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[BrainZEROX]

Sony won't significantly lower the price with a simple cut in the ram... I'm really affraid the OLED screen could fly away in the US and Euro consoles. Remember that 249 dollars/euros has less value in yen than ever. I can imagine a 199 $/€ could be unsustainable for Sony. I guess a super LCD or even a simple LCD variant could appear someday... :/

Euro and US PSP had a shittier screen than the initial gorgeous Sharp one... Will history repeat with Vita?

 

[Mr_Brit]

I thought it was 32mb so that they can sell them for $99.

That's the non 3G version, the 3G version has 128mb RAM.

 

[French]

Yeah right, they're going to remove everything.

 

[test_account]

Sony won't significantly lower the price with a simple cut in the ram... I'm really affraid the OLED screen could fly away in the US and Euro consoles. Remember that 249 dollars/euros has less value in yen than ever. I can imagine a 199 $/€ could be unsustainable for Sony. I guess a super LCD or even a simple LCD variant could appear someday... :/

Euro and US PSP had a shittier screen than the initial gorgeous Sharp one... Will history repeat with Vita?

Isnt one of the reasons for the OLED screen to save power? I'm under the impression that OLED more power friendly compared to LCD at least.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Sony won't significantly lower the price with a simple cut in the ram... I'm really affraid the OLED screen could fly away in the US and Euro consoles. Remember that 249 dollars/euros has less value in yen than ever. I can imagine a 199 $/€ could be unsustainable for Sony. I guess a super LCD or even a simple LCD variant could appear someday... :/

Euro and US PSP had a shittier screen than the initial gorgeous Sharp one... Will history repeat with Vita?

I've always said Sony should have made the Wifi version LCD and the 3G version OLED and had $199/$299 price points. Either way, pre-release price cuts seem very unlikely.

 

[richman555]

I think the biggest problem for both Vita and 3DS is that this generation they both really needed to change their business model.

They kind of looked to what works on the larger consoles instead of embracing the new changes we have been seeing in cell phones.

Things such as digital distribution should have been embraced. Also a cheaper shorter lifecycle should happen as well. We see a new iPhone every year. Why not a new DS and PSP every year? And your old games, they continue to work without the need to rebuy them.

Its time for a change. I generally like handhelds but they cannot remain the same or they will be left in the dust.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

If the Vita has a strong launch, then $250 is a fine price. If it doesn't, then it's not.

$250 is $50 over the mass market price, which it will eventually drop to. The only reason to pay that extra $50 is if there is something (not hardware) at launch that justifies needing to have it then for a lot of people.

 

[Jinfash]

No, all this RAM removal talk is just rumor based. We dont know for sure how much RAM the PS Vita will have or how much it originally had. But i'm sure that we will know sooner or later how much RAM the PS Vita will have at least.

Yeah, when it was revealed, rumors stated that the NGP has 512MB of RAM. Then we heard from a certain dev that it was "cut in half." Then Sony execs reported "nothing was cut, don't believe things you hear on the internet." So it may still has 512MB, or 256 is what was planned all along, ergo "no cuts."

In another corner of the internet though, and as reported by Nirolak, we got a semi-confirmation that it has 512:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=28644610&postcount=86

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=28646415&postcount=99

Although admittedly, Niro's posts were made before the new rumors of RAM-cuts made the rounds. "RAM cuts" could also fit in Niro's scenario since early rumors based on devkits pointed to the NGP having 1GB of RAM (ie: beefed up just like most early devkits), so if the Vita ends up having 512MB, that may well be interpreted as a cut too.

As of now, and without a final spec confirmation, It's messy subject. Personally, I'm going through the acceptance stage. If everything looks nice and we still have enough in-game access and apps, I'll be content. The "Party" features that we've seen so far leave me with more optimism.

 

[ThisWreckage]

If they can possibly get it down to 199.99 then they should. If there's any way possible. I read an article once that stated that 199.99 is a much more attractive entry price than 249.99 (even though it's really only a 50 dollar difference).

The reason why I say that is that they don't want to end up doing like Nintendo did. Launching a console that struggled out of the gate, sat around hoping it would rebound, and finally deciding to drop the price in order to push more hardware.

