• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

(Reuters) Sony's Vita arrives just as market may be fading

Dead Man

Member
Well that's just not true. Apple has basically single handedly created the modern touch UI norms (which are carried even on Vita) and expanded the audience with easy to learn UI's on all of its devices. This can be seen in the first Ipod even (not going farther back, because I have not experienced them first hand). This is not something subjective, everyone on the industry knows this. You can only ignore the facts if you have an agenda you need to fill.



Talking from your own experience or from your ass?

Mate. Even if Apple did create the touch ui (which I would argue), that says nothing about whether it is special NOW.
 

dose

Member
Reuters said:
It costs more than most phones
Err no Reuters, in the UK it costs around £200, which is a shitload less than one of its main competitors...

qZeHt.jpg
 
Err no Reuters, in the UK it costs around £200, which is a shitload less than one of its main competitors...

qZeHt.jpg

Its like I said though, very, very few of your average punters buy the phones outright. Most get them on contracts. They would not be able to afford to buy it without a contract. The investiment in buying a vita or a smartphone is not exactly comparable.

Having said that, I would take a Vita over my smartphone any day of the week. They are cool gadgets, but as of yet dont excite me much at all.
 

kitch9

Banned
I responded to this message:



Yeah.

Can you provide any evidence over the past 20 years where ANY product Apple produced from a hardware point of view was market leading in terms of performance.

It's not how Apple work, they always pick mid level hardware and try to find an edge and build value through aesthetic or software design/gimmicks. (Video chat (Facetime.)!? and what ever the next to useless voice recognition software is they have now for instance.

There's no two ways about it Tablet/Phone gaming is shit. GTA3 on my Galaxy S2 is shit, it was better on my PSP.

Angry Birds is shit, people download it because its free, but its shit.
 

zoukka

Member
Can you provide any evidence over the past 20 years where ANY product Apple produced from a hardware point of view was market leading in terms of performance.

It's not how Apple work, they always pick mid level hardware and try to find an edge and build value through aesthetic or software design/gimmicks. (Video chat (Facetime.)!? and what ever the next to useless voice recognition software is they have now for instance.

There's no two ways about it Tablet/Phone gaming is shit. GTA3 on my Galaxy S2 is shit, it was better on my PSP.

Angry Birds is shit, people download it because its free, but its shit.

Thanks for dodging the the point repeatedly. It's impossible to argue with someone like you I'm afraid. But I guess that's what fandom is all about.

And yeah GTA3 is not a game suited for mobiles. But maybe you should try FFTactics and Ghost Trick for ports and Hero Academy for original games. Those seem to gather love from the hardcore GAF folks.
 

99%

Member
Sony should have gotten with the times and made a proper PSphone, the Xperia play is a cool idea but underpowered and years too late.

They could have made it big with something competent like that.
 

Dead Man

Member
I responded to this message:



Yeah.

I was only referring to the post I quoted, which had nothing to do with hardware. Only the UI, which you made some dramatic statements about, and which was not really relevant to the state of the hardware.

Edit: Never mind, we are getting pretty off topic here.
 

SmokyDave

Member
Can you provide any evidence over the past 20 years where ANY product Apple produced from a hardware point of view was market leading in terms of performance.

It's not how Apple work, they always pick mid level hardware and try to find an edge and build value through aesthetic or software design/gimmicks. (Video chat (Facetime.)!? and what ever the next to useless voice recognition software is they have now for instance.

There's no two ways about it Tablet/Phone gaming is shit. GTA3 on my Galaxy S2 is shit, it was better on my PSP.

Angry Birds is shit, people download it because its free, but its shit.

Yup, this is exactly the sort of post I expected to find in this topic.

Guess what: your preferences aren't universal.

How much does it kill you to learn that Angry Birds Seasons was the best selling PC game in Finland last week?
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
I miss the days when news reported facts, and restrained itself from trying to push agendas or opinions.

This is tantamount to an advert saying 'don't buy vita or you're an idiot'
 

Dead Man

Member
I miss the days when news reported facts, and restrained itself from trying to push agendas or opinions.

This is tantamount to an advert saying 'don't buy vita or you're an idiot'

Never existed. Editorialising is what started news reporting.
 

99%

Member
Yup, this is exactly the sort of post I expected to find in this topic.

Guess what: your preferences aren't universal.

How much does it kill you to learn that Angry Birds Seasons was the best selling PC game in Finland last week?

