Why are software sales so low in the US?

January 16th, 2007, 01:42 Posted By: wraggster

Via PSPfanboy

Looking at data provided by VGCharts.org reveals an unnerving trend: the distressingly low sales of PSP software. One only has to look at Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, which sold 136,500 copies during its first month of sales in the US. While this certainly isn't a low amount, it nearly equals the number of copies sold in Japan ... in its first day of sales. Considering how the PSP has far more systems in distribution in America than Japan, shouldn't this game have sold better?

The PSP system sold pretty well in December, reaching approximately a million units sold. However, the amount of software sold is dwarved by the Nintendo DS. Nintendo's portable sold through more than 5 million software sales. The PSP failed to break 1 million. The five-fold difference in sales doesn't accurately represent the hardware discrepancy: the PSP isn't trailing so drastically, in terms of hardware numbers.

So, why such low PSP software sales during the holiday season? Do you blame homebrew? Or, do you blame PSP's ability to do much more than gaming: certainly, there are people that are buying the system for its other capabilities, such as its video and music playback. Did you buy a PSP game in December?

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