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House: Vita TV aimed at casual/family users, intended to compete with Apple TV et al.

F

Father_Brain

Banned
Since Monday morning, a number of people have been questioning, not unreasonably, whether Sony intends for Vita TV to be more than a niche device aimed at core gamers likely already invested in the PS ecosystem, and whether it's meant to compete directly with other, more media-focused set-top devices. Well, we now have an answer.

Andrew House said:
Google Inc's "Chromecast," Apple Inc's "Apple TV," etc are considered as rivals to the PS Vita TV. As an advantage of the PS Vita TV, SCE emphasizes that it allows to use a variety of games.

At this point, more than 1,300 titles of games in various categories can be played. They have a wide price range, making it easy for users to buy them. With the lineup and prices, we can reasonably expect that the PS Vita TV will gain in popularity.

The PS Vita TV was developed mainly for those who have fun with contents with family members in a living room. The concept of the PS Vita TV was created in about August 2011, four months before the release of the PS Vita. After that, SCE discussed it many times and started the development of the PS Vita TV in earnest about a year ago.
Click to expand...

Andrew House said:
Speaking of the games for the PS Vita TV, SCE expects that they will be played by casual gamers rather than serious game lovers, at whom the PS4 is targeted. Expecting such users, the company set a goal to sell the PS Vita TV for a price lower than ¥10,000 (approx US$99.5) at the beginning of the development process. In fact, the price of the PS Vita TV is ¥9,480 (excluding tax).
Click to expand...
 
F

Finalizer

Member
Pretty much how I figured it. Market it as a streaming box + some vidya to scratch a specific itch. Carve out a little niche in that market with some extra gaming bullet-points through PSV/PSP/PS1/Gaikai stuff.
 
C

chickdigger802

Banned
has there been any definite proof that you can even link this up with your vita 'airplay' style?

Or must you take out your vita games from your vita and plug it in there (i guess memory card too lol) to use it?

I guess if you went full digital, it wouldn't be too bad, and if you have ps+ for cloud saves... but can't you only have 1 vita per psn account atm, or was that 2?
 
P

PureGone

Banned
hwy_61 said:
Competing with Apple TV?

Yeah, good luck with that, House.
Click to expand...

It's not like Apple TV sells that well, the only reason they got most of their sales was from jail breaking the Apple TV for free movies and live TV and the newer models can't be jailbroken.
 
G

GalacticMouse

Member
Sounds good to me. If Sony gets their biggest western-focused PSone games up and running on the Vita store (Crash, Spyro, MGS, etc) before it launches here, it could be a huge success. I'm sure people would jump at the idea of buying this over an Apple TV for the same price if it means you can pick up some casual or classic games on it.
 
P

PureGone

Banned
chickdigger802 said:
has there been any definite proof that you can even link this up with your vita 'airplay' style?

Or must you take out your vita games from your vita and plug it in there (i guess memory card too lol) to use it?

I guess if you went full digital, it wouldn't be too bad, and if you have ps+ for cloud saves... but can't you only have 1 vita per psn account atm, or was that 2?
Click to expand...

What do you mean, all your games are on your account and can be redownloaded on the Vita TV. Or you can even just plug in your mem cards or game cards. The Vita TV supports "airplay" or remote play with the PS4 so I'm pretty sure it'll also support it with the Vita.
 
D

Drek

Member
hwy_61 said:
Competing with Apple TV?

Yeah, good luck with that, House.
Click to expand...

You do know that AppleTV has had pretty weak market impact so far right? And that other products like the Roku are handling it's existence just fine, right?

Getting it out worldwide early in 2014 and increasing the media streaming options significantly are required if Sony wants this to be a serious competitor, but doing both would position it well within the sector. The price is competitive for the features it offers, and it has a nice nostalgia play attached. They do need to show some kind of worthwhile remote interface (either a bundled peripheral or a smartphone app) for it to have real mainstream appeal though.
 
O

OmegaTreeFish

Banned
Well if the price is right in the uk, they actually get Netflix on it here and I can move my digital film collection from my laptop to my ps4 then there is a good chance this will replace my Apple TV box in the bedroom.
 
