Just what is Sony doing with Vita? If they've given-up, they should just kill it.
- Thread starter ZombiePlatypus
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SkylineRKR
Member
Price is just one thing. Games are another. You need to bring something to the table that differentiate it from the crowd. 3DS does this with its dual screen setup, and then I'm even leaving its 3D effect out as I find 3D overrated. 3DS also has games, many of them. And those killer apps that carry a system until the end of its cycle. Gamers want Pokemon, Mario Kart... and they want it 3 years from now.
Its ultimately fallen a bit inbetween. Its not powerful enough to show the touted features (the MGS4 running on Vita, flawlessly.. and direct crossplay with Ps3) and its dedicated games aren't justifying its price tag. They are pretty, but thats about it. Its either an experience you can find on the console or its something you can experience on a mobile phone or a 3DS. Its falling inbetween as I said. If you ask me the Vita has zero chance of succeeding. You can wait till a pricedrop, but chance is slim it has those few games everyone goes crazy about to compliment it (fact is, Ps3 still doesn't have that exclusive game either; it has no Wii-sports/Halo/Kinect Adventure). Meanwhile, 3DS might also become cheaper and mobiles are ever improving.
A system that promotes graphics above all else falls flat rather quickly.
Its ultimately fallen a bit inbetween. Its not powerful enough to show the touted features (the MGS4 running on Vita, flawlessly.. and direct crossplay with Ps3) and its dedicated games aren't justifying its price tag. They are pretty, but thats about it. Its either an experience you can find on the console or its something you can experience on a mobile phone or a 3DS. Its falling inbetween as I said. If you ask me the Vita has zero chance of succeeding. You can wait till a pricedrop, but chance is slim it has those few games everyone goes crazy about to compliment it (fact is, Ps3 still doesn't have that exclusive game either; it has no Wii-sports/Halo/Kinect Adventure). Meanwhile, 3DS might also become cheaper and mobiles are ever improving.
A system that promotes graphics above all else falls flat rather quickly.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
And yet at most I only see potential, yet none remains to be seen.
I work retail too. Can't remember the last time I saw a Vita sold :V Really can't remember the last time we had to be restocked (not counting new bundles).
Yet it is the most technically advanced handheld hardware for gaming and yet you don't see the possibility for appeal?
Oh because the west doesn't care about the 3DS
Give me a break.PopcornMegaphone
Banned
For what it's worth, I think Vita had a really nice launch line-up for western consumers. It's unfortunate 3rd parties didn't come along for the ride.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Yet it is the most technically advanced handheld hardware for gaming and yet you don't see the possibility for appeal?
Oh because the west doesn't care about the 3DS
And because of it, developers have trouble using it.
Now if one resorts to slurs on the 3DS they have no basis for their argument.
Do we really need to compare units and software. Because we can.
I love my Vita. I really do. My wife has one as well, and we use them daily. I understand that we represent a vast minority of the overall gaming market. The dedicated gaming handheld has become a niche once more.
Sony's problem is they just don't know how to sell the thing to people. The sooner they accept the current state of the "gaming handheld" market, the better of a position they'll be in to bring the device to its potential. Heavy courting of smaller professional devs, liberal use of the cross-buy promotions offered in Retro City Rampage, Sly 4, and PS All-Stars, and strong first party software support is what its going to take to bring this thing anywhere approaching a level of sales the third parties need to properly support the platform.
Sony's problem is they just don't know how to sell the thing to people. The sooner they accept the current state of the "gaming handheld" market, the better of a position they'll be in to bring the device to its potential. Heavy courting of smaller professional devs, liberal use of the cross-buy promotions offered in Retro City Rampage, Sly 4, and PS All-Stars, and strong first party software support is what its going to take to bring this thing anywhere approaching a level of sales the third parties need to properly support the platform.
The Vita needs to carve its own niche.
NFS: MW is a great example of exploitation of the handheld's capabilities, but its presence acts more like a double-edged sword. Some expect the handheld to be able to compete directly with its bigger PS360 brothers, but it can't, and therefore, cannot meet these unrealistic expectations of matching performance. The Vita needs a studio to develop new IPs specifically for it, or deviations (like AC3: Liberation) that are on-par with the quality titles released for consoles. Development costs should be lower, though the waiting on some developers for a larger install base of Vita owners, seems to be the cycle of its current demise.
NFS: MW is a great example of exploitation of the handheld's capabilities, but its presence acts more like a double-edged sword. Some expect the handheld to be able to compete directly with its bigger PS360 brothers, but it can't, and therefore, cannot meet these unrealistic expectations of matching performance. The Vita needs a studio to develop new IPs specifically for it, or deviations (like AC3: Liberation) that are on-par with the quality titles released for consoles. Development costs should be lower, though the waiting on some developers for a larger install base of Vita owners, seems to be the cycle of its current demise.
