The Gold Champagne version of the PSP has been released in Japan for the price of $200.

In a region where the DS dominates the handheld console sales, January sales of the PSP were said to be approximately 230,000 units. On the face that doesn't seem to bad, but look at the big picture and you'll see that Sony have suffered a world-wide drop of 72% in handheld console sales, compared to the same period last year.

"In the three months ending December 31st - the critical period that included the run up to Christmas - Sony shipped a mere 1.76 million PSPs worldwide, compared to 6.22 million in the same period in 2005. That's a staggering fall of 72 per cent.

Total PSP hardware shipments in the three quarters so far recorded for this financial year total 7.67 million units. The company is now forecasting total PSP hardware shipments of 9 million for this financial year - a huge plunge from the 14.06 million it shipped in financial year '05, and from its prediction last April of shipping 12 million units, too."

However, while the PSP continues to sell in Japan, Sony will be keen to attract more buyers by releasing the Gold edition. Currently, a pink, metallic blue and silver edition are available in Japan.

There are no plans to release the Gold Edition anywhere else unless, of course, it sells extremely well.



Sources :: Pocket Gamer, Gizmondo