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[PaulloDEC]

I bought my Vita on launch day and I'm yet to regret it. I think the Vita is a fantastic machine with tons of great games on it, anyone saying that the Vita lacks games is wrong.

Same for me. In fact, mine is beside me charging right now. Earlier I was playing the Killzone Mercenary beta, followed by some Spyro 2 and then later on a little of Stealth Inc (A Clone in the Dark) and When Vikings Attack.

I've got nothing but good things to say about the Vita, and so long as I continue to have a healthy amount of PSN/PS1/PSP titles available to tide me over between the big releases, I'll be a happy guy.

 

[Drek]

The thing about the Vita is it seems to have no weakness as a platform. Brilliant hardware much more powerful than anything else, well designed with plenty of features you would expect from a modern console.

The thing is though it isn't selling, Sonys current plan of well spaced 1st party games and indies to fill the blanks isn't working.

It's MSRP is the weakness. How did Nintendo with the Nintendo brand and Nintendo IPs (all things synonymous with handheld sales success) do when they rolled the 3DS out at $250?

Thats right, they quickly took a bath on it per-unit and slashed MSRP $80. That happened about a year before the Vita released, and in that year we saw smartphones go from moderately high end cell phone to a near ubiquity and we saw tablets go from $400+ to ~$200 for a worthwhile device.

If the Vita had launched at $200 and was now moving down to $150 it might have a very different story to tell, but it didn't because Sony could barely tread water per unit at $250.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

But why look forward to a bunch of games I've already played before? You're honestly telling me you'd rather have a bunch of games you've played before or can play somewhere else, over a bunch of unique games built for the system?

I am not saying you can't be happy with what's to come. I just question the claim that the system is just hitting its stride when we already saw a lot of awesome games come out. To me, the system's stride was its first year.

Why not trump a ton of games which I've never had he chance to play on a portable? I'm trying to simply boil this down and mind you I'm ignoring recent gmaes like Spelunky. Great games will be a great value no matter where they've been. I don't know anyone who has any of the games I listed because they don't have a good PC or simply don't want to deal with PC. These are the same people who are more interested in the PS4. Just because we here on GAF might have played a lot of the games on PC or PS3 it doesn't mean the majority of the gamer has. And certainly not on a portable. There is convenience but as I said before, the games do the talking. I don't care if I own a few of them. I haven't had a chance to play them with my friends or family and I haven't enjoyed any of them on a portable with little compromises made to the original vision.

Nearly everyone that has a Vita seems to love it. What Sony can't do is convince people to buy one. How do you market indie games to sell a failing console?

I never said that but tell me, how does that discredit the games?

I've said before regarding Vita - For a failed platform, it has the heart of a winning one. We can laugh at Vita sales but the games are no laughing matter.

Vita needs bigger games at retail but that ship might have sailed or maybe it will always have a small crowd which really loves the platform because it offers a lot of things you cannot get on any other portable. I already noted the options Sony affords us with cross buy/save/play but those aren't going to move more units. Not enough to shake things up at least.

 

[SmokyDave]

But why look forward to a bunch of games I've already played before? You're honestly telling me you'd rather have a bunch of games you've played before or can play somewhere else, over a bunch of unique games built for the system?

I just want good games. I don't care if other people have already played them, or if they're available anywhere else. I want good games to play on my favourite hardware.

I am not saying you can't be happy with what's to come. I just question the claim that the system is just hitting its stride when we already saw a lot of awesome games come out. To me, the system's stride was its first year.

I agree with this though, it's not gaining pace at all. It started strong and then plummeted to where it is now. The software in the pipeline is corking for existing owners, but it ain't going to draw in 'the masses'. That said, nothing Sony can feasibly do will pull in the masses.

 

[Frodo]

This is some of the stupidest shit I've read on NeoGAF this week. Sony has been far and away the content leader at retail for Vita. Their launch window alone was one of the best this industry has ever seen with Uncharted, WipEout, Unit 13, Stardust Delta, Hot Shots Golf, etc. all coming out in the first few months. Gravity Rush, Soul Sacrifice, LBP Vita, and the Drinkbox games they've helped to fund, etc. are all good games regardless of format. This holiday they have Killzone: Mercenary and Tearaway, two of the most interesting handheld releases of all time.