Just to add to the preferences talk I played more GTA3 on my Galaxy S2 then on my PC and Xbox. And while not perfect it's pretty damn fun.
 

zoukka

Member
I was only referring to the post I quoted, which had nothing to do with hardware. Only the UI, which you made some dramatic statements about, and which was not really relevant to the state of the hardware.

The general talk was about Apples success, and their OS has been one of the biggest reasons why these devices have sold so well. You can't separate hardware and software when looking at the big picture.
 

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
Err no Reuters, in the UK it costs around £200, which is a shitload less than one of its main competitors...

http://i.imgur.com/qZeHt.jpg[IMG][/QUOTE]

Most people do not buy unlocked off-contract iPhones. A new one comes down to £200 on contract.

The Vita's price problem is a value-proposition, people see more value in smartphones and tablets, not to mention just Apple products in general.

The smartphone/tablet argument is overplayed, but is better thought of if you had that disposable income where people would be happier spending it. The higher the price the more perceived value the product needs to have. For a dedicated handheld that means games, namely killer-apps.

The big launch line-up is over-familiar really, Uncharted 3 too recent in people's minds for the Vita one to have much impact. Everything is what you'd expect, the hardware itself more exciting than the content. That's just not going to fly once the new toy crowd have bought theirs. Sales will tank very quickly.
 

kitch9

Banned
Yup, this is exactly the sort of post I expected to find in this topic.

Guess what: your preferences aren't universal.

How much does it kill you to learn that Angry Birds Seasons was the best selling PC game in Finland last week?

Yeah, maybe so but if you are the type of gamer that gets full satisfaction from the likes of Angry Birds and the vast amount of cut down games on the Appstores then I would agree that maybe the Vita is not for you. I will not argue that for a second.

I will also argue that any console owner who owns a smartphone would find the two gaming experiences incomparable, which is not the case with the Vita.

The question really should be, "are there enough casual to hardcore gamers out there to sustain the Vita?" I think there is.

Sonys not going after the Angry Birds crowd, the phones can keep them, they are going after the guys and gals who have been gaming for years and are looking for the next new thing.
 

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
Yeah, maybe so but if you are the type of gamer that gets full satisfaction from the likes of Angry Birds and the vast amount of cut down games on the Appstores then I would agree that maybe the Vita is not for you. I will not argue that for a second.

I will also argue that any console owner who owns a smartphone would find the two gaming experiences incomparable, which is not the case with the Vita.

The question really should be, "are there enough casual to hardcore gamers out there to sustain the Vita?" I think there is.

Sonys not going after the Angry Birds crowd, the phones can keep them, they are going after the guys and gals who have been gaming for years and are looking for the next new thing.

As always it's going to come down to software. The Vita's other problem is it's future isn't very well mapped out at all, what is on the horizon is months away and there isn't much of it. Even with the 3DS there was a lot announced and shown before it even launched, so if you dived in you knew what was coming. And obviously when that second-wave hit combined with the price-cut it took off.

Sony needs a very strong E3 for Vita, and stop any publishers wobbling in the meantime with titles that are in development. Higher development costs and longer development times mean Vita has to get its foothold quickly to justify ongoing development.

That's the key thing really, and quite tricky for Sony to balance. Especially when Nintendo's strategy is quite clear, to avoid the problem of smartphones by cannibalising the whole (DS+PSP) handheld market.
 

zoukka

Member
I will also argue that any console owner who owns a smartphone would find the two gaming experiences incomparable, which is not the case with the Vita.

Which can be its selling point and its downfall.

Personally I want portable games to be different than the traditional console games. Something on Vita being "similar to its console brother" is not an absolute good thing for me.
 

SmokyDave

Member
Yeah, maybe so but if you are the type of gamer that gets full satisfaction from the likes of Angry Birds and the vast amount of cut down games on the Appstores then I would agree that maybe the Vita is not for you. I will not argue that for a second.

I will also argue that any console owner who owns a smartphone would find the two gaming experiences incomparable, which is not the case with the Vita.

The question really should be, "are there enough casual to hardcore gamers out there to sustain the Vita?" I think there is.

Sonys not going after the Angry Birds crowd, the phones can keep them, they are going after the guys and gals who have been gaming for years and are looking for the next new thing.

You completely underestimate the software that is now available for smartphones. Completely and utterly. I'm not going to bother with list wars but if you think smartphone gaming starts and ends with Angry Birds, you're wrong.

You also fail to realise that some people are just happy with 'games'. I play smartphone games, handheld games, console games and PC games. Different games for different times, different games for different moods.

