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[Haliela]

Well, some people are happy the Vita is going down because of how ridiculous the pricing of the system is and Sony's inability to care about their end user. The memory card thing is absurd and Sony is getting exactly what they deserve, imo. Sony makes horrible business decision after horrible business decision, and it's high time they learned something from their bible of mistakes as of late.

 

[metalslimer]

So it's over then?, the PS Vita in your humble opinion is officially dead?

And why does it make zero fincincal sense selling the product at it's current rate?, do we have inside finical figures here? We know the system was much cheaper in terms of R&D compared to the PSP due to the off the shelve components used, the system has already been developed now, I would argue even at it's current rate of sales it would be more financially unwise to ditch an already developed product, 2.2 million x at least $250s and then memory cards and accessories, that is a fair whack of money anyway you cut it and you'd be silly to give that up, in hind site maybe yes, but not now the product is out, now it's a much needed revenue stream even at it's current level.

And I don't see retailers ditching the product tbh, they will just support it less at a lower stock intake, as long as there are people buying the device it will be on shelves, retailers have all manner of devices for sale that come nowhere near the PS Vita in terms of sales, they don't ditch all these products, you just don't stock them as well.

Like I said I'll wait until TGS and possibly the holiday before saying it's completely dead, but these are video game systems. You need 3rd parties to support it and at the current rate of sales no one besides some DD only developers will support the thing. And you know what retailers hate more than anything? DD only. And retailers certainly have ditched products before or have you forgotten all the failed systems?

 

[mace999]

Sad numbers. Let's see how Project Diva works in Japan, but I doubt this save this system. iOs games have killed handheld market, 3DS sure do well in all regions but nobody really cares those systems in west, and looking mostly loli moe and huge tits japanese games in east, neither does. Videogame future is awful with facebook, f2p and mobile phone games. I hope some day this bubble explodes.

Now this I can agree with, which is why I really really want the Vita & 3DS to succeed, even though I'm not a great Nintendo fan, my wife is and has the 3DS .... But I want both dedicated gaming handhelds to do well and not die .....
Personally I don't like any of the games on the 3DS, but I still want it to succeed, my wife is a big Nintendo fan, and 3DS has totally different games than the Vita .....

 

[Loghorn150]

Sony's success with ALL of their game platforms has been due to third parties.

And that isn't a good thing.

I think that's something that everyone can agree with. They have always relied on 3rd parties to help bail them out of trouble & to help sell their platforms & to keep them relevant. If not for them, the entire PS brand will be nothing right now. Nothing.

 

[Canis lupus]

Sad numbers. Let's see how Project Diva works in Japan, but I doubt this save this system. iOs games have killed handheld market, 3DS sure do well in all regions but nobody really cares those systems in west, and looking mostly loli moe and huge tits japanese games in east, neither does. Videogame future is awful with facebook, f2p and mobile phone games. I hope some day this bubble explodes.

The videogame market is definetly shrinking, it is because we're at the final stages of this gen. When next consoles arrive the market will rejuvenate.

nvm wrong graph

Dont mind the text, we're at stage 4.

 

[mace999]

Really? I didn't see much anger at all. All consoles/handhelds get price drops and revisions now so if you're an early adopter that is really something you should expect.

Also nintendo are in a far better position now so it isn't 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' because this action clearly had an upside for them.

It was something like 6 months after release date, fastest ever price drop in console history, and a 20% drop too ..... I can remember the anger on these boards, it got to such a problem that Nintendo had to backtrack and then offer free games to the angry early adopters .....

I wasn't angry over the price drop, but many many were .... so again damned if you do, damned if you don't

 

[Hellraider]

So it's over then?, the PS Vita in your humble opinion is officially dead?

And why does it make zero fincincal sense selling the product at it's current rate?, do we have inside finical figures here? We know the system was much cheaper in terms of R&D compared to the PSP due to the off the shelve components used, the system has already been developed now, I would argue even at it's current rate of sales it would be more financially unwise to ditch an already developed product, 2.2 million x at least $250s and then memory cards and accessories, that is a fair whack of money anyway you cut it and you'd be silly to give that up, in hind site maybe yes, but not now the product is out it's a much needed revenue stream even at it's current level.

