sublimit
Banned
I'm waiting.
Judging Vita before its first Christmas is "preposterous" - Sony
- Thread starter BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO
- Start date
I'm waiting.
I absolutely adore my Vita but unless they have some secret games to unleash, I fail to see why the xmas period will alter the devices trajectory any.
Having said that, they've started actually advertising the thing in the UK, seemingly to mild success. It might not be quite as dead as it appears.
Having said that, they've started actually advertising the thing in the UK, seemingly to mild success. It might not be quite as dead as it appears.
DCharlie
And even i am moderately surprised
perhaps try the TGS 2012 Game of the Year winning Gravity Rush/Daze from Sony, on the Vita?
Surely that indicates -some- effort?
An original game on a new platform winning that award ahead of some strong competition says something right? (i sense the answer is "lol no" but hey...)
(this isn't to say that the Vita doesn't have a mountain of problems to sort out - or that Sony haven't screwed up a ton of aspects regarding marketting, the Memory stick farce etc. Just that -at least- they have got one new strong IP out of the thing!)
Canis lupus
Member
If they not be real, what are they?
metalslimer
Member
Are you serious right now? Are you going to actually try and say Vita isn't selling like shit right now? I actually just said it was a bad idea to go tell people how bad the thing was doing in a thread where people just want to discuss games and features. You want to actually debate Vita's performance right now in the context of sales? Give me a fucking break with the theatrics. The constant barrage of sales threads for Vita doesn't bring anything new to the table so it's pointless to even discuss in the OT.
Do you ever actually contribute anything to the discussions because all I ever see is constant whining about other people.
CadetMahoney
Member
He put that in quotation marks for a reason.
January NPD will be Judgement day for the Vita.
SkylineRKR
Member
Christmas will be dominated by the storm of HD games, Wii U and 3DS. Vita won't sell. Its not going to offer a killer app, and not a price drop.
call of duty, assassin's Creed, NFS:MW, fifa? I guess this christmas they're going for blockbuster franchises. TBH other than NFS they don't float my boat and I prefer some of the more esoteric titles that have been released.
All I know is that Vita is getting some of the most vitriolic comments here on Gaf (and probably elsewhere), but is a great machine with a lot of great games considering how long its been on the market. Quite sad really. Most consoles have huge post launch droughts, but Vita has been ok for me. Conversely I find 3DS lacking - perhaps I don't care about MH but Nintendo seems to be doing not a huge amount, especially in Europe this Christmas.
You mention COD like it's a game that people actually want. I believe the titles that will sell out of those you've mentioned are AC3:Liberation, NFSMW, PSABR and Persona 4 to some extent.
COD is a big franchise. You might not like it, but its popular. If Vita didn't have it, people would be quick to point out how 'oh it doesn't even have COD'
Maastricht
Member
I don't know ... over here in the Netherlands, Resistance still seems to be selling quite well. I think CoD may well sell quite a bit. It all depends on what people compare the experience to - an iOS Call of Duty game, or a Playstation 3 Call of Duty game (as is the typical MO of many here)
Only because 3DS hardware was overpriced to begin with. Sony can't afford to do it, it's that simple. Even if Nintendo did or did expect to have to cut a loss for a while, they've got a lot of cash still, where Sony just has debt, basically.
But I also think (and they probably as well) that they don't have to do it. They only need to make sure that enough games come out, and then be patient until the hardware costs have fallen enough to afford a price-cut. This is a handheld that is supposed to be able to age quite well, wouldn't you agree? Next Christmas, if the Vita drops below 200 euro/dollar, it will have more software than it has now, a year of Playstation Mobile behind it's belt, a year of Playstation Plus support, of Playstation 3 integration, Firmware and App updates and what not, and the price will then make it more desirable than now, just as the 3DS become more desireable.
There has been a lot of hate towards all manner of consoles during its first year, but I guess there are reasons why I'm not one of the GAF haters/pessimists:
1. I'm old, and have seen the launch of all handhelds and consoles ever (though I admit I was ignoring them in favor of 8bit and 16bit Commodores/Atars/IBM PCs during that era)
2. I actually have a Vita, and play it every day
3. I am not threatened by the existence of multiple successful platforms, and in fact own most of them.
Ollie Pooch
In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
The 3DS library is completely barren, for me outside of the 2 or 3 first-party games. But Pokemon is luring me in to an XL purchase.
Canis lupus
Member
CoD will sell well, just not as good as on consoles.
metalslimer
Member
Speaking of Resistance (or any Vita games in general) do we have worldwide shipments yet of Uncharted, Gravity Rush, or Resistance?
There's also a bundle so it will probably outsell AC even though AC appears to deserve way more sales.
I can't really see that game help bumping Vita sales. Even in Japan it didn't cause much of a bump.
