Studios Not Thrilled with PSP Sales

by | February 16, 2006 | Comments

Big fan of watching movies on your PlayStation Portable (PSP)? Looks like you might need to enjoy the heck out of it now, because, if sales figures matter, it seems like the PSP format might not be around a whole lot longer.

Excerpted from a Variety article:

"Sony’s PlayStation Portable isn’t turning out to be the hot new movie platform many in the biz had hoped. With sales falling below expectations, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Paramount Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video are cutting back on movie releases for the PSP.

While comedies that appeal to the core young male gamer demo are doing well, execs say other PSP movies simply aren’t selling.

In a bid to boost the format, execs from SPHE and sister unit Sony Computer Electronics America, which sells the PSP, are touting a new adapter that would allow a user to watch a PSP pic on a TV. If it’s successful, that could overcome widespread criticism that consumers have to buy two separate copies of a movie to watch on PSP and TV. Execs plan to visit other studios to tout the adapter in the next month.

In the meantime, Sony is cutting back on new releases and adding to its comedy slate for PSP with Monty Python content and "Not Another Teen Movie." Feingold said comedy has turned out to be the sweet spot on the format — the top-selling PSP release is Fox’s "Napoleon Dynamite.""