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[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

#1 Allow press a way to get devkits/captures tools.

The biggest reason I don't try vita games until I get them through plus/gamefly is because stuff like quicklooks aren't possible without a total garbage over the shoulder camera.

#2 Lower the price, even if you have to rip out worthless gimmicks that .00001% of people like such as back touch/gyro. Also hopefully fix the ergonomic mess this thing is for anyone without child sized hands.

#3 Fix the memory situation. I and 3-4 of my friends would have bought one at launch if it wasn't for this. Instead I bought a 150$ craigslist bundle in September and none of them plan to ever buy it at this point unless it's hacked in some way to allow non proprietary memory r4 style.

#4 Let current users disable the back touch pad at an OS level so we don't have to hold it super awkwardly in games that sadly force it to be on.

#5 Throw money at it. Yeah Sony is broke, but at this point software support isn't coming unless Sony themselves gets some momentum going. Ridiculous that stuff like Borderlands 2 wasn't ported over.

#6 Allow a cell/sim card phone version. I have a smartphone and the thing I do LEAST on it is talk so I don't care if I'd look dumb on it. If my vita could be my text message/4g twitter-email checking device I would sell my cuttent phone.

No no no no no no. This is an awful idea, you can't make older games unplayable and splinter the userbase. You don't splinter the userbase of an already struggling system.


I think the biggest thing they need to do is lower the price and lower the memory cards. The 4gb is a joke and many times only allows you to store one game at a time. If you want to bundle sony, you have to bundle much bigger than 4gb, it's beyond worthless.

 

[Currygan]

Haha there is a reason why none of ye will ever be employed by Sony. Ye don't have a clue.

weird, since not having a clue seems to be a requisite for joining Sony's handheld division

 

[Christberg]

Go back and kill the PSP Go in its cradle. With fire. Not because it's a bad piece of kit by itself, but because it broke game compatibility mid generation for OG PSP owners in a gigantic bend you over with no lube fashion.

Not release it with an unbelievably expensive memory solution for no reason whatsoever other than greed. Ditch the back touch.

Get teams from Sony A studios working on it from devkit one instead of B studios and have them release original IP, not inferior copies of full console titles.

 

[MDX]

The PS4 will fail on the same level of Vita coming out 2 years after MS. And they will fail miserably in Japan with Nintendo have 3 years to dominate in Japan. PS4 is 100x more important that Vita is to Sony's health, so putting off PS4 for Vita would be a horrible mistake.

Only if they dont have any games.
And thats why I said they shouldn't compete against Microsoft.
They should focus on getting their games ready, and producing an affordable console.
If they offer content that consumers are willing to pay for, it doesn't matter when they launch.

But before that, they have to make content for the VITA.

 

[whitehawk]

See this chinese phone?

$160, same screen resolution and size, just not OLED

It even has 512MB of RAM like the Vita, just swap the dualcore processor for Vita's quad (and those other components). What I'm saying is that there are cheaper component options out there that don't hurt the experience, so why not use those instead?

Vita has 512MB system memory and 128MB video memory.

 

[enzo_gt]

The horse has bolted for Sony on this one. If the best you can do is pour billions into subsidising a ship that might float home to shore with no cargo, one day, if the winds are favourable, then there's no point. If the hierarchy at Sony is the same impotent entity that its been for the last decade or so, then this is what they will do.

Alternatively, if they are serious about turning the company around they will fire some egos and promote people who are willing to tow the line some more. Then they can think about the business of releasing a competitive product into any marketplace.

So for the Vita, I would let it ride out a four year term, drop all licensing fees and red tape from games to try to salvage some outside support, concentrate on simultaneous releases and connectivity with the console side, even if it's a 3 man D team. Make it the test bed for new franchise ideas. Then I would take out out back and shoot it.

I like this idea. Desperate measures yeah, but I think they have to grip onto those cross-play and buy threads a bit tighter to salvage it.

weird, since not having a clue seems to be a requisite for joining Sony's handheld division

God damn this is ice cold.

 

[Xenon]

Remove rear touch. Done!

 

[Kuro Madoushi]

Aggressive price-cut and moneyhatting/developing compelling, exclusive (not Vita/PS3) software, including games from their top teams.

