This week, Sony vehemently denied rumors and speculation that there would be a redesigned PSP model, even though Sony’s UK Managing Director revealed as much. But redesigns and new editions of game consoles usually come around when sales begin to slow, or the game company wants to boost sales. If this sort of logic is the normal state of affairs by the game industry, then a Bloomberg report may further prove that Sony’s handheld may, indeed, soon see a redesign.
Bloomberg says that sales of the PSP are lagging far behind Nintendo’s DS in Japan. According to the report, there have been 14.1 million DS units sold and only 5 million PSPs sold. Both machines were launched in December of 2004.
The double whammy of losing market share on both fronts in the game console wars–the PSP and PS3–is a very dark cloud that hangs over Sony. Clearly, the company is not facing easy success as it did with the first two PlayStations.
The parallels between the PSP vs. DS and PS3 vs. Wii are strikingly similar. Both the PS3 and PSP are considered to be more powerful, while the Wii and the DS are considered underpowered and a slight throwback to older technology. However, while the stats on paper show that the PSP and PS3 should be winning their respective battles, the exact opposite is true–the Wii and DS are outselling their Sony counterparts by respectable, if not rather large margins.
Although the answer is obvious to most gamers, it still may have not dawned upon Sony is that Nintendo is focusing purely on fun. Meanwhile, Sony seems to be stuck in trying to sell power and high tech to the consumer. High tech and power is just fine, but ultimately, it’s all about how much fun we can have with the machines and their games.
