PS3/PSP “Insider” Information Part 3: PSP Sales, PSOne, and UMD

Part 2 of this story wrapped up all that Scrivener had to say on the PS3. But he had more “insider” opinions, analyses, and reports. This time it was on the PSP. As with Part 1 (also on the PS3), some of what  Scrivener spilled have either been supported or have been debunked by you, our QJ commenters. Well, Scrivener posted his article on August 18, but we’re taking this time to look back on his article because there are still some things that are worth a fresh second look.

• PSP Is a Success: Scrivener claims the PSP outsold the DS and DS Lite “by 1.2 million units” – probably in North America only, he thinks. What we at QJ said before: the DS did outsell the PSP in Japan, but Sony claims the PSP sold much more in North America.
• PSOne and Firmware: The PSOne emulator is coming out in October (we reported on it before) attached to a firmware update also being released that month.
• Lots of Games: 200 titles will be released between August and Christmas. Old folks like to say “the proof of the pudding is in the eating;” it is the result that matters. So we’ll have to tally our “upcoming releases” stories to verify this.
• The UMD Disaster: Scrivener goes on to talk about “the disaster that was UMD movies.” Why was it such a disaster? He says that Sony was “hands-off” with its movie UMD policy. Normally the company lays down some ground rules (like pricing and features available with the release), but Sonly left it to Hollywood to decide what to place in those UMDs. The result: “movie studios just started releasing every piece of **** movie in their vault, without special features, at highly inflated prices.” As many of you know, whatever the reasons for why UMD movies weren’t embraced by consumers, the sales were poor enough for major retailers to consider pulling UMD from their shelves.
• Keep an Eye on UMD Developments: Sony wants to jumpstart UMD movies, but it could take a year according to Scrivener. This time there will be conditions or guidelines for movie releases (that might include a retail price limit of $15), and UMDs must have all the special features of DVD releases. But is it good enough? Scrivener thinks it might be too late (but then again, Sony does have a lot of muscle to throw around, and multimedia is one of the PSP’s big selling points!).

Some of you have already said that Sony should have paid as much attention to UMD as they did to the other features of the PSP. After all, they were marketing the handheld as a multimedia device and not just a simple gamepad. But it’s easy to look back and criticize but harder to look ahead and plan (“hindsight is 20/20” the old folks say), so it’s now time to look to the future and see Sony’s PSOne emulator plans and future firmware updates.

And that ends our look back on Scrivener’s long article. Look to the future, and see if you agree or disagree with Scrivener.

Via General Mayhem

Part 2 of this story wrapped up all that Scrivener had to say on the PS3. But he had more “insider” opinions, analyses, and reports. This time it was on the PSP. As with Part 1 (also on the PS3), some of what  Scrivener spilled have either been supported or have been debunked by you, our QJ commenters. Well, Scrivener posted his article on August 18, but we’re taking this time to look back on his article because there are still some things that are worth a fresh second look.

• PSP Is a Success: Scrivener claims the PSP outsold the DS and DS Lite “by 1.2 million units” – probably in North America only, he thinks. What we at QJ said before: the DS did outsell the PSP in Japan, but Sony claims the PSP sold much more in North America.
• PSOne and Firmware: The PSOne emulator is coming out in October (we reported on it before) attached to a firmware update also being released that month.
• Lots of Games: 200 titles will be released between August and Christmas. Old folks like to say “the proof of the pudding is in the eating;” it is the result that matters. So we’ll have to tally our “upcoming releases” stories to verify this.
• The UMD Disaster: Scrivener goes on to talk about “the disaster that was UMD movies.” Why was it such a disaster? He says that Sony was “hands-off” with its movie UMD policy. Normally the company lays down some ground rules (like pricing and features available with the release), but Sonly left it to Hollywood to decide what to place in those UMDs. The result: “movie studios just started releasing every piece of **** movie in their vault, without special features, at highly inflated prices.” As many of you know, whatever the reasons for why UMD movies weren’t embraced by consumers, the sales were poor enough for major retailers to consider pulling UMD from their shelves.
• Keep an Eye on UMD Developments: Sony wants to jumpstart UMD movies, but it could take a year according to Scrivener. This time there will be conditions or guidelines for movie releases (that might include a retail price limit of $15), and UMDs must have all the special features of DVD releases. But is it good enough? Scrivener thinks it might be too late (but then again, Sony does have a lot of muscle to throw around, and multimedia is one of the PSP’s big selling points!).

Some of you have already said that Sony should have paid as much attention to UMD as they did to the other features of the PSP. After all, they were marketing the handheld as a multimedia device and not just a simple gamepad. But it’s easy to look back and criticize but harder to look ahead and plan (“hindsight is 20/20” the old folks say), so it’s now time to look to the future and see Sony’s PSOne emulator plans and future firmware updates.

And that ends our look back on Scrivener’s long article. Look to the future, and see if you agree or disagree with Scrivener.

Via General Mayhem