The Year of the PSP

April 11th, 2007, 01:23 Posted By: wraggster

article from kotaku

The Playstation Portable could be the biggest selling failure in history.

Since it's launch Sony has shipped more than 25 million of the portable gaming devices and at least one analyst predicts that will hit 29 million by the end of the year.

And with the recent drop in price, the PSP has already seen a 300 percent increase in sales. This jump in sales, be it a temporary spike or a signs of things to come, comes with the surprising news that the UMD movie format is also making a bit of a recovery.

As we approach the heart of 2007, Sony sees this as being the year of the Playstation Portable, a year that saw a price drop and return of the UMD, a year that is seeing a change in the portables marketing and a year that will see a slew of major PSP announcements.

"In 2005 we launched the product, last year about establishing the software," said John Koller, senior marketing manager for the PSP. " think this is going to be the year for PSP, I think it's going to be a fantastic year for it.
A very very good year."


Koller said decision to drop the Playstation Portable to $169 was threefold.

"We got some cost savings out of the product, and we wanted to pass that on to the consumers," he said. "The second reason was we looked at the Wal-Mart experience over black Friday, that was really a good point to go to that price point. Lastly, we are really trying to promote the PSP heavily toward the 13 to 17 consumer group."

That new, younger market that Sony is shooting for is one that has seen a significant increase in the past year, Koller said. In fact, 13 to 17-year-olds are the largest group of PSP owners.

"I think that goes back to content," he said. "A lot of the games that have launched have done a lot to target that group on its own."

"The campaign we are including with the price drop is called Dude, Get Your Own," he said. "We've seen an increase in sales immediately."

In the the first two days following the PSP's price drop there was a 300 percent increase in the number of the portables sold.

And with that increase among teen gamers has come a jump in the amount of downloading. Video is the top type of download, with music coming in at number two, Koller said.

While the interest in downloadable content is at an all-time high, Koller still declined to talk about when or if Sony will be launching its own store for content.

Koller was able to talk about UMD, a format I and many gamers and writers though was dying. Not only is Sony not thinking of ditching the format, it seems to be making a come back.

UMD movie sales were actually up 35 percent from 2005 to 2006, Koller said. And that jump in sales enticed Target to bring the format back to their stores.

And games too are attracting attention, with more developers creating original content for the portable.

"Our greatest successes take place when publishers and developers recognize the value of the PSP owner as a PSP owner not repurposing a title," Koller said. "We've actively encouraged third parties in that direction."

The upcoming God of War title for the PSP is a good example of that, he said. It will be unique to the PSP, offering an extension of the plot that made the first two games such a success.

"I think you're going to see a lot more of that," he said. "I think third party is starting to understand the value of doing that."

Riding a wave of increased interested, higher sales and better titles, Sony plans to make some big announcements about the PSP in the near future.

"There will be some major PSP announcements this year," he said, "they will be coming over the course of the next few months."

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