joeblow69

Here, maybe this will help.

Though, here you see that they are updating the Japanese PSPs to only level 1.5. So maybe they won't do that in the US release?

It's not an automatic process, you have to update it manually before you can play.

jeffdsmith

Likely because I make my assumptions based on company action and economic situation. You honestly expect companies to say what the plan to exactly do? Companies only wish they could see 4 years into the future.

My main point is, I make my judgment calls based on past companies actions and what economic situation they are in. Just because Nintendo says they will have GBA successor out in 2006/7 doesn't mean they will. I didn't get my N64 in 1995, I never got my "playstation" add-on for my SNES, nor did I get my Gamecube in 2000. Presently the DS is selling faster then the PSP everywhere and Sony has cut PSP production by over 30% as a result of slower PSP sales every month since launch. If this trend continues Nintendo is very likely to wait until Sony introduces a PSP replacement to show their next hand. These are just my beliefs, but they are why I have a "hard time taking what Nintendo says seriously."

DRG

So I wonder if game cases will start having a "Minimum Firmware required" disclaimer listed? If not I'm sure there will be a website dedicated to that before too long.

I tried the NES emu last night, it worked great. I also read about the burning smell problems with the SNES emu, so I think I'll hold off on that. Anyone tried the Sega Master System one yet?

Gallant Pig

If they were even smarter, the patch would be built into the game and do it descretely while you play. Of course either way it will hurt game sales that have this "feature".

DJ_Longfellow

OH yeah.....forgot it could be on the UMD. That kind of sucks....I'm sure they'll start adding it to most new releases. Luckily, the only game I want in the future is GTA:Liberty City and possibly Death Jr. (I'm sure they'll have hacks for that too by then)

jeffdsmith

I have played the emu on a japanese PSP and did not smell anything personally.

However, emulation programs usually do run at 100% of the processors capability ALL the time. (In this case 100% of whatever Sony has capped it at) So the heat does build up. The biggest direct result of playing emulated games for me has been shortened battery life. A little under 2.5 hours total after a fresh charge.

PixyJunket

Bummer on the battery life.. emulation is the only reason foreseeable that I'd ever own a PSP as I've already got a DVD player. I've got to convince one of the two people I know that own a PSP to let me try out the PC-Engine emulator though, I want to try playing a CD game on it.

joshd2012

It will be interesting to see what PSP does once it comes out in Europe and has a holiday season in the US. I suspect that sales will become more equal, but only time will tell. Sony denies that they cut production, saying they announced 12M units in FY2005 (March 2005-March 2006) and that is what they currently are working towards. The article you are thinking of has an 18M unit estimate which Sony denies every making.

Do I truely expect the PS3 to come out Spring 2006? No! But if someone asks me when it will come out I say "Spring 2006" because that is the best information I can go off of. The same applies to the next GB. The best information I have to go off of is 2006/7, so that is what I will go with.

fujishig

Is the DS outselling the PSP here in the US too? I can believe it in Japan, where a lot of the premium DS games have been released, but man am I hard pressed to find great DS games here as of yet...

I guess the lower price does help sales, though.

Josh H

Lower price and the kid market that always snaps up the latest Nintendo portable.

shaggy

I guess I won't be buying any games that force an update. I bought a psp at launch and my DS gets twice the action, because there are no good games for the PSP. Last night the psp became one of the coolest things i have owned because I played Kung Fu and 1942 for hours, and its perfect. Its like adding a 5000 game library. Now I come back to the thread and they are forcing updates. I thought sony originally was using homebrew as a selling point? I can't believe how bad the psp launch has been. The PS and the PS2 strongest point was the number of games available, now with the psp there is hardly anything out or coming out.

joshd2012

I don't know how anyone can say there are no good games on the PSP or how there are no good games coming out. There are plenty of good games, they may just not be for you. Here is a list of what I'm picking up for the rest of the year (subject to reviews):

Coded Arms
Death Jr.
Namco Museum
MediEvil
Gripshift or Frantix
GTA: Liberty Stories
Infected
Daxter
Socom
F1 Grand Prix or WRC
Viewtiful Joe VFX
Sonic Title

Add at least 1/2 of those games to what I already own (Lumines, WipeOut Pure, Ridge Racers, and Hot Shots Golf), and that is quite a library.

joshd2012

No PSP is outselling DS.

