Is the Sony PSP in it's gaining momentum?

[Corwin_B]

It could have been about either, but I think that part 2 got there just before part 1 did. The second one looks to be more successful in other words - it got there a fair bit faster too, after all .

The first one had absolutely crazy legs because of word of mouth, and staid in the charts for a long time, before getting another shot in the arm a couple months ago with the value price release. It remains to be seen if the sales of the second one will be frontloaded, or if the very large early sales show a widening of the audience between the two games. We will know in a couple of weeks.

 

[max-pain]

English press release:

http://ir.capcom.co.jp/english/news/html/e070306.html

The Latest in Capcom's Popular Monster Hunter Series "Monster Hunter Freedom 2" has broken a Million in Japan

- The previous installment "Monster Hunter Freedom" is also closing in on one million! -


Capcom is pleased to announce that Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for the PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) system (referred to below as the PSP® system) has shipped more than 1 million units in Japan. The second installment has managed to outperform even the popular first game to reach one million shortly after release. With the release of the Best Edition of the first Monster Hunter Freedom, the first game is also expected to exceed one million in the near future. Combined, these two titles make the Monster Hunter Freedom series the strongest game series on the PSP® system in Japan as of March 6th, 2007.

　The popular Monster Hunter series of action games puts the player in the role of a fearless hunter roaming the great outdoors tracking down gigantic beasts. Players can tackle the adventure alone or join friends over a network for team cooperative action. Since the first Monster Hunter's console release in March 2004, it cumulatively shipped over 3.7 million copies around the world as of March 6th, 2007, and has been honored with numerous awards, securing a place as one of Capcom's premier titles.

　Capcom has been working closely with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. in order to expand sales of the popular series. One result is the special Monster Hunter PSP® system bundle which includes a special color edition PSP® system, the game Monster Hunter Freedom 2, and other original goods. This and other promotional efforts have helped to spur sales. In addition to console versions, a pre-installed mobile phone game and trading cards are planned at the beginning of April as part of Capcom's one content, multi-use business strategy.

　Capcom will continue to strive to develop new and original games that appeal to a broad audience around the globe.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

This is important news IMO, as it's saying to the world 'you can have a big success on PSP' and remind them there's money to be made if they produce the right games. For those feeling software sales are weak on the platform, it's perhaps because they aren't producing the titles people want. Hopefuly this encourage more than shovelware. Certainly development fo rthe platform is cheaper than many others. You've only 1.8 GB to fill for starters!

 

[22psi]

Congrats to Capcom, they seem to be doing very very well the past year or so and are taking the right steps this gen. A buddy of mine maybe selling his barely used PSP to me. It seems like such a cool lil gadget, with more games like this on the horizon, it's prob a def purchase for me.

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

This is important news IMO, as it's saying to the world 'you can have a big success on PSP' and remind them there's money to be made if they produce the right games. For those feeling software sales are weak on the platform, it's perhaps because they aren't producing the titles people want. Hopefuly this encourage more than shovelware. Certainly development fo rthe platform is cheaper than many others. You've only 1.8 GB to fill for starters!

You think so? If I was a dev and looked at PSP and saw that it took over 2 years for the first million seller game to come out I wouldnt say hey you can sell alot on PSP. Ofcourse you can have succes but obviously the chance of ''failure'' is alot bigger and actually how many devs are willing to build a truly good game? especially on a platform that on average doesnt exactly sells alot of software. Maybe sony shot themselves in the foot a bit positioning the PSP as a portable PS2 instead of a handheld console needing its own games and not ps2 (ports) games.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Ofcourse you can have succes but obviously the chance of ''failure'' is alot bigger and actually how many devs are willing to build a truly good game? especially on a platform that on average doesnt exactly sells alot of software.

That's a Catch 22 though. If they only produce tripe, they won't sell in numbers. And if they are waiting to sell in numbers before they'll invest in creating good titles, they'll never produce good quality titles. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Some big successes prove that the key to success is exactly the same as other consoles - you have to invest in quality. Cheap ports aren't going to earn any money. Now if no games ever sold a lot, you'd know not to bother. But titles like this prove the market's just waiting for the titles that interest it. The fact it's taken 2 years (which I'm not sure it has) for someone to produce a title worthy of sales is a fault of the developers and not the handheld. Sony hasn't forced developers to make ports of console games, you know!

