Sony Euro boss: Japanese Vita sales not indicative of international reception [Joysti

[DP ServBot]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2011/12/vita1228.jpg (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/12/sony-euro-boss-japanese-vita-sales-not-indicative-of-internatio/)
Sony Europe president and CEO Jim Ryan isn't worried about the success of PlayStation Vita the US or Europe, despite quickly dwindling sales (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/05/vita-sales-drop-again-in-third-week/) in Japan, reports MCV (http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/sony-dismisses-vita-launch-fears/089676). Judging the potential international success of any product based on Japanese reception is difficult, said Ryan. Specifically in regards to PlayStation hardware, Ryan believes it is "dangerous to the point of impossible to take any experience from the Japanese market and try and extrapolate it, and propose upon what will happen in Europe or North America."

The various international markets are simply too different, said Ryan, and they are "diverging to a greater extent than they were different in the past - if that's even possible." Ryan makes a good point, but it's worth noting that Japan has long been one of the most enthusiastic markets for the PSP, the Vita's predecessor. It will be interesting to see the reaction in Europe and North America, where the reception of Sony's handhelds has been somewhat cooler.

For now, Ryan and Sony are chiefly concerned with preparing for the Vita's European launch on February 22. The Vita will release in North America on the same day.http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif (http://www.joystiq.com)Sony Euro boss: Japanese Vita sales not indicative of international reception (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/12/sony-euro-boss-japanese-vita-sales-not-indicative-of-internatio/) originally appeared on Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com) on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds (http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/).

Permalink (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/12/sony-euro-boss-japanese-vita-sales-not-indicative-of-internatio/) | Email this (http://www.joystiq.com/forward/20147155/) | Comments (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/12/sony-euro-boss-japanese-vita-sales-not-indicative-of-internatio/#comments)

More... (http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/12/sony-euro-boss-japanese-vita-sales-not-indicative-of-internatio/)

[ProgrammingAce]

Strangely, i agree with one of the senior execs at Sony... feels dirty.

Japanese sales have always been a poor predictor for other markets. Unfortunately for Sony, it's historically been in the other direction. Things that sell incredibly well in Japan tend not to do as well in the west. In this case, I think the Vita was designed by Japanese engineers to appeal to Japanese consumers, and it hasn't done that so far.

Generally, electronics that are designed to appeal to the japanese tend to do poorly in the west. So we'll see how it goes. I can say that I was very interested in buying a Vita at one point, but lost interest when i found out about some of the stupider decisions they made in the design.

[Bojay1997]

Strangely, i agree with one of the senior execs at Sony... feels dirty.

Japanese sales have always been a poor predictor for other markets. Unfortunately for Sony, it's historically been in the other direction. Things that sell incredibly well in Japan tend not to do as well in the west. In this case, I think the Vita was designed by Japanese engineers to appeal to Japanese consumers, and it hasn't done that so far.

Generally, electronics that are designed to appeal to the japanese tend to do poorly in the west. So we'll see how it goes. I can say that I was very interested in buying a Vita at one point, but lost interest when i found out about some of the stupider decisions they made in the design.

I don't know, I don't think the Vita is any more tailored to Japanese tastes than the original PSP was. I don't think there are really particular designs that appeal to certain cultures more than others as the iPad and iPhone have shown with global success. I know that was always the argument with the Xbox and 360, but I think not understanding the market and not having developers on board with the top franchises really hurt those systems rather than their specific designs. I think the Vita's price (including the games and mandatory memory card), the generally poor global economy and frankly the widespread availability of low cost alternatives to handhelds in the form of iPad/iPod games, smartphone games, etc...are what have impacted sales more than anything. Time will tell, but I think Sony is in for a rude awakening in the US and Europe given the pricing right now.

[kupomogli]

At first you'd think it'd be a smart move for Sony to launch in Japan first, but it's like Sony is pulling a Sega Saturn(not quite as bad, but sort of. Saturn was more like. Surprise!!!!) Almost every title in the Japanese launch line up is either developed by a western developer, which rarely ever sells well in Japan, or aimed towards the western audience(It's Ridge Racer. Riiidge Raaaccer!!)

Releasing Vita in Japan against such a strong Nintendo line up and very few games that the Japanese are interested in of course it's not going to sell well. This in turn is going to hurt the sales in other countries. You'd assume poor sales in one area would be poor sales in another so it will put you off in buying it.

Either Sony should have released the Vita in the west first, which is where the line up was aimed for. Or they should have held off and released the Vita in all major regions at once. If they released it in all regions, this would have made it so the Japanese didn't think they were being snubbed after supporting the PSP well, this would have given more time for other games to be closer to development, so more Japanese themed titles would be released in the near future, and the weak sales in Japan wouldn't have mattered to western gamers because they'd see the higher sales in all other regions.

[Bojay1997]

At first you'd think it'd be a smart move for Sony to launch in Japan first, but it's like Sony is pulling a Sega Saturn(not quite as bad, but sort of. Saturn was more like. Surprise!!!!) Almost every title in the Japanese launch line up is either developed by a western developer, which rarely ever sells well in Japan, or aimed towards the western audience(It's Ridge Racer. Riiidge Raaaccer!!)

