It's a load of bullshit that they didn't have enough time. 15 minutes of fucking wonderbook and 15 minutes of 2 Ubisoft games, even though Ubisoft has their own conference. That's a good 30 minutes to focus on upcoming and new Vita games. Hell, the 10 minute introduction that was nothing but fluff about how the PS family is the best it has ever been (which is a lie) could have all been cut.
Sony says no to PS Vita price cut
- Thread starter Loudninja
- Start date
Little Green Yoda
Member
And you know that those 70 million consumers all bought the PSP for the gr4fix, how? Between Playstation branding/hype, games, piracy, media, etc., are we to believe that the majority of that userbase bought it for the shiny stuff?
Sure. But it's obvious that Sony considered the strong on floor presence enough to make up for a weak conference showing.
In the long run prioritizing the mass media items for the conference and the gamer specific stuff for the show floor is the right move. They could have given the Vita more lip service, but it doesn't mean they didn't know what they were doing. It's the right concept, just the wrong balance.
However, promising some longer term 1st party releases would have done wonders. If they'd given the Vita 5 extra minutes, used 3 of them to show a teaser of AC3:L, Guacamelee, Sine Mora, etc. and finished with "these games are on the show floor" and then rolled out just some logo mock ups for Gran Turismo Vita, Infamous Vita, a new Parapa the Rapper for Vita, and a new Demon's Souls only on Vita with no media or definite dates we would have a MASSIVELY different public reaction.
Again, Wonderbook is a mass market product they wanted to push in the only part of E3 the mass media pays attention to - conferences.
And Ubisoft currently has the most high profile 3rd party exclusive on the Vita that we've actually seen. You're surprised that Sony spotlighted them in return?
BruiserBear
Banned
I always find it funny that these big executives can admit just a day after their conference that "yeah, I guess you're right, we should have shown more Vita games".
How the fuck do these extremely well paid people not realize the obvious until after the fact, when half the people on this board went into that conference expecting a Vita game barrage?
It's insane that I just found out today that Need for Speed Most Wanted is coming out for the Vita this fall, and that was only because I searched for information regarding it and happened to find it. That information should have been given during Sony's conference, considering it's one of the biggest third party franchises around.
How the fuck do these extremely well paid people not realize the obvious until after the fact, when half the people on this board went into that conference expecting a Vita game barrage?
It's insane that I just found out today that Need for Speed Most Wanted is coming out for the Vita this fall, and that was only because I searched for information regarding it and happened to find it. That information should have been given during Sony's conference, considering it's one of the biggest third party franchises around.
lol thank you.
The Vita lineup is actually very impressive this year... dare I say more impressive than what I've seen from the 3DS (opinion folks!).
even francis says no one cares about the vita!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XzRGAXz64Y&feature=em-uploademail
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XzRGAXz64Y&feature=em-uploademail
EatinOlives
Member
It absolutely baffles me that whoever was in charge of the presser thought Wonderbook was more important than their major handheld they released just four months ago.
What's even more baffling is not a case of "we had nothing to show", which would most definitely be a dire situation for Sony. It's the fact that they DO have games to show, but they chose not to because OMG JK ROWLINGGGG!!!!
Sony keeps shooting itself in the foot. Over and over and over. They're doing everything right, then they turn around at the critical moment and fuck it all up. This is the reason why Sony's in the shitter. I'm amazed after all this bad publicity about Sony being in a rut that THIS happens with Kaz Hirai literally sitting in the front row.
What's even more baffling is not a case of "we had nothing to show", which would most definitely be a dire situation for Sony. It's the fact that they DO have games to show, but they chose not to because OMG JK ROWLINGGGG!!!!
Sony keeps shooting itself in the foot. Over and over and over. They're doing everything right, then they turn around at the critical moment and fuck it all up. This is the reason why Sony's in the shitter. I'm amazed after all this bad publicity about Sony being in a rut that THIS happens with Kaz Hirai literally sitting in the front row.
OldJadedGamer
Banned
Wonderbook is a CES product. Vita is an E3 product. Seriously, how much is this thing going to cost to get in the door? It is $350 just for the system and Move and that isn't counting the actual book. That isn't too mass market price in my book. Again, Wonderbook should not have been at E3 and it should not have taken away from a real game system.