Sony's support for the Vita isn't the problem. The fact that no one (well, very few of us) actually wants console gaming on the go is the problem. KZ:M looks absolutely incredible but will have very little market penetration because the number of people even receptive to the idea of handheld FPS gaming is comparatively small and it gets far smaller when the FPS in question isn't name Call of Duty.

Allow me to disagree.

I do agree that maybe games like KZ:M might not be the perfect fit for the handheld market, but saying Sony's support isn't a problem is the same thing as saying the Wii U had enough support from Nintendo until now. Saying Sony is the content leader for the Vita when it is mostly being ignored by third parties receiving only niche games and ports doesn't mean much.

Launch window wise, the Vita was fine. Excellent even. But what next? Where are the other games announced? People have been waiting for the big Vita announcement for a year now and all we get are ports and indie games you can play everywhere else. Sony needs way more Tearaways in order to save the system, and the thing is, it doesn't look like they really want to do that. Otherwise all they WW studios wouldn't be working ONLY in PS4 games. Some people may be happy with Vita the way it is now, and honestly, that is completely understandable. It is a great system and has some great games already. But when we are discussing the market as a whole, these games have clearly not been enough and we are going to need way more than what we have now if we want Vita to be a success like the PSP was or even close to that.

Third parties don't seem very keen on putting big exclusive games on the Vita and in the end this is what sells consoles. Exclusive experiences you can't have anywhere else. If Sony doesn't do it now, no one will. And if the Vita fails we will have no one to blame but Sony.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

They need to get exclusive "big" retail games and market the shit out of them. Why is there no Killzone bundle announced for NA? I can guarantee you that the marketing for it will be terrible too. Instead of closing down zipper and liverpool, why not just downsize them and make them into dedicated Vita developers? Why are they acting like people will buy a 200+ handheld for indie games I can already play on other platforms?

Sony is either:
1. fucking stupid
2.just don't care
3.both

You don't put out a 250$ handheld with expensive proprietary memory cards, no system selling games and say "well the market has changed". Yes smart phones and tablets are big now but there is no excuse for you selling 20k a month. PSP was a fluke by the way, a lightning in a bottle just like Wii was, their strategy with Vita proves it.

 

[JDMC13]

The Vita went into R&D well before two years ago, and even when it released Japan at least hadn't surrendered completely to smartphones and tablets.

The Vita began R&D while Stringer was still CEO and Stringer had zero pull with the Japanese hardware engineering end of Sony.

What should they have done instead? Just shut the thing down when it was all but done, when they had nothing else in the mobile sector at the time worth producing?

They weren't losing much of anything per unit at release, likely still aren't now, and have some pretty impressive tie ratios on software along with fat markups on memory cards. I'm sure they're doing ok from a profitability standpoint, and any little bit they can squeeze out of it helps subsidize the already sunk R&D costs their engineering teams led them into.

There's a reason why Sony handed the lead position on PS4's R&D over the Cerny, an American born software guy, instead of the traditional hardware engineering side who for decades have made all design decisions almost unilaterally, and it's not just that Cerny's dulcet tones wooed Kaz over. The Vita was the last "old Sony" product where the engineers got to have their fun and not think about market realities. Hirai has made it quite clear there will no longer be competing products developed in-house, no more engineering teams working effectively in secret from management, and no more backstabbing between divisions. Stringer paid lip service to this while spending all his time doting over his media division darlings. Hirai has already thwarted one activist investor attempt to fracture the company, broke against the hardware engineers on multiple fronts (most notably the PS4 but also their TV division overhauls), and is the first CEO to actually make Sony Pictures show the fuck up to a Playstation event.


The Vita isn't the child of the current power players within Sony. They don't want it to be a failure, but they'll never prioritize it over the PS4, the Xperia line, or even Gaikai as a gateway into all smartphone gaming. The Vita wasn't built with a forward thinking market vision and trying to reverse-engineer one for already released hardware isn't exactly an easy task.


