14 DAY TRIAL // Videogame consoles seem to be intent on breaking records left and right as fast as they can. The Nintendo Wii has recently broken the 1 million units sold barrier in Canada and any minute now Nintendo is going to put out a press release saying that its flagship console has gone over the 30 million mark on a global level. But today is Sony's time to brag about sales as the PlayStation Portable, the direct competitor to Nintendo's DS, is said to have sold more than 10 million units on the Japanese market.
The data itself comes from Enterbrain report quoted by The Economic Times. The tracking of the sales data began just as the console was launched in late 2004 and the tenth million handheld was most probably sold on July 15, 2008.
The PlayStation Portable has not been the same throughout the years. The PSP Slim and the PSP Lite re-designs were created, making the console smaller and easier to use. Recently, Sony has unveiled a new version, which for now is called the PSP-3000 that is set to provide users with a bigger screen that is easier to use in direct sunglight and with a built-in microphone. The new PSP is also set to offer much more usability options and an expanded array of ways to stream video content to and from the device.
In its four-year life span, the PlayStation Portable has been the platform on which a number of major blockbusters were released. The console has a dedicated fan following, although some developers shun it because of its high potential for piracy. Sony has recently acknowledged the piracy issue and is working to fix the situation.
Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G from Capcom, launched on March 27 of 2008, has sold more than 2,300,000 copies for the PSP until now while its predecessor, Monster Hunter Portable 2nd, also from Capcom, released one year earlier, has sales of 1,706,387 copies. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII from Square Enix, with 790,705 units of the game sold, is in third place.