May numbers:

PSP = 250,000
GBA/DS = 279,000

So assuming they sold more than 29,000 GBAs, PSP is outselling DS. I don't think that is a bad assumption to make at all.

outer-edge

Source? I haven't seen any console sales numbers for May.

joshd2012

GameSpot has an article up here: http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/06...s_6128131.html with no numbers, but I got the numbers on the TXB forum: http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=356032

fujishig

Hmm... didn't even know Coded Arms was already out. Anyone have it yet?

Personally, I've been playing much more PSP lately, but it's mostly buying the launch games I didn't get before at a cheaper price. Picked up Untold Legends and Tony Hawk a couple of weeks ago for 30 at BB, and Hot Shots was 30 at CompUSA recently. In comparison, the last DS game I bought was Zookeeper, because it was only 20. This will probably change around once Nintendogs, Metroid, etc. come out, though. My wife has been complaining that I bought the DS and am not playing it, but once Animal Crossing comes, she'll change her tune...

jeffdsmith

I am shocked that those numbers could be correct, although they could be. Nintendo originally planned to sell 6 million DS's by March 2006, they have already shipped that many. In fact Nintendo now plans to have built 20 million by March 2006. The momentum really seems to have shifted for the DS recently, perhaps I am over estimating it. Regarding PSP numbers, my friend has a job in Terre Haute IN cd/dvd/umd manufactoring plant and from his somewhat "insiders" position word is PSP sales are below expectations, but UMD discs are above expectations, especially movies. Take it for what its worth. (very little)

Those numbers are listed above are shaky IMO, I noticed the gamespot article provides no number or mention of the DS/PSP sales, and the other link is has no real validity as a source either. I also noticed that in the posters numbers he put "approx." (Josh removed it) next to the DS/GBA number, whats up with that? Finally, NPD has previously reported the DS and GBA sales seperately, why combine them now?

I'm a skeptic for now, I look forward to a more ledgit source sometime this weekend. Its Friday people, get out and have some fun!

darkside

I agree there is good stuff coming, but the current lineup lost my interest quickly. Many of the games on my want list like MVP Baseball ended up being complete dissapointments. Of course EA is getting into a pretty good grove of putting out mediocre portable titles on all platforms. There has yet to be a PSP game I like as much as Kirby Canvas Curse or Wario Ware Touch. My next portable game purchase will be Meteos so again I still wait for a PSP title I would buy. I guess GTA will kick start PSP sales, but not for me. I am as burned out on GTA as anybody. Death Jr is the one title that looks to be a killer game of the year candidate for the PSP.

As far as emulation nothing I have seen so far runs as well as the emulators on my Zodiac so there is again little interest for me there. I don't have to run hacks to play them on my Zod either or worry about them getting locked out.

Movies is the definite PSP bright spot and will have to carry the thing for awhile longer.

Josh H

There's good games on the PSP, the problem for me is I play my portables at home, so I buy them to play games that offer something I can't get on the consoles and the PSP really has nothing that fits that bill yet besides perhaps Lumines and I'm not a huge puzzle game fan.

The DS has all the great 2D GBA games and some neat, unique games like Kirby, Warioware Touched etc.

So it's not that the PSP has no games worth playing, and I agree no one should really say that.

It just has no games that are what I look for on a portable system.

sniper308

Wouldn't that mean good sell through (i.e. numbers of games/movies sold per console) numbers on movies and games for Sony? Which would be a good thing. I mean obviously they want a good number for install base, but the money is in the software.

jeffdsmith

Yup.

joshd2012

Requested and delivered:

http://biz.gamedaily.com/features.as...d=9927&filter=

Another source for the numbers which show PSP selling more than DS in May. And yes I removed the "*estimated" crap, because all the numbers are estimates. And yes, this source has the DS and GBA together as well.

jeffdsmith

Thanks. I'm still puzzled why the numbers are together, they are different systems. Furthermore, previous NPD data has had them seperate. Weird folks.

If that number is right, then the DS had a miserable month as the GBA had still be outselling the DS 2:1. Hard to believe it could drop so much especially with all the post E3 hype. Oh well, I guess it explains the Mario pack in.

joshd2012

Why can't I get any of my roms to play? I have tried the neogeo pocket, nes, and sega master system emus, and none of them recognize the roms I have loaded into the folders. I have them in the "roms" folder and unzipped. Why don't they recognize them? Is there a good FAQ around?

jeffdsmith

Try leaving them zipped up.