This is some of the stupidest shit I've read on NeoGAF this week. Sony has been far and away the content leader at retail for Vita. Their launch window alone was one of the best this industry has ever seen with Uncharted, WipEout, Unit 13, Stardust Delta, Hot Shots Golf, etc. all coming out in the first few months. Gravity Rush, Soul Sacrifice, LBP Vita, and the Drinkbox games they've helped to fund, etc. are all good games regardless of format. This holiday they have Killzone: Mercenary and Tearaway, two of the most interesting handheld releases of all time.

Sony's support for the Vita isn't the problem. The fact that no one (well, very few of us) actually wants console gaming on the go is the problem. KZ:M looks absolutely incredible but will have very little market penetration because the number of people even receptive to the idea of handheld FPS gaming is comparatively small and it gets far smaller when the FPS in question isn't name Call of Duty.

I love it when I can come into a thread, read one post, and feel like I've learned something. Thank You. I always kinda wondered why they didn't just go back to the drawing board and make it a phone like Apple did (iPod -> iPhone).

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

I've been tempted to buy a Vita a few times but it was the cost that put me off. I just couldn't bring myself to pay Sony prices for their memory sticks. So for me the issue was that there was no compelling game to force me to stump up for their memory cards.

The prices have dropped now so i may pick up a Vita closer to the PS4 launch.

 

[Razgreez]

I keep reading that the vita needs games yet my Vita is choc full of them. I just purchased both ACL and LBPV for under the equivalent of ~$25 and KZM is for sale at ~$35 plus pre-order bonuses on the EU store (i cancelled my physical order which was $45).
The sharing of PS+ across systems is making impulse purchases very difficult to avoid and i'm still scratching my head while struggling to understand how sony is making money off this program. Vita remote play added to PS+ might be the reason why i purchase a games console in the first year of release (well one which hasn't "fallen off the back of a truck") at full price for the first time. It's basically a fear of missing out on those early once off PS+ deals on the PS4 like i did on the vita.

The vita's issue is not the games, it has a mountain of those. It's the ridiculous prices for those memory cards. Just die in a fire whoever thought up that scheme although i figure it weighs heavily into the profitability of the platform

 

[TechnicPuppet]

Why not trump a ton of games which I've never had he chance to play on a portable? I'm trying to simply boil this down and mind you I'm ignoring recent gmaes like Spelunky. Great games will be a great value no matter where they've been. I don't know anyone who has any of the games I listed because they don't have a good PC or simply don't want to deal with PC. These are the same people who are more interested in the PS4. Just because we here on GAF might have played a lot of the games on PC or PS3 it doesn't mean the majority of the gamer has. And certainly not on a portable. There is convenience but as I said before, the games do the talking. I don't care if I own a few of them. I haven't had a chance to play them with my friends or family and I haven't enjoyed any of them on a portable with little compromises made to the original vision.

I never said that but tell me, how does that discredit the games?

I've said before regarding Vita - For a failed platform, it has the heart of a winning one. We can laugh at Vita sales but the games are no laughing matter.

The Vitas library isn't good enough to convince people to buy it.

 

[fastford58]

I just bought a Vita for remote play with PS4 for when the fam is capitalizing on the TV. I've never been much of a handheld gamer, but I am enjoying it outside of remote play.

I'm playing through Uncharted right now and it is surprisingly good. I also have dabbled in the Killzone beta (which I suck heavily at, but it is fun), Wipeout, and Gravity Rush. Seems like a great little system.

 

[TechnicPuppet]

It's MSRP is the weakness. How did Nintendo with the Nintendo brand and Nintendo IPs (all things synonymous with handheld sales success) do when they rolled the 3DS out at $250?

Thats right, they quickly took a bath on it per-unit and slashed MSRP $80. That happened about a year before the Vita released, and in that year we saw smartphones go from moderately high end cell phone to a near ubiquity and we saw tablets go from $400+ to ~$200 for a worthwhile device.

If the Vita had launched at $200 and was now moving down to $150 it might have a very different story to tell, but it didn't because Sony could barely tread water per unit at $250.

It costs about the same as a 3DS XL in the UK. This isn't solely about price.

 

[Wickerbasket]

Zavvi has one for £143.99

Got mine at Amazon for ~146 IIRC, but now it's back to 169.

