News

GC '10: PSP shifts 9.9 million in past year, Minis top 1 million

Plus, US ads to continue to poke fun at iPhone

GC '10: PSP shifts 9.9 million in past year, Minis top 1 million
Almost any announcement Sony makes about PSP Mini sales is likely to disappoint, given such stats are inevitably compared to the flurry of million-sellers currently strutting their stuff on iPhone.

Nonetheless, Sony dedicated a section of its conference at this year's GamesCom to PSP news, with the Japanese giant claiming it's sold 1 million Mini games to date.

Indeed, that's the exact same figure Sony quoted over a month ago in the middle of July, either suggesting that sales have been especially sluggish since, or the firm simply hasn't updated its in-house stats.

PSPno-go

Nevertheless, with no mention of PSP2 in any form – or, indeed, the much rumoured PlayStation Phone – Sony was keen to insist that the handheld is still performing strongly, the device selling just shy of 10 million units in the last 12 months.

Just how many of those sales can be attributed to PSPgo, however, is unknown, although Sony is continuing to pitch its entire PSP line-up – both in terms of hardware and software - as a credible alternative to iPhone.

While Sony's European advertising has focused on PSP's line-up of cheap games – a subtle reaction to the prevalence of low-priced titles on the App Store – the firm's US promos are a touch more blatant.

The latest ad to hit the other side of the Atlantic (see below) makes clear reference to iPhone's ever-increasing popularity, the promo part of Sony's Step Your Game Up campaign.





With a fine eye for detail, Keith Andrew is fuelled by strong coffee, Kylie Minogue and the shapely curve of a san serif font.