Read the long laundry list and it basically boils down to this. There is no big problem hw wise for me....though I would like internal memory.

It just seems Sony didn't get the big gins and the moneyhats out. Pubs won't support a system with a small user base but the user base won't grow without the games.

 

[Jeels]

So you want to implement all these hardware and software features that cost money, and then have them bundle it with a PS4 (which will already cost quite a bit) and still EXPECT them to reduce the price AND somehow have it make a profit? And your solution to making it profitable is to "keep reducing costs".

Those two things are contradictory. A $150 Vita turning a profit would no longer be a Vita at this point in time.

 

[Neo C.]

This is one thing I would find interesting. What are people's expectations for "turning it around"? Do people think Vita is going to suddenly shoot off into the stars or are people talking about it reaching Gamecube sales at some point?

Turning it around: Make the business profitable.
I know console warriors only care for install base and games, but the Vita would be alright to me (and Sony stock owners) if the Vita actually made money.

 

[JackDT]

Nothing short of a full pivot could save the Vita at this point. A bunch of minor hardware improvements, software features, price bundles or cuts... NONE of that will have the large impact that would required if something is to save the Vita.

My suggestion would be to turn it into a full Android device including access to the Google Play store (Google App Store). There are so many times where I really find some good Android phone content but am driven crazy trying to use only a touch pad. Having real controls, analogs sticks and all? Would be heaven. This thing could be a great little Nexus 7 like device aimed more at gamers. I would personally buy a Vita if was a full Android device.

(Android 4.x already supports 360 controllers and all the features so expecting games to support controllers is not far fetched.)

So how does Sony make money if they do this? No idea. But I don't see anything else saving the thing, and they sure aren't going to make any money they way they are going now.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

Sony needs to realize that they aren't the top dog anymore and software support isn't a guaranteed birthright. Until they do that all of their platforms will continue to struggle.

 

[jonno394]

Would a price cut on the vita hurt sony even more than it is right now. If they are making a loss on the machine, cutting the price to sell more would increase their losses exponentially right??

 

[pixelbox]

Sony needs to realize that they aren't the top dog anymore and software support isn't a guaranteed birthright. Until they do that all of their platforms will continue to struggle.

I don't think Sony believes this anymore.

I really think they should get rid of the OLED. There's just too many problems with it. Maybe go with the MINI lcd led panel. Make the price $160 with a 8 GIG stick and upgrade software to fix issues like folders. At that price, market it as a multi media device.

 

[Neo C.]

Would a price cut on the vita hurt sony even more than it is right now. If they are making a loss on the machine, cutting the price to sell more would increase their losses exponentially right??

Unless they can reduce the production costs dramatically: Yes.

 

[Erethian]

Makes it look like they lucked into their third party situation right from the beginning.

Not lucked so much as the PSP was able to ride the PS2 wave. Whereas the Vita is coming off the PS3/PSP.

 

[Yagharek]

At this stage they should moneyhat GTAV and get a full version of it, if possible.
Make it cross-buy as well and advertise heavily.

 

[Burai]

So shitty hardware =unique games? Lol okay I understand. It you want colorful Ps2 games Sony should have just kept the PSP and not even made a successor in any shape or form. There is also nothing stopping developers from making the games you speak of on vita.

Apart from the lack of market for Vita games. That's pretty important.

edit: do you know hard sony would have to try to make hardware as weak as you describe? Vitas cpu/gpu is among tue cheapest in the market. It isn't like the ps3 situation (which was made from alien technology ). The vita is as basic as you can get.

But not as cheap/basic as a 3DS.

Nintendo gave developers a way of continuing PSP/PS2-level development and access to their built-in fanbase. It's all the benefits of the PSP + an expanded audience. For PSP owners they offer the PSP developers and franchises they love along with traditional Nintendo titles all on one machine.

Sony, on the other hand, increased development costs and gave consumers who bought UMDs (aka, 99% of them) no way to bring their existing library forward with them. They gave both consumers and developers very compelling reasons to not follow them.

 

[boingball]

Sony dropped the ball big time when they let Nintendo snatch Monster Hunter. With Monster Hunter on board the Vita could have been a hit in Japan.