That's the cheapest I've seen it, but I was hoping there would be cheaper prices everywhere and maybe some good bundle deals. I'm just surprised that the price still seems to be pretty much the same everywhere after the price drop.

They also announced new Mega Game packs at Gamescom and haven't said anything about it since.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

The Vitas library isn't good enough to convince people to buy it.

That's fine and I don't disagree with their system selling potential. People aren't going to see the amazing games coming to PSN at their local Walmart.

Those great games are still coming though and I couldn't be happier as someone who is invested in the platform.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Well, they convinced me. *shrugs*

Never owned a handheld before. Bought:

- PSVita Wifi
- Persona 4 Golden
- 32GB card
- carrying pouch

all for ~252GBP total (including shipping). It's in the post now, hope it arrives by the end of the week.

Unless that's some amazing pouch or super expensive shipping it sounds like you overpaid.

 

[m.i.s.]

I keep reading that the vita needs games yet my Vita is choc full of them.

It's not that the games don't exist. They do. It's just that the market for these games is on Playstation consoles.

 

[MaverickHunterX]

Two things:

1. In the press release, what were the Mega Packs announced last week?

2. This may sound stupid, but at times, I wish we would get more (quality) ports in between key titles releases a la PSP. One of my favorite things about the original PSP was that buying a port was nearly exactly like playing the same title on PS2 (the Capcom releases, the classic collections, etc. come to mind...). I wouldnt mind paying 20-30 for the same console experience on the go. Dont get me wrong; the indie support is nice, but its not the same thing...

 

[Atolm]

3DS is doing pretty well. But thats because Nintendo pumps out tons of games. This year we had Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem, Mario & Luigi Dream Team, etc. Not only that but exclusives like Pokemon XY, Sonic Lost World, Super Smash Brothers, and other games are coming up.

Sony needs to bring out more games, plain and simple. And I don't mean Playstation 3 ports with long load times. I mean games designed ground up for the Vita. Tearaway and KZ are two great examples.

Pretty much. Indie games are great and all, but they don't sell many machines. They're suplemental to the big profile releases. Sony advertised the Vita as a high-tech device. The potential buyers of such device don't care about indies for the most part.

Listen, I love my Vita. I don't do PC Gaming so the indie push is a godsend, and the machine has some great exclusives, but it needs a steady flow of middle and big profile releases to get rid of the "Vita haz no gaemz" stigma. Right now those game droughts are killing it.

Killzone Mercenary is great (although I'm interested about the game mostly because of the starvation, and I suspect many Vita owners feel the same) and all but the system needs a game like that every two months at least. Niche stuff like Ys or Dragon's Crown or Muramasa isn't enough either.

Otherwise, let's just accept that the Vita is a indie and niche games machine. And I'm fine with that. But let's not fool ourselves. Vita is a dedicated handheld, it won't succeed just because of a few ports from iOS and Android. No one dumps 200€ on a dedicated gaming device expecting that.

 

[PureGone]

All the Vita needs to succeed is Monster Hunter

 

[Apath]

It costs about the same as a 3DS XL in the UK. This isn't solely about price.

Do we know what percentage of 3DS sales the XL makes up?

Killzone Mercenary is great (although I'm interested about the game mostly because of the starvation, and I suspect many Vita owners feel the same) and all but the system needs a game like that every two months at least. Niche stuff like Ys or Dragon's Crown or Muramasa aren't enough either.

Killzone is looking to be one of the best games to come out for the system. Software starvation has its part, but I'll be damned if I'm not amazed every time I play the Mercenary beta.

 

[Tohsaka]

The only change I want is more localized Japanese games. I don't really care about indies because I can and would rather play them on my PS3/4.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

All the Vita needs to succeed is Monster Hunter

For Japan? Maybe. It wouldn't make a dent WW.

 

[j0hnny_385]

That's the cheapest I've seen it, but I was hoping there would be cheaper prices everywhere and maybe some good bundle deals. I'm just surprised that the price still seems to be pretty much the same everywhere after the price drop.

They also announced new Mega Game packs at Gamescom and haven't said anything about it since.

Insane deals pop up here and there.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

That's the cheapest I've seen it, but I was hoping there would be cheaper prices everywhere and maybe some good bundle deals. I'm just surprised that the price still seems to be pretty much the same everywhere after the price drop.

