The Sony PSP was supposed to ‘elevate portable entertainment out of the handheld gaming ghetto,’ according to Kaz Hirai, president of SONY CEA, ‘[the] PSP will serve as the disrupter in the portable entertainment space.’ But has the PSP actually done as well as assumed? Since the PSP’s release on March 24, 2005, an average of less then one game per week has been released. Approximately 30 games total, and of those, 17 were released during the launch window. About 11 of them can be considered PS2 ports. Of these 30 games, only about 10 of them are actually worth getting, while the other 20 scored very low on various reviews.

American Tech. Research conducted a survey of 150 different retailers to see how the PSP did at launch.  Only about 50 of those 150 retailers reported their PSP shipments selling out. Out of the 1,000,000 units shipped, all 1,000,000 were expected to sell out in the first day, but really, only 602,000 units were sold that entire week. On the other hand, the DS sold out on the first day.

So what is holding Sony’s PSP back? Many people, including myself, believe it is the software that was promised, but never delivered. In fact, during the week of April 18, two newly colored DS units and Nintendogs were released in Japan. During that week, 96,191 DS units were sold, while on the other hand, the PSP sold a low 33,000 units. The PS3 and PSP are so different, that developers are canceling their PSP projects to focus on the PS3 or developers are just loosing faith in the PSP hardware. Plus, there is the fact that the DS was released prior to the PSP, and that Nintendo is more trusted in the handheld field. According to the top selling charts for May, Six DS titles made the top 20 charts, whereas not a single PSP title made it. 

But you do have to take in consideration that the PSP has not yet launched in Europe. But unless the PSP sells 2.5 million units in Europe during it’s first week, it won’t even compare to the DS’s 5 million units sold.  What is worse is, Sony is losing its loyal fans since the don’t want Europeans to get an imported PSP before its launch in September. Sony is even suing retailers such as Lik-Sang.com for importing DS units to Europe.

Sony needs to do something if they want their PSP to be a success. PSP consumers are getting angry. Not only did they pay about $100 more for a handheld unit then the DS, but they have not yet gotten their moneys worth. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is Sony’s first and last try in the portable gaming zone.