TBH, I've no idea why I'm trying to point out your ignorance on this, there are thousands more where you came from and we'll do it all over again in the next topic.
 

SpiffyG

Member
You completely underestimate the software that is now available for smartphones. Completely and utterly. I'm not going to bother with list wars but if you think smartphone gaming starts and ends with Angry Birds, you're wrong.

You also fail to realise that some people are just happy with 'games'. I play smartphone games, handheld games, console games and PC games. Different games for different times, different games for different moods.

TBH, I've no idea why I'm trying to point out your ignorance on this, there are thousands more where you came from and we'll do it all over again in the next topic.
Isn't the full Resident Evil 4 game on smartphones now? My friend was browsing through games on his iPhone, I saw it and nearly shit myself.
 

Foffy

Banned
Isn't the full Resident Evil 4 game on smartphones now? My friend was browsing through games on his iPhone, I saw it and nearly shit myself.

Maybe it was RE: Degeneration? It was a game based on the CG film of the same name.

Game isn't that good, but it's the qualities of the game, not the platform.
 

SmokyDave

Member
Isn't the full Resident Evil 4 game on smartphones now? My friend was browsing through games on his iPhone, I saw it and nearly shit myself.

Nah, it's a horrifying thing crowbarred on to the iPhone with no regards to the strengths of the device. Sadly, there's plenty of those around and they seem to be the first thing that casual browsers notice.

I did read the other day that Edge has only given two 9's this year, both to iOS games. Not sure if that's true though.
 

SpiffyG

Member
Maybe it was RE: Degeneration? It was a game based on the CG film of the same name.

Game isn't that good, but it's the qualities of the game, not the platform.
Hmmm... I just looked it up and it is Resident Evil 4, but an abridged version. The controls are apparently an improvement over Degeneration! Looks pretty decent.

Nah, it's a horrifying thing crowbarred on to the iPhone with no regards to the strengths of the device. Sadly, there's plenty of those around and they seem to be the first thing that casual browsers notice.
That sucks. The video I watched made the game look rather barren. And to think that for some that will be their only experience with RE4... :(
 
My guess is that sony will pull out of the handheld market after the Vita and Nintendo sells its IPs on the app store to scrape by. There is just not a chance they can compete with phones in the long run. We will be seeing mario and zelda on the app store for free(maybe adopting the f2p model) or at very low competitive prices.
 
$79? LOL
Whoever wrote this clearly has no idea what they're talking about.

What a moran, I'm sure PS4 will sell like crazy at 99$ too when it'll launch next year with 8 core cpu, radeon 7000 something and 4gigs of ram. Oh and iPad 3 would sell even more at 99$ too!!!11
 

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
Which can be its selling point and its downfall.

Personally I want portable games to be different than the traditional console games. Something on Vita being "similar to its console brother" is not an absolute good thing for me.

Yeah, Vita needs more unique things like Gravity Daze, and things that suit a portable platform really well like Super Stardust.

The whole targeting the 20something male PS3 owner is dangerous, especially with Vita pushing the high-production value/experience side. Even more so when the costs of development mean Vita versions will be developed alongside the console versions and released in the same window. A lot of people will go for the bigger experience of the console ones, and the impact of the Vita versions is muted.

Resident Evil on 3DS is really well done, and rejigged nicely for portable play, but it was helped a lot by it being a long time since the last proper RE game. If you wanted a fix that's where you got it.

For Vita to succeed long-term, ignoring price and everything else, it needs to have its own identity.
 

mclem

Member
Tretton brushed off the notion that the Vita could be the last product of its kind, pointing to IDC research from January that forecast a resurgence in sales for dedicated gaming devices by Sony and Nintendo. IDC projects the handheld market rising to $17.3 billion in 2015 from $10.7 billion in 2010.

I'm reminded of a quote from Tom Lehrer about the musical based on his works, Tom Foolery:

"Cameron Mackintosh produced Tom Foolery and then went on to produce Cats, and on the combined profits of those two shows, became very wealthy, indeed."
 

GDGF

Soothsayer
My guess is that sony will pull out of the handheld market after the Vita and Nintendo sells its IPs on the app store to scrape by. There is just not a chance they can compete with phones in the long run. We will be seeing mario and zelda on the app store for free(maybe adopting the f2p model) or at very low competitive prices.

This is...

Wow.

Just wondering, how closely do you follow the (non iOS) portable space?


How is selling 3DS in EU and USA right now?

