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PlayStation Minis Tally 1 Million Sold

Minis! Well, you just gotta love the small and the simple; the games that hook you and make you smile.

The PlayStation Minis only launched about 9 months ago, but these bite-size pieces of interactive goodness have already proven to be immensely popular. There are now over 85 games available (yep, 85) and Sony has officially announced that over 1 million Minis have been sold to date. What probably pushed them over the edge was the introduction of the new premium PlayStation Plus service for the PSN; when you sign up, you get Age of Zombies for free. It's sorta like Burn Zombie Burn! and it's quite entertaining; it's also #1 on the Top 10 list.

Senior Director of the PlayStation Network, Susan Panico, said we could expect to see "many more Minis" in the near future, and the program currently has the support of over 50 developers. Everyone can always use a simple distraction from the big blockbusters every now and then, and they even compliment the full downloadable titles available on the PSN. So, have you played your Mini yet…?

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Scarecrow
Scarecrow
13 years ago

Nice, simple games are sometimes the thing one needs when one just doesn't want to get all worked up in a story-based game or a competitive game.

Alienange
Alienange
13 years ago

You'd think every second PSP owner out there would have bought at least ONE in the past nine months. What's with this terribly low number of minis being sold?

Beamboom
Beamboom
13 years ago

My thought exactly! It's sad to see how many PSP units out there are just collecting dust. I love my PSP, is a wonderful machine! Every time we're about to embark on a travel somewhere I think "great, I'm about to spend some quality time with my psp!"… And of course I've got mini's on my psp. Pinball Fantasies was an awsome trip down memory lane (Amiga, anyone? 🙂 and the sudoku-game is excellent brain workout.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

You know, a whole *heck* of a lot of PS1 games sold through PSN end up being played on the PS1. I mean, OK, we know that the graphics are two generations old, but on an HD screen they just don't look right, the screen is too big and the upscaling frequently leaves you with a very bland looking game. However those games look really good on the PSP and at least 95% of them play perfectly on the PSP. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that many PSP owners buy PS1 classics for their PSP, and are still warming up to PS Minis. Price is an issue for many of the 'minis' I would have bought Tetris – for example – but it's price is a rip off of epic proportions. Sony doesn't set the price of Minis it doesn't develop, so the blame is on the publisher. However It would benefit the Mini's concept if Sony put some guidelines to prevent any PS Mini for selling at a price higher than $4.99. IMHO of course…

Pandacastro
Pandacastro
13 years ago

I think age of zombies was there because of plus

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

I believe that the numbers counted cover a period of time prior to PlayStation Plus being available.


Last edited by TheHighlander on 7/15/2010 10:33:27 PM

Jiggy
Jiggy
13 years ago

It's number one because its fun as f*ck…game is hilarious and extremely enjoyable for me while at work. Oh and its free through plus, gotta love that!

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

Not bad, no. But not great either. As Alienage says you's think that every PSP owner would have at least *one* by now. Heck, I got two free through plus (though I am certain those were not counted because this number covers an earlier time frame. Seriously though, there are some decent games there, and for the PSP, they're good time wasters (yes, I know, casual games…).

I'm still surprised by how few have sold. Hopefully more will sell as time passes, but I bet a lot of the problem has to do with price. Why the heck is Tetris $10? It's MINI game. $10 is daylight robbery.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
13 years ago

10 simolians? That's crazy, Tetris is free elsewhere.

Underdog15
Underdog15
13 years ago

Yeah, I have Tetris on my phone… it was free. I didn't get it from the app store, though.

Also, I have a number of PS1 games for my PSP. I like mini's like Monopoly, and I might get it soon. But for my PSP, I prefer big ol' PS1 classics like the FF series, Gauntlet II, and other games.

LegendaryWolfeh
LegendaryWolfeh
13 years ago

Whether it was purely because of plus or not, Age of Zombies was plenty of fun! I enjoyed it a lot, and it definitely was something that made Plus worth getting.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
13 years ago

I have not played a single one of these, what do they even look like?

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

They pretty much look like the games on smartphones. Fieldrunners (for example) is identical to a game on my Android.

kraygen
kraygen
13 years ago

Well I have never bought one of these. I think the reason these haven't sold better is because on the one hand they are tiny little short games that are being sold for $5-$10.

That's not much money, but in a way it is. For a game that only occupies a few minutes of your time and gets old rather quickly, it's just too much. For something like this I'd only pay .99 or $1.99 at most and then it'd have to be one I really liked.

I'm sure some of them are fun, but for a few dollars more you can get a full psn game, and as for me, if I only have a few minutes to play, I'd rather just do some grinding on whatever final fantasy or other rpg I am playing at the moment.