Releasing Vita in Japan against such a strong Nintendo line up and very few games that the Japanese are interested in of course it's not going to sell well. This in turn is going to hurt the sales in other countries. You'd assume poor sales in one area would be poor sales in another so it will put you off in buying it.

Either Sony should have released the Vita in the west first, which is where the line up was aimed for. Or they should have held off and released the Vita in all major regions at once. If they released it in all regions, this would have made it so the Japanese didn't think they were being snubbed after supporting the PSP well, this would have given more time for other games to be closer to development, so more Japanese themed titles would be released in the near future, and the weak sales in Japan wouldn't have mattered to western gamers because they'd see the higher sales in all other regions.

I'm sorry, but which titles are you referring to as "western" titles? Of the Japanese launch titles, almost all of them are from Japanese developers and some are part of massively successful Japanese series such as Ninja Gaiden, Dynasty Warriors, Shinobido, Everybody Loves Golf, Blazblue, Katamari, Ridge Racer, etc...In fact, the only "western" style game in the Japanese launch line-up seemed to be Uncharted. The launch titles were all pretty Japanese centric IMHO and while I love the niche aspect of the games and consider it a plus, I think it might turn off western buyers looking for something better known or more familiar, especially since with the exception of some Ubisoft titles already available on other platforms, the US launch stuff is pretty similar to the Japanese launch titles. Is your whole argument really just another way of saying that they needed Monster Hunter as a launch title which is what has really propelled 3DS sales in Japan along with the price cut?

[kupomogli]

My mistake. A lot of websites were listing all the Sony games under the Japanese launch line up. Still there's more than just Uncharted that launched in Japan. F1, Uncharted, Little Deviants, Michael Jackson, Dungeon Hunter Alliance, and Asphalt are the Japanese launch titles. Out of 18 titles, that's still one third.

Regardless. It doesn't help that Sony released the Vita the month that the three biggest titles hit the 3DS with a weak Japanese launch.


Ninja Gaiden

This wasn't a launch title.

[duffmanth]

I still think the US and European launches for the Vita will net the same result as the Japanese launch. You'll have your early adopters and hardcore gamers picking it up day one or within the first few days. Then, it'll probably trail off for a while until the price of the system and memory cards drop, and when some good AAA games start coming out. I'll probably get one eventually, when you can buy cheap used memory cards and there are some games actually worth buying other than Uncharted.

[WCP]

When it first got announced that Vita would be launching only in Japan in December 2011, I said that I felt that it was a mistake that they picked Japan. A couple of people said I was crazy. They said that Japan has supported the PSP much more than any other audience, and that it made sense to launch in a place in which you are guaranteed to have success. I vehemently disagreed with that notion. I was thinking that launching in Japan was actually the worst possible decision, BECAUSE of the success of the original PSP. Japan is happy with the current PSP, and they weren't clamoring for something like the Vita. I thought that launching in North America first made more sense, because PSP was pretty much a failure in North America, and we don't have very many people here that are perfectly content with their current PSP's. The Vita, being given a whole new name and everything, could have gotten off to a great start had it came to North America first.

I think that it mostly was a "pride" thing, by the Japanese leadership within Sony. Launching in a foreign territory first, no matter how logical, wasn't going to fly. So, now they reap what they sow. The Vita could have been this years version of "Kinect", which was the hot Xmas item late 2010. Instead, the 3DS ended up selling very well during the Xmas season, and now the Vita will have to hope that it can catch up to Nintendo's head start. I was super positive about the Vita, and I really wanted to buy one, but with all of this doom and gloom news, I think it would be a bad idea to buy a Vita at launch, because I think a huge pricedrop is pretty much guaranteed within about the first 9 months or so, because I don't think it's going to sell very well. There are lots of things stacked up against it now. The whole memory card thing, the price of the games. The battery life. With the way everything is priced with the Vita, it will be very difficult for somebody not to spend nearly $350 just to have the thing up and running with a decent sized memory card and a game. That's just way too much money for a portable game system, that isn't exactly very portable (I've heard the thing is really huge).

I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this whole thing plays itself out.

[Leo_A]

My mistake. A lot of websites were listing all the Sony games under the Japanese launch line up. Still there's more than just Uncharted that launched in Japan. F1... Out of 18 titles, that's still one third.


F1 is a much bigger deal in Japan than it is in the United States. While it may be developed by a Western developer (Sumo Digital for Codemasters) and will probably sell more copies in Europe, it's still going to be an appealing product for Japanese. So I don't see it serving as an example of a Western oriented game that won't have mass appeal in Japan.

[kupomogli]

When it first got announced that Vita would be launching only in Japan in December 2011, I said that I felt that it was a mistake that they picked Japan. A couple of people said I was crazy.

I was one that thought Japan being released first would have been a good idea.


There are lots of things stacked up against it now. The whole memory card thing, the price of the games. The battery life. With the way everything is priced with the Vita, it will be very difficult for somebody not to spend nearly $350 just to have the thing up and running with a decent sized memory card and a game. That's just way too much money for a portable game system, that isn't exactly very portable (I've heard the thing is really huge).

A lot of misconception in this paragraph. Infact, it's a lot of general misconception because everywhere you hear every complaint you listed blown up larger than it is.

