PSP Sales Hit 50 Million Worldwide

The PSP has sold to retail a total of 50 million units of hardware worldwide, according to new figures from Sony. The total includes all three hardware versions of the handheld. Relative to that userbase, PSP's software sales remain a little disappointing by comparison outside of Japan -- still, Sony claims 200 million lifetime software sales for the handheld, and notes that more than 2,000 titles are available on UMD worldwide, in addition to the 500 original and retro titles available online from the PlayStation Network. Capcom’s Monster Hunter Freedom Unite was the best selling game of 2008 in Japan, while Sony has repeatedly hinted at a forthcoming push of new titles in the West. Sony announced the new PSP numbers following the release of January's industry hardware and software results yesterday from the NPD Group, when its competitors usually highlight the strength of home consoles. According to NPD data, January was the first time in several months that Sony's PlayStation 3 outperformed the PSP in unit sales.