 

[crazygambit]

That's a Catch 22 though. If they only produce tripe, they won't sell in numbers. And if they are waiting to sell in numbers before they'll invest in creating good titles, they'll never produce good quality titles. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Some big successes prove that the key to success is exactly the same as other consoles - you have to invest in quality. Cheap ports aren't going to earn any money. Now if no games ever sold a lot, you'd know not to bother. But titles like this prove the market's just waiting for the titles that interest it. The fact it's taken 2 years (which I'm not sure it has) for someone to produce a title worthy of sales is a fault of the developers and not the handheld. Sony hasn't forced developers to make ports of console games, you know!

You make a good point, except for the fact that MH is a PS2 port with a little added content. In fact I find it very odd this is the most successful PSP franchise. I mean don't get me wrong, it's a great game, but it doesn't seem very portable. Most missions are very long, at least half an hour, some even close to 50 minutes and you can't save in the middle of them. Most of the time I played the first one was inside my house, not outside. So maybe gamers do want the same console experience in the palm of their hands, I don't know.

 

[wco81]

On paper, PSP is attractive, promising unprecendented performance in the handheld market.

One of the biggest anticipated games is GT Mobile (and when is that coming out?).

But when you think about it, if you really want a high-performance game graphics-wise, you go with a console on an HDTV.

For handhelds, you want to kill some time, a few minutes here and there during the day when you have some idle time.

So for that, simpler games like puzzle games have more appeal right. Isn't that what the DS offers and what certain popular cell phone games offer? Especially to the casual gamers or "lapsed" gamers who are gravitating to the DS and Wii now?

Only reason to play GT or something like God of War on the PSP is if it offered some synergy with the PS3 versions of those games or complemented them somehow. Otherwise, it's a meek attempt to replicate the console experience.

A lot of us technophiles liked the specs but overlooked the reality of people wanting something simple and fast for the mobile space.

 

[Ty]

I've recently fallen back in love in with my PSP. Now that there are some decent video conversion software out there, I've moved some DVDs over to memory stick to watch while I'm at the gym. Man, I LOVE the video and audio quality on it. The widescreen and PQ blow away the video iPOD imo.

 

[wco81]

How are you using it at the gym?

Using it on cardio machines?

I thought the form factor would be a shortcoming if you wanted to listen to audio while working out at the gym, compared to dedicated MP3 players.

 

[Ty]

45 minutes on the elliptical.

Which allows me a digest a decent amount of video content. (currently watching SNL DVDs - Tom Hanks, C.Walken)

When I switch to lifting, I fire up mp3 files but yea, that's when it's quite bulky. Worse still, I have an extended battery pack but my sweat pants seem to have nice big pockets so it's tolerable. Good thing I don't have to walk around much at the gym - any moderate amount of traveling distance would be a tremendous pain.

 

[Corwin_B]

The fact it's taken 2 years (which I'm not sure it has) for someone to produce a title worthy of sales is a fault of the developers and not the handheld.

I think it's a fault of Sony not anticipating the shift in the JP market, and trying to copy/paste the PS experience into the handheld space : if you remember the Kutaragi quote about MS going after the PS2 with the 360 while Sony was already on course to another planet with the PS3 (or something like that), it seems Sony themselves did the exact same thing by trying to beat the GBA.

There have been many critically acclaimed games on the PSP that sold exactly squat, especially in Japan. Look at the dysmal sales of both Megaman games, Ghouls&Ghosts, Loco Roco... Apart from MPH, MGS and some launch titles (including Mina Golf), most PSP SW tanked in an abject way. There is nothing wrong with the handheld per se, nor with developers (it's not like good games are missing on the PSP, or that all good games have PS2 equivalents), but I'd say there is a serious problem with the audience, and that brings us directly to marketing.

Sony hasn't forced developers to make ports of console games, you know!

Sony's PR and execs has been very vocal about "bringing the console experience to handhelds", "getting handhelds out of the gaming ghetto" and the like. Making a high-profile, original game for the PSP is very risky business right now, so it's not a surprise if publishers opt out for PS2 ports instead...