The battery life is just under the PSP. According to most sources, the average Vita battery life is over five hours(which is only slightly under the PSP or PSP Slim using the original battery size.) However, there is one Japanese gamer that did a battery test with the Vita, 3DS, and Monster Hunter Slim PSP with all the systems highest settings. The 3DS comes across at two hours and 35 minutes while the Vita comes across at three hours and 47 minutes. Obviously the highest settings aren't always going to be used, which is why both systems are sure to get more battery life. Even without all the settings to the max, the 3DS lasts three to four hours anyways, which is far below the average five hour Vita life described by multiple sources and right there with the Vita at max settings.

Despite what you may have heard on the internets, all games are not $50. On the CAGCast, I think it was Wombat who was saying you're spending a minimum of $320 with a $50 game and a $20 memory card. IGN mentioned the games are all $50 in their Vita review, and plenty of other sites. There is one game that is $50. That's Uncharted. Most other games are $40, but there are a few that are $30. Apparently they're even cheaper if you get the digital versions. From what I've heard, all Vita games will release digitally the same day as the physical releases. People hear $50 and assume every game is $50 without doing any research for themselves. Maybe that's in Sony's favor, because they go to the store day one and see the prices are much lower and then buy more? Probably not.

And last, not being portable. The system isn't that much bigger than the PSP. Have you seen a comparison? PSP is 4", Vita is 5". Screen size is always measured diagonally, so it increases height and width, not just width.

http://www.2d-x.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/psp-comparison.jpg

[The 1 2 P]

I think that the Vita is going to be another slow starter, just like the 3DS was.

[WCP]

I think that the Vita is going to be another slow starter, just like the 3DS was.


Yep. I would imagine that the first weeks sales will be decent, because there are enough gadget junkies that will jump on it immediately, but after that I expect a precipitous drop in sales in the weeks to follow. Sony will probably announce at e3 that they are lowering the price to $199.99 and including a 4GB memory card and a voucher for "Little Deviants". Certainly a price drop just 3 months and about 3 weeks after the launch would seem a very drastic measure to take so early, but I honestly wouldn't be shocked by it. If that isn't announced at e3, then I would guess it will be a late August / early September announcement.

So, for those that have patience, wait at least till e3 before buying your Vita's cause a price drop and better bundle are surely to come sooner rather than later....

[moggles]

At first you'd think it'd be a smart move for Sony to launch in Japan first, but it's like Sony is pulling a Sega Saturn(not quite as bad, but sort of. Saturn was more like. Surprise!!!!) Almost every title in the Japanese launch line up is either developed by a western developer, which rarely ever sells well in Japan, or aimed towards the western audience(It's Ridge Racer. Riiidge Raaaccer!!)

Releasing Vita in Japan against such a strong Nintendo line up and very few games that the Japanese are interested in of course it's not going to sell well. This in turn is going to hurt the sales in other countries. You'd assume poor sales in one area would be poor sales in another so it will put you off in buying it.

Either Sony should have released the Vita in the west first, which is where the line up was aimed for. Or they should have held off and released the Vita in all major regions at once. If they released it in all regions, this would have made it so the Japanese didn't think they were being snubbed after supporting the PSP well, this would have given more time for other games to be closer to development, so more Japanese themed titles would be released in the near future, and the weak sales in Japan wouldn't have mattered to western gamers because they'd see the higher sales in all other regions.

You're completely right, the title line-up has no appeal for the Japanese market. Games like Uncharted and Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 are not likely to do well in Japan, they're clearly catered more towards the US.

It doesn't offer enough to make people want to upgrade from their PSPs - at least that is the case at the moment.

[Leo_A]

Most of the lineup of games are entries in series or genres that have been very popular in Japan. Only Uncharted and a couple of others will perhaps be underperformers in Japan.

[moggles]

Most of the lineup of games are entries in series or genres that have been very popular in Japan. Only Uncharted and a couple of others will perhaps be underperformers in Japan.

There is not a single game that has been released up to now that will perform well. Not one.
They're either more suited to Western tastes or watered down versions of PS3 games.

The lack of TV advertising is a problem too, I am still yet to see to one!
Tsutaya in Shibuya (my most frequented Tsutaya) has dedicated most of it's back wall to the Vita, but it doesn't seem to be getting all that much interest other than nerds hogging the demo model.

The Vita desperately needs some better software, the current line-up isn't all that appealing. People don't want a portable PS3. Until there are games that fully take advantage of the rear panel, I can't see demand increasing. The marketing is quite lame as well, your average Joe doesn't know that it has a touch screen and rear touch panel, it seems that Sony just assumes people know all about it already.

I'm on vacation in England for a couple of weeks, but I'll probably pick a Vita up when I go back to Japan - but that's because I'm a gamer nerd. Can't see it being a mainstream success at the moment, some serious changes in marketing need to be made.

[Graham Mitchell]

Honestly, I preordered one because Escape Plan looked amazing, and really looks like it's going to take advantage of all the control features, but it's release date is uncertain. Gravity rush looked cool too, but same story.

When I look at the currently planned launch titles, there's nothing that looks that amazing (I don't care for Uncharted and I won't be buying it.) I don't know if I'll actually buy any games.