I'll be buying all of those but they're games that many people would rather play on a 'proper' console (interestingly, Sony advertise the Vita as a console, rather than a handheld).
It's the best handheld ever but 'that don't mean a thing if you ain't got that Mario', to badly paraphrase an old song. People don't seem to want handhelds to emulate consoles so they throw their weight behind the single-sticked, 400x240, same old same old. Good for them, I guess.
fabricated backlash
Member
People want proper support is all. Unless Sony doesn't deliver that it's really no wonder the market is responding the way it does.
ThoughtsOfSpeaking
Banned
they may as well rename it psp vita and market it as a psp with an improved screen at this point. It's not gonna get much better than this.
What does 'proper support' mean? There are a ton of great Vita games, especially when you bear in mind how young the device is. What franchises are people waiting for? Killzone? On the way. Uncharted? Already done. LittleBigPlanet? Already out.
God Of War, maybe? Gran Turismo? A ton of quirky PSN games by the Japanese teams?
I think people expect to see a huge avalanche of 3rd party games as well and that just isn't realistic for a handheld, especially one that's struggling as much as the Vita. Hell, even the 3DS looks barren from a 3rd party perspective and most of the 3rd party releases so far seem to have flopped.
I get that people obviously want 'something', I just don't get what that 'something' actually is.
michaelius
Banned
Advertising
Big name games (AC,Cod, NFS, Fifa, Madden) - you cannot find any bigger franchises that aren't Nintendo owned
Good bundle - vita+ game+ memory card - so you can start playing for 250$ without any additional spendings.
I don't see why it would provide healthy boost to sales.
ScreenSplitter
Member
But it had it's first Christmas in Japan... and if you got your shit together, it could have had a Christmas elsewhere too!
Currently the Vita, LBP and 4GB memory card is £189.99 at Sainsburys in the UK. That's a damned good price to my mind. It's being heavily advertised too. Looking at the UK charts, it seems to be having a small but positive effect.
Clearly not, when you're just listing more fucking sequels. It's not exactly rocket science, people don't want cut down offshoots and ports. Replace all those offshoots and sequels with new things like Gravity Rush and people on this board will be interested, but right now, there is simply no value in it when there are better, larger, more interesting versions of the same IP (that is, by the way, nearing overkill saturation point anyway).
SkylineRKR
Member
I just fail to see how one would buy a Vita just for CoD or FIFA. Don't we have to look at Wii numbers at best here, when talking about IP like these on the Vita? With the fact that the console versions will take the spotlights.
PumpkinPie
Banned
2013: The year of the Vita.
ScreenSplitter
Member
Also worth remembering that what they have to give is a very mediocre, incomplete looking CoD spinoff and an admittedly fine looking original AC game. But with the "III" subtitle, won't people just think its another port? And why should they think any different?
this. If you figure it out, email Kaz, he's probably wondering the same thing.
Oooh, look at you getting all snippy!
Tell that to the 3DS, a device that trades almost entirely on spin-offs and ports.
I don’t see Christmas changing much. The 3DS is still competition for them as well as the Wii U not forgetting things like Kindle Fire and Google Nexus (32GB) set to be £199.00. Once Nintendo start the big Wii U push the vita is going to be off the consumer radar.
If they are banking on a big xmas to turn things around I think they are in for big shock in january.
If they are banking on a big xmas to turn things around I think they are in for big shock in january.
ScreenSplitter
Member
Sure it has those, but it also has plenty of original games too. Not to mention that the spinoffs and ports are from much more recognizable, desirable IPs.
Something worth mentioning too... if it wasn't worth judging it before Christmas, why did you put it out in February Sony?
Of course it doesn't, it trades on Nintendo IP. It's had what, one N64 rehash? And that wasn't one of the big three system sellers, either.
I hope Sony aren't wandering down this "vs. the 3DS" path like you seem to think it should be. The 3DS is mostly irrelevant to the Vita target market.
I NEED SCISSORS
Banned
Someone needs to make a "wait for.." diagram for Vita.
Ollie Pooch
In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
Why does the 3DS get a free pass in this regard?
Don't you really understand why so many people hate so much a console that they say do not interest them?
Nintendo fanboys obviously don't want a competitor to have a better console, vita has already a better hardware, in 7 months it has a lineup that destroys the first 7 months lineup of the 3ds(and the ps3) and in europe at least the region free vita in these months gets a lot of interesting games while the region locked 3ds gets a lot of showelware(look at the gamefaqs release dates if you don't trust me).
Apple fanboys can't stand that their expensive and powerful phone can't do what vita does.
Ps3 fanboys hate vita(yes, even more than the others) because they want all the good games and sony's efforts and money on ps3 and ps4.
Add that sony does nothing to inform people, so uninformed people seeing so much hate thinks that it is deserved.