 

[Phoenician_Viking]

How much is the price difference between 256 ram and 512? I tried googling it, it gave me ram prices in India.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

I can easily see them undershipping the $250 wifi model and overshipping the 3G model to make up more money on the units. It won't be as drastic as the 20gig versus the 60gig PS3 but I do bet that you will have problems finding a wifi while the 3G will be everywhere near launch.

 

[Mr_Brit]

I can easily see them undershipping the $250 wifi model and overshipping the 3G model to make up more money on the units. It won't be as drastic as the 20gig versus the 60gig PS3 but I do bet that you will have problems finding a wifi while the 3G will be everywhere near launch.

Don't you need a contract for the 3G version? That alone will severely limit its potential. I'm anticipating something like a 95/5 sales ratio for the nin 3G version.

 

[theBishop]

Sony won't significantly lower the price with a simple cut in the ram... I'm really affraid the OLED screen could fly away in the US and Euro consoles. Remember that 249 dollars/euros has less value in yen than ever. I can imagine a 199 $/€ could be unsustainable for Sony. I guess a super LCD or even a simple LCD variant could appear someday... :/

Euro and US PSP had a shittier screen than the initial gorgeous Sharp one... Will history repeat with Vita?

This is an interesting point. But with PSP, Sony just wanted to tout a sexy screen. With OLED technology, Sony has a significant stake in the technology. They want it to be a coveted feature because it's going to pop up in more and more of Sony's products. Maybe future Vita revisions will have pared back screens, but I'd be surprised if they weren't OLED.

 

[SkylineRKR]

It's half the price of the cheapest iPad, and the same price as the iPod Classic.

Handheld gaming device, my bad. For people who just want a dedicated gaming handheld for the kids or something, then the Vita could be considered expensive.

The price was revealed while the 3DS was still early in it's life and had decent sales. But because of it's extremely low sales the past couple of months and the fact that the original DS is still selling huge numbers people now believe that $250 is too much for a handheld, regardless of how much it offers consumers.
At least that's my opinion on the matter.

Pretty much. The Vita is considered cheap by us people who know what it has stored under the hood, and thus we celebrated the $250 announcement. At least I did. Plus, the 3DS was priced the same.

But looking at the big picture a handheld apparently doesn't sell at that price point, and we're talking the successor of the mighty DS here. Ofcourse the games weren't there yet also, but the price was a big factor of the 3DS's lacklustre sales. Its very akin to the original Ps3 situation that teached us that no one is really going to buy a home console for the infamous 599 price.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Don't you need a contract for the 3G version? That alone will severely limit its potential. I'm anticipating something like a 95/5 sales ratio for the nin 3G version.

They haven't announced one. They are using AT&T and how it works with 3G on the iPad is you turn it on and off through the machine. No contract required.

 

[theBishop]

Handheld gaming device, my bad. For people who just want a dedicated gaming handheld for the kids or something, then the Vita could be considered expensive.

Yep. But I don't think Sony is going to market heavily toward kids in the first year. It'll be teenagers and adults. The games they're showing mostly bares that out.

 

[NateDrake]

I guess this a good place to post this in case anyone was still wondering.

yosp Shuhei Yoshida
No, it does not. But it has front and back touch. “@yanksfan95: @yosp does the ps vita have L3 and R3 buttons?”

 

[orioto]

All those talks about the prices cut really make me feel that the portable market is in a bad bad position. When there is just no room for an interesting and exciting offer that would still make profit.. you know there is a problem.

 

[thuway]

I think within a year or a year and half worth's time they should be able to effectively drop the price to $150. The cost of the OLED screen should fall dramatically (since it'll be fairly low res by the time of launch), ram will cheapen up (phones are going to use alot more in the coming years), and the ARM processor they are using will be mass manufactured to shit.

 

[BrainZEROX]

and the ARM processor they are using will be mass manufactured to shit.

This, we don't know for sure... We don't know if it's an "off the shelf" processor. Sony could go ARM for the CPU but still being very specific in its capacities. We know it's a quad core processor based on an ARM architecture but it doesn't mean it's a Snapdragon or a Samsung quad A9 processor version of what can be found in a Galaxy S2. Sony could benefit from indirect cost reduction measures because many manufacturers will built similar processors but direct ones from wide adoption of THAT particular processor, we don't know... Well I don't ^^

 

[patsu]

Don't you need a contract for the 3G version? That alone will severely limit its potential. I'm anticipating something like a 95/5 sales ratio for the nin 3G version.

