Wed, Sep 24, 2008 | 07:28 BST
Edge: “Third-parties abandoning PSP”
In this sizeable feature, Edge has showed pretty conclusively that third-parties aren’t releasing as much PSP software as they used to. As is Edge’s wont, there are lots of graphs to make sure you know what’s what, and that always brightens the mood, so we recommend you look.
Talking about PSP software in general, this does a good job of summing it up:
the drop-off is so statistically significant that there’s no way to write it off. 2008 managed only slightly more releases than the PSP’s launch year, which was only ten months long. That’s a staggering 40 percent decrease compared to an already depressed 2007.
More through there.
6 comments
#1
Blerk
24/09/08, 8:24 am
I don’t think we really needed to see research and graphs to come to this conclusion. The PSP is just about dead at retail, software-wise. The sooner they drop the whole UMD thing and make it all download-only the better.
#2
Robo_1
24/09/08, 8:55 am
Agreed, they really need to change the PSP. I predict the PSPhone, with links to the PSN.
#3
Tonka
24/09/08, 9:06 am
Now that SonyEricsson are up shit creek with a rubberband in lieu of a paddle the chances of a PSPhone are about the same as Patcher getting salesnumbers right.
#4
rainer
24/09/08, 9:42 am
Arent PSP’s still selling well at retail though ?
I think the biggest problem are the controls on the PSP, they should have redesigned it so it had the same buttons as the playstation game pad or at minimum a second analogue stick.
Without the ability to do bread and butter titles like FPS, third person shooters effectively I think developers are just ignoring it now. The remote play feature on the PS3 is also badly crippled because of this as well.
#5
Blerk
24/09/08, 9:46 am
PSP hardware is doing pretty well, but the charts are generally barren of PSP software every single week and the list of forthcoming releases is pretty poor.
I think it’s almost certainly a targetting problem. They want it to be a portable PS2, but PS2 games aren’t the sorts of games you generally want to play on your commute. Sony themselves are doing bits and pieces more in line with the DS’s throw-away ‘just a quick go’ stuff, but it doesn’t sell. Everyone else is just porting their PS2/Wii stuff as is, regardless of whether people want it and/or whether it’s suitable for the PSP controls. It’s a very confused platform.
#6
El_MUERkO
24/09/08, 11:53 am
PSP2 – March 17th 2009