Sony (as every other company) has limited resources.Putting some of them on the vita will bring them y profits.Putting these same resources on, let's say, ps3 will bring them a lot more than y.That's the problem.It's not a matter of bringing profit or not, but how much.

 

[SpinningBirdKick]

At what point will we know exactly how much phones have affected the market?

A report from Flurry Analytics (Link) in 2011 was grim reading for traditional handhelds.

I imagine things have got worse since then...

 

[electroplankton]

A report from Flurry Analytics (Link) in 2011 was grim reading for traditional handhelds.

I imagine things have got worse since then...

That's the most stupid graph I've ever seen. Share doesn't mean anything if you don't count that market has grown, that is many people who now play on mobile phones may be new in the market and there didn't exist before. Also: in 2011, DS and PSP were in the market for more than 5-6 years, a decline is obvious after such monstrous numbers.

 

[Rand6]

? who the hell is happy?

I'm not gonna say names, but it's funny to watch the very same people talking doom and being very pessimistic on every thread about Vita, and in the same time, being overly optimistic on every thread about Nintendo/WiiU.

For example they don't see the point of buying a game who is already out on other system and less expensive. Yet they are waiting WiiU to buy Mass Effect or Batman...

I mean the argument is valid (Vita not selling well), but I found some people incredibly harsh as soon as we are talking about Sony, and not at all as soon as we are talking about Nintendo.

Question,

Can this device be a sustainable product at the lower rate of sales we are seeing?

That's the important question here, lets try to steer away from "OMG BOOMBER!!, SYSTEM IZ DEAD!!!"

The point I'm trying to drive home is does the system need to be cut lose because it's not matching it's competitors?, can it be a sustainable 'niche' product?

I would love to add in the charts the X360, here is its first year according to gaf :

first year : Jl-Sp (-) Oc-Dc (1.5) Ja-Mr (1.7) Ap-Jn (1.8) FY (5) LTD (5)
second year : : Jl-Sp (1) Oc-Dc (4.4) Ja-Mr (0.5) Ap-Jn (0.7) FY (6.6) LTD (11.5)
It's similar to Vita, right?

 

[sakipon]

Sony (as every other company) has limited resources.Putting some of them on the vita will bring them y profits.Putting these same resources on, let's say, ps3 will bring them a lot more than y.That's the problem.It's not a matter of bringing profit or not, but how much.

True. However there are advantages in making business on two fields, home consoles and handhelds, even if you might profit more on dropping the other. Otherwise I don't think they would've released a PSP successor in the first place.

All the people being on the fence kind of make me sad though. People who enjoy dedicated handhelds should consider getting this no matter the price. I know I did, right on the launch day. Can't blame anyone under the current economic situation though.

I'm refusing to announce Vita dead before next year. Last Christmas was amazing for 3DS. It could happen again. I hope they will manage to address families by then.

 

[clay_ghost]

It was something like 6 months after release date, fastest ever price drop in console history, and a 20% drop too ..... I can remember the anger on these boards, it got to such a problem that Nintendo had to backtrack and then offer free games to the angry early adopters .....

I wasn't angry over the price drop, but many many were .... so again damned if you do, damned if you don't

? if i remember correctly they announced the free games along with the price drop(or a few days later?) ? Am i wrong?

for damned if you do, damned if you don't, well for Nintendo is damned if they don't but what they did was the right move.

 

[SkylineRKR]

It was something like 6 months after release date, fastest ever price drop in console history, and a 20% drop too ..... I can remember the anger on these boards, it got to such a problem that Nintendo had to backtrack and then offer free games to the angry early adopters .....

I wasn't angry over the price drop, but many many were .... so again damned if you do, damned if you don't

Its nothing new. Saturn and original Xbox prices dropped within mere months as well. Playstation 3 dropped 200 euros within 6 or 7 months in Europe. But in contrast to the others Sony never arranged ambassador deals for those loyal fans.

 

[Shion]

Sony's success with ALL of their game platforms has been due to third parties.

Still, games like Sly 4, Rain etc. should have been Vita exclusives.