They also announced new Mega Game packs at Gamescom and haven't said anything about it since.

Just wait it out, game were offering vita + soulsac or megapack for 150 before the drop, and play had the same deal + fifa dl code after the price drop.

Now that amazon is selling the 32gb card for £40, the vita is looking a respectable purchase once danganronpa drops.

 

[TechnicPuppet]

Do we know what percentage of 3DS sales the XL makes up?

Sorry I have no idea.

 

[Apath]

Sorry I have no idea.

No problem, I was just curious.

 

[coughlanio]

Weren't smartphones already freaking huge when the Vita was announced?

Vita probably went into R&D/Prototyping late 2008/early 2009, when smartphones weren't as big, especially when it came to gaming.

Saying that, they should have been able to react to the changing markets before it was released, but I guess by that stage, all those $30-$40-$50 games were already in development.

 

[SmokyDave]

Do we know what percentage of 3DS sales the XL makes up?

No. Based on Japanese sales and the SKUs I see in stores, I'd bet that it sells more than the OG version though.

Killzone is looking to be one of the best games to come out for the system. Software starvation has its part, but I'll be damned if I'm not amazed every time I play the Mercenary beta.

Stunning, isn't it. Such a bitch to think that we'll be waiting years for the average handheld game to look that good.

 

[Apath]

Vita probably went into R&D/Prototyping late 2008/early 2009, when smartphones weren't as big, especially when it came to gaming.

Saying that, they should have been able to react to the changing markets before it was released, but I guess by that stage, all those $30-$40-$50 games were already in development.

But what would they have done differently in reaction to the smart phone/tablet market? Reduce the hardware to a ~$100-$150 price point and offer specs roughly equivalent to the 3DS?

No. Based on Japanese sales and the SKUs I see in stores, I'd bet that it sells more than the OG version though.

I know it's very difficult to compare stuff to Nintendo hardware because their games are practically magic in terms of their appeal, but it's interesting to note how the prices between the 3DS and Vita are similar (now), and both offer roughly the same type of experiences as their major draw. Do we know for sure that the price drop wasn't enough to have any impact on the Vita's market performance?

Stunning, isn't it. Such a bitch to think that we'll be waiting years for the average handheld game to look that good.

Hopefully we won't be waiting years to see another Vita title like it.

 

[glaurung]

Read the thread title... first idea was that it was designed for the parallel universe of Fringe. It would have sold boatloads there.

But I am glad they're adjusting their goals and approach in light of the reception and reactions. If Vita will indeed become the PS4 gamepad, it might just change everything.

 

[Aostia]

Read the thread title... first idea was that it was designed for the parallel universe of Fringe. It would have sold boatloads there.

Jokes apart, they probably meant the "mobile world", but I think that probably Vita was designed with the "Japan" world in mind, too.

 

[Father_Brain]

Because it probably is (SCE controlled by Kaz, SCE controlled by House). I still believe SCEA didn't want to launch the thing.

They wouldn't neglect Vita two E3s in a row unless they wanted to neglect it. Not that either of the other branches have an actual strategy for raising sales significantly beyond their current level, but they at least act like they care.

 

[Zoc]

I have a Vita but I really don't have any loyalty to it as a platform. I don't care if it's popular. I only bought it because it had about a dozen games that I wanted. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

but I think that probably Vita was designed with the "Japan" world in mind, too.

If it had been designed with the japan world in mind it would have come with a huge moneyhat to capcpom

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

They wouldn't neglect Vita two E3s in a row unless they wanted to neglect it. Not that either of the other branches have an actual strategy for raising sales significantly beyond their current level, but they at least act like they care.

agreed

 

[CaptainTiptop]

Is this why Tearaway is £20 at launch? I'm all for £20 RRP on Vita games.

 

[Wickerbasket]

Insane deals pop up here and there.

By the time I'd seen that deal the price had already went back up, but I'm keeping my eye on that thread for deals.

Just wait it out, game were offering vita + soulsac or megapack for 150 before the drop, and play had the same deal + fifa dl code after the price drop.

