Cool Sony PSP Hacks & Tips & News

Nintendo's handheld platform, the DS, was once again atop the Japanese hardware sales chart for the week ending March 22, according to the latest data from Media Create.

It sold just over 80,000 units in total, largely thanks to the release of the 120,000-selling Super Robot Taisen K in the same week, beating the PlayStation Portable into second place with sales of just over 65,000.

The PlayStation 3 had another consistent week, shifting just over 25,000 units, while the Wii's slow sales continued on 18,000.

The Xbox 360's recent sales surge has all bit disappeared on a lack of high-profile software titles, while the PlayStation 2 continues to slowly trail off.

The DSi accounted for 71,233 of the total DS sales, with the DS Lite taking 8948.

The full run-down is as follows:

• 1. Nintendo DS: 80,181
• 2. PlayStation Portable: 65,765
• 3. PlayStation 3: 25,435
• 4. Nintendo Wii: 18,095
• 5. Xbox 360: 5441
• 6. PlayStation 2: 5067

Sony's John Koller has told GamesIndustry.biz that the company is still undecided on publishing PSP titles simultaneously on UMD and via digital distribution.

Although Sony wants to make as much content available to PSP consumers digitally, Koller said that day and date releases on both formats is a mid-term goal, and might not be standard for five years.

"In North America we haven't made a firm decision if and when we're going to launch day and date, retail and digital. In Japan we do, and Europe's going that way. In America we're looking at the opportunity," said Koller ahead of his session at the Game Developers Conference today.

"Digital kind of fits our view of the world in the mid-term, not in the short term – three to five years out. We want to start providing the content to the consumers and start to get them to a place where they can accept digital distribution," he added.

While Sony is listening to consumer demand for digital distribution, Koller said that retail is still essential to the business, and will remain key for game sales.

"Music hung on to the disc format for as long as possible, when consumers were actively saying 'we're very interested in digital'," offered Koller. "We're very happy to provide that content and at least allow the consumer to make that choice. We want to provide the option to wake up in the morning and get it on-line or walk to the store and buy it."

Sony has tried various digital delivery and pricing structures via the PlayStation Network already, and Koller said there are still business models the company intends to test in the market.

"We're looking at various models to see when to launch those. That's not to say retail is going away, because it's not. It's a balance, it's a very fine balance because retail does so much for us that digital maybe can't. So different models are floating around and we haven't made a firm decision on that."

Sony's PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 3 have outsold their rival Nintendo counterparts in Japan for the second consecutive week, according to data released by Media Create.

The PSP sold 43,463 units to take the top spot in the charts, outselling the combined total of the Nintendo DSi and DS Lite sales at 39,135 units.

PS3 sales hit 28,014 units, compared to Nintendo Wii sales of 17,941 units, while the Xbox 360 lagged behind at 8378 units, and the PlayStation 2 at 4844.

Japanese hardware chart follows:

• PlayStation Portable: 43,463
• Nintendo DS: 39,135
• PlayStation 3: 28,014
• Nintendo Wii: 17,941
• Xbox 360: 8378
• PlayStation 2: 4844

Sony Computer Entertainment America's director of hardware marketing, John Koller, has revealed that one of the company's "big pushes this year" will be downloadable games for the PlayStation Portable.

And he also outlined plans to release digital versions of key games alongside the UMD launches - a move which might spell the end for the proprietary format which has proven unpopular with retailers.

"Holistically, the idea of digital distribution fits into the world as we go forward," Koller told Wired. "Not to say that retail isn't of extreme importance, because it is. But the idea of offering content to consumers, to make it easy, you can wake up in the morning, download something and go, it's very appealing.

"So one of our big pushes this year is to be sure that the right kind of content and the right kind of games in particular are placed on the PlayStation Network for download on the PSP.

"We've been engaged in a wide range of conversations with publishers over the last year, year and a half about software and games overall on the PSP. One significant topic that hasn't necessarily been covered a lot is inclusion of digital copies of the games that they're launching on UMDs.

"In the back half of this year, we should see a good rise in the amount of content that comes to PSN for the PSP. We're aware that most of the content thus far has been for PlayStation 3, and that's based on the usage model and who has been demanding that content. But as we continue, and there's more of a desire from the consumer for PSP content, we're going to really increase the size and amount of content that's available."

And when asked about the timeframe for new titles, Koller noted that a number of titles recently announced were set for release in the latter part of 2009, and that "marrying those launches with the digital versions of those launches obviously makes development sense".

"We haven't really decided how the timetable will work on launches that are digital versus retail, but we are looking at digital versions of the games that launch on UMD, yes," he said in response to a question specifically noting PSP editions of LittleBigPlanet and MotorStorm.

Koller's comments echo those made recently by Sony's UK MD Ray Maguire, who told GamesIndustry.biz that downloads would "increasingly become a bigger part of [the PSP's] future."