Sony needs to support the system with as much exclusive content as possible. No one is going to buy a Vita as long as most of its games are available on the PS3. This policy makes the system just a luxury-device that even most of the core gamers don't have any real need for.

 

[Nekki]

A report from Flurry Analytics (Link) in 2011 was grim reading for traditional handhelds.

I imagine things have got worse since then...

What elektroplankton said above. PSP was never a factor, and in the case of the DS it is obvious the share will be much less, seeing as how its at the very end of its lifecycle.

The market has shifted more towards mobile devices, but this doesn't paint a clear picture of the situation tbh.

On the Vita, i think better times will come. Of course, it's all up to Sony's ability to carry the machine forward. They did a horrendous job with PSP, and a mediocre one with PS3, which they seemed to somewhat correct later on. They haven't learned a thing for Vita it seems, but at least we see they're trying to take the reels on software development, putting their first party franchises in.

It still has nowhere to be found 3rd party support (AC:L and Lol of duty notwithstanding), and that's gonna be really tough for a company that's almost always relied on them.

But throughout this generation we've seen them put more emphasis on their first parties, and give incentives to generating new ip's. These will only help keep the Vita afloat as a device that few people will buy, but at least it won't make Sony a laughingstock (if they aren't already )

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

I'm not gonna say names, but it's funny to watch the very same people talking doom and being very pessimistic on every thread about Vita, and in the same time, being overly optimistic on every thread about Nintendo/WiiU.

And you have people convinced that the Vita will suddenly be saved because of some miracle or another, so there's bias on either side. However, there hasn't been much of any outright "glee." This isn't really good news for anyone.

If you really want to make a point, refute the arguments presented, not the people.

 

[PastorOfMuppets]

I know NeoGaf hates business analysts but I think they are right more often than they are wrong.

From the point of view of the everyman, what is supposed to compel him/her to buy a portable game console, especially given the price they are sold at? We already know hardcore gamers will buy them but that market is not going to be that big. It might be time to accept the fact that the days of the Game Boy being the number one option for video games might be over forever.

 

[Haliela]

I know NeoGaf hates business analysts but I think they are right more often than they are wrong.

From the point of view of the everyman, what is supposed to compel him/her to buy a portable game console, especially given the price they are sold at? We already know hardcore gamers will buy them but that market is not going to be that big. It might be time to accept the fact that the days of the Game Boy being the number one option for video games might be over forever.

This is extremely depressing. Tower Defense games and Angry Birds aren't exactly deep, fun, meaningful gaming experiences.

 

[5amshift]

Such low numbers, my god, ahaha.
And them messing up and claiming they were wrong with marketing is a lie. If so, they need to seriously fire their marketing guys. They fucked up twice now for now price dropping it at E3 and now at Gamescom.

 

[clay_ghost]

I know NeoGaf hates business analysts but I think they are right more often than they are wrong.

From the point of view of the everyman, what is supposed to compel him/her to buy a portable game console, especially given the price they are sold at? We already know hardcore gamers will buy them but that market is not going to be that big. It might be time to accept the fact that the days of the Game Boy being the number one option for video games might be over forever.

At long as there are still great games , it will be all right for gamers.Hope that IOS market will not kill good games (megaman........)

 

[AppleSmack]

I hope the PS Vita begin to do much better with the new games announced at gamescom. If I would buy a handheld, it would be the Vita. Otherwise I'll just stick to my tablet on the go.

 

[Currygan]

I'm not gonna say names, but it's funny to watch the very same people talking doom and being very pessimistic on every thread about Vita, and in the same time, being overly optimistic on every thread about Nintendo/WiiU.

For example they don't see the point of buying a game who is already out on other system and less expensive. Yet they are waiting WiiU to buy Mass Effect or Batman...

