Rumor: Japanese Vita devs jumping ship, Sony responds [Joystiq]

[DP ServBot]

The PlayStation Vita isn't even fully available worldwide yet, and Japan's Nikkei newspaper is already reporting its demise. Specifically, an anonymous source from the Japanese game industry told the paper that Japanese companies are abandoning their Vita projects in favor of developing for the 3DS. It's true that the 3DS has been routinely outselling the Vita in Japan (as has the aging PSP), but Sony's VP of Worldwide Studios Scott Rohde isn't buying into the panic.

Rohde told Gamasutra that "extremist quotes like that" aren't uncommon with a new product. Rohde believes the Nikkei story is exaggerated, noting that "there is no way anyone could stand in front of a camera and say that all developers are changing focus from one platform to another, no matter what it is." Indeed, it wasn't too long ago that many were writing eulogies for the 3DS, which has since gone on to sell 15 million units (although it wasn't able to prevent losses for Nintendo).

We're inclined to agree with Rohde, as it only makes sense that publishers would probably wait to judge the worldwide impact of the Vita before abandoning it entirely.Rumor: Japanese Vita devs jumping ship, Sony responds originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[Bojay1997]

The PlayStation Vita isn't even fully available worldwide yet, and Japan's Nikkei newspaper is already reporting its demise. Specifically, an anonymous source from the Japanese game industry told the paper that Japanese companies are abandoning their Vita projects in favor of developing for the 3DS. It's true that the 3DS has been routinely outselling the Vita in Japan (as has the aging PSP), but Sony's VP of Worldwide Studios Scott Rohde isn't buying into the panic.

Rohde told Gamasutra that "extremist quotes like that" aren't uncommon with a new product. Rohde believes the Nikkei story is exaggerated, noting that "there is no way anyone could stand in front of a camera and say that all developers are changing focus from one platform to another, no matter what it is." Indeed, it wasn't too long ago that many were writing eulogies for the 3DS, which has since gone on to sell 15 million units (although it wasn't able to prevent losses for Nintendo).

We're inclined to agree with Rohde, as it only makes sense that publishers would probably wait to judge the worldwide impact of the Vita before abandoning it entirely.Rumor: Japanese Vita devs jumping ship, Sony responds originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Meh...as much as I think Sony has a potential disaster with the Vita on their hands, I don't think this is any different than any other console that was slow to take off. Developers tend to get very excited about launches for a quick cash in and then back off after launch until the user base expands massively. Even with the PSP and DS there was a long period of time during the first few years when Sony and Nintendo respectively were the primary publishers/developers and it wasn't until the use base was significant that third parties got interested again.

[Shulamana]

Wasn't this essentially the same headline 6 months ago, except it was 3DS and Nintendo instead of Vita and Sony?

[Orion Pimpdaddy]

Yep, lots of doom and gloom. Here's some older news articles that expressed worry about the 3DS.

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=18472

http://www.vg247.com/2011/04/14/the-...-at-a-failure/

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2011/0...ndo-3ds-sales/

http://20thlevelmarketing.blogspot.c...inue-slow.html

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/3...nce_Launch.php

Fans also had some doubts:

http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtop...efb76230029b8e

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

The now traditional reports of failure/doom of any new system hardware get closer and closer to system launches ... it's almost absurd and farcical.

How many times in recent history do we need to repeat system launches that don't mirror the crazed frenzy of something like the Nintendo Wii to realize that what happens at launch does not necessarily dictate ... well ANYTHING where the longevity of a system is concerned?

[Bojay1997]

The now traditional reports of failure/doom of any new system hardware get closer and closer to system launches ... it's almost absurd and farcical.

How many times in recent history do we need to repeat system launches that don't mirror the crazed frenzy of something like the Nintendo Wii to realize that what happens at launch does not necessarily dictate ... well ANYTHING where the longevity of a system is concerned?