However, I don't regret buying the 3DS at launch. The Ambassador program is actually pretty cool, and I've really enjoyed a lot of the games that came in it. And, of course, Nintendo's current 3DS retail lineup is awesome. So, it'll just take some time. The DS floundered for almost a year after release and look at it now?

Thing is, though, if it were up to me, I wouldn't release a console until there were 3 or 4 definite gems available on the release date. The SNES did it right, I think, but nothing has compared to that launch ever since. Maybe N64, but there was only 1 decent game, not 3.

[Bojay1997]

There is not a single game that has been released up to now that will perform well. Not one.
They're either more suited to Western tastes or watered down versions of PS3 games.

I'm sorry, but this can't possibly be accurate. As I pointed out earlier, many of the Japanese launch titles are from established Japanese developers and have been huge sellers in Japan on other platforms. Even Uncharted 3 sold pretty well in Japan, taking second place on the chart in its debut week, so it appears at least some Japanese gamers like the franchise. There is something well beyond the software mix at play in Japan and we are less than a month away from seeing how it does here.

[swlovinist]

I said it before and will say it again...Sony should have launched the Vita this holiday here in the US. The system looks wonderful, but the pricing is all wrong. I think if they will have to offer a price drop here in the US for the system to have a chance. Sony really has just lost it way when it comes to marketing their systems. I eventually want to get the system....but I will wait for probably a year for the library to grow and system to drop in price. I dont think it will do well initially, but predict that it will hopefully be like the PSP and stick around awhile once Sony realizes that their portable system is too expensive.

[WCP]

I said it before and will say it again...Sony should have launched the Vita this holiday here in the US. The system looks wonderful, but the pricing is all wrong. I think if they will have to offer a price drop here in the US for the system to have a chance. Sony really has just lost it way when it comes to marketing their systems. I eventually want to get the system....but I will wait for probably a year for the library to grow and system to drop in price. I dont think it will do well initially, but predict that it will hopefully be like the PSP and stick around awhile once Sony realizes that their portable system is too expensive.



I'm tempted to buy a Vita, because some of the games I have seen look truly amazing. I was watching a video of a guy playing Fifa on the Vita, and it looked like he was playing a portable PS3. Somebody said they aren't looking for a portable PS3, but I know that I would love such a thing. Problem is, the price is just way too high for me at this point. Really, it's more a situation of the price of the games. What use is the system going to be for me with the price of the individual games so freaking high? That's my biggest problem with both the 3DS and the Vita. $39.99 and $49.99 for games is just too damn spensive if you ask me. Of course, I'm the cheap ass gamer type. I try to get away with paying as little cache as possible.


We did get our kid a 3DS for Xmas, but it was his Grandma that bought Mario 3D land for full price. I got him Pilotwings, Steel Diver and Nintendogs for $5 each via that Best Buy clearance deal. He wants Mario Kart, but no way in hell I"m paying $39.99 for that. I'll have to wait for some special deal, or maybe he will get it as an Easter gift or something. We had a Blockbuster rental plan, but recently cancelled it. I would have kept it if they rented 3DS games, but the one near us doesn't have any 3DS games at all.

Now that I've switched over to playing my games on the PC, I pretty much get all my games for like $5 or $8 or maybe even $10. This is for some really prime time type games too. Yeah, they might be older, but we are talking top of the line. But with these handheld systems, unless the download versions of the games are half price, I just can't see myself buying games for $39.99 for a portable. I mean, if I did get the system, sure, I'd buy one or two games, just so I had something to play on the thing, but no way would it be a regular occurance, unless I found some games on a huge sale or something, which just doesn't seem very likely.

[Edmond Dantes]

Is the Vita backwards-comptable with PSP games, and can it play UMD movies? To me, that would be a huge plus.

[kupomogli]

Five page Digital Foundry review of the Vita. If you're interested in it at all I'd suggest reading.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-vs-playstation-vita

[Bojay1997]

Five page Digital Foundry review of the Vita. If you're interested in it at all I'd suggest reading.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-vs-playstation-vita

Interesting review. Very disappointed to read about the fact that Uncharted has significant artifacting and uses far less than the full resolution the Vita is capable of delivering. Pretty sad that Sony couldn't even raise the visual quality of their flagship title to match the same technical performance level as some of the third party stuff being released at launch.

[goatdan]

A lot of good conversation so far.

I think the Vita has to do more to differentiate itself from being a phone. The 3DS does that by way of it's 3D gimmick (even though I think that sucks) and two screens (even though that is the same as the DS). The Vita? It looks like an oversized phone, with touchscreen menus like an oversized phone, that plays games... that are way more expensive than a phone and that you need a memory card that is really expensive to save on.

Sony needs to do a lot more with the games and the controls to PROVE to consumers that this thing is really a huge step over their phones. At *this moment*, I don't think that they have done a great job doing that. It's not to say that they can't or won't in the future, but that is the biggest issue that the Vita needs to overcome.

And, for the record, the 3DS had a lot of similar issues. It had a gimmick that phones don't have going for it to help further sales a bit, but other than that it looks just like the old DS platform, and plays games that until Mario 3D Land didn't make innovative use of the 3D effect at all. I think that is what was holding back sales on it -- show consumers something new that they couldn't do before, even for a higher price, and the sales will come.