I mean the argument is valid (Vita not selling well), but I found some people incredibly harsh as soon as we are talking about Sony, and not at all as soon as we are talking about Nintendo.

you're pissed but you didn't need to exemplify things in a way they don't make any sense. First of all, noone here is being harsh. We're discussing things based on facts. Facts say Vita is selling awfully. Claiming it will be dead soon if things don't change radically is not pessimistic or doom and gloom, it's a shitty reality. Second, being optimistic about the WiiU is a completely different thing: we don't know a lot about the console yet but games are enough to make people excited. Not many people are buying the console to play enhanced ports, as you can see in that thread, including me

third: have you read any WiiU thread? It's full of people trolling like mad. I find the trolling in this thread is almost irrilevant compared to your average Nintendo one

 

[SkylineRKR]

Its true that Sony mainly lived on third party support. It was where the Ps1 had been criticized for back then. They did built studios over the years and did a good job with that, but a lot of those franchises never did and still attract no more than just PS fans. The best selling and most relevant Ps2 games were the GTA's by Rockstar, FFX and MGS. Now enter an age where third party exclusivity is utopia, and Sony is struggling.

The problem is that Sony doesn't seem to succeed in creating its Mario Bros, Pokemon, Halo.. ie. an evergreen that can carry a system on its own. And Sony did try with Killzone, LBP etc... but no one outside of PS fans seem to care. The Vita basically needs its Mario Kart 7 this holiday.

 

[mace999]

? if i remember correctly they announced the free games along with the price drop(or a few days later?) ? Am i wrong?

for damned if you do, damned if you don't, well for Nintendo is damned if they don't but what they did was the right move.

Haha ok I give up ....... Vita is dying, can't wait until it dies, omg it has worse figures than the Wonderswan ..... Am I doing this right !?!?

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

Haha ok I give up ....... Vita is dying, can't wait until it dies, omg it has worse figures than the Wonderswan ..... Am I doing this right !?!?

No, you need to talk about sales facts and try and extrapolate those facts with meaningful analysis and prediction. Then you'd fit in with the rest of this thread.

 

[Nekki]

I would love to add in the charts the X360, here is its first year according to gaf :

first year : Jl-Sp (-) Oc-Dc (1.5) Ja-Mr (1.7) Ap-Jn (1.8) FY (5) LTD (5)
second year : : Jl-Sp (1) Oc-Dc (4.4) Ja-Mr (0.5) Ap-Jn (0.7) FY (6.6) LTD (11.5)
It's similar to Vita, right?

What do those numbers stand for?? Are they millions of units sold? Is it worldwide? Or only for the US?

That only tells me the X360 had a much better first year than Vita so far

 

[Rand6]

you're pissed but you didn't need to exemplify things in a way they don't make any sense. First of all, noone here is being harsh. We're discussing things based on facts. Facts say Vita is selling awfully. Claiming it will be dead soon if things don't change radically is not pessimistic or doom and gloom, it's a shitty reality. Second, being optimistic about the WiiU is a completely different thing: we don't know a lot about the console yet but games are enough to make people excited. Not many people are buying the console to play enhanced ports, as you can see in that thread, including me

third: have you read any WiiU thread? It's full of people trolling like mad. I find the trolling in this thread is almost irrilevant compared to your average Nintendo one

Look who's talking...but yeah think whatever you want I'm not here to start a war... And yes I read threads about Wii U, it's exactly the same level. Please note that I'm not denying the fact that Vita is not selling well btw, but I still think that it'll sells at the same pace as X360.
Something like 5 millions by year during it's first 2 year, then take off.

@ Nekki : it's WW and yes it's millions of units sold

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=470915
I wouldn't go as far as tell "much better", Vita has still a good chance of finishing it's first year above 5 millions

 

[bigtroyjon]

I would love to add in the charts the X360, here is its first year according to gaf :

first year : Jl-Sp (-) Oc-Dc (1.5) Ja-Mr (1.7) Ap-Jn (1.8) FY (5) LTD (5)
second year : : Jl-Sp (1) Oc-Dc (4.4) Ja-Mr (0.5) Ap-Jn (0.7) FY (6.6) LTD (11.5)
It's similar to Vita, right?

That's not similar to Vita at all. In fact it's more than double what the Vita did in it's first 3 quarters at a much higher cost.