CambriaRising
Member
If not, some people buying from Amazon will be unpleasantly surprised.
Also, what the fuck is with that $50 price tag. Every other vita game is $40 from what I have seen.
LamerDeluxe
Member
Another day another mindless Vita hate thread.
If there's one thing the Vita is missing compared to the 3DS it's shovelware.
I currently have 65 games on my Vita, much more than enough for me. With PS+ coming up for the Vita this month, the memory cards seriously need to come down in price.
EDIT: Oh yeah, the Vita has already gotten a price cut over here: 180 Euro for the WiFi version.
If there's one thing the Vita is missing compared to the 3DS it's shovelware.
I currently have 65 games on my Vita, much more than enough for me. With PS+ coming up for the Vita this month, the memory cards seriously need to come down in price.
EDIT: Oh yeah, the Vita has already gotten a price cut over here: 180 Euro for the WiFi version.
Really? I mean I can understand finding it hard to live up to expectations and being more costly to develop for it. That makes it harder for it to take off true (since devs will wait for a larger userbase to recoup costs)...but vita could be shining in a year or two imo - especially if the ads are good. They really need good advertising now.
Just saw your edit - I wasn't slurring the 3DS - I was pointing out the Vita is substantially different from the 3ds and will be appealing to mostly a different crowd, so judging handheld appeal of vita based on 3ds which has had a longer shelf life would be a mistake.
Father_Brain
Banned
Pretty much this.
But in answer to the OP: They're praying for a miracle. Well, two miracles: an AC/COD miracle in the West, and a GE2/SS miracle in Japan.
They have nothing else up their sleeves at all, by all indications. No major third-party exclusives announced for 2013, and while Tearaway and Killzone will probably be good to great games, they won't move hardware.
There is possibility, yes. But it's sure as hell not going to be fulfilled, not unless Vita gets DQ, MH, Mario and Pokemon. The West will never care (The 3DS is a hard sell, the Vita is a near impossible sell), so it's down to the East, which Nintendo has on lock.Yet it is the most technically advanced handheld hardware for gaming and yet you don't see the possibility for appeal?
Oh because the west doesn't care about the 3DS
mh, I never said this. Ive already said ive been proven wrong and admitted to not having knowledge of Yoshida's response. I said "i'll give you that", I said that you were right and I was wrong. What more do you want? an internet argument trophy? the fact that you edited your last post to add another quote from mine and respond to it again asking me to "leave the thread" gives me all the info I need I guess. I moved on from my first post and now im talking about the contrast between Iwata's response and Yoshida's.
look at Takao's response, he responds to the point im making, how Nintendo followed the apology with a course of action, and how Sony still doesnt
they probably cant financially, hence why they dont do it, I just dont like the "everything's fine" approach, be honest about not being in a place to do it right now and at least show promise to change the situation in the future, cause right now it just looks grim
SkylineRKR
Member
AC: Liberation is the kind of game the Vita needs. Its different enough from its console brother and might draw AC fans in.
But the problem is that its a rather sloppy product thats being developed by a B-rated developer. Which makes sense, as Sony itself doesn't have the balls to put the likes of Naughty Dog and Santa Monica on Vita project. Why should Ubi do it? Nintendo does it, but Sony clearly shows that Vita is the B-product behind the Ps3 here. They are not fully behind it.
Declassified will be shit, there is hardly any reason to think otherwise. With everything thats being said and shown so far... I think it will be ignored like the DS versions etc of this franchise.
But the problem is that its a rather sloppy product thats being developed by a B-rated developer. Which makes sense, as Sony itself doesn't have the balls to put the likes of Naughty Dog and Santa Monica on Vita project. Why should Ubi do it? Nintendo does it, but Sony clearly shows that Vita is the B-product behind the Ps3 here. They are not fully behind it.
Declassified will be shit, there is hardly any reason to think otherwise. With everything thats being said and shown so far... I think it will be ignored like the DS versions etc of this franchise.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
In a year or two perhaps, but this is the present. They have a dilemma and only now has Yoshida acknowledged there is a problem, what matters is how you deal with it.
Father_Brain
Banned
What cards do they have to play, and where on earth would they obtain them from at this point?
davepoobond
you can't put a price on sparks
you're a hypocrite, obviously.
and you don't know anything about business, apparently.
digita1alchemy
Member
I bought my Vita to be a handheld Phantasy Star Online 2 player, so it can't die until that is released.
They've been doing it right in the UK at least, retailers are doing bundles and they've kicked up the ads (apparently) but they need a serious advertising budget for USA.