In the meantime vita owners don't know where to get the money for all the games that are coming soon.
This is the situation.
Nintendo fanboys obviously don't want a competitor to have a better console, vita has already a better hardware, in 7 months it has a lineup that destroys the first 7 months lineup of the 3ds(and the ps3) and in europe at least the region free vita in these months gets a lot of interesting games while the region locked 3ds gets a lot of showelware(look at the gamefaqs release dates if you don't trust me).
Apple fanboys can't stand that their expensive and powerful phone can't do what vita does.
Ps3 fanboys hate vita(yes, even more than the others) because they want all the good games and sony's efforts and money on ps3 and ps4.
Add that sony does nothing to inform people, so uninformed people seeing so much hate thinks that it is deserved.
In the meantime vita owners don't know where to get the money for all the games that are coming soon.
This is the situation.
fabricated backlash
Member
I think it's the rather barren outlook. The 3DS (while still not selling well) didn't start to get into gear before Nintendo could convince people that the upcoming lineup was solid and well suited for a broad range of tastes.
The Vita handling is just downright pathethic to be honest. LBP Vita is one of the best handheld games I've ever played. And even if they advertise it, it's not enough for how good it is.
To me LBP is a plattform defining game. The first to actually genuinely make good use of the rear touch panel, without it feeling like a forced gimmick.
You complained about people just buying 3DSs for Mario, well that's because the Mario brand is synonymous for quality with millions of people, and by extension the plattforms that host these games.
If Sony is to convince more than just a few die hard gamers that the Vita is a great handheld option, they better make sure that their own premiere games are seen as that as well.
Overall I'd also say that Sony completely blew LBPs potential as a brand since the beginning. It's been a solid success but given how much great stuff it introduced to console gaming: An open free user created content driven community, great creative freedom, easy to use creation tools, all the while improving on the games jump'n run mechanics with each installment (frankly the first one was a turd when it came to controls)
it is really depressing to see how "small" the franchise has remained.
LBP Vita plays like a dream, the editor is outstanding and works perfectly (a lot better than on the PS3) thanks to the touchscreen input.
Sony is getting a lot of shit for the Vita. Not because there are no games, but because they seemingly can't be bothered with maintaining a Product image, and just hoping that it would sell by itself.
Canis lupus
Member
And so began the Vita dilemma.
michaelius
Banned
Hardly - inferior Cod Wii was in direct competition with PS3/X360/PC versions.
Vita version is handheld iteration so it competes against iphone/3ds games.
I'm just gonna leave the current 3DS top ten here:
1: NEW SUPER MARIO BROS 2
2: SUPER MARIO 3D LAND
3: MARIO KART 7
4: MARIO & SONIC LONDON 2012 OLYMPIC GAMES
5: FIFA 13
6: SONIC GENERATIONS
7: NEW ART ACADEMY
8: LEGO BATMAN 2: DC SUPER HEROES
9: THEATRHYTHM: FINAL FANTASY
10: ANGRY BIRDS TRILOGY
My goodness Nintendo, with this avalanche of fresh IP's you are really spoiling us!
You realize that, when a system doesn't sell, it has utterly NOTHING to do with "fanboys", right?
SkylineRKR
Member
Point 1 and 2 are gibberish. Point 3 I can kind of agree with, Sony is different than Nintendo in that with Nintendo everyone accepts that both handheld and console are equally supported. With Sony its a lot 'shame its not for Ps3' thrown around. But Sony also creates such a situation by only using B-rated developers for Vita. Sony handheld and console are not being equally treated by its manufacturer to begin with.
And yes, Sony is way too silent. But when Sony is silent, things go bad. Its when they don't reveal sales data, don't speak about Move, not about 3D anymore... So the Vita is basically doing bad, thats all there is to know.
ScreenSplitter
Member
What?! Mario, Fifa and Angry Birds sell more than eShop titles and Resident Evil Revelations? What madness is this?!
For the situations to be comparable, Sony would need to have put out GT6 on the Vita, moneyhatted a game as popular as Monster Hunter in Japan, and have something comparable in size to the Mario franchise in order to release both an 'A Team' 3D version and 'B Team' 2D version of said franchise.
Is it not fair to say then, that the statement "people don't want cut down offshoots and ports" is entirely incorrect?
If the Vita had mainline sequels, I wouldn't be arguing, but it doesn't. It has the usual Sony stunted offshoots that they plagued the PSP with as well.
grimshawish
Banned
Doubt it. But it does seem Sony didn't even bother to calculate development times, they've genuinely done next to nothing since launch; am not sure how they could think that a successful launch would lead to games throughout 2012 - the Vita is not exactly going to be quick and easy to develop for.
In Japan the system is pretty much dead, this holiday only decides if theres maybe something to be said about it in the west. Japanese Devs have other things to spend their time/money developing for.