 

[AppleSmack]

Look who's talking...but yeah think whatever you want I'm not here to start a war... And yes I read threads about Wii U, it's exactly the same level. Please note that I'm not denying the fact that Vita is not selling well btw, but I still think that it'll sells at the same pace as X360.
Something like 5 millions by year during it's first 2 year, then take off.

I could barely understand what you posted, but I had to laugh at what I understood.

Vita and 360 aren't anything alike in any way. Not economically nor physically. Why should they have to sell similarly to be successful?

 

[jchap]

They can still save it by transitioning it into a Vita phone

 

[Joseph Flemming]

? if i remember correctly they announced the free games along with the price drop(or a few days later?) ? Am i wrong?

for damned if you do, damned if you don't, well for Nintendo is damned if they don't but what they did was the right move.

They announced the "Ambassador" program along with the price drop, however they did not state all of the titles that would include. They named five GBA games & five NES games with the rest TBD later. We at least knew we had twenty free games to cushion the price drop shock.

 

[mace999]

No, you need to talk about sales facts and try and extrapolate those facts with meaningful analysis and prediction. Then you'd fit in with the rest of this thread.

I'm a gamer not a business analyst, I bought the Vita cos it's a nice machine with a few games I wanted to play, same reason I bought my 3DS, PSP, DS, 360, PS3, Wii ....

I'm not gonna trawl over business records and sales figures, I'm gonna go and play a game instead ....

Every gaming company has made many mistakes, I know and recognize this ..... but moaning and trawling over sales figures and getting so happy when one console or handheld is not doing so good is fanboyism .... and yes I just made a new word

Is there a website or message board where the members have all systems and are not biased to any one company or machine !?!? And we just talk about games

Positive thinking brings positive thoughts

 

[Dreams-Visions]

I knew the Vita's future was a questionable one given the many discussions we've already had about the 2012 market (that don't need to be rehashed again), but all I see from month to month is further confirmation that we who were skeptical about its market potential were right to be.

Unlike some, I don't see a particularly strong holiday period for Vita's either. Not because it's not a nice piece of kit or because there won't be a few games really worth playing...but because for the adjusted cost of admission (after adding mem card and a couple games) is high, and because there is a lot of new tech coming this holiday season to draw attention and sales away from the Vita. 3DS, WiiU, Microsoft tablets, iPad Mini, new Android phones and tablets, new iPhone. All electronics that many people in the Vita's original target audience (20-somethings and up) are all going to be looking at and deciding which to buy. All of them are around the same price and not many will be buying multiple devices for themselves.

Of all of those products I listed, I think the Vita is providing the least compelling reasons to justify its purchase relative to the others. It also has the least stable/clear foreseeable future.

I think that November/December NPD will show the signs of life we're been waiting for or they will be the moment a large number of gamers write it off entirely.

 

[Currygan]

Look who's talking...but yeah think whatever you want I'm not here to start a war... And yes I read threads about Wii U, it's exactly the same level. Please note that I'm not denying the fact that Vita is not selling well btw, but I still think that it'll sells at the same pace as X360.
Something like 5 millions by year during it's first 2 year, then take off.

@ Nekki : it's WW and yes it's millions of units sold

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=470915
I wouldn't go as far as tell "much better", Vita has still a good chance of finishing it's first year above 5 millions

look who's talking? What?

 

[SkylineRKR]

I think most around here are gamers and not actual analysts... but this is still a sales thread. The other Vita thread around here should be about gaming experiences.

 

[clay_ghost]

I'm a gamer not a business analyst, I bought the Vita cos it's a nice machine with a few games I wanted to play, same reason I bought my 3DS, PSP, DS, 360, PS3, Wii ....

getting so happy when one console or handheld is not doing so good is fanboyism .



Positive thinking brings positive thoughts

No one is happy , Who the hell is happy? One or two troll poster?

 

[Celine]

Does... Does this mean it's selling worse or at least on par with Wonderswan in Japan?!

Actually no, at least for Famitsu.
After 35 weeks on the market PSV is at 834K while WS was at 597K.

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

I'm a gamer not a business analyst, I bought the Vita cos it's a nice machine with a few games I wanted to play, same reason I bought my 3DS, PSP, DS, 360, PS3, Wii ....