I doubt it. People can buy 3G iPads without contract.

 

[patsu]

All those talks about the prices cut really make me feel that the portable market is in a bad bad position. When there is just no room for an interesting and exciting offer that would still make profit.. you know there is a problem.

It's actually worse if you try to do a straight up iPhone and Android phone competitor.

A dedicated mobile gaming device has more leeway to redefine itself and gaming.

 

[madmaxx350]

This, we don't know for sure... We don't know if it's an "off the shelf" processor. Sony could go ARM for the CPU but still being very specific in its capacities. We know it's a quad core processor based on an ARM architecture but it doesn't mean it's a Snapdragon or a Samsung quad A9 processor version of what can be found in a Galaxy S2. Sony could benefit from indirect cost reduction measures because many manufacturers will built similar processors but direct ones from wide adoption of THAT particular processor, we don't know... Well I don't ^^

It's the 4 core variant of the IPad2 processor.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

I can easily see them undershipping the $250 wifi model and overshipping the 3G model to make up more money on the units. It won't be as drastic as the 20gig versus the 60gig PS3 but I do bet that you will have problems finding a wifi while the 3G will be everywhere near launch.

Yep, this is exactly what they did with PSP early on in Japan. It was like 20:80 for core:value packs iirc. They also launched the core pack months later in the west, the priority then was definitely pushing a higher priced SKU.

And people hoping for an AT&T subsidized deal need look no further than iPad to see that won't be happening anytime soon, if ever. People generally only want one monthly contract, and since Vita's not a phone that already puts it at a disadvantage.

 

[mollipen]

Sony won't significantly lower the price with a simple cut in the ram... I'm really affraid the OLED screen could fly away in the US and Euro consoles. Remember that 249 dollars/euros has less value in yen than ever. I can imagine a 199 $/€ could be unsustainable for Sony. I guess a super LCD or even a simple LCD variant could appear someday... :/

Euro and US PSP had a shittier screen than the initial gorgeous Sharp one... Will history repeat with Vita?

There is no way on God's green Earth that they'd take out the OLED screen. There's no reason to even contemplate such a move.

 

[Opus Angelorum]

Removing the AMOLED screen would save quite a bit on the manufacturing cost.

The latest SLCD panels are very good, and would be a good replacement.

 

[pharmboy044]

Wow, now we have people talking about Removing the OLED screen?

Never going to happen!

 

[iavi]

If they remove the Oled, I'm not buying until much much later. That's really the thing I'm looking forward to most. Though, I doubt that it's happening at this point.

 

[Jinfash]

Wow, now we have people talking about Removing the OLED screen?

Never going to happen!

They will be, as soon as I pass this page to Kotaku as news, or inspire them to write an "opinion" piece.

 

[get2sammyb]

I think the biggest problem for both Vita and 3DS is that this generation they both really needed to change their business model.

They kind of looked to what works on the larger consoles instead of embracing the new changes we have been seeing in cell phones.

Things such as digital distribution should have been embraced. Also a cheaper shorter lifecycle should happen as well. We see a new iPhone every year. Why not a new DS and PSP every year? And your old games, they continue to work without the need to rebuy them.

Its time for a change. I generally like handhelds but they cannot remain the same or they will be left in the dust.

Sony has totally adopted for this. Vita has the potential for more pricing variety than any other system on the market.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

There is no way on God's green Earth that they'd take out the OLED screen. There's no reason to even contemplate such a move.

They could go with a cheaper/lower quality OLED than the test units have though. They did that with PSP LCDs early on.

 

[BrainZEROX]

It's the 4 core variant of the IPad2 processor.

I don't think so. This processor is Apple's property manufactured by Samsung. ARM's world doesn't work like Intel's. ARM provides licences for a processor architecture then, as a device manufacturer you can do whatever fits with that architecture. Remove some capabilities, add some, etc. So I don't think it's the same processor as Apple's, only a similar one.

 

[test_account]

Yeah, when it was revealed, rumors stated that the NGP has 512MB of RAM. Then we heard from a certain dev that it was "cut in half." Then Sony execs reported "nothing was cut, don't believe things you hear on the internet." So it may still has 512MB, or 256 is what was planned all along, ergo "no cuts."

