Major US store anticipates PSP stock shortages

News reports of shop shelves running dry of the Nintendo DS (and console bigger brother DS) are pretty frequent. In fact, they're repeated about as often as that terrible Nickelback Rockstar song is on our local radio station.

Which reminds us, our local game shop still gets so excited about having Nintendo consoles in stock it feels the need to publicise the fact with a scribbled note stuck in their window. It's like there's a war on and Nintendo feels the need to ration the things.

PSP stock shortages have been less of a concern for Sony comparatively, but according to US site PSP Fanboy, US games retailer GameStop is expressing concerns that demand for the console is soon likely to outstrip supply. In a recent conference call held by the retailer it was said to be "anticipating some supply issues with the PSP".

US sales figures show PSP sold extremely well during February, shifting 243,115 units throughout the month. An achievement no doubt spurred on by launches of games such as Patapon and WipEout Pulse, and likely to be further driven by the release of God of War: Chains of Olympus.

Sony keenly points out these figures demonstrate a year-over-year sales increase of 38 per cent, which is a substantial achievement for a three-year-old piece of hardware, although the release of the Slim & Lite also massively drove sales at the end of last year.

Whatever the reason for PSP's sudden surge in popularity – improved hardware, bigger name games or just gamers now wanting a different type of handheld experience than that offered by DS – we're pleased it's finally getting to share some of DS's spotlight. Look out for scribbled "PSP - now in stock!" notes coming to a game shop window near you soon.