Very well as of the last numbers we got. Similar to how it's performing in Japan, actually. That's why no one wants to mention Nintendo in these doom and gloom articles anymore. It would kill any "dedicated handhelds are on the way out" narrative they were trying to construct.
 

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
My guess is that sony will pull out of the handheld market after the Vita and Nintendo sells its IPs on the app store to scrape by. There is just not a chance they can compete with phones in the long run. We will be seeing mario and zelda on the app store for free(maybe adopting the f2p model) or at very low competitive prices.

Put down the joint.
 
Its like I said though, very, very few of your average punters buy the phones outright. Most get them on contracts. They would not be able to afford to buy it without a contract. The investiment in buying a vita or a smartphone is not exactly comparable.

I think you need to look at the hordes invading Apple stores everyday. Fact: majority of people will buy a brand new iPhone for 500GBP, while at the same time having problem paying off their credit or bills.


Yeah, Vita needs more unique things like Gravity Daze, and things that suit a portable platform really well like Super Stardust.

Sure, because the most selling games on PSP were not GTA games, right? I understand MH can also be played in short bursts, lol. I agree btw - both titles you mentioned are unique and great on Vita. I'm only saying we need to let "portable games on portables" argument die.

The whole targeting the 20something male PS3 owner is dangerous, especially with Vita pushing the high-production value/experience side. Even more so when the costs of development mean Vita versions will be developed alongside the console versions and released in the same window. A lot of people will go for the bigger experience of the console ones, and the impact of the Vita versions is muted.

At this point when trying to sell to early adopters it is perfectly reasonable marketing strategy. The only thing they suck at is timing and content of the ads.

For Vita to succeed long-term, ignoring price and everything else, it needs to have its own identity.

Kinda like 3DS has the identity of EVERY SINGLE Nintendo handheld? Zelda? Check. Mario? Check. Pokemon? Check soon.
 

GDGF

Soothsayer
? I guess about as much as any other gamer.


But yeah, there's a huge gulf between your beliefs and the reality of the situation. You're on GAF, man. Educate yourself! Not trying to be rude. There's a lot of misinformation out there. Maybe you just didn't know and that's cool.
 
Cute.

But yeah, there's a huge gulf between your beliefs and the reality of the situation. You're on GAF, man. Educate yourself!

The reality is that phones are capturing an audience that no handheld is history has been able to. I think you're kind of delusional if you think that the dedicated handheld market and the phone market are separate and that one isn't affecting the other. It's only a matter of time before Sony and Nintendo can't compete with the rapidly advancing tech of the smartphone industry. Nintendo could make much more money by putting their IPs out on the app market.
 

GDGF

Soothsayer
The reality is that phones are capturing an audience that no handheld is history has been able to. I think you're kind of delusional if you think that the dedicated handheld market and the phone market are separate and that one isn't affecting the other. It's only a matter of time before Sony and Nintendo can't compete with the rapidly advancing tech of the smartphone industry. Nintendo could make much more money by putting their IPs out on the app market.

Oh brother...

Can't say I didn't try.
 

PerZona

Member
Ah, another article which will led to a debate of portable handheld consoles vs smartphones.

I can't imagine playing Ninja Gaiden or Uncharted on my Galaxy Nexus, I will probably rage within seconds into the game :p
 
Nintendo could make much more money by putting their IPs out on the app market.

Confirmed: Nintendo hates money, you would to way better job than Iwata. Why don't you apply for a position at Nintendo?

Just one thing bothers me: 3DS is still selling like bananas. Actually, the more time passes, the 3DS is selling better!!!
 

DrWong

Member
The reality is that phones are capturing an audience that no handheld is history has been able to. I think you're kind of delusional if you think that the dedicated handheld market and the phone market are separate and that one isn't affecting the other. It's only a matter of time before Sony and Nintendo can't compete with the rapidly advancing tech of the smartphone industry. Nintendo could make much more money by putting their IPs out on the app market.

borloo-reflechit-au-doigt-mouille.jpg
 

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
I think you need to look at the hordes invading Apple stores everyday. Fact: majority of people will buy a brand new iPhone for 500GBP, while at the same time having problem paying off their credit or bills.

Maybe in your fantasy world, no one I know with an iPhone has ever bought it off contract.

You seem to be trying to equate people who like Apple stuff as stupid again ;)

Sure, because the most selling games on PSP were not GTA games, right? I understand MH can also be played in short bursts, lol. I agree btw - both titles you mentioned are unique and great on Vita. I'm only saying we need to let "portable games on portables" argument die.