Now that amazon is selling the 32gb card for £40, the vita is looking a respectable purchase once danganronpa drops.

Yeah, I figured I'd wait it out, but I'd obviously rather see the prices drop sooner rather than later. I thought the prices would drop as soon as they announced the price drop, but they seem pretty similar to the prices before the drop.

I'll just need to keep an eye out for good deals.

 

[Y2Kev]

They wouldn't neglect Vita two E3s in a row unless they wanted to neglect it. Not that either of the other branches have an actual strategy for raising sales significantly beyond their current level, but they at least act like they care.

You're supposing this is a choice. What exactly do you think they can show?

 

[KimonoNoNo]

The Vita went into R&D well before two years ago, and even when it released Japan at least hadn't surrendered completely to smartphones and tablets.

The Vita began R&D while Stringer was still CEO and Stringer had zero pull with the Japanese hardware engineering end of Sony.

What should they have done instead? Just shut the thing down when it was all but done, when they had nothing else in the mobile sector at the time worth producing?

They weren't losing much of anything per unit at release, likely still aren't now, and have some pretty impressive tie ratios on software along with fat markups on memory cards. I'm sure they're doing ok from a profitability standpoint, and any little bit they can squeeze out of it helps subsidize the already sunk R&D costs their engineering teams led them into.

There's a reason why Sony handed the lead position on PS4's R&D over the Cerny, an American born software guy, instead of the traditional hardware engineering side who for decades have made all design decisions almost unilaterally, and it's not just that Cerny's dulcet tones wooed Kaz over. The Vita was the last "old Sony" product where the engineers got to have their fun and not think about market realities. Hirai has made it quite clear there will no longer be competing products developed in-house, no more engineering teams working effectively in secret from management, and no more backstabbing between divisions. Stringer paid lip service to this while spending all his time doting over his media division darlings. Hirai has already thwarted one activist investor attempt to fracture the company, broke against the hardware engineers on multiple fronts (most notably the PS4 but also their TV division overhauls), and is the first CEO to actually make Sony Pictures show the fuck up to a Playstation event.


The Vita isn't the child of the current power players within Sony. They don't want it to be a failure, but they'll never prioritize it over the PS4, the Xperia line, or even Gaikai as a gateway into all smartphone gaming. The Vita wasn't built with a forward thinking market vision and trying to reverse-engineer one for already released hardware isn't exactly an easy task.


This is some of the stupidest shit I've read on NeoGAF this week. Sony has been far and away the content leader at retail for Vita. Their launch window alone was one of the best this industry has ever seen with Uncharted, WipEout, Unit 13, Stardust Delta, Hot Shots Golf, etc. all coming out in the first few months. Gravity Rush, Soul Sacrifice, LBP Vita, and the Drinkbox games they've helped to fund, etc. are all good games regardless of format. This holiday they have Killzone: Mercenary and Tearaway, two of the most interesting handheld releases of all time.

Sony's support for the Vita isn't the problem. The fact that no one (well, very few of us) actually wants console gaming on the go is the problem. KZ:M looks absolutely incredible but will have very little market penetration because the number of people even receptive to the idea of handheld FPS gaming is comparatively small and it gets far smaller when the FPS in question isn't name Call of Duty.

Well said, agree 100%.

Sony's only choice now is to try and steer Vita towards the niche, because the mainstream was never going to adopt it.

 

[Prince Vultan]

Come the holidays, bundle Minecraft with every Vita, plaster that shit everywhere, play up cross-play, cross-save and whatever other interaction there is with other versions on more popular platforms and watch sales take a big upswing in time for Christmas.

Might not "save" the Vita (Whatever would constitute saving exactly), but I would bet a kidney it'd see a notable improvement in the Vita's sales... though for how long I have no idea.

What's to lose from at least trying though amirite? Just put in a little bit of effo...

Oh wait... SCEA... Never mind.

For Japan? Maybe. It wouldn't make a dent WW.

Yup, nowhere outside Japan gives a shit about Monster Hunter, and in Japan Vita is already the number 2 console on the market, which realistically is as high a position it will ever attain. Monster Hunter on Vita would be an irrelevance at this point.

 

[Drek]

Allow me to disagree.