None of those games will do it for the vita crowd (except for MH, but that has a few replacements already) - for the 3ds of course but for vita it is games like GTA, GT, MGS, FF, Infamous, Batman etc - slightly more mature and resource demanding games - they cost too much and will make a loss to develop now so they wait for a larger userbase (unless it's a port). Sony needs to spend money to make that happen...I hope they are just timing the use of their advertising budget very carefully.. Not that I wouldn't love to play pokemon on my vita.
MotionBlue
Member
We've sold 15 of them, 6 of which were AC3 bundles. We've sold 13 3DS's. 8 of which were people upgrading to XL.
October was a slow month.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
That's up to SCEA and we all know how wonderful they are.
I don't understand the constant complaints about software. I own over 20 titles on the Vita, and the system has only been out for 10 months here in the US.
For comparison, I owned about 7 games for the PS3 during a similar 10 month period, and 4 Xbox 360 games during a similar 10 month period (from the launch of both consoles).
Factoring in backwards compatibility, I have a lot of things to do on my Vita that keeps me busy. At this point, I think that if you can't find anything to do with your Vita, or a compelling reason to pick one up, it may not be the handheld for you, if at all. Maybe it's because I'm not madly in love with Smart Phone gaming (I find it shallow and boring), that I felt a dedicated handheld device was perfect for me.
I use my Vita more than I use my PS3 these days. The hardware is, indeed, top notch, and I feel the software is also amazing. I feel that the year one software library of Vita specific (not PSP or PS1) titles has been fantastic, and better than any console I've ever owned during its first year.
I think Sony could be more aggressive with marketing, but the system isn't really lacking in software, just maybe software that interests you.
I also love the home console experience on the go. I think LBP Vita is the definitive way to play the game. The touch screen interface alone changes the way that game can be approached, and opens up a lot of creative options on the community side. AC3: Lib is buggy in a lot of ways, but the game feels like an Assassin's Creed game, and not a stripped down half assed job like AC: Bloodlines was. I felt that Uncharted: Golden Abyss was a better game than Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and never expected it to top UC2 or 3 (the Vita is a powerful handheld, but it's not a miracle worker).
I still don't get why you think Sony should kill the Vita? Why pull a Sega, and pull the plug on a machine that hasn't even seen its first birthday, just because it's not selling through the roof? I think, in the end, much like the PS3 and PSP, the Vita will have a sizable userbase, even if it's not going to breach 100 million, or even 70 million, like the PSP did.
For me, it's a real gamer's enthusiast device. It has all the bells and whistles that I think can cover a lot of different types of gaming experiences, from casual to hardcore.
Have you checked out the various Vita software threads on GAF? Looking at the lineup of titles for the rest of 2012, and well into next year, I can't really see how anyone could walk away from it's prospects with a bleak outlook.
But then again, I was in the market for a portable gaming device, and Smart Phones and the 3DS didn't do it for me software wise.
For comparison, I owned about 7 games for the PS3 during a similar 10 month period, and 4 Xbox 360 games during a similar 10 month period (from the launch of both consoles).
Factoring in backwards compatibility, I have a lot of things to do on my Vita that keeps me busy. At this point, I think that if you can't find anything to do with your Vita, or a compelling reason to pick one up, it may not be the handheld for you, if at all. Maybe it's because I'm not madly in love with Smart Phone gaming (I find it shallow and boring), that I felt a dedicated handheld device was perfect for me.
I use my Vita more than I use my PS3 these days. The hardware is, indeed, top notch, and I feel the software is also amazing. I feel that the year one software library of Vita specific (not PSP or PS1) titles has been fantastic, and better than any console I've ever owned during its first year.
I think Sony could be more aggressive with marketing, but the system isn't really lacking in software, just maybe software that interests you.
I also love the home console experience on the go. I think LBP Vita is the definitive way to play the game. The touch screen interface alone changes the way that game can be approached, and opens up a lot of creative options on the community side. AC3: Lib is buggy in a lot of ways, but the game feels like an Assassin's Creed game, and not a stripped down half assed job like AC: Bloodlines was. I felt that Uncharted: Golden Abyss was a better game than Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and never expected it to top UC2 or 3 (the Vita is a powerful handheld, but it's not a miracle worker).
I still don't get why you think Sony should kill the Vita? Why pull a Sega, and pull the plug on a machine that hasn't even seen its first birthday, just because it's not selling through the roof? I think, in the end, much like the PS3 and PSP, the Vita will have a sizable userbase, even if it's not going to breach 100 million, or even 70 million, like the PSP did.
For me, it's a real gamer's enthusiast device. It has all the bells and whistles that I think can cover a lot of different types of gaming experiences, from casual to hardcore.