Sony needs to develop that strategy. If/when they do (and I think this is a when, not an if -- it's when the developers really fully explore the platform), the console will start selling more.

[Genesaturn]

If I were Sony..I WOULD be worried. Not only is the 3DS half the cost of the PSVita, but it has a slew of killer games out already and a whole bunch more on the horizon. I'm still blown away that the big Japanese release was Uncharted...which is as Western of a game as you can really get. Sony needs a killer game to drive people to buy their handheld. PSP sold very well in Japan (although still not as well as the DS), they can do it again if they have the right games and right price.

Personally I will most likely not own a Vita until a price drop...thats way too much for a handheld system that has no games I want to play.

[Bojay1997]

If I were Sony..I WOULD be worried. Not only is the 3DS half the cost of the PSVita, but it has a slew of killer games out already and a whole bunch more on the horizon. I'm still blown away that the big Japanese release was Uncharted...which is as Western of a game as you can really get. Sony needs a killer game to drive people to buy their handheld. PSP sold very well in Japan (although still not as well as the DS), they can do it again if they have the right games and right price.

Personally I will most likely not own a Vita until a price drop...thats way too much for a handheld system that has no games I want to play.

Although I would agree with you that Uncharted is a "Western" game, the PS3 games have sold pretty well in Japan and as I noted earlier, Uncharted 3 actually was #2 in the Japanese charts during launch week and sold pretty well for several weeks after that.

[Jaruff]

I think that the Vita is going to be another slow starter, just like the 3DS was.

I agree. Sony (and Nintendo with the 3DS) didn't take into account that the revenue for these hand held systems generally come from parents who buy them for children. Many parents don't have the kind of money needed to spend on these systems, especially when they can get a DS or PSP with a decent lot of games at a cheap price. Specs and features aren't as important as pricing and that's been the case for 20+ years.

You know how Sony could convince me to buy a Vita? Sell PS3 games with a Vita copy included, so I can play (roughly) the same game on both systems. If Sony wants a killer app, imagine playing Call of Duty on PS3 servers on the Vita. There's the market for these things; allow people to play their favorite multi-player console games on the go using the same servers the console versions utilize. Bundle in a good shooter (ex: Killzone) and Sony has a huge advantage over the 3DS.

Also, I haven't paid much attention to the specs, but a mini-HDMI port (if there's not one included) would be great too. Easier to bring a hand held on an out of town trip than a PS3 in a bag.

[Leo_A]

They confirmed the lack of tv/out functionality quite sometime ago. And if the touch screens catch on like I'm sure they're hoping for, I doubt we'll ever see it added in a hardware revision down the road.

[moggles]

Although I would agree with you that Uncharted is a "Western" game, the PS3 games have sold pretty well in Japan and as I noted earlier, Uncharted 3 actually was #2 in the Japanese charts during launch week and sold pretty well for several weeks after that.

Whilst I think a good job was done with the promotion and localization of Uncharted 3, the sheer number of used copies of the game filling up the racks suggests that people felt one playthrough was enough.

MW3 is MASSIVE in Japan though, Western games can do well in the East, they just need to be focused on skill-based gameplay or/and longevity.

[moggles]

You know how Sony could convince me to buy a Vita? Sell PS3 games with a Vita copy included, so I can play (roughly) the same game on both systems. If Sony wants a killer app, imagine playing Call of Duty on PS3 servers on the Vita. There's the market for these things; allow people to play their favorite multi-player console games on the go using the same servers the console versions utilize. Bundle in a good shooter (ex: Killzone) and Sony has a huge advantage over the 3DS.

That really is a great idea.

[Bojay1997]

Looks like the bill of parts for the Vita has been done and estimates are that it's $160. The 3DS was $101, so while the Vita is higher, it's not significantly higher than what the 3DS contains. Looks like Sony has some room to cut pricing if need be and could still maintain some type of margin.

[heybtbm]

Not good...

http://kotaku.com/5878088/ps-vita-now-selling-less-than-psp-in-japan-says-report

[kupomogli]

If I were Sony..I WOULD be worried. Not only is the 3DS two thirds the cost of the PSVita, but it has two killer games out already and barely anything on the horizon. I'm still blown away that the big Japanese release was Uncharted...which is as Western of a game as you can really get. Sony needs a killer game to drive people to buy their handheld. PSP sold very well in Japan (although still not as well as the DS), they can do it again if they have the right games and right price.

Personally I will most likely not own a Vita until a price drop...thats way too much for a handheld system that has no games I want to play.

Fixed.

[Bojay1997]

Fixed.

Are you serious? There are some great games coming in the next few months on the 3DS including Kid Icarus, Luigi's Mansion 2, Paper Mario 3DS, Spirit Camera and Rhythm Thief. I imagine the next wave of Vita stuff will be pretty great as well. Sony and Nintendo are in for a real fight on their hands.

[WCP]

I was listening to a podcast and this guy was complaining about the size of the face buttons on Vita. He said they are considerably smaller than the PSP's buttons. That's a huge problem for me, because I already thought that the buttons on PSP were tiny as it was, and now you're going to tell me that the Vita's buttons are even smaller? I was thinking that the overall size of the Vita being larger is actually a good thing from an ergonomic standpoint, but then they go and make the buttons too small.