Sure, you're wrong, but everyone is entitled to that choice.

I do agree that maybe games like KZ:M might not be the perfect fit for the handheld market, but saying Sony's support isn't a problem is the same thing as saying the Wii U had enough support from Nintendo until now.

Your previous statement was one of the dumbest things I'd seen on here this week. Equating Sony's support to date of the Vita with Nintendo's support of the Wii U is "dumb post of the year material".

Here's what Sony has released on the Vita to date, only counting PSN titles where it has been made a matter of public record that they directly funded creation of the game:
Hot Shots Golf 6
Gravity Rush
Little Big Planet Vita
Little Deviants
MLB The Show 2012
MLB the Show 2013
Modnation Racers: Road Trip
Motorstorm RC
Pinball Heroes Complete
Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale
Ratchet and Clank: Full Frontal Assault
Reality Fighters
Resistance Burning Skies
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Smart As
Soul Sacrifice
Super Stardust Delta
Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Unit 13
WipEout 2048
Zombie Tycoon II
Escape Plan
Jacoby Jones and the Big Foot Mystery
Sound Shapes
PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate
Jak and Daxter Collection
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack
Guacamelee!

I also likely missed quite a few, this is just a list I could quickly find and transcribe from Wikipedia.

Saying Sony is the content leader for the Vita when it is mostly being ignored by third parties receiving only niche games and ports doesn't mean much.

Hold the fuck up. You said Sony wasn't supplying enough content before and relying on third parties. Don't try wheeling those goal posts about now.

Launch window wise, the Vita was fine. Excellent even. But what next? Where are the other games announced?

Post-launch they've put out LBP Vita, another MLB The Show, Soul Sacrifice, Guacamelee!, and have Killzone: Mercenary and Tearaway coming this holiday season. Along with that they have put out a bunch of other middling content, but all of these have been or have the clear potential to be top tier games regardless of format.

People have been waiting for the big Vita announcement for a year now and all we get are ports and indie games you can play everywhere else. Sony needs way more Tearaways in order to save the system, and the thing is, it doesn't look like they really want to do that. Otherwise all they WW studios wouldn't be working ONLY in PS4 games. Some people may be happy with Vita the way it is now, and honestly, that is completely understandable. It is a great system and has some great games already. But when we are discussing the market as a whole, these games have clearly not been enough and we are going to need way more than we have now if we want Vita to be a success like the PSP was or even close to that.

So now you've shifted over the future releases when your first post was quite clearly directed at Sony's software support to date. Again, moving goal posts.

Also, in the near future we already know that Sony has Killzone: Mercenary, Tearaway, Hohokum, Future Wars, Destiny of Spirits, Big Fest, Helldivers, Murasaki Baby, Lemmings Touch, Vita Pets, and ports of Borderlands 2 (which they're publishing), the God of War collection, Dead Nation, and Flower. This from a company who hasn't even officially announced MLB 14 for the Vita, which we all know is coming in early 2014. That on top of a cavalcade of small studio PSN support that Sony themselves are orchestrating.

I'd say they're doing their part when it comes to getting compelling software on the system.

Sony stuck their dick in a bear trap with how early they announced some titles for PSP and again with the Vita's reveal. A more cautious approach on announcements should be appreciated, if anything.

Third parties don't seem very keen on putting big exclusive games on the Vita and in the end this is what sells consoles. Exclusive experiences you can't have anywhere else. If Sony doesn't do it now, no one will. And if the Vita fails we will have no one to blame but Sony.

You act like selling consoles is a binary equation. Like getting big exclusives instantly means you sell units. Tell that to the 3DS which is still lagging well behind it's family line in North America and Europe. Sometimes the very core idea of a product is no longer appealing to the market as a whole. That's what dedicated handhelds are. There is literally no software lineup Sony could reveal that would assure them of even hitting 50M units sold for the Vita. Getting MSRP down will have a far geater impact than any handful of exclusives ever could in fact, because in a world where people direct discretionary spending towards smartphones and tablets a unitasker can only survive at a spur of the moment price point.

 

[kitsuneyo]

The PlayStation Vita was designed for a market where smartphones, tablets and freemium games were not the driving force.