P

Pein

Banned
If they get HBOgo on that thing I'm gonna want one. I'm gonna get one regardless because my roku is really crappy.
 
M

-MB-

Member
Finalizer said:
Pretty much how I figured it. Market it as a streaming box + some vidya to scratch a specific itch. Carve out a little niche in that market with some extra gaming bullet-points through PSV/PSP/PS1/Gaikai stuff.
Click to expand...

Nonw fo which these casuals care about, since those are features only the more enthusiast crowd into Playstation are into.
 
T

The Bookerman

Member
RedNumberFive said:
Yup. This is an awkward and confusing product. The antithesis of the dead simple Apple TV. I think they would be better served marketing this as a PS4 remote play extender.
Click to expand...

1239853_o.gif
 
W

watershed

Banned
The marketing is going to have to be phenomenal and when it comes to Sony and products called Vita, I'm not optimistic. It's a good price and a good product but are parents and casual gamers interested in what it offers?
 
Y

Yuripaw

Banned
I also feel like this is a device that would appeal to the western market, seeing as how handhelds seem to be more popular in Japan, and playing games at home is more popular in the US...
 
T

Tobor

Member
If this is the market they're after, they really need to put some kind of remote or controller in the box.

As it is, a casual consumer buying one of these for $99 can't use it out of the box.
 
F

fallen_dawn

Member
Tobor said:
If this is the market they're after, they really need to put some kind of remote or controller in the box.

As it is, a casual consumer buying one of these for $99 can't use it out of the box.
Click to expand...

They have the bundle with the Dualshock 3 and an 8GB card in Japan. So at least you have the choice.
 
U

Ushae

Banned
I can see this being a hit with gamers, but not casuals. For that reason I think it'll be mediocre at best in sales.

The remote play (on another TV) feature is by far the most interesting thing from this.
 
T

TechnicPuppet

Nothing! I said nothing!
The Bookerman said:
I wanna know that stuff.
Click to expand...

I wanna know it about XB1 and PS4 as well.

frankie_baby said:
dunno about mkv but definitely no 1080p
Click to expand...

fallen_dawn said:
I think it's 720p/1080i max. That's what I remember from the spec sheet anyway.
Edit: Beaten.
Click to expand...

It does so much else I could maybe live with 720p. Bit weird it doesn't do it though, I have things going back years that do it and are cheaper. Especially when PS4 will have 1080p games.
 
T

tim.mbp

Member
Tobor said:
If this is the market they're after, they really need to put some kind of remote or controller in the box.

As it is, a casual consumer buying one of these for $99 can't use it out of the box.
Click to expand...

I would think they would need Vita rebrand as well. Vita is not what I would call a casual video game system.
 
D

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
I think the concept is a great one but theres a fundamental flaw in trying to merge a cheap box with the Vita's insanely expensive proprietary storage.
 
A

AranhaHunter

Banned
If they wanna compete with apple tv they need to greatly improve their app store. Actually they need to launch their app, ebook, and mp3/music store if they want to compete with them.

I don't see casuals going for vita tv if the above is not there. Gamers? Sure. Casuals? Not really.
 
F

fallen_dawn

Member
TechnicPuppet said:
It does so much else I could maybe live with 720p. Bit weird it doesn't do it though, I have things going back years that do it and are cheaper. Especially when PS4 will have 1080p games.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it stuck out as one of the negatives with the VTV to me. As you said, the PS4 will have 1080p, and I'll be mainly buying it to stream my PS4 games to my monitor in my room. Mind you, living mostly on 720p this gen, I suppose it couldn't hurt too much, especially when my monitor is a lot smaller than my TV. I guess it's a concession Sony made to keep the price low.

Would they be making a profit or loss with the hardware?
 
Mihos

Mihos

Gold Member
Just release it here so I can buy 2. Then I can hurry up and get to the part where people tell me it is a dead system, has no games, and that I really don't enjoy it as much as I do.
 
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