I wouldn't go that far. The Japanese Vita launch was among the poorest of any major handheld or console ever released in Japan with the exception perhaps of the Xbox and 360. The poor launch of the 3DS helped convince Nintendo that a major price cut was needed along with some great games. Sony could have learned from Nintendo's bruising lessons, but instead has taken a totally arrogant approach to the US launch, apparently even ignoring the poor showing in Japan which they have had some time to incorporate in their US plans. Nintendo has the luxury of many years of profitability with only a few bad quarters recently while Sony is $2 billion in the red this year and billions more from past years.

While launch isn't everything, it is important and it greatly influences public perception and more importantly, third party developers to jump on board and develop the kinds of games that will be needed to build the user base. Having said all that, I don't buy this whole jumping ship line of reporting. Developers and publishers will support whatever will make them the most profit in both the long and short term. If the Vita is that platform, they will support it. Unfortunately, it's a bit of a vicious cycle because without a user base, there will be very few third party games and without great third party games, it's hard to build a large user base unless you have incredibly popular first party IP like Nintendo.

[RCM]

I'd be interested to know what Sony and Nintendo's core metrics for success are in this climate. I have to imagine Sony foresaw a slow adoption of its handheld given the premium price of everything associated with it. That said, it's a very, very nice machine. I can't say enough good about the hardware itself. It's too bad the pricing just plain sucks, and there isn't enough original software on the machine yet.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Eh, yeaaaaaah, I'm not really interested in getting into any long-winded multi-page debates about the Vita and whether or not it will be a failure or a success.

Anybody who thinks that it's going to do poorly and/or fail based on Sony's marketing/pr/pricing position, the changing face of portable gaming, Nintendo's continued dominance, or any other assorted reason has every right to their own opinion. I've got no problem with that and no strong opposing opinion, just a more optimistic wait-and-see attitude.

I'm not predicting any guaranteed success, I simply don't believe that in this era that a soft launch is indicative of guaranteed failure in the long-term.

My personal hopes are that the system will do well enough at retail to justify itself.

Realistically I don't think it's going to break any sales records or best any of its contemporaries in the retail sales races, but like pretty much every other game system in this and recent past generations, I think that system sales will pick up/spike and units will move consistently when whatever high quality and/or AAA key "franchise" software comes along during whatever sales quarter ... once we start getting the Modern Warfares, Final Fantasies, Maddens, Grand Theft Autos, Killzones, Gran Turismos, Metal Gear Solids, Resident Evils, etc. we'll see the sales needle start to move.

[swlovinist]

PS Vita might do okay in the long run(like the PSP)

with a price drop and some Killer games

Time will tell and too early to predict.

[ianoid]

PSP was considered a failure because it wasn't the dominant system and it still sold 71 million units. It was flawed and overpriced to start, but that didn't stop it. The launch lineup was mediocre. I still think the best game on the system is GTA Liberty City Stories. It has better streaming nearly load free environments than most console open world games do today.

Who knows how developers will support the system to start? What I do know is that Sony plays a stubborn game even when it has screwed things up (4 iterations of PSP never saw a second analog stick, and their support for much deader formats is epic). Are the games 6 years into the PSP's lifespan very good? That is debatable, but they are coming out. It has to be the JRPG platform of choice these days.

So I am confident I will still be able to use a Vita in 5 years. Will there be anything I want to play on it? Hard to know.

Or I might just be playing FMV games on a Virtual Reality headset.

[Rickstilwell1]

I think it's just because it's been so long a new actual system failed to eventually be received well by the public that some people keep waiting for one to fail. There's people out there who like to collect things just because they're obscurities and they probably miss those days. During this generations time, the only obscurities have been clones of old stuff and import systems from other countries. The last obscure console we had in the USA was the XaviXPORT which was sort of a predecessor to the Wii in terms of function. For handhelds, it was the Gizmondo.

[WCP]

After what happened in Japan, I thought that the Vita might bomb hard in the USA too, but it doesn't seem like that is going to be the case, at least not initially. Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about how they are buying this bundle or that bundle, and what other games they are buying, etc, etc. So, while it may be DOA in Japan, the Vita could very well do ok in Europe and USA. Of course, the big question that we won't know the answer for, for some time, is...