In another corner of the internet though, and as reported by Nirolak, we got a semi-confirmation that it has 512:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=28644610&postcount=86

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=28646415&postcount=99

Although admittedly, Niro's posts were made before the new rumors of RAM-cuts made the rounds. "RAM cuts" could also fit in Niro's scenario since early rumors based on devkits pointed to the NGP having 1GB of RAM (ie: beefed up just like most early devkits), so if the Vita ends up having 512MB, that may well be interpreted as a cut too.

As of now, and without a final spec confirmation, It's messy subject. Personally, I'm going through the acceptance stage. If everything looks nice and we still have enough in-game access and apps, I'll be content. The "Party" features that we've seen so far leave me with more optimism.

Indeed. But regardless of 256MB or 512MB of RAM, i'm confident that the PS Vita will be a great device

I guess this a good place to post this in case anyone was still wondering.

yosp Shuhei Yoshida
No, it does not. But it has front and back touch. “@yanksfan95: @yosp does the ps vita have L3 and R3 buttons?”

That is a pity, especially with the L3 button for running in FPS games. But hopefully they will find a good way to replace the running button with some rear touchpad stuff. I think that could work at least, but we will see

 

[Totobeni]

The Oled screen need to go away already, it's not needed and will not add anything to the gaming experience than any regular cheap LCD, also if it's about batteries life then some 3rd party batteries will be available after the release just like the 3DS,Sony priority should be to make the thing cheap for people and do not repeat the PS3 mistake.

I don't buy any gaming handheld that is more than $200 even if it can cook my dinner or wipe my ass for me,so Sony is losing my money here unless they cut the price.

 

[SneakyStephan]

I've always said Sony should have made the Wifi version LCD and the 3G version OLED and had $199/$299 price points. Either way, pre-release price cuts seem very unlikely.

Yeah so then you'd have to pay for a feature most people don't want to get access to a feature most people will want.
You would feel you get the inferior product (and you would) when you buy the wifi version too, which is not the case right now.


sigh.

Anyhow, if they lower the price and cut anything then they will lose my day one purchase and I'll stick to my psp1000.

 

[Key2001]

So remove the feature that received the most votes in a poll by Famitsu about what feature is most liked in the PSVita? A feature that has been praised by consumers, developers, journalists and more. A feature that has been one of the major selling points of the PSVita.

Sony does not need to lower the price of the PSVita. It will sale just fine at $250. For those that don't want to spend $250, it will eventually get a price drop without the need to drop features that the majority of early buyers are looking forward to.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Anyhow, if they lower the price and cut anything then they will lose my day one purchase and I'll stick to my psp1000.

Remember with the PS3, at least in Japan they lowered the price right before launch... and ADDED a feature so there is hope.

 

[Loonz]

The Oled screen need to go away already, it's not needed and will not add anything to the gaming experience than any regular cheap LCD, also if it's about batteries life then some 3rd party batteries will be available after the release just like the 3DS,Sony priority should be to make the thing cheap for people and do not repeat the PS3 mistake.

I don't buy any gaming handheld that is more than $200 even if it can cook my dinner or wipe my ass for me,so Sony is losing my money here unless they cut the price.

As bad as this may sound to some, this, right here, is exactly what the Vita would need to be cheaper. If the price depends heavily on the OLED screen, drop it for something cheaper, or at least release an SKU with a cheaper screen.

I dare to say that probably 95% of potencial buyers for this thing care more for the Uncharted graphics than for some OLED screen, compared at least against current LCD screens (which currently are quite good, actually). Many won't notice the difference, nor care enough to pay an extra for it.

 

[SneakyStephan]

They are making decent hardware without any real compromises, selling it for a loss, it's affordable.
And yet you still complain.

If you want cheaper hardware, go buy a 3DS? problem solved.

Let them each hold their own price range, I like it.
SMH, people would have said you were crazy if you had said 'only 250 dollar for NPG' 6 months ago, and STILL it's not good enough.

Jaded backseat pseudo marketing analysts are one of the most annoying things to have to deal with on GAF.

 

[Father_Brain]

also if it's about batteries life then some 3rd party batteries will be available after the release just like the 3DS

Vita battery isn't replaceable. It might be possible to design a clip-on external battery that doesn't block access to the rear touchpad, but I'm not quite sure how that would work out ergonomically.

 

[Callibretto]

Vita battery isn't replaceable. It might be possible to design a clip-on external battery that doesn't block access to the rear touchpad, but I'm not quite sure how that would work out ergonomically.

third party will have to make battery add on with it's own rear touch pad. maybe.