I guess I'll have to wait until I get a chance to hold one in person, and see if I can live with the small buttons.

[RyanMurf]

I have had my vita for about two weeks now and man is it amazing. I have big hands and the buttons are fine. The size is very comfortable. The screen is huge!!! And the graphics are absolutely unreal!! I have been playing uncharted and the game is great very long too with about two hours of cutscenes which makes the game feel like it will last forever. Anyone who is doubting the system check out some gamestop a as they are getting demo units in now. I for one love this system. And to but in on the whole which system will do well comparing the 3 ds or vita I think it's simple. They are both great systems but they hit totally different audiences. The ds is perfect for the younger crowd but the vita is definitely for the older crowd. And for the price. Once you see this thing in action the 250 price tag stings a lot less!!!

[Press_Start]

#1 major problem for the Vita (imho) sums up like this...it's another multi-media device in a multi-media market. Now if it were the year 2000, then a music/video/camera player plus double-ended touchpads and plays video games w/ "beyond PS2" graphical capabilities fit in the palms of a handheld device for the low, low, low price of $250 would have nuked all Nintendo/Sega/MS competition in nuclear devastation. But it won't cause it's now 2012. Anything and everything hi-tech these days is expected to play mp3, streaming video, able to social network, internet browsing, etc. and in Vita's case, unfortunately, it's just another face in the crowd.

Don't get me wrong. 3ds' is in the same boat but where Nintendo succeeded was they did not showcase it as another so-called walkman/video player/3d camera/streetpass multi-media device instead they marketed the thing, first and foremost, as a gaming machine! They played to their strengths and reaped the rewards of their success. And if I were in Sony's shoes, I'd stop treating my newest game handheld like some over-tech Walkman and start strategizing on one hell of a super campaign to help spread the word on everything Vita from now to Christmas cause 2012 will be Vita's toughest fight for 2 reasons....3DS & Wii U.

[Griking]

The problem that these handheld systems have is that they're increasingly competing with phones.

I think that the phone market is one innovator away from completely crushing the portable gaming market. All its going to take is for someone to design a smart phone that has good gaming controls yet isn't overly clunky. When I'm on the road I don't want to have to carry both a smart phone and a portable gaming device, especially when the smart phone can play the games. The writing is on the wall IMO. I'm just waiting for it to happen.

[kupomogli]

#1 major problem for the Vita (imho) sums up like this...it's another multi-media device in a multi-media market

they did not showcase it as another so-called walkman/video player/3d camera/streetpass multi-media device instead they marketed the thing, first and foremost, as a gaming machine!

You sure do like talking out of your ass don't you?

Here is a video of the first trailer for the Vita outside of the E3 conference which was nothing more than a collage of games. With this new trailer, notice that it's not trying to push anything other than the fact that it's a gaming machine. Sure it states that it has a multi touch screen, camera, rear camera, and back panel touch screen, 3g, and gps, but how the hell is anyone going to know what the system can do for a gaming experience if the features are not even known. It's like if Nintendo released the Wii being a motion control console and never told anyone that was used in that way. The rest of the video after describing the features of the system are nothing but video games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIaJHh60hQY

As for Near which was announced later, it's used as either a gaming mechanic or displays what games people you meet are or have been playing. A launch window title called Unit 13 is going to use Near as a gameplay mechanic. If someone that you interact with with Near has played and unlocked special missions on Unit 13, those missions will be unlocked for a short period of time or a single play. If you complete the mission in your playthrough, then you'll also unlock it, but if you fail you'll have to unlock it yourself or wait until you reconnect with someone that has Near.

It's also funny how much of a hypocrite you are. Nintendo repeatedly announced Netflix for the 3DS, hyped streetpass all to hell(something your post is specifically complaining about the Vita about.) While at my bestfriends, he connected to wifi to download the Resident Evil Revelations Demo, only for the 3DS to respond that were movies and music videos to download. Yeah. "movies" and "music videos" and then the ability to watch a trailer for each of them.

Then also for Resident Evil Revelations. First off it turned out the demo wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. Not only that. "you have 30 times left to play this demo." Seriously. A limitation for playing the demo.

[Kyle15]

Fixed.

"Barely any?" What form of measurement is that? ;)

I could go out on a limb and say the same thing about the Vita, what with its enhanced port shenanigans. I'm not getting one until that dies down.

[Bojay1997]

The problem that these handheld systems have is that they're increasingly competing with phones.

I think that the phone market is one innovator away from completely crushing the portable gaming market. All its going to take is for someone to design a smart phone that has good gaming controls yet isn't overly clunky. When I'm on the road I don't want to have to carry both a smart phone and a portable gaming device, especially when the smart phone can play the games. The writing is on the wall IMO. I'm just waiting for it to happen.

A year or two ago I would have said you were crazy, but now I'm just as sure that you're correct. Heck, even Sony is sort of aware of that possibility with its Xperia phones. I think the one niche market that may still embrace handheld dedicated gaming systems will be children and pre-teens, many of whom actually have smartphones and iPads now, but whose parents might not want them using a smartphone for gaming due to the potential airtime and data costs and the high cost of replacing the devices if they are lost or damaged. I do have to say that I am both saddened and oddly intrigued by the possibility that this might be the last generation of dedicated gaming handhelds.