Once the initial million worldwide early adopters buy the Vita, then what? Will the rest of the gaming audience have any interest? Certainly, there are enough gamers in the USA and Europe that want the Vita immediately at launch, that the Vita will hit worldwide sales of 1 million units in the very near future, but will there be a second wave of buyers once the early adopters have been factored out of the equation? My guess, is that sales will fall off a cliff once the early adopters are done buying. Then, there will be a price drop, and then we have to see what happens at that point. If it has some hot Xmas software, and becomes the "hot" item this Xmas (like the 3DS was last Xmas), then everything will likely work itself out, and the Vita will survive.

[duffmanth]

I still the think the Vita will sell briskly for the first week or so, but it'll drop off huge afterwards until the price comes down.

[substantial_snake]

I'm sure that the very hasty 3DS price drop has a lot to do with this. It seems like for every one person who is committed to pick one up launch day there are three others who chime in with "I'm waiting for the price drop". If I wasn't so psyched for the system I would probably wait it out as well considering how quick it came about due to the 3DS's lagging sales. I don't expect the Vita to top the 3DS I just hope that we get some really great quality games over time.

[Genesaturn]

I'm still not sure how the worldwide launch of Vita will go - If I were Sony I wouldn't be worried until after the launch. Remember also that Nintendo not only had the huge price drop to sweeten the deal, but it wasn't to far off from the holidays...the Vita would be wise to not only work on their pricing, but get line it up along with some blockbuster titles around the holiday season ahead. I personally will most likely purchase a Vita before a 3DS for the sole purpose of it being region free and I don't feel like investing in 2 3DS systems in order to play imports. I'm still holding out for the redesign of the 3DS..which we all know will eventually happen.

[The 1 2 P]

I couldn't see this happening for quite some time, if at all. Being able to develope for both the Vita and 3DS means potentially more sales. The Vita is selling slow over there now because there aren't many games that the consumers want that are on store shelves. Things will pick up eventually but the real question is when. Obviously Sony will have some big titles and promotions coming out for the holidays but what do they have planned for the 8 months before that.

[Press_Start]

After what happened in Japan, I thought that the Vita might bomb hard in the USA too, but it doesn't seem like that is going to be the case, at least not initially. Everywhere I go, I hear people talking about how they are buying this bundle or that bundle, and what other games they are buying, etc, etc. So, while it may be DOA in Japan, the Vita could very well do ok in Europe and USA. Of course, the big question that we won't know the answer for, for some time, is...

People in Japan really like their PSPs. Luckily, Sony doesn't have that problem everywhere else. Hehehe. Once Capcom announces a new Monster Hunter for Vita, they'll flock to the handheld like they did for 3DS. It's like I told a Gamestop employee, Sony need to consolidate it's efforts on making their Vita games known. Set aside all the hardware details, that not it's strongest area. "Games, games, games...." that's the message Sony should be spearheading for year one, if they want to succeed. Outdoing themselves in year two, if they want to be a serious contender.

If it has some hot Xmas software, and becomes the "hot" item this Xmas (like the 3DS was last Xmas), then everything will likely work itself out, and the Vita will survive.

Don't forget, 3DS was the only new kid last Christmas. Now, Vita's gotta share the stage with Nintendo's Wii U launching this year and parents will have to choose between buying a powerful gaming handheld for their one kid or pay a little extra for a powerful gaming device that the whole family can share. On top of a possible 3DS revision and two years worth of healthy 1st n' 3rd party support, Sony/Vita having their work cut out is an understatement.

[WCP]

Don't forget, 3DS was the only new kid last Christmas. Now, Vita's gotta share the stage with Nintendo's Wii U launching this year and parents will have to choose between buying a powerful gaming handheld for their one kid or pay a little extra for a powerful gaming device that the whole family can share.

That's true, Vita will have to share the spotlight with Wii U.

What's even more interesting, is that I expect the Wii U to retail for $249.99 . Vita will have had it's first price drop, and the wi-fi only version will likely be $199.99 at that time.

[nickerous]

$199 with a game and memory card bundled with the system = purchase for me. I expect that or the same bundle at $249 around Black Friday.