PSP Sales 2010, a penultimate bad, bad year

Regardless of how reliable you think their numbers are, VGChartz has last year's sales figures across all formats and its grim news for PSP software makers. Only one PSP title makes it into the all formats chart (Monster Hunter Portable 3) while only three PSP games sold over a million copies (the other two being Kingdom Hearts and MGS: Peace Walker)

Below that, another five managed over 500,000 sales; Gran Turismo, LittleBigPlanet, Assassin's Creed, God Eater and Monster Hunter Portable 2G. Compare that to the other formats out there:

DS - 15 million+ sellers

Xbox - over 20 million+ sellers

PS3 - over 20 million+ sellers

Wii - 18 million+ sellers

That's how weak the PSP is and why development is falling through the floor. You can but hope that devs are switching to PSP2 on the quiet and Sony will have a decent launch release list (to batter the rather feeble 3DS lineup). That's about Sony's only hope of getting a decent (and global) run on its rival and offering something that gamers feel they "need" to buy.

Alongside launch games in volume, Sony needs:

A) A very high-quality app, game center and store experience for the PSP2.

B) New multiplayer IP that can replicate Monster Hunter's success in Japan around the world.

C) Massive Multiplayer portable gaming (iPhone hasn't cracked it yet and a World of Warcraft-like experience would see the PSP2 with a strong USP.

D) Interoperability with other systems, pretending that one maker's stuff just works in its own little universe is so last century.