But you left out the RE point ;)

No problem with console titles on portables, but they have to be distinctive and not have the console versions working against them. That's why Uncharted is nowhere in the realm of killer-app or system-seller and more show off the hardware territory. Which is also why GTA didn't shift systems to the extent it should either.

At this point when trying to sell to early adopters it is perfectly reasonable marketing strategy. The only thing they suck at is timing and content of the ads.

It sounds more like overall strategy to me. We want a percent of this percent, and you do that better when not offering them exactly what they already have.

Kinda like 3DS has the identity of EVERY SINGLE Nintendo handheld? Zelda? Check. Mario? Check. Pokemon? Check soon.

Ah, that old chestnut and you make it sound like having Pokemon of all things unique to it is a bad thing?!

Also maybe you missed it, but the 3DS is on a very different path because it's cannibalising the PSP market and its franchises as well as playing to Nintendo's usual strengths.

Nintendo's strategy is clear, it was clear from the initial 3DS announcement, Sony's much less so at the moment which they need to address at E3.
 

f0lken

Member
I will wait for the Xperia Play 2 (more probably it will be the 3rd or 4th XPlay) with full compatibility with Vita games.
 

Vinci

Danish
The reality is that phones are capturing an audience that no handheld is history has been able to. I think you're kind of delusional if you think that the dedicated handheld market and the phone market are separate and that one isn't affecting the other. It's only a matter of time before Sony and Nintendo can't compete with the rapidly advancing tech of the smartphone industry.

Again: So long as what mobile gaming offers is not identical or heavily similar to what Sony and Nintendo offers, there is room for both. People who advocate this line of thinking completely discount the importance of differentiation between products or product lines, when it is a massively important driver for success and profit.

Nintendo could make much more money by putting their IPs out on the app market.

Nintendo has brought in revenues of over 1.2 billion off of NSMB Wii alone. How many copies would Nintendo have to sell on the app market in order to get that sort of revenue? Or how about Wii Fit, a game utterly impossible on the app market? They generated over 2 billion from that one.

So long as Nintendo sells its IPs on its own systems, it can demand a premium for them. If it sold them elsewhere, they wouldn't be able to.
 

Foffy

Banned
Really? From what I'm seeing it's more like they're not changing at all.

It's all based on the guise of the handhelds in the 8th generation of video game hardware not doing well, which if you've looked at the 3DS and in this case the Vita, it would have more to do with what the platforms were/are doing wrong, and less of an external reason (phones).

Think about it. The doom and gloom horseshit about the 3DS was all risen on the claim phones were killing it, and now it's doing well. What a surprise that these calls of destruction are gone, but not a single one of them corrected their claims from phones killing it to a lack of 3DS software and an arguably high cost at $250.

I promise you, if/when Vita starts booming, none of these sites claiming doom will admit its weaknesses came from the Vita and not from an external thing.
 

Cygnus X-1

Member
My guess is that sony will pull out of the handheld market after the Vita and Nintendo sells its IPs on the app store to scrape by. There is just not a chance they can compete with phones in the long run. We will be seeing mario and zelda on the app store for free(maybe adopting the f2p model) or at very low competitive prices.

You don't know what you're talking about. It's Nintendo: they will rather stop developing handheld games rather than making cheap games for App store.
 

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
I really want the vita to succeed, but things aren't looking good. No one I know even knows the thing came out.

I really think everything with Vita points to what was meant to be a worldwide launch for Christmas.

That's the reason for such a large launch line-up, and a more Western orientated one. They obviously couldn't meet the production for it or something, and had to go for just one of the markets first. Choosing Japan because of the PSP's strength, but that has actually worked against them as well as the line-up.

Once they missed Christmas in the West you've had a very half-arsed marketing campaign because they know it's a tough-sell at this price at this time of the year and are just preaching to the choir really. Sony are in grin and bear it mode.
 
Also maybe you missed it, but the 3DS is on a very different path because it's cannibalising the PSP market and its franchises as well as playing to Nintendo's usual strengths.

Nintendo's strategy is clear, it was clear from the initial 3DS announcement, Sony's much less so at the moment which they need to address at E3.

Nintendo strategy changed dramatically - going from 250$ to 169$, almost dropping 3D feature, increase advertisement of 2D games, etc. 3DS is selling because of no competition for a year + price drop + Mario games.

Once Vita gets a price drop and better games it will start selling as well. Now give me E3 and Type-0 announcement.
 
Top Bottom