In the west it never had a chance. The PSP was kind of a success, but mainly because there was no iPad and it was easy to hack. Some manager probably looked at the numbers and thought: Well if we sell 10 million Vitas like we did with the PSP and the system cannot be hacked, they all have to buy SW and we make truckloads of money. Unfortunately those ppl who took a free ride on the PSP are not interested in the Vita. So besides not selling SW Sony does not sell HW either.

How to fix the Vita:
In Japan: easy
Get Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy VII HD, Final Fantasy XV, Dragon Quest XV
(of course Sony does not have the money for that, but that would make the system a hit)

In the West: abandon ship
In a way Sony is preparing for that already with PSM. That will allow them to offer Sony games on Playstation certified devices (tablets and phones) without totally abandoning the Vita (since it can also play PSM games).
There is a theoretical chance that there is a market for #yopo CoD, Madden and FIFA with cross-play. But it is doubtful that this is technical feasible and neither Activision nor EA have any interest in that.

 

[orioto]

So shitty hardware =unique games? Lol okay I understand. It you want colorful Ps2 games Sony should have just kept the PSP and not even made a successor in any shape or form. There is also nothing stopping developers from making the games you speak of on vita.

edit: do you know hard sony would have to try to make hardware as weak as you describe? Vitas cpu/gpu is among tue cheapest in the market. It isn't like the ps3 situation (which was made from alien technology ). The vita is as basic as you can get.

You missed parts of my post it seems...
Psp isn't what i descibe no. There is a woooorld between a psp game and a clean iq colorfull ps2 game as i mentioned. Meaning better textures, screen, AA and resolution, not forgeting framerate. Of course you could do that on Vita (most japanese games are making just that), but yes, i think you could have something cheaper if less gimmicks and a less powerfull chip (i would even drop the oled thing honestly, for a real good lcd. This is the kind of great thing that appeals to high tech fans.). I don't get your point with the Vita being the cheapest possible... How is that even possible when every smartphone in the world has something slightly weaker right now.

But the main idea here, to me, is that yes, Japan needed a psp+ with pretty graphics and great online. Actually the Vita's online alone would be a next gen addition to the psp. Using the psp momentum, you could have lots of great community games with successful new ips. But for that you need a console that actually focused on the psp's strenghs.


That's funny cause in a way, the Vita made the same mistake as the Dreamcast. I felt that pretty strongly at the time. Sega saturn was an otaku's wet dream. It was the symbol of 2D fighters, j-rpgs etc... Dreamcast was (as great as it was) a noisy pc with 3d graphics all over the place. I mean shenmue, crazy taxi, sonic adventure.. all that was great but the DC was shitting all over the saturn audience.

 

[sajj316]

Parts get cheaper over time so the device will inevitably be cheaper. I predict a price cut this year in all regions.

Continue delivering fantastic games. Whether you agree or not, it's built a nice library for itself year one. Square can really help out here by releasing a qHD release of Type-0 and maybe Crisis Core. It's been the system to own for FF related software. I am fine with remakes and well made ports, just as long as there are titles like Gravity Rush and Sound Shapes to push new ip. Also, this can be a system to breathe new life into old IPs. I'm looking at you Mark of Kri and Medievil.

The system can be a nice landing spot for developers not wanting to invest major dollars into next gen titles but don't want the iOS/ Android route.

Kickstarter for Vita titles .. I'd donate.

 

[Currygan]

Would a price cut on the vita hurt sony even more than it is right now. If they are making a loss on the machine, cutting the price to sell more would increase their losses exponentially right??

of course it would, but the situation is so shite now that extreme measures are very much Sony's last resort. You cannot make money on software if noone has the hardware to play it on

that is phase one though. Phase two is software that people WANT. Nintendo delivered a killer blow when they secured MonHun....that was Sony's bigger mistake

 

[Father_Brain]

Considering the type of game that Sucker Punch, Santa Monica, and Naughty Dog seem primarily interested in creating and the lack of an apparent market for such cinematic AAA titles on a handheld, I think the significance of those studios' non-support is greatly overrated. Sony could be doing a better job of executing their "console-quality gaming on the go" vision, sure, but that vision, not the execution thereof, is the real problem.