 

[McLovin]

I hope they don't cut anything out, maybe they could give a really good game with it at launch.

 

[charlequin]

Why not a new DS and PSP every year?

Because you can't build a market for software that costs more than $5 on a closed segmented platform.

I can easily see them undershipping the $250 wifi model and overshipping the 3G model to make up more money on the units. It won't be as drastic as the 20gig versus the 60gig PS3 but I do bet that you will have problems finding a wifi while the 3G will be everywhere near launch.

That's pretty implausible, actually. Adoption on the 3G model is going to be so much lower that this would be blatantly obvious, and you're not going to see nearly as many people buying the 3G model as a "forced upgrade" when it would offer literally zero benefit to anyone not paying for a contract.

I mean, maybe they might try to massage it by turning the 3G version into a "value pack," but frankly it doesn't seem worthwhile.

There is no way on God's green Earth that they'd take out the OLED screen. There's no reason to even contemplate such a move.

I agree entirely with this position, despite the (wildly absurd) comments to the contrary others are making in this thread.

 

[lunchwithyuzo]

They won't take out the OLED because it would upset their overall system consumption roadmap. An LCD means a bigger battery, which may not even be possible in the current casing. Or it could mean downclocking their chipset, it'd just throw too much of a wrench into their current system balance this late in the game.

Now, they might opt for a cheaper lower grade OLED in the final consumer model, but it'll still be an OLED. If they planned for it earlier I could've seen the "low end" Vita being LCD and maybe $199, but not now.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

That's pretty implausible, actually. Adoption on the 3G model is going to be so much lower that this would be blatantly obvious, and you're not going to see nearly as many people buying the 3G model as a "forced upgrade" when it would offer literally zero benefit to anyone not paying for a contract.

I mean, maybe they might try to massage it by turning the 3G version into a "value pack," but frankly it doesn't seem worthwhile.

There has been no talk about contracts. The AT&T 3G iPad doesn't require a contract so I don't see why the Vita would. As of now, the only difference between the two Vita models is 3G and $50 bucks.

And it was blantantly obvious that they did this with the lower priced 20 gig PS3 so why would it matter to do it with the Vita? All they have to do is make more of one model than the other and lie that consumer focus groups told them to do so.

 

[iceatcs]

OLCD is cheaper for Sony to produce than LCD or plasma displays when it become more mass production. No point to stick with current technology, isn't Sony way.

OLCD has much better power efficiency (Black pixel = no backlight), so it is ideal for portability.

 

[dwu8991]

I think the biggest problem for both Vita and 3DS is that this generation they both really needed to change their business model.

They kind of looked to what works on the larger consoles instead of embracing the new changes we have been seeing in cell phones.

Things such as digital distribution should have been embraced. Also a cheaper shorter lifecycle should happen as well. We see a new iPhone every year. Why not a new DS and PSP every year? And your old games, they continue to work without the need to rebuy them.

Its time for a change. I generally like handhelds but they cannot remain the same or they will be left in the dust.

I think you're wrong on the digital distribution front. Any attempt to make cheaper digital games would undermine their retail pricing of games.

 

[Lesiroth]

Didn't Yoshida reject that rumor about 256mb of RAM? We still don't know that much about the device, and I think people here are overreacting about its future. I still think it will do atleast as well as the PSP.

 

[Brofist]

There is no way on God's green Earth that they'd take out the OLED screen. There's no reason to even contemplate such a move.

While I'm in agreement that they won't, I'm curious as to why you feel so strongly about it. Do you really think it's that large of a selling point outside of a handful of technophiles?

 

[Key2001]

While I'm in agreement that they won't, I'm curious as to why you feel so strongly about it. Do you really think it's that large of a selling point outside of a handful of technophiles?

Why would they? There is nothing wrong with the $250 price tag. It is the price Sony has had planned since before the PSVita went into development. It was developed with this price tag in mind.

They had no idea that Nintendo was going to overprice their handheld and latter drop it. Even before we knew the 3DS was going to be $250, the majority was expecting a much higher price for the PSVita and a much lower price for the 3DS. Instead we got a much lower price for the PSVita and a much higher price for the 3DS than what was expected.

It is also a little too late to change it. Contracts have been made, testing has already been done, parts bought, etc.