Have you checked out the various Vita software threads on GAF? Looking at the lineup of titles for the rest of 2012, and well into next year, I can't really see how anyone could walk away from it's prospects with a bleak outlook.
But then again, I was in the market for a portable gaming device, and Smart Phones and the 3DS didn't do it for me software wise.
I was thinking about this, in more general terms. What if Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft required more stringent controls over quality from developers releasing software on their console? I was thinking in terms of minimum frame rate, bugs, etc. I don't think Sony could afford a buggy COD launch at this point.
A price cut, chiefly. They don't have the financial leeway to do one now so they will 'sit where they are with it' for now. But they won't pull the plug while there is a price curve to explore and while the device potentially has a role in supporting other initiatives even if the Vita platform on its own is unlikely to be a huge business. If the business is not costing them very much there seems little reason not to keep it around for experimentation.
Haint
Member
Vita should have been marketed as a mini tablet, a new age PMP, a smartphone without the phone. It needed to run a stock or mildly skinned Android (updated regularly and quickly), it needed access to Google Play, it needed the best mobile browsers available. They could have even kept their shitty OS for Vita specific content launching (security concerns) and just implemented a user friendly dual boot scheme. As it stands, there just very little value in the device and it's tanking as a result.
Winnie the Pimp
Member
This cannot be repeated often enough i feel:
- What game does Vita currently offer that can NOT be played anywhere else that people will buy the system for on a MASS scale?
...
- What game does Vita currently offer that can NOT be played anywhere else that people will buy the system for on a MASS scale?
...
The truth hurts doesn't it?
I'd imagine if they don't want to get fired they'll be putting out a bunch of ads for christmas..surely they can't be that broke - I know they won't be that dumb.
This cannot be repeated often enough i feel:
- What game does Vita currently offer that can NOT be played anywhere else that people will buy the system for on a MASS scale?
...
It's a handheld device, that has its own appeal.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
That didn't stop Nintendo.
chickdigger802
Banned
Biggest issue atm is the biggest western titles of this fall AC:L, and Declassified are both kinda meh (Well tbf declassified ain't out yet, but I'd be super surprised if it's great).
It all depends on marketing pretty much.
It all depends on marketing pretty much.
Stop them from doing what? Sorry :S
SkylineRKR
Member
Yeah but GT for handheld... It feels wrong to me. I'd rather play an arcade racer on that. I'd much rather had an actually awesome Ridge Racer Vita than the travesty we got.
Same goes for GoW, GTA and FF... Ghost of Sparta was better on Ps3 I thought, while a game like Lumines is clearly better on handheld imo.
MagiusNecros
Gilgamesh Fan Annoyance
Depending on what the poster meant as in a game you can't play anywhere else.
GT is shitty on the PSP...it also probably sold more than 2 million copies in Europe.
Sammy Samusu
Member
Is it Xmas already?!
Father_Brain
Banned
Can you elaborate on what you mean by this? You have a habit of throwing around vaguely positive phrases - "other cards to play," "other initiatives" - without explanation. Gaikai? A price cut won't do much in itself without software that would sell even in a healthier ecosystem, and there's none on the horizon.
Yeah you are a typical gamer.idk, man, I feel like it would really make a difference
then again I have no real way of knowing. I just think that current software line-up + price cut might be enough for a lot of people on the fence
Fabrik - I'm sure they aren't all VITA games You can muster up quite a large collection with minis/psm/ps1/psp games as well.
Ah right (had a brain fart) - more unique titles etc.. well yeah that would definitely help! Guess it costs too much these days. I actually don't mind playing ports on the vita but that's because I generally prefer to game on it (eg NFS MW) but yeah I know there are a whole bunch that just want totally new stuff as they prefer their console. Costs a lot and I wouldn't expect too many titles like Gravity Rush and Tearaway (risky and expensive with a small userbase) - especially from 3rd parties..not for a while anyway.
You can muster up quite a large collection with minis/psm/ps1/psp games as well.Ah right (had a brain fart) - more unique titles etc.. well yeah that would definitely help! Guess it costs too much these days. I actually don't mind playing ports on the vita but that's because I generally prefer to game on it (eg NFS MW) but yeah I know there are a whole bunch that just want totally new stuff as they prefer their console. Costs a lot and I wouldn't expect too many titles like Gravity Rush and Tearaway (risky and expensive with a small userbase) - especially from 3rd parties..not for a while anyway.
Supermanisdead
Member
AC Liberation would be the game Vita needed at launch. Not saying Vita had a bad launch line-up, but Liberation needs to be far, far away from the huge shadow of AC3.
Shitty?
....Grrrrr. It's as good as a portable sim gets, hampered by the lack of a full career mode. Shitty seems a tad harsh.
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