[Graham Mitchell]

A year or two ago I would have said you were crazy, but now I'm just as sure that you're correct. Heck, even Sony is sort of aware of that possibility with its Xperia phones. I think the one niche market that may still embrace handheld dedicated gaming systems will be children and pre-teens, many of whom actually have smartphones and iPads now, but whose parents might not want them using a smartphone for gaming due to the potential airtime and data costs and the high cost of replacing the devices if they are lost or damaged. I do have to say that I am both saddened and oddly intrigued by the possibility that this might be the last generation of dedicated gaming handhelds.

I hope it's not true, but it could be. The only thing that's a big barrier to this right now is that if people want to buy this gaming phone, they're gonna have to go with a cell carrier that supports it. Many people will have to wait for their contract to be up, or break contract. That's not a cheap prospect.



---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.125757,-118.158437

[Press_Start]

It's also funny how much of a hypocrite you are.

LOL, wut?

Alright.....


If I were Sony..I WOULD be worried. Not only is the 3DS half the cost of the PSVita, but it has a slew of killer games out already and a whole bunch more on the horizon. I'm still blown away that the big Japanese release was Uncharted...which is as Western of a game as you can really get. Sony needs a killer game to drive people to buy their handheld. PSP sold very well in Japan (although still not as well as the DS), they can do it again if they have the right games and right price.

Personally I will most likely not own a Vita until a price drop...thats way too much for a handheld system that has no games I want to play.




If I were Sony..I WOULD be worried. Not only is the 3DS two thirds the cost of the PSVita, but it has two killer games out already and barely anything on the horizon. I'm still blown away that the big Japanese release was Uncharted...which is as Western of a game as you can really get. Sony needs a killer game to drive people to buy their handheld. PSP sold very well in Japan (although still not as well as the DS), they can do it again if they have the right games and right price.

Personally I will most likely not own a Vita until a price drop...thats way too much for a handheld system that has no games I want to play.

Fixed.

Hypocrisy, thy name is kupomogil.

[kupomogli]

LOL, wut?

Alright.....

Hypocrisy, thy name is kupomogil.

So where in that quote am I being a hypocrite, I'm not the one who bought a system for $250 then stating the system following that one is overpriced. Nor did I bitch about the PS Vita and stating as fact that Sony is pushing the Vita a certain way when Nintendo has been pushing the 3DS on those very things you're bitching about the Vita about(more so infact.)

The quote that I fixed, I fixed everything wrong with the post. The 3DS is two thirds the cost of the Vita, not one half. If the 3DS was half the cost of the Vita then it'd be $125. The 3DS "does" have only two games worth owning at this time. It also has barely anything on the horizon. Luigi's Mansion 2 has no definite release date. No one cares about Kid Icarus other than the Nintendo fanboy. One of two games I was interested in that had a release date I lost interest in once playing the demo, although I'll probably end up getting it still.

There's a differnce between me bashing Nintendo and you bashing Sony. You're listing reasons that have been clearly done by Nintendo as of recent time. You're just a hypocrite. I'm bashing Nintendo because I'm anti Nintendo, but my reasoning behind bashing them is always accurate. You should learn to do some research.

[WCP]

All its going to take is for someone to design a smart phone that has good gaming controls yet isn't overly clunky. When I'm on the road I don't want to have to carry both a smart phone and a portable gaming device, especially when the smart phone can play the games. The writing is on the wall IMO. I'm just waiting for it to happen.


That's the problem though.... How do you have a smartphone with good gaming controls? Good gaming controls means that you need dual thumbsticks, and a D-Pad, plus several buttons. You put all of that, on a phone with a large touchscreen, and very quickly you end up with a super bulky phone. I'm not sure how somebody is going to figure it out. The buttons and thumsticks are going to need to be hidden somehow, and then you hit a button and they pop out for use.... Something like that.

[kupomogli]

The buttons and thumsticks are going to need to be hidden somehow, and then you hit a button and they pop out for use.... Something like that.

The bat phone!

[moggles]

So where in that quote am I being a hypocrite, I'm not the one who bought a system for $250 then stating the system following that one is overpriced. Nor did I bitch about the PS Vita and stating as fact that Sony is pushing the Vita a certain way when Nintendo has been pushing the 3DS on those very things you're bitching about the Vita about(more so infact.)

The quote that I fixed, I fixed everything wrong with the post. The 3DS is two thirds the cost of the Vita, not one half. If the 3DS was half the cost of the Vita then it'd be $125. The 3DS "does" have only two games worth owning at this time. It also has barely anything on the horizon. Luigi's Mansion 2 has no definite release date. No one cares about Kid Icarus other than the Nintendo fanboy. One of two games I was interested in that had a release date I lost interest in once playing the demo, although I'll probably end up getting it still.

There's a differnce between me bashing Nintendo and you bashing Sony. You're listing reasons that have been clearly done by Nintendo as of recent time. You're just a hypocrite. I'm bashing Nintendo because I'm anti Nintendo, but my reasoning behind bashing them is always accurate. You should learn to do some research.