 

[Celine]

How to fix the Vita:
In Japan: easy
Get Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy VII HD, Final Fantasy XV, Dragon Quest XV
(of course Sony does not have the money for that, but that would make the system a hit)

You call that easy?
Even with moneyhat you cann't get all of those games on vita.
Now, if we are in fantasy land, then add Mario, kart, animal crossing and the other nintendo big sellers.

 

[AdventureRacing]

How to fix the Vita:
In Japan: easy
Get Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy VII HD, Final Fantasy XV, Dragon Quest XV
(of course Sony does not have the money for that, but that would make the system a hit)

The size of the moneyhat required to actually make those things happen is so big that it's not even worth posting. You might as well say they should give the vita away for free as that has about as much chance of happening.

 

[DCharlie]

1) Price cut / aggressive bundling to continue, must get those memory card prices down

2) Relaunch - Soul Sacrifice needs to be surrounded with announcements of note, SS will not rescue the Vita single handedly no matter how good the demo is

3) Courting iOS/Android devs - more ports of games, play up the "plays better with controls" angle

4) Line up internal big names Gran Turismo V, Parappa 3, erm...
4b) Dedicated internal teams for Handhelds If Sony want to compete with Nintendo then they need to pump more resources in to finding new handheld specific IPs - maybe it's time to throw stuff and see what sticks?

5) Ensure games are tailored for handhelds - this time, make damned sure GT has the foundations for a great handheld game that focuses on the nature of handheld gaming : a fudge ton of license challenges, short grinding races, progression paths that are well defined, a lot of long term goals drizzled with a ton of short term check points, etc.

6) Negotiate for more reasonable PSP->Vita upgrade club - and negotiate to get more games on the platform. The Japanese Passport prices are insanity and it's a barrier to what could be a clear upgrade path for PSP owners. But given how cheap and expansive the second hand PSP library is there's no incentive for people to move. We are talking about picking up MH3rd and PS02 and still having 300 yen or so left - which would still buy you a couple of other selected PSP 2nd hand titles)

 

[AdventureRacing]

3) Courting iOS/Android devs - more ports of games, play up the "plays better with controls" angle

I agree with most of what you say but this is one point that i have seen a lot but i'm not sure how beneficial it will be. The games people buy on their smartphones are appealing because they are on a smartphone. Nobody gives a shit about playing angry birds with better controls. They just want to have it on their phone which they will have with them at all times.

 

[DCharlie]

I agree with most of what you say but this is one point that i have seen a lot but i'm not sure how beneficial it will be. The games people buy on their smartphones are appealing because they are on a smartphone. Nobody gives a shit about playing angry birds with better controls. They just want to have it on their phone which they will have with them at all times.

I think there's some market given how many complaints there are in the Ipad Mini thread about not having proper controls and how crap touch controls are !

I agree that it shouldn't be no. 3 - it should be down the bottom of that list. Personally? if i could get the Cave games ported over (most likely from X360 rather than iOS) with actual stick controls? Yeah, that would be pretty huge.

I'm not expecting that this would lead to millions and millions of people heading to vita in their droves, rather the iOS/Android sceptic might be more inclined to try games with "real controls"

 

[longdi]

i used to think sony should compete with tablets and phones but i think that ship has sailed. the mobile world belongs to android or ios, where not even the major powers of microsoft and nokia could do shit.

so sony should focus vita as a direct competition to ds/3ds, the lower cost "toy" aimed at a younger market segment. forget about adding cellular specifications or shoehorning a vita-phone. Which means, just price drop the damn games and memory cards.

i think the vita is good but let down by sony bad rep and some mishandling. next year i hope to see a slimmer and cheaper vita that will rightfully take a stab at Nintendo's dominance which imo it should, for the sake of dedicated handheld gaming.

another improvement for me personally is the web browser. there is no excuse for it to be so bad.

3G is old, 4G is the future, but i dont think that will become a selling factor for the added costs. wifi is good enough so i rather they make improvements else where and not to have another expensive looking 3/4G sku. everyone does this 3/4G markup, ridiculous so sony need not join in for the good.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

You missed parts of my post it seems...
Psp isn't what i descibe no. There is a woooorld between a psp game and a clean iq colorfull ps2 game as i mentioned. Meaning better textures, screen, AA and resolution, not forgeting framerate. Of course you could do that on Vita (most japanese games are making just that), but yes, i think you could have something cheaper if less gimmicks and a less powerfull chip (i would even drop the oled thing honestly, for a real good lcd. This is the kind of great thing that appeals to high tech fans.). I don't get your point with the Vita being the cheapest possible... How is that even possible when every smartphone in the world has something slightly weaker right now.

