larger issue. Piracy of all kinds of media is here to stay, and it's only getting easier. Sony and all other game companies, music companies, etc. need to come up with a new way to monetize content. Going to a store to buy entertainment is a centuries old business model that simply doesn't apply anymore, especially when it's so much easier and cheaper to be a pirate.
Sure, you guys can keep appealing to a sense of consumer altruism. But, come on, where's the corporate altruism? Putting those two words together actually makes me laugh. So, nobody's going to feel a need to do right by the corporations.
Nope. The Sonys of the world are going to have to come up with a better reason to get consumers to give them money.
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4-10-2008 @ 3:24PM
Jason said...
Your comments about consumer/corporate altruism are dead-on in my opinion. Call me cynical but I really do think that all corporations operate at the very threshold of "screwing the consumer"; its all about the bottom line. Well for most consumers its got to be all about the bottom line as well.
Plus the fact that you sit at a computer and d/l free stuff takes the feeling of risk out of it. You're not hurrying out of the store with a game in your pants, hoping nobody notices. You're not breaking into somebody's house and taking a game or two. The ratio of risk to reward is very heavy in "rewards" favor so a lot of people who wouldn't have the guts to chunk a brick through Gamestop's storefront and make off with a bunch of games most certainly have the guts to "right-click save-as".
All morality arguments aside; If you can get item "A" for $40.00 or for $0, which would you do?
4-10-2008 @ 9:20PM
Cyden said...
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All morality arguments aside; If you can get item "A" for $40.00 or for $0, which would you do?
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A good point, and I'm with you, but there are exceptions... I just got back from Gamestop with Crisis Core. I'm on custom firmware so I could've just downloaded it, but for some reason I wanted to own it.
A real big selling point on custom firmware for me is older games (though I admit that for most people its piracy pure and simple). I bought FF1 and FF2 back when they re-released them and when those games came to a close I found myself wanting to play part 4 and 6 again... Since the PSP doesn't have the remakes of those games like the wretched DS does, my PSP was hacked the next day to accommodate me.
Lets face it, the PSP in its unlocked state can play damn near anything, from DOS games to NES and PS1 games. And while Silent Hill 0rigins was a nice show of support, it only triggered a thirst for a portable Resident Evil, which has yet to be released outside of the Japanese PSP Store. So lack of strong support leads to hacking which in turn, diminishes support further... A vicious little circle.
4-10-2008 @ 1:08PM
Kenneth said...
But i just saw Burnout Dominator, Spiderman Friend or Foe, Ben 10: Protectors of Earth, Crash of the Titans, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas, The Bigs, MX Vs ATV: Untamed, Football Manager 2008, The Sims 2: Castaway, NBA Live 08, TMNT, Thrillville: Off the Rails, Shrek the Third, Ratatouille, Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Transformers: The Game, Spiderman 3, WWE Smackdown Vs Raw 2008, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, The Simpson Game, Need for Speed: ProStreet, Madden 08, Fifa 08 for the PSP were all on there
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4-10-2008 @ 1:17PM
dabamf said...
Yes, but they are not PSP exclusives. All that you listed were available for other systems.
4-10-2008 @ 1:14PM
Dogmeat said...
dang that sucks.
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4-10-2008 @ 1:20PM
dabamf said...
On a related note, you will not find any PC Exclusives on the list either. Eff piracy!!! I'm not going to dump anymore money into a bad-ay gaming system; that's a waste. My apologies to Crysis, Company of Heroes, and World in Conflict. You were great games, but everyone just stole you.
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4-10-2008 @ 1:23PM
Kylock said...
I bought Crysis!
4-10-2008 @ 1:29PM
dabamf said...
I did too! That makes two of us...everyone else downloaded it :-(
4-10-2008 @ 1:30PM
DarkDrakonus said...
I don't know about anyone else here, but I am a 29 year old married male, with my first child on the way. I pay a mortgage and car payments plus utilities, and with the economy the way it is right now I seriously cannot justify paying $40-$70 on a single game. So I go to a local shop and buy the games used when they come in. I can usually save myself 50% off new price. There have been a few games like WipEout Pulse and Lumines 2 that I have bought new because I played the older ones and really enjoyed them. And there are a few games that are coming out that I will buy new, like the new R-Type and Space Invaders Extreme, mainly because I was able to play the demos to those games.
Honestly, if Sony got off their ass and solved their liscensing issues with other developers and brought out more demos, I think sales would be better for them. For me, I am more willing to buy a game new after I have either played a demo or tried it at a store then just seeing screenshots and reading reviews.
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4-10-2008 @ 1:35PM
Kylock said...
Hear hear! Developers! Hear us, the players, when we say you need to release demos. Most of us don't trust the game review sites any farther than we can throw them... and I haven't learned how to throw data yet!