Lazard on Sony Gamers Day, PSP "Refresh"

May 17th, 2007, 22:08 Posted By: wraggster

via nextgen

In a Sony Gamers Day recap, Lazard Capital Markets reported on the latest PlayStation Network (PSN) figures and Sony’s plans to release over 200 games across the PS3 and PSP; also mentions a PSP hardware “refresh.”
Sony plans to release 90 third party PS3 games this year and 15 exclusives from first and third parties, according to new investor note from Lazard games industry analyst Colin Sebastian.

Some of the highlighted PS3 software at Sony’s event this week included the Game Developers Conference hit Little Big Planet, the multiplayer SOCOM Confrontation, Heavenly Sword and Pain, a downloadable title which lets you launch your character into comically painful situations using an oversized slingshot.

Sebastian added, “[Sony] also indicated that 140 titles would launch on the PSP, while a video download service and hardware refresh are expected later this year.”

Rumors of revised PSP hardware have been circulating for many months. It seems just a matter of time before Sony makes a formal announcement. PlayStation hardware typically goes through one major revision during a lifecycle.

Sony also revealed that the free PSN has 1.5 million users, including 775,000 in North America with 6 million content downloads to date. Xbox Live boasts over 6 million users between free Silver account and paid Gold subscribers.

“We believe a successful online gaming effort increases the shelf life of video game software, provides an additional revenue stream for publishers, and broadens the overall usability of consoles,” said Sebastian.

Also as part of his note, Sebastian forecast that April US software sales figures were up 15-25 percent over the same month a year ago, which saw $395 million in sales. Market research firm NPD Group is expected to release monthly sales data later today.

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