Sony talks plans for PSP in 2008 as sales increase by 85 per cent

According to John Koller, Sony's PSP senior marketing manager, US sales of PSP are up 85 per cent over last April. The console's price cut and new streamlined design has helped the company target a whole new demographic – namely the teenage consumer rather than the 20-something one – and users are adopting PSP for internet browsing on the move, listening to music and watching videos.

Talking to Game Informer this week, Koller also spoke about how the handheld has now found its position in the market as a multifunctional device.

"We're finding in a lot of our research that the consumer's using the PSP because of its gaming but then also because it has these other elements as some of the other devices they own, but they don't want to bring four or five devices with them in their pocket. The PSP solves all of those multifunctional demands in one product.

"It's primarily centred as a gaming machine. That said, the multifunctional aspects differentiate it from any competitive platform — and that's including the DS and the iPod, the Zune and the Zen and all the other handheld products that are available in the market, inclusive of mobile phones."

It's encouraging to note Sony is still viewing PSP as primarily a gaming device – some might have started to wonder with the appearance of a whole range of add ons such as GPS and a keyboard for internet surfing. Certainly, Koller's opinion seems in line with surely most gamers' when he says: "I think an area that we work hard on and will continue to work hard on is the game area. We want to create the most compelling content and work with developers to make sure that these aren't PS2 ports or console ports, and that they're priced appropriately.

"I think we need to get more of the God of War and Final Fantasy types — strong brand umbrellas that have very good gameplay underneath and are unique from the PS2."

Moving on to what's ahead for PSP in 2008, Koller talks about console bundles such as the US-only God of War offering being important, the peripheral area (such as the camera, keyboard and GPS), and also says significant announcements will be laid down in the next few months going into E3.

So, more PSP and PlayStation 3 cross functionality is planned – especially as PS3's install base grows – and "significant marketing" will be put behind educating consumers about PSP Remote Play.

Meanwhile, the video-download service currently being worked on for PlayStation Network still doesn't have a firm date but Koller says it will be available shortly.

The evolution of PSP since its launch has certainly been interesting to follow. It's gone from a lightly mocked gaming machine completely overshadowed by Nintendo's DS to an increasingly competent multimedia device that's thankfully home to plenty of must-play games, and one which Sony (finally) seems admirably committed to supporting, with an ever-growing number of innovative new features and add-ons.

With even more plans throughout 2008, it seems the PSP could continue to grow in popularity throughout. What do you think, readers?