I thought Vita was launched two years ago, not five years ago.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Yup, nowhere outside Japan gives a shit about Monster Hunter, and in Japan Vita is already the number 2 console on the market, which realistically is as high a position it will ever attain. Monster Hunter on Vita would be an irrelevance at this point.

monhun would still help though.

with a higher japanese installbase we might start to see more japanese games released for it like we did with the psp.

 

[soundscream]

The Vita was designed for a world where 18-35s want dedicated handhelds. Sadly, this ain't that world.

I have little faith that they can do anything to meaningfully 'turn it around', but I appreciate their efforts.

Dual analog sticks, works as a phone when closed a gaming machine when slid open. They could have made a $700 device, but had it subsidized by mobile carriers.

 

[AuthenticM]

They should turn Vita into an Ouya box and let you hook it up to your TV. $99 PS Vita Fixed?

Yes, they absolutely need an HDMI out for this thing, and the ability to use a Dualshock 4 on the thing.

 

[lights]

Is it? Outside of Tearaway and Killzone, what exclusive big name titles do we know of that are coming to it? All I can think of is Ys.

I wouldn't consider Tearaway a big name title lol.

They may not all be exclusive but games like Toukiden, Final Fantasy X HD, Borderlands 2, God of War: HD Collection, Demon Gaze, Phantasy Star Online 2, Atelier Meruru Plus: The Apprentice of Arland or Valhalla Knights 3 are notable.

 

[Apath]

Here's what Sony has released on the Vita to date, only counting PSN titles where it has been made a matter of public record that they directly funded creation of the game:
Hot Shots Golf 6
Gravity Rush
Little Big Planet Vita
Little Deviants
MLB The Show 2012
MLB the Show 2013
Modnation Racers: Road Trip
Motorstorm RC
Pinball Heroes Complete
Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale
Ratchet and Clank: Full Frontal Assault
Reality Fighters
Resistance Burning Skies
Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Smart As
Soul Sacrifice
Super Stardust Delta
Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Unit 13
WipEout 2048
Zombie Tycoon II
Escape Plan
Jacoby Jones and the Big Foot Mystery
Sound Shapes
PixelJunk Monsters Ultimate
Jak and Daxter Collection
Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack
Guacamelee!

This is what I want Sony to continue doing. I'd like to see more unique IPs from Sony's studios, but it's mostly these kinds of games that I bought the system for.

I wouldn't consider Tearaway a big name title lol.

They may not all be exclusive but games like Toukiden, Final Fantasy X HD, Borderlands 2, God of War: HD Collection, Demon Gaze, Phantasy Star Online 2, Atelier Meruru Plus: The Apprentice of Arland or Valhalla Knights 3 are notable.

When I say "big name", what I really mean is in comparison to indie titles. But you're right, retail games would be a much more fitting monicker.

Yes, they absolutely need an HDMI out for this thing, and the ability to use a Dualshock 4 on the thing.

I agree. The only issue you'll run in to is that some games require the rear touch panel to be used, which would make things difficult considering the DS4's touch pad already has to simulate the touch screen.

 

[casmith07]

Just like anything else, the marketing sucks.

I can't remember ever seeing a commercial for Vita for games like Muramasa Rebirth or Dragon's Crown, or Gravity Rush, or Persona 4, or anything. Just that stupid "play on" commercial with some late-20s douche walking through a busy city playing MLB The Show, and that other 90s-esque "Xtreme" commercial of some dudes playing COD by shooting at eachother with Vitas.

Marketing is a big problem. There are great games on Vita. Many are much better than those on 3DS. They just aren't telling anybody about them.

 

[Aostia]

If it had been designed with the japan world in mind it would have come with a huge moneyhat to capcpom

well, after having sold 4 millions of copies of MHP3, probably they didn't imagine that Nintendo steal
Btw in Japan they recovered a little and I think that they will see more support now on

 

[coughlanio]

But what would they have done differently in reaction to the smart phone/tablet market? Reduce the hardware to a ~$100-$150 price point and offer specs roughly equivalent to the 3DS?

I meant in terms of software, cheaper games.

They could have replaced the OLED screen with an IPS panel, and included a 16GB memory card, just to make the price more attractive to consumers.