The PSP Redesign is now a reality, and it comes hot on the heels of good news from Japan: the Nikkei Keizai Shimbun newspaper reports that Sony's handheld has surpassed the five million mark in domestic shipments. They hit the mark at the end of last month, apparently.
And while the PSP still lags far behind the Nintendo DS, and has been lagging ever since the launch of both systems in 2004, this remains encouraging news for Sony. Yeah, the DS has already broken the 15 million mark (which means it has outsold the PSP by a ridiculous 3:1 ratio), but five million isn't too shabby, especially for a system that had such a slow start. Big-name successful titles in 2006 helped the PSP a great deal, and plenty more should be hitting this year.
And in response to the uplifting news, the paper also reports that software development for Sony's portable has increased along with the sales. Sony believes the PSP has hit its stride, and are quick to point out it's currently enjoying the same adoption rate as the original PlayStation. And they ended up shipping over 100 million of those. A sweet cosmetic overhaul on the way and both sales and development on the rise…not a bad day for the PSP.