Sony has signed JK Rowling on for it. It's a mass market product that they will push in every region they can, at every show they can.
I'd like to think that after several years in a row now where gamers have bitched about all three hardware manufacturer's conferences they'd have picked up on the fact that MS, Sony, and Nintendo view these presentations as serving an ENTIRELY different purpose than what hardcore gamers think they're for.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Wonderbook being at the conference was fine. Hell don't tell anyone, but I think it could be really cool says the Harry Potter nerd in me.
That being said they didn't need to spend 20 mins on it. They could have spent 10 and it would have been perfectly fine.
That being said they didn't need to spend 20 mins on it. They could have spent 10 and it would have been perfectly fine.
Yes, because every gamer has their opinions set by what is shown at a fairly brief E3 conference. It isn't something for industry professionals that only a microscopic faction of the entire consumer base even realizes is going on right now.
It would be at least as easy correlating negative E3 conference reaction with positive retail results as the inverse. That's how much E3 conferences actually matter.
You said it yourself, they have the games, they're on the show floor. So who cares if they talked about them in a conference?
Yap, I think so too. And it should have a digital version since books are going digital too !
Built in memory doesn't make sense on the Vita. The entire concept is that it's a bridge system between retail and digital distro. Selling a variety of Vita SKUs with 4, 8, etc. GB of internal memory restricts a consumer's willingness to buy more and more digital distro games as they fill up the built in memory.
Meanwhile if Sony was to go with a moderate built in number (say 4GB) and still sold cards the cards would 1. not sell fast enough to subsidize R&D, helping them bring the price down, and 2. we'd still have people bitching about whatever number Sony chooses as not being enough to store the games they want (short of Sony throwing 32GB or more in the thing, which would destroy the pricing model).
Bundling a memory card for free is the way for Sony to go. Personally I think they should have gone with dual card ports. Regardless, 4GB of memory should be in every Vita box shipped to retail. That "hidden" cost at the register is driving off consumers.
Sony screwed up their conference. So what. So did everybody else.
It doesn't mean there are no Vita games. Time to get over it and deal with the reality that there are several quality Vita games coming. It's not like these won't get site coverage, previews, trailers, demos and hype because they couldn't cover everything in the short time they had for a conference.
Sony should have had a seperate Vita conference like Nintendo is doing for the 3DS.
It doesn't mean there are no Vita games. Time to get over it and deal with the reality that there are several quality Vita games coming. It's not like these won't get site coverage, previews, trailers, demos and hype because they couldn't cover everything in the short time they had for a conference.
Sony should have had a seperate Vita conference like Nintendo is doing for the 3DS.
OldJadedGamer
Banned
Getting a Wonderbook in your house is more expensive than buying a Vita + memory card + game.
Three wrongs make a right?
Huh? How much are they expecting to sell those massive AR cards for? Are you including the PS3?
Byakuya769
Member
Yea guys, Wonderbook is so important to JK Rowling she even wrote a short paragraph about it.
Because most of us aren't AT the show floor.
PS3 Wonderbook is $40 ?
Digital Wonderbook should be cheaper. Besides, you can use touch input. If they make it compatible with Vita, we would be happy too. JK Rowling's work is just an exclusive instance of that AR platform.
If they make it compatible with PS Mobile and iOS at the same time, even better !
I read your first sentence and thought were nuts, but then you saved it by saying a card should be bundled in every box. Whatever get's memory into every system with no hidden cost works for me.
The problem is there is no one consolidated place to check for Vita games.
There are plenty released and planned for 2012 but some are arguing about 2013 titles. ^_^
RSLAEV
Member
Dark Octave
Banned
I know there are a million people on Gaf, but I could have sworn that when the Vita's price was first announced, the applause and cheering was pretty unanimous.
ZombiePlatypus
Member
Ahahaha wow. Priorities. Sony knows what they are.
It was.
Then they announced the memory card prices.
For me that is hurting them far more than the cost of the system in itself.