I'm not gonna trawl over business records and sales figures, I'm gonna go and play a game instead ....

Every gaming company has made many mistakes, I know and recognize this ..... but moaning and trawling over sales figures and getting so happy when one console or handheld is not doing so good is fanboyism .... and yes I just made a new word

Is there a website or message board where the members have all systems and are not biased to any one company or machine !?!? And we just talk about games

Positive thinking brings positive thoughts

Ellipses: making forum posts more thoughtful, one post at a time.

But on topic, paying attention to the market is smart because it helps you understand the direction systems will go. I'm not buying a WiiU, for example, until I know that the system has enough leverage to stick around long enough to get the support I want on it. People don't want to buy a system based on potential, they want games and support. You can't discuss what games are coming down the pipe unless you look at the numbers.

Fanboyism is not a new word, and people who discuss sales are not fanboys in the least bit. They're interested in the market because it influences the systems. We can look at the numbers and see what we will receive in the future. If there is any fanboyism in this thread, it's the insistence that the Vita will suddenly do better despite all evidence pointing to the contrary.

Thinking positive thoughts about the Vita won't magically bring it good sales figures and third party support. If you think that NeoGAF is based against the Vita, you really ought to read this thread again, and look at your own biases. The reality is that the system is doing poorly, and there's no indication of a recovery. You are just denying that reality because it suits your agenda.

 

[Parmenides]

It should've never been released.

Agreed.


-Sony's handheld business is a mess.

Worldwide Unit Sales (Unit: Million)

Hardware      Ja-Mr'12    Ap-Jn'12    First Half'12                  
--------------------------------------------------------------------
PS3/PS2        2.5         2.8           5.3          

PSV/PSP        0.9         1.4           2.3         
--------------------------------------------------------------------


Software      Ja-Mr'12    Ap-Jn'12    First Half'12                
--------------------------------------------------------------------
PS3/PS2        28.0        20.1          48.1          

PSV/PSP        6.0         5.8           11.8         
--------------------------------------------------------------------

-The market for dedicated gaming handhelds is shrinking.NSMB 2 represents the latest example in Japan.

Famitsu Software Sales

Week        NSMB (2006-NDS)    NSMB 2 (2012-3DS)            
--------------------------------------------------------------------
  1          865,024               430,185          

  2          315,197               213,863

  3          242,932               146,684       
   

 TOT        1,423,153              790,732


NSMB 2 Digital Sales Ratio -->  5%          
--------------------------------------------------------------------

I expect Vita sales to slowly improve over time,but I can understand the naysayers and skeptics.

 

[Canis lupus]

Vita needs to branch out to smartphones and tablets.

1. Deliver a flat Dualshock 3 with a Vita smartphone
2. Make the Vita tablet have physical buttons likr the WiiU controller.

Specs should be the same or above Vita handheld, all games need to be compatible with Vita handheld so eventough future gen Vita smartphones/tablets will be stronger, the dedicated handheld will still be able to play them.

Sony's mobile division should know firsthand that the handheld gaming market is shifting towars smartphones and tablets.

 

[pieatorium]

Its true that Sony mainly lived on third party support. It was where the Ps1 had been criticized for back then. They did built studios over the years and did a good job with that, but a lot of those franchises never did and still attract no more than just PS fans. The best selling and most relevant Ps2 games were the GTA's by Rockstar, FFX and MGS. Now enter an age where third party exclusivity is utopia, and Sony is struggling.

The problem is that Sony doesn't seem to succeed in creating its Mario Bros, Pokemon, Halo.. ie. an evergreen that can carry a system on its own. And Sony did try with Killzone, LBP etc... but no one outside of PS fans seem to care. The Vita basically needs its Mario Kart 7 this holiday.

I think GT was a bigger or similar franchise in sales compared to the GTA's in the PS1/2 era and God of War is a bigger than alot of franchises but not really on the Halo level not far behind Final Fantasies though (excluding 7and 8 when it's sales peaked) even the portable versions did pretty well on psp.