This is one of the most hilarious posts on the internet, such poor use of the English language on display.


The quote that I fixed, I fixed everything wrong with the post.


You're listing reasons that have been clearly done by Nintendo as of recent time. You're just a hypocrite. I'm bashing Nintendo because I'm anti Nintendo, but my reasoning behind bashing them is always accurate.

Does your keyboard not have a comma key, or are you obsessed with using periods? The second paragraph was a comma free zone.

Sorry for being a bit hard on you, but all you've done in this thread is attack and criticize people with no grounding whatsoever. It's painful to read especially when your grammar suggests that you're in junior high.

[kupomogli]

This is one of the most hilarious posts on the internet, such poor use of the English language on display.

One of the most poor uses of the English language would be something that is illegible. Regardless of how non professional my grammar may be, my writing and spelling is legible.

Maybe I could start proof reading all of my posts because someone might see them and give me an award for how well written my post is on a message board. Or maybe I couldn't care less because, oh that's right, it's a fucking message board.

And just for good measure.


The lack of TV advertising is a problem too, I am still yet to see to one!

You butcher the English language then reply about about missing commas. Granted that's probably an error, but doesn't make it look any better.

By the way. You're off topic, jackass.


Until there are games that fully take advantage of the rear panel, I can't see demand increasing. The marketing is quite lame as well, your average Joe doesn't know that it has a touch screen and rear touch panel, it seems that Sony just assumes people know all about it already.

Uncharted makes use of every feature on the Vita aside from the camera. Gyroscope when aiming with any weapon, six axis when swinging on an object, back touch panel when scaling walls, and the touch screen has many uses.

Little Deviants is a collection of mini games that make use of most of the features. Some mini games are dedicated to one specific feature, such as the back touch panel for example.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6upMOyHRBTI

[goatdan]

To be fair, you're both sounding a bit too zealous over your positions right now.

I don't know what the 3DS games that are killer apps are right now. I'm guessing the two that are being referred to are Mario Land 3D and Mario Kart 7. The thing is that neither of those are killer apps for everyone -- they are Mario games, and the Mario audience does skew a little younger or to those of us who don't mind playing a more cartoon-like game. Neither of these games attracts a much older audience yet as it's core. It attracts some people, yes, but they are within a relatively narrow and pre-determined scope. The DS took off when they started making games that expanded the horizons of the console with games like Brain Age (that got old people to use it) and things like Nintendogs that got young kids to beg for it and be a reason they needed the DS instead of the Game Boy Advance.

While both Mario Land and Mario 7 are great games I'm certain (I do own a 3DS, I don't own those games), there are similar titles on the DS and therefore I don't think they hit a nerve in the market to get people to beg for them. It's why Nintendogs and Cats didn't do so hot -- It's the same basic idea as a game people already own, so unless it's totally awesome, that is a game they *will get* when they eventually get the console, not a system seller.

Anywho, this was the *exact knock* that the PSP had on it for, well, for it's entire lifespan basically. It didn't have any titles that were truly unique to the play style, and it just felt like you were playing "PS2 games on the go." Personally, I love it for that, but it's hard to convince people you need a PSP when you have another console that does the same thing, and you're comparing it to another console that does different stuff.

The Vita is more expensive than the 3DS at the moment, and neither yet has killer apps that are enough to make people get them over something else. They'll come eventually as both consoles are unique enough in hardware, it just depends on when they come. I do think the 3DS has the leg up because most phones don't do 3D, but with Nintendo continually messing around with the hardware (or rumors of it), that would give the edge to the Vita. It'll be interesting though to see what happens.

[skaar]

This thread is top grade stuff.

[Griking]

You know how Sony could convince me to buy a Vita? Sell PS3 games with a Vita copy included, so I can play (roughly) the same game on both systems. If Sony wants a killer app, imagine playing Call of Duty on PS3 servers on the Vita. There's the market for these things; allow people to play their favorite multi-player console games on the go using the same servers the console versions utilize. Bundle in a good shooter (ex: Killzone) and Sony has a huge advantage over the 3DS.

I was thinking about how nice it would have been if I were able to purchase both the Xbox and PC versions of Skyrim in one pack rather than having to purchase both separately. As much as I'd like to see that I doubt it would ever happen though.

[kupomogli]

Sell PS3 games with a Vita copy included

It's going to happen, but only first party titles. Or atleast it's only available with first party titles at the moment.

http://playstationlifestyle.net/2011/08/24/sony-plans-to-bundle-ps3-and-vita-versions-of-ruin-in-one-package/

http://playstationlifestyle.net/2011/12/02/motorstorm-rc-director-%E2%80%9Cps3-and-vita-version-essentially-the-same%E2%80%9D/

[Bojay1997]

Looks like Sony is starting to rethink pricing a little bit, at least on the 3G system. Amazon is now offering a bundle with an 8GB memory card and a free game download, as well as 30 days of 3G service free if you preorder the 3G version at $300. I would assume other retailers will offer this package as well as it appears to be printed on the 3G box and not Amazon exclusive.

On a totally unrelated note, the MSRP of Resident Evil Revelations for the 3DS was officially dropped to $40 by Capcom today as a result of public pressure. Hopefully Sony will do the same for Uncharted on the Vita.