As soon as I saw the memory card prices it became an automatic no buy for me.
GeorgioCostanzaX
Member
That was also before the 3DS dramatically dropped in price: GAFers just feel entitled to a pricedrop on Vita too now since the system isn't doing as well as they hoped and they expect Sony to take a similar hit. Sony can't afford the haircut on the Vita due to how poorly the rest of Sony is doing compared to gaming but they really should consider dropping the memory cards or bundling a 4gb stick standard from now on.
So? We are a VERY tiny, not very vocal (in the grand scheme of things) minority. Why would they pander to us at a conference that will get mainstream media attention if they drop Wonderbook with JK Rowling at it instead of some Vita games?
Will the gaming press never cover those games? Will we never see trailers or screen shots of those games? Will those games never make it to store shelves?
It makes zero difference for the end consumer of the Vita if they gave an extra 5, 10, or even 15 minutes to cover Vita games. What matters is how Sony promotes the Vita over the next couple of years. They can't afford a PS3 media campaign that doesn't find it's voice until year three.
Exactly. The hidden cost needs to be removed, but a clear upgrade path needs to be left open to consumers and at each stage it needs to help subsidize the piracy minimizing proprietary memory format.
Sony does also need to more aggressively price the larger cards. Unlike the 360 where additional proprietary memory was a luxury as most titles were either disc based or small footprint XBLA titles. That has shifted some now on both the 360 and PS3 at the end of their life cycles, but for the Vita that is life from day one. I know the thought is that memory card markup can subsidize the lack of profit margin on hardware, but soon it's only going to prevent gamers from buying more high profit margin DD content because they'd have to buy a new, high cost, card.
Conflict NZ
Member
To all the people pointing at the price announcement thread and asking "250 was Ok then, why is it not now?", that was a long time before the proprietary memory stick announcement. At that point quite a lot of us in that thread believed that there would be internal storage that they had not finalised yet. Then they came out with the announcement of memory sticks and prices. I cancelled my pre-order then and still haven't picked one up. If I can get a MicroSD 32gb card for $25NZD that I could use in a 3DS why should I pay $150NZD for a 32gb Sony Vita stick? They are only hurting themselves with these prices as people won't have the space to download titles off of the store, they are effectively crippling their own ecosystem.
Also Sony has only sold ~60,000 Vitas in Japan since the beginning of the fiscal year. Thats in two months. In fact it would take them three months at their current pace to sell what nintendo sold last week. This is the biggest handheld market in the world. If you don't see the need for a price cut then you are blind.
Also Sony has only sold ~60,000 Vitas in Japan since the beginning of the fiscal year. Thats in two months. In fact it would take them three months at their current pace to sell what nintendo sold last week. This is the biggest handheld market in the world. If you don't see the need for a price cut then you are blind.
Father_Brain
Banned
Or you're looking at the abysmal software sales and the lack of obvious system-sellers on the horizon, and maybe reaching the conclusion that price isn't Vita's most fundamental problem and that a price cut independent of more compelling software would amount to throwing money down a hole.
Lagspike_exe
Member
Price cut right now makes no sense, as Vita has no big games until the Fall season and it would angry the early adopters. GamesCom is a possibility or even somewhere closer to October, synchronised with the Assassin's Creed launch.
They were, and they were crazy. "What a nice piece of kit!" and more remarks all ogling over the hardware and only the hardware. If I had $1 for every time I heard someone praise the 'kit', I'd have been able to afford a Vita.
Conflict NZ
Member
I don't know how many times we have to say this.
Proprietary Memory Cards
Proprietary Memory Cards
Proprietary Memory Cards
Proprietary Memory Cards
Proprietary Memory Cards
Proprietary Memory Cards
Proprietary Memory Cards
Proprietary Memory Cards
Proprietary Memory Cards
Proprietary Memory Cards
Proprietary Memory Cards
1.8M.
demigod
Member
Was this posted? Yeah there's tax which sucks but you get an 8GB memory card. http://www.techbargains.com/news_displayItem.cfm/301850
Father_Brain
Banned
As of the end of March. Probably somewhere around 2.2M now, quite possibly less.