 

[SpinningBirdKick]

The problem is that Sony doesn't seem to succeed in creating its Mario Bros, Pokemon, Halo.. ie. an evergreen that can carry a system on its own. And Sony did try with Killzone, LBP etc... but no one outside of PS fans seem to care. The Vita basically needs its Mario Kart 7 this holiday.

I believe its because of a different company mindsets of Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony.

Nintendo have always been about the games, hardware horsepower has always been secondary to the gaming experience for them. Developers have frequently complained about their out dated cheaper technology.

Microsoft understands that hardware has to be "good enough" to offer a high end experience but they also get it that the software that drives sales of the hardware and not vice versa.

Sony have always relied upon the "build a better mousetrap" approach, where having the best possible hardware has always been the end goal hoping that third parties would make the high end hardware sing eventually. This approach backfired when they pushed things too far with the PS3.

As the performance gap between the next generation platform shrinks, I think Sony is going to struggle the most. Mass market consumers have already shown with the success Wii that it's the games not the technology that is most important.

Unfortunately for Sony, it seems that overall their game portfolio struggles to capture the hearts and minds of consumers when compared to the Nintendo or Microsoft platforms.

 

[Road]

wait the dc numbers on that chart are Japan only?

Oh my.

P.s Dreamcast sales are Japan-only, whereas Vita's are worldwide.

C'mon, people, this is NOT what I said. Dreamcast sales are worldwide. Let's re-read my post and the graph.

Things implicit:

- a quarter (of a year) is three months;
- the table at the bottom of the chart has the actual sales numbers (in millions);
- an empty cell means no information about that quarter;
- the chart connects with a simple straight line empty quarters between quarters when the information is available.

Let's read the chart with that i mind:

- quarter 1 -- _____ -- Dreamcast was released in Japan;
- quarter 2 -- 0.91m -- Japan only (2x3 = 6 months);
- quarter 3 -- _____ -- Japan only (3x3 = 9 months) ;
- quarter 4 -- _____ -- Dreamcast was released in the West -- worldwide now (4x3= 12 months);
- quarter 5 -- _____ -- worldwide (5x3 = 15 months);
- quarter 6 -- 4.81m -- Dreamcast sales are worldwide (6x3 = 18 months);

Conclusion

In quarter 3, the same that has 2.2m for the Vita, Dreamcast was still Japan only, but I don't know how much were the actual sales in q3 (cell is empty), so the chart has an interpolation line between Japan-only sales (q2) and worldwide sales (q6), which does not necessarily represent the actual sales of the Dreamcast in q3, q4 and q5.

If anyone has better Dreamcast figures. It's the worst comparison since it was on the market in Japan alone for basically 1 year.

I also meant the worst comparison not as in the worst for the Vita -- to make it look bad -- but worst for it being confusing and misleading -- which it was!

 

[Rand6]

Thinking positive thoughts about the Vita won't magically bring it good sales figures and third party support. We've seen consoles fail in the past and we don't want that to happen again. But it will.

If you think that NeoGAF is based against the Vita, you really ought to read this thread again, and look at your own biases.

I'm agree with the first part, and I don't think Neogaf is based against Vita, not at all. Just a few people. Oh and I really enjoy reading most people here

 

[snowdog1971]

As a interesting note. By March 2012 Vita had 1.8 million sold.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-05-10-sony-earnings-call-reveals-worldwide-ps-vita-sales

Christ on a bike, that's not good. Only 400K in 5 months...and Sony say they're not going to cut the price until next year. To have not sold over 1m in a single territory so far is terrible...the DS wasn't too far away from outselling the Vita last week. Won't be long (a month or two probably imo) before there are 10 times more 3DS consoles out there than Vita consoles.

I can't understand the thinking by the Sony executive's decision making sometimes. They seem to have learnt nothing from the launches of the PSP, PS3 and Vita and they're probably going to make the same mistake with the PS4 next year too. They seem obsessed with launching high spec machines at a high price and wonder why the DS, Wii, 360 and 3DS outsell them by a mile until they cut the price. They ran away with the 5th and 6th generations with modest hardware.

They're going to be lucky next gen because Microsoft have gone even more insane with regards to specs but it's possible that both of the consoles will struggle to sell next gen if they retail for over 400 dollars or pounds.

