Sony's senior marketing manager John Koller was a member of a panel about casual gaming at a Wedbush Morgan conference. He gave out some information about the PlayStation Portable keyboard and GPS unit as well as a switch in the handheld's target audience. To find out more, head on over to the full article.

With the release of Sony PSP Slim & Lite accompanied by Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops+, Sony's handheld dominated Japan's video game hardware sales this September. Numbers show 448,000 Slims blasted off the shelves, adding up to a record-setting total of 529,000 PSP units sold for the month.

The last time Sony was on top date back to February 2006 when the Nintendo DS had a shortage in supply, making it a 19-month interval before the PSP took the lead once more. Nintendo's handheld still sold 391,752 even with the Slim craze, but the Wii sold considerably less at 168,220.

Aside from the hot PSP Slim & Lite, sales skyrocketed thanks to a couple of big PSP titles. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII from Square Enix sold 663,820 copies, while Konami's Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops+ contributed 129,873 copies. Famitsu gave credit to extra peripherals for making the PSP more appealing, saying "many retailers have reported sellouts of PSP peripherals, like the One-Seg terrestrial digital TV tuner and PSP to TV AV cables."

The Sony PlayStation 2 proved it's still kicking after selling 69,400 units this September. Sony's next-gen console, the PlayStation 3, followed close behind at 66,444 sold. Microsoft's Xbox 360 only got 13,242 units off, but Halo 3 put up a fight and sold 61,143 copies to take the 18th spot of the top 20 software sales chart.

On a side note, Wii Sports has broken the 2 million mark and became the first ever title to do so on the Wii. Other Nintendo titles remain strong, with top 20 mainstays Mario Party 8, Wii Play, Mario Kart DS, and others still on the list. You'll find how many copies they sold on the list above.

Sony's PSP Slim and Lite has reportedly sold 500,000 thousand units within two weeks of its initial release in Japan. This comes as no surprise considering a week before the designated September 20 launch, the company decided to release a Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary package. It was reported that all 77,777 sets were immediately sold besting every other console in the market.

The article on the website Mainichi news pointed out that the surge in sales can partially be attributed to the different colors and lighter frame of the PSP Slim and Light which has appealed to the female market. Another feature that might have attracted buyers is the ability of the handheld to output its images on the television and the TV tuner attachment.

All in all, this is very good news for Sony as it shows the amount of market interest the new system has been generating in Japan. Since the initial reaction has been favorable, it's now a matter of whether Sony will be able to maintain the people's enthusiasm about the product.

Thanks to super7 for the tip!

With the help of Crisis Core's immense success, Sony's PSP-2000 (or PSP Slim) enjoyed an astounding 130,000 sales count on its first day in Japan. This is aside from the purchased 65,000 units of Square Enix's limited edition Crisis Core PSPs, which were released a week before the PSP-2000's actual launch.

30 percent of those who bought the PSP-2000 also picked up the 1Seg tuner, which allows Japanese users to access the programs broadcasted through the 1Seg service.

Those living in the US and wishing to take advantage of the TV Tuner shouldn't keep their hopes up, and Sony's Phil Harrison explains why: because the service isn't supported in most parts of the US... yet. It's certainly a sunny day for Sony. More updates as they come!

 

Though many great things emerged from Sony Computer Entertainment International's (SCEI) press conference at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show, CEO Kazuo Hirai's main keynote focused on what Sony has planned for the PlayStation world. The keynote highlighted an extension of the PlayStation 2 life, the broadening of the PlayStation Portable's entertainment capabilities, and the PlayStation 3's power extending its future.

DualShock 3, PlayStation Store, PlayStation Home, and closer developer bonds aside, Hirai revealed to investors at the conference that they were serious about delivering quality games to the PS3. Sony has announced the acquisition of Evolution Studios (MotorStorm) together with its subsidiary Bigbig Studios (Pursuit Force). They will join Sony Computer Entertainment's (SCE) World Wide Studios (WWS) development force.

As for new business opportunities, Sony will continue dipping into online-offered PS3 games, which already includes the likes of Incognito's Warhawk. Gran Turismo 5 will soon follow suit as well, plus the fact that the online PC portal for the PlayStation Store is already up in Japan.

Hirai also underlined their focus on entertainment and utility possibilities for Sony PSPs, stating that the 1Seg TV Tuner, camera, and GPS add-ons were developed for this purpose. And with the advent of the PlayStation Store PC portal, SCEI hopes to expand online content for PSPs worldwide.

PlayStation 2 gamers can hope for a longer life of their current generation console, for Sony is not planning on leaving it just yet. Seven years into its life, 120 million units of the PS2 has already shipped worldwide - and the numbers are still increasing - proving to Sony that a great expanse of the world is satisfied with its entertainment value. Games will continue to come out for it, says Sony, and the platform will be supported longer than the first PlayStation.

The 1Seg TV Tuner for the PSP, voted as one of the features the Japanese wanted most for the PSP, is expected to launch on September 20 along with the PSP Slim.

The device, officially dubbed PSP-S310 and should allow PSP owners in Japan to hook their devices into the 1Seg TV broadcasts, will be available for about JPY 6,700 (US$ 57).  The 1Seg service is currently only available in Japan so the device was specifically made for the Japanese market.

A TV Tuner for the DS and Gameboy systems was also released for Japan last year using the same 1Seg tech.