I play ps1 rpgs on my ps3, but transfer the saves back and forth to my psp so I can grind when I'm out and about or not near my ps3, then I transfer it back and continue the story with a few more levels under my belt.

StangMan80
StangMan80
13 years ago

I plan on getting plus

I got Burn Zombie Burn it's OK.

Axe99
Axe99
13 years ago

The Minis are great for what they are – well, the good ones are, and so far I haven't been burned. My advice is look out for Halfbrick Studios creations (Echoes, Age of Zombies, Blast Off (I think)) – they're all cheap for a Mini (so very cheap! $5 Australian, although not sure what that is over there)), and great fun.

___________
___________
13 years ago

ive never really been interested in minis because developers are going for the wrong styled game.
PSN and mini games are not suited to smaller versions of retail games, developers should be releasing arcade styled games instead of same games as retail games just simplified.

PSN games should be games like joe danger, earthworm jim, shadow complex, shank, dishwasher, prince of persia classic.
style wise obviously!
PSN games should be 2D platformers like sonic 4 or side scrolling games like shadow complex or on rails games like dead space extraction.
PSN games should be like that, not games like fat princess, wipeout HD, fatal exteria FX, battlefield 1943.
not saying i dont want those games, i enjoy allot of them but there not suited to PSN games they should be retail games.

developers have this mentality that if a game is going to be a smaller type game it has to be a online game.
why?
why not just release it at retail like a normal game but charge maybe 20 bucks instead of 100?
sure costs of bringing a game to retails is higher, so what? why not just increase the price a little to cover that?

your going to sell a sh*t load more games via retail than via PSN!
most people i know dont have their ps3s hooked up to the net, im the same most of the time i dont have the download usage to waste on these things.
not to mention cost issues like no refunds, not being able to trade it in, not being able to trade other games in towards it.
50 bucks says any PSN game would of made more money if it went to retail.
especially popular really good games like pain, joe danger and stardust HD.

TheHighlander
TheHighlander
13 years ago

I think you're wrong, here's why.

PS Minis are supposed to work on the PSP and PS3, and they are intended to be quick bite games like you might find at the iPhone App store, or android marketplace. Mini's are perfect for arcade style games that will play on both PSP and PS3.

PSN games run from smaller games that wouldn't really merit a full retail release, or games that can't be done as a Mini, but aren't really 'full' games that you'd buy on disc either. On the ether end of the spectrum, PSN games include downloadable versions of retail games like LBP, Infamous, Burnout Paradise, and of course all PSP retail releases too.

WipeoutHD, Fat Pricess, and games like that might benefit from a retail release, but there is no reason why they should not be PSN games either. We're transitioning to an all digital future. Downloadable content is growing, and you will have to get used to seeing full retail games as downloads. I just hope that publishers realize that a game that retails for $60, cannot sell at the same price on PSN, it needs to be at least $10 cheaper to compensate for no disc, manual or booklet.

SmokeyPSD
SmokeyPSD
13 years ago

I completely disagree with u noname, the psn allows a environment for games which otherwise wouldnt see the light of day at retail. Battlefield 1943 a retail release? come on, it's a lighthearted approach to the franchise, that should be put on a bluray? Ppl would complain about the amount of content. Instead it's one of the most downloaded titles ever.

Fat Princess is perfect for a downloadable game, I dont think it would've found an audience as effectively if it was pushed at retail.

___________
___________
13 years ago

i really dont see the point of PSN games being smaller versions of retail games, or retail games.
i want my downloadable games to be old arcade styled games, 2D platformers, side scrollers things like those.
shadow complex as a example, that is by far one of my favorite downloadable games, and one of my favorite 360 games.

o, and about battlefield 1943 why would people complain about the content?
if the price is the same as the downloadable version than who cares?

i dunno, this is just me because i have so little download usage as it is, i want to save it for different games, not games i could get from the store and save my download usage.
plus i really miss old styled games, i mean mega man 10 is the most fun ive had playing my ps3 in ages!
same with bionic commando rearmed, cant wait till its sequel comes out!

spiderboi
spiderboi
13 years ago

Field Runners and Spot the Differences is a blast!

PANICinc
PANICinc
13 years ago

I love the MINIs!
Got 6 of them on my PSPgo, and they all inspire me to get back to working on my own game!
Anybody remember Expendable?

SmokeyPSD
SmokeyPSD
13 years ago

I would still rather buy a ps1 classic. in my opinion the prices are just a smidge too high for some still.

CharlesD
CharlesD
13 years ago

I prefer the ps1 classics as well but minis can be quite fun indeed

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