 

[Loghorn150]

I believe its because of a different company mindsets of Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony.

Nintendo have always been about the games, hardware horsepower has always been secondary to the gaming experience for them. Developers have frequently complained about their out dated cheaper technology.

Microsoft understands that hardware has to be "good enough" to offer a high end experience but they also get it that the software that drives sales of the hardware and not vice versa.

Sony have always relied upon the "build a better mousetrap" approach, where having the best possible hardware has always been the end goal hoping that third parties would make the high end hardware sing eventually. This approach backfired when they pushed things too far with the PS3.

As the performance gap between the next generation platform shrinks, I think Sony is going to struggle the most. Mass market consumers have already shown with the success Wii that it's the games not the technology that is most important.

Unfortunately for Sony, it seems that overall their game portfolio struggles to capture the hearts and minds of consumers when compared to the Nintendo or Microsoft platforms.

I think that this is what Sony will never, ever get. They seem to think that "having more bleeding-edge hardware will help get a lot of 3rd party support!". And it worked to an extent, but the only reason that they still had that with the PS3 was because of the big success off of the PS2.

If Sony thinks that 3rd parties are going to easily come to their rescue like they had with PS1, PS2, PS3, & PSP with PS Vita & PS4, then they have another thing coming. Things are going to be very different for Sony this time around.

 

[UncleSporky]

I believe its because of a different company mindsets of Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony.

Nintendo have always been about the games, hardware horsepower has always been secondary to the gaming experience for them. Developers have frequently complained about their out dated cheaper technology.

Microsoft understands that hardware has to be "good enough" to offer a high end experience but they also get it that the software that drives sales of the hardware and not vice versa.

Sony have always relied upon the "build a better mousetrap" approach, where having the best possible hardware has always been the end goal hoping that third parties would make the high end hardware sing eventually. This approach backfired when they pushed things too far with the PS3.

As the performance gap between the next generation platform shrinks, I think Sony is going to struggle the most. Mass market consumers have already shown with the success Wii that it's the games not the technology that is most important.

Unfortunately for Sony, it seems that overall their game portfolio struggles to capture the hearts and minds of consumers when compared to the Nintendo or Microsoft platforms.

Not to mention that Sony has abandoned potential mascots left and right for years. Looking at Naughty Dog alone, Crash Bandicoot was the PS1 mascot, Jak & Daxter was the PS2 mascot, and now apparently Nathan Drake is the PS3 mascot. If they'd stuck with Crash or even J&D, who knows what sort of longevity they might've found.

 

[mace999]

I think most around here are gamers and not actual analysts... but this is still a sales thread. The other Vita thread around here should be about gaming experiences.

Yes I'll take your advice, back to the official Vita & 3DS threads ........ I'll ignore xxxx sales threads and this console is dying threads in the future ......

 

[RurouniZel]

I'm a gamer not a business analyst, I bought the Vita cos it's a nice machine with a few games I wanted to play, same reason I bought my 3DS, PSP, DS, 360, PS3, Wii ....

I'm not gonna trawl over business records and sales figures, I'm gonna go and play a game instead ....

Every gaming company has made many mistakes, I know and recognize this ..... but moaning and trawling over sales figures and getting so happy when one console or handheld is not doing so good is fanboyism .... and yes I just made a new word

Is there a website or message board where the members have all systems and are not biased to any one company or machine !?!? And we just talk about games

Positive thinking brings positive thoughts

You know, when I was younger I did the same thing with regards to my Dreamcast.

... it still died. ;_;

*hugs Dreamcast*

 

[Canis lupus]

I think that this is what Sony will never, ever get. They seem to think that "having more bleeding-edge hardware will help get a lot of 3rd party support!". And it worked to an extent, but the only reason that they still had that with the PS3 was because of the big success off of the PS2.

If Sony thinks that 3rd parties are going to easily come to their rescue like they had with PS1, PS2, PS3, & PSP with PS Vita & PS4, then they have another thing coming. Things are going to be very different for Sony this time around.

Sony is a company driven by engineers, they cant simply become Nintendo and make cheap hardware. Sony will always try to make cutting edge technology.