But the main idea here, to me, is that yes, Japan needed a psp+ with pretty graphics and great online. Actually the Vita's online alone would be a next gen addition to the psp. Using the psp momentum, you could have lots of great community games with successful new ips. But for that you need a console that actually focused on the psp's strenghs.


That's funny cause in a way, the Vita made the same mistake as the Dreamcast. I felt that pretty strongly at the time. Sega saturn was an otaku's wet dream. It was the symbol of 2D fighters, j-rpgs etc... Dreamcast was (as great as it was) a noisy pc with 3d graphics all over the place. I mean shenmue, crazy taxi, sonic adventure.. all that was great but the DC was shitting all over the saturn audience.

Does Japan care about online?
Edit: 3ds CPU/gpu is $10: http://www.isuppli.com/PublishingImages/Press Releases/2011-03-28_Nintendo_DS.png

Vitas CPU/GPU is is $16: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-01-20-is-the-playstation-vita-worth-230



Vita provides damn near a whole generation leap over 3ds for only 6$ more. Making vita weaker from a graphics perspective would have done jack shit for Sony. I hope you are not one of those "higher specs = increased price of game development people". You seem like you are waaaay smarter than that IMO. There is nothing from stopping developers from doing what you just described. In fact I think they did so exactly what you described. Higher resolution ps2 games with better IQ. I do believe that removing the back touchpad and oled would have made it cheaper. But I wouldn't want them to remove the oled. The screen is the most important thing in a handheld device and putting in some shit screen would have been a mistake (Nintendo gets away with it because of the 3d. Vita wouldn't have 3d). I think the back touchpad was kinda stupid though.

 

[Carl]

Make developers support it less. That way I might be able to catch up with my backlog.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

Make developers support it less. That way I might be able to catch up with my backlog.

.

 

[mocolostrocolos]

By making solid third party games and not just 3DS upgraded shit.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

1) Price cut / aggressive bundling to continue, must get those memory card prices down

2) Relaunch - Soul Sacrifice needs to be surrounded with announcements of note, SS will not rescue the Vita single handedly no matter how good the demo is

3) Courting iOS/Android devs - more ports of games, play up the "plays better with controls" angle

4) Line up internal big names Gran Turismo V, Parappa 3, erm...
4b) Dedicated internal teams for Handhelds If Sony want to compete with Nintendo then they need to pump more resources in to finding new handheld specific IPs - maybe it's time to throw stuff and see what sticks?

5) Ensure games are tailored for handhelds - this time, make damned sure GT has the foundations for a great handheld game that focuses on the nature of handheld gaming : a fudge ton of license challenges, short grinding races, progression paths that are well defined, a lot of long term goals drizzled with a ton of short term check points, etc.

6) Negotiate for more reasonable PSP->Vita upgrade club - and negotiate to get more games on the platform. The Japanese Passport prices are insanity and it's a barrier to what could be a clear upgrade path for PSP owners. But given how cheap and expansive the second hand PSP library is there's no incentive for people to move. We are talking about picking up MH3rd and PS02 and still having 300 yen or so left - which would still buy you a couple of other selected PSP 2nd hand titles)

Great list

 

[DCharlie]

6) Negotiate for more reasonable PSP->Vita upgrade club - and negotiate to get more games on the platform. The Japanese Passport prices are insanity and it's a barrier to what could be a clear upgrade path for PSP owners. But given how cheap and expansive the second hand PSP library is there's no incentive for people to move. We are talking about picking up MH3rd and PS02 and still having 300 yen or so left - which would still buy you a couple of other selected PSP 2nd hand titles)

doh - i should point out that this should say "We are talking about picking up MH3rd and PSO2 with a 1000yen note and still having 300 yen or so left" - but i think people get the point.

The PSP bargains are amazing - and the number of titles for Japan is insanity. Best recession games system ever.