Every year, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ) honors developers of the best performing games of the year with an award and a cash prize. This is usually reason for celebration, but if we were Sony, we’d be a little more sombre this time around.

The awards come in several different levels depending on the success of the game. Gold Awards go to games that shipped between 500,000 and 1 million copies, Platinum is awarded to games that shipped between 1 and 2 million copies, and Double Platinum goes to games that shipped 2 to 3 million copies. First, check the awards for this year:

Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (PSP) topped the awards show, being the sole Double Platinum winner. There were no Platinum awards, and five games received a Gold award:

Metal Gear Solid 4 (PS3) – Konami
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP) – Square Enix
Phantasy Star Portable (PSP) – Sega
Winning Eleven 2008 (PS2) – Konami
Super Robot Wars Z (PS2) – Namco Bandai

While the developers of these games should be congratulated on their success, comparing this list to previous years reveals a gloomy trend. Last year, there were the same number of winners, with one Platinum award (Monster Hunter Portable 2nd) and five Gold awards. In 2006, however, Sony handed out 13 awards, more than double that of this year. Similarly, 2005 saw 12 awards, include a Triple Platinum award for Dragon Quest VIII.

For the 2005 and 2006 awards, the PS3 had not been released yet and the PSP was still in its infancy. Thus, all the awards except one (for the original Monster Hunter Portable) were given to PS2 games. This makes sense given that at this point, the PS2 had been out for several years and could be found in millions of homes.

In 2007 and 2008, however, the PS2 is on the decline. Yes, there are still quality games released for the system, but it’s starting to slow down. The problem, as evidenced by Sony’s own Playstation Awards, is that the PS3 and PSP have yet to be able to pick up the slack. Awards given to games that ship in large numbers have been cut in half over the last two years, and most of these awards are only Gold now, not Platinum or higher.

Two years after the PS3’s release, Sony was only able to present an award to a single PS3 game. Will the PS3 and PSP be able to produce enough popular games to fill out the list next year? It’s possible. The PS3’s install base is ever-increasing, and it has some high-profile releases scheduled, such as Resident Evil 5 and Final Fantasy XIII.

But with the PS3 languishing in third place in monthly sales in Japan, and PSP owners primarily saving their attention for the Monster Hunter series, it will certainly be a challenge for Sony to give out more awards in 2009.