PSP Usage Down in Japan

[*NormalGamer*]

egm.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3143122

PSP Usage Down
Japanese study suggests gamers are losing interest.
by Patrick Klepek, 08/24/2005

Studios have been opened the floodgates for support of PSP's proprietary UMD format. Practically every major studio already has, currently is or is planning to release a slew of film and television shows on Sony's new toy. That popularity, however, looks limited to America at the moment.

Next Generation has discovered the results of study conducted by Infoplat. Upon polling over 1,000 Japanese consumers, Infoplat found only 10% of users had used their PSP to watch a movie, and "most" were not planning on buying a UMD.

Even outside the realm of UMDs, multimedia doesn't appear to be a strong suit for the machine. Less than 50% saw themselves using a PSP for viewing movies or pictures off a memory stick.

That's not really surprising. Accomplishing either of the latter tasks isn't particularly user friendly, and Sony's done little to remedy this.

What's more troubling, however, is what Japanese consumers are saying about their PSP usage. 50% of them freely admitted they had not touched their PSP in "some time." While that's certainly not at all specific, it's indicative of a similar trend amongst US PSP users desperately looking for a hot, new game to play.
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NG: Well, this isn't suprising. UMD is pretty much useless to most people in Japan. Guess they rather stick to watching movies on DVD instead.

[Jason-RN]

It's funny how the Japanese seem to hate UMD movies, while Americans love them.

[Pilgrim John]

admin said:

It's funny how the Japanese seem to hate UMD movies, while Americans love them.

GTA went over like a kick in the family jewels in Japan, while every time there was a GTA here in the States, it sold as if people actually WANTED to be kicked in the family jewels.
The thing is, Sony made a big mistake: its "multimedia device" does everything that everything else can do. DVDs are best viewed on a large-screen TV, not a dinky little screen. All that other junk is just that: junk.
About the PSP's lack of lineup games: well, it was to be expected. You can't keep talking about Lumines forever; Death, Jr. was an unfortunate flop. As for Metal Gear Acid, that game was retarded. Sure, the card thing worked OK for Kingdom Hearts and Phantasy Star, but those are RPGs. Metal Gear is an espionage action game! The whole card thing was new to the series, but also quite unnecessary and therefore silly.
Sony, Sony, Sony--yo'ure dead in the boat. And it's sinking.

[mylescloutier]

admin said:

It's funny how the Japanese seem to hate UMD movies, while Americans love them.

Well..Canadians don't like them. (Me.) Why in the WORLD would I pay the same price for a UMD of a movie as I would for a DVD just to watch it on an itsie bitsy - teeny weeny screen?

[Jason-RN]

mylescloutier said:

Well..Canadians don't like them. (Me.) Why in the WORLD would I pay the same price for a UMD of a movie as I would for a DVD just to watch it on an itsie bitsy - teeny weeny screen?

The concept behind UMDs doesn't make much sense, but they're selling surprisingly well.

[gamefreaks365]

admin said:

It's funny how the Japanese seem to hate UMD movies, while Americans love them.

The key to that might be American studios have signed on, but properties (namely anime and such) possibly haven't in the Japanese market. I wouldn't know, I don't live in Japan so I don't follow their market as closely.

[Jason-RN]

gamefreaks365 said:

[The key to that might be American studios have signed on, but properties (namely anime and such) possibly haven't in the Japanese market. I wouldn't know, I don't live in Japan so I don't follow their market as closely.

I never thought of it that way, but you make a very good point. I wonder how much better UMDs would sell if there were a bunch of anime ones in Japan.