PSP NEWS: PSP leads hardware sales in Japan as DS stocks dwindle

[Ishiyoshi]

PSP leads hardware sales in Japan as DS stocks dwindle

News Source: http://www.gamesindustry.biz

Low stock levels see DS sales plummeting, but redesign may be on the horizon...

Sony's PlayStation Portable has overtaken the Nintendo DS in Japan's hardware sales chart for the first time in months as Nintendo struggled to keep its handheld in stock - but DS titles continue to dominate the software charts.

The PlayStation Portable sold almost 133,000 units during the week, while the DS fell into second place with just 91,000 units sold - despite Nintendo's pledge to switch to air shipments of the DS in an effort to keep stock levels up.

In previous weeks the DS had sold 310,000, 600,000 and 390,000 units respectively, and last week Nintendo was forced to apologise publicly for the stock situation - although many industry watchers believe that the firm is keeping the channel dry deliberately to prepare for the launch of a redesigned handheld in the coming days.

Software sales for the DS continued to be impressive, however, with the recently launched More DS Training for Adults: Work Your Brain continuing the success of the brain training series by racking up a further 290,000 sales, meaning that it has now sold a total of over 700,000 units in just two weeks.

Three other DS titles also sold over 100,000 units, namely Animal Crossing: Wild World, which was the biggest-selling game in Japan last year and racked up a further 133,000 units this week, Mario Kart DS, which is now close to breaking a million unit sales, and the original DS Training For Adults: Work Your Brain.

Mario and Luigi RPG 2, which came in at number four, sold some 98,000 units - and Simple Brain Exercises, Tamagotchi Connection, and Pokemon's Mysterious Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team all also charted in the top ten for the DS.

That left only two places for other consoles in the chart, which were occupied by a solitary PS2 title, Square Enix' Kingdom Hearts II, at number six with 83,000 sales - the game is also very close to breaking the million units mark and may well do so next week - and another Nintendo title, the GBA edition of Pokemon's Mysterious Dungeon, at number ten.

For those following the fortunes of the Xbox 360 in the market, just shy of 7,500 units of the console were sold during the week, down from the 12,000 units sold in the previous week, when Dead or Alive 4 charted at number 13.

[Guest Stuge]

Its Nice that PSp is Doing Great In Japan but in India Its Still a Luxuary To buy priced at $ 453 & Its accessories are also not available if available too costly for the pocket.

Thats the Reason I still haven`t decided to buy it .

[Ishiyoshi]

Is there a SonyStyle retail store in New Delhi? How does the Sony brand in general fare nowadays in India?

[Guest Stuge]

Is there a SonyStyle retail store in New Delhi? How does the Sony brand in general fare nowadays in India?

Their Is no Sony retail store here in the name of SonyStyle but Yes ,They Do have their brand showrooms or retail store in the name of Sony World.They are quite big showrooms & they have all the Sony products they launch in India .Even they have opened a small Sony dedicated showroom near my house (Just 1km away) but this showroom doesn`t have all the products .Also their is no Online shopping Store like SonyStyle

I don`t have the figures to tell how much market share they have here but now most of the people like to buy Sony Products.in India(that includes T.V,Portable Audio,Hi-Fi) .Sony here also means Premium brand & People are crazy about their products .But products here in India are priced at higher rates ..People who I know all have Sony Wega TV,Hi-Fi,Personal Audio,etc.If I ever ask them why didn`t go for some other brand they will simply say to me "Sony is the Best".

Main problem i think is that they launch their products here very late after their release of the product in US & Japan. .

Sony In India Can succeed a lot here because now wages of People are getting higher & higher year by year & Now people are looking for some lifestyle products(So now people can afford ).In my opinion India Has changed A lot In 10 years .Our own President(Abdul Kalam)want our Country to be developed by 2020.

The End....

[Ishiyoshi]

Interesting indeed. Unfortunately, in most part of East and Southeast Asia, the Sony brand name no longer carry the weight it once had. Nonetheless, Sony in general is still viewed highly.

[Kit]

I'm a huge fan of Nintendo DS even though I so really wanted to get PSP when I decided to buy a handheld game device. But growing up playing Super Nintendo Famicom, I've grown fond of their games. Even though PSP looks billions times better, but I bought Nintendo DS for its game. I can be hooked on Mario Kart DS for HOURS!