Is there a consistent definition for "come back" or is it relative to the user's view?

My definition,

Come back - once on top, was beaten, now king again

Monster Hunter 2 for the ps2 released after Monster Hunter Freedom for the PSP.  Monster Hunter 2 sold ~600k, while Monster Hunter Freedom sold 1.4 million.  And given the PSP's install base when MHF was released (12/05 in Japan), that's quite a feat.

And then there's the question of LTD or weekly?

Weekly, the PSP is king in Japan, outselling every single other console, including the DS and Wii.

LTD, it'll never catch the DS.  It's currently sales have been enough to reinvigorate 3rd party support, however (for example, SE changing the platform of FF Agito XIII and Parasite Eve: The Third Birthday from mobile phones to the PSP).

Part of the problem with obsessing over overall hardware sales, is that it overlooks changing trends in which hardware is becoming the favored platform.

Ignoring spike shifts in hardware due to major releases which tend to balance back out after a period of less than a month, changes in overall averages for rates of sales over an extended period of time are more important in determining what the favored platform will be in the future.

In Japan, it looks like the PSP is becoming the portable platform favored by consumers, and not due to one or two short lived software hits.

Will it ever catch up? Highly unlikely. I'd say impossible. But if it continues to outsell on a regular basis, it makes the decision to lead develop on the platform an easier decision. It addresses the question of whether best efforts, or best volume in software is preferred.

Same may well be the case for the PS3. At the right price point and with a broad enough line up of games for the mass consumer, sales will pick up considerably. There is no doubt there. All Sony really has to do is stay in the game long enough to reduce the price of their hardware by reducing production costs, continue to push 1st party studio development and keep 3rd party developers interested in the platform.

PSP never sold badly as PS3 thought.

PSP never did badly in Japan... it was selling 30-40k per week in the worst times.... that's very good in Japan. (PS2 generally did 40-50k weekly)

What it is doing now is about double that (60-70k per week)

So perhaps FFXIII will help PS3 to a more normal 20k per week level.... still going to be half of what Wii sells.

The PS3 dead in Japan. Japan is moving away from consoles and towards handhelds. FFXIII will do what ever major PS3 release does in Japan. Sell really well the first week and proceed to free fall down the top 30 sales charts. The companies that produce the games that could help the PS3 the most Namco-Bandai, Capcom, and now even Square Enix seem more than happy to provide those titles for the 360. That alone will keep the PS3's sales down and continue to allow the Wii, which capitalizes on the lack of free time the Japanese public has, to run away from its HD competition.

Actually Final Fantasy titles have always had little legs in Japan. Unfortunately for SE, the PS3's sure base won't allow them to sell 3 million plus during its first week of release. FFXIII will be the first PS3 title to sell a million units in the Japan but it will be just like Ocarina of Time was for N64. It will sell a lot of software but be too late to have any real effect on the hardware market.

Yeah, the PSP sold much better than the PS3 is doing in Japan. It's just that the DS kicked butt which made it seem like the PSP was selling badly.

Bingo.

the ps3 is going to do well in japan i bet you any money, people must be interested in the ps3 because it wouldnt get really high sales when a good game like MGS4