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[freddy]

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.

 

[icecream]

The Vita is a poor substitute for an portable media player with how large it is, and it's the App Store dwarfs the few apps Vita has available.

Then you are aware there are problems with the device that Sony could address besides just clamoring "price drop!"

The point is Sony should have been much better at orchestrating the device on the software side than what actually came out. They should address those deficiencies first before desperately trying to take further losses on hardware to "improve" sales.

:lol, does this really need to be explained?
Apple can announce shit in a box and people will preorder and line up outside the store.

Is that supposed to be a problem? They are effective at marketing, so other companies should figure out how to emulate it.

The iPod Touch has 32GB of memory built in. Add a 32GB memory card to the price and look at the price again, and remember that Apple marks their products up as premium due to the brand name....

Not so attractive anymore to the Average Joe and Mary Jane huh? A do it all device versus a handheld with a hidden cost.

That's a perceived value issue of Sony, not of Apple. Although it is true the memory cards are overpriced. Why Sony didn't continue the trend of internal flash like with the PSPgo relates back to my original question of why they took so many steps back in comparison to the PSP.

 

[metalslimer]

Then you are aware there are problems with the device that Sony could address besides just clamoring "price drop!"

The point is Sony should have been much better at orchestrating the device on the software side than what actually came out. They should address those deficiencies first before desperately trying to take further losses on hardware to "improve" sales.

I never said price drop was the only thing to do. But at 250 dollars they will never find a market in the west. And at 25k yen (the same price as the entry Wii U in Japan) they will never be able to compete at all with the 3DS with the much more appealing library there.

The iPod Touch has 32GB of memory built in. Add a 32GB memory card to the price and look at the price again, and remember that Apple marks their products up as premium due to the brand name....

Yep. You can do a lot more with an iPod touch than you can with a Vita. Maybe if Sony had offered access to the Android app store it would be different, but there is a reason people would pay that much for an iPod and 250 dollars for a Vita is not even on their minds. And forget the iPod for a second, there are tablets that are much cheaper than Vita.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

Travel back in time, abandon the high-end specs, and focus on competing directly with 3DS for the Japanese market. There's no market for "HD console on a handheld" games in the West, and Japanese third parties apparently have no interest in making them.

Vitas graphical abilities have nothing to do with the price. Launching a underpowered handheld would not make the situation better IMO. If you are talking about removing the back touchpad I can agree on that. I also don't think Sony should cheap out on hardware like Nintendo does.

 

[Sophia]

Yep. You can do a lot more with an iPod touch than you can with a Vita. Maybe if Sony had offered access to the Android app store it would be different, but there is a reason people would pay that much for an iPod and 250 dollars for a Vita is not even on their minds. And forget the iPod for a second, there are tablets that are much cheaper than Vita.

The Nexus 7 immediately comes to mind. 32GB version is the same price as a Vita, even...

More and more this thread is proving why their overpriced proprietary memory cards was a REALLY bad idea.

 

[timetokill]

Is that supposed to be a problem? They are effective at marketing, so other companies should figure out how to emulate it.

The point is that Apple currently has a cachet that Sony has long since lost. Sony is trying to price things at a premium as though we're still in the 90's and they're selling Walkman.

 

[whitehawk]

We know that its sales aren’t great, and that a lot of people isn’t on board because their favorite devs doesn’t support it properly. Even the happiest Vitabro knows that there is room to improve. So gaf, what Sony can do fix or improve Vita numbers and dev support?

Hardware : What would you fix with a new Vita new hardware revision?
My thoughts:

• HDMI TV out
  [*]Easier to press Select and Start buttons
  [*]Separate a bit more the analogs from the d-pad and face buttons
• Longer battery time
• Same screen but fixing the black spots issue with black parts of the screen when you’re in a totally dark room
• No more wifi only SKUs, add 3G to all because its chips cost less than $5
• Choose your 3G phone carrier freely in all territories
• Internal 16GB storage, in addition to the cards
  [*]Split the L and R buttons (their left and right side) into L1/L2 and R1/R2 for classic games. In Vita games both would work L1/L2 as L and R1/R2 as R
• Clickable sticks to allow L3 and R3 for classic games and new Vita games (in options you would be able to enable on-screen optional buttons placed next to the analogs for old SKUs)
  [*]Sliding PSP-Go like design to hide the buttons behind the screen (but how about the backpad?), keeping it as an option and keep selling a SKU with the current design
  [*]Addidional tablet SKU : same buttons etc but with a way bigger screen

Firmware : What features or native apps would you add or improve in the OS?
My thoughts:

• Phone app to call or send or receive normal phone calls/SMS/MMS with 3G SKUs (an addition to Skype). It has all the HW needed
• Folders for the bubbles
• To don’t erase the savedata of the games when deleting a bubble
• To be able certain native apps like the welcome plaza
• To be able to move the order of the screens where the bubbles are placed
• Sony ebook/comic/magazine shop and reader app, compatible with computers/consoles/phones/tablets like Music Unlimited, allowing you to add your files like personal PDFs, PSP comics or ebooks purchased in other places
• More popular phone/tablet non-game apps like Instagram/Pinterest/tv streaming apps/movie shops/etc
• Gaikai based PS2/PS3/PC gamepad enabled or mouse only games/PS4 titles, getting for free the ones you purchased on PSN
• Unlimited remote play with all PS3 and PS4 games and apps, using Bluetooth for controls and wifi n for video in PS4
• Optional 2nd screen usage like in LBP2/Smart Glass/WiiU as an addition to PS3/PS4 games and apps

Accesories : What would you create to improve the experience by adding physical stuff?
My thoughts:

• 
  [*]External UMD reader : With some smart idea to avoid piracy, like to encrypt the ISO to make it compatible only with this Vita and PSN account and maybe require you to have been logged to PSN in the last 24 hours.
• Dual shock grip : Less chunky than the current ones, would allow perfect DS ergonomy for long plays

Product strategy
My thoughts:

• Price cut to $149/149€ with 4GB card and 3 PS+ months as basic SKU
• New bundles for $199/199€ with 16GB card, 3 PS+ months and a game
• Keep lowering cost until these prices became profitable, then reduce the price keeping a minimal profit
• Release 32/64/128GB cards in all the markets
  [*]Include a Vita in addition to a DS4 in every PS4 box (to push 2nd screen stuff, remote play, cross save/cross buy/cross controller/remote play)
• Reduce drastically the pricing of the cards, as much as combined with the handheld HW sales keeps having a minimal profit, costs will reduce to improve the profit in the future
• Stop the abstract ads, make them direct and clear showing instead why your product is cool and why people will love them and why it’s unique. 1 ad about great exclusive Vita games and multi with mass market appeal focusing on explaining how new controls work and its horsepower. 1 ad about digital services and apps and why it’s cool its interaction with PS3/PS4 (free games for users that already have PSone/Minis/PSM/cross buy titles or PS+, cross play, cross save, cross controller etc.)
• Spend a lot of money to put these ads where your target users are (social networks, tv, popular magazines/sites for young people, bus or metro stations, popular sport events, etc.
• Integrate PSM in PS3, PS4 and Android devices from more manufacturers
• Make a free App to allow Android devs to port Android games and apps to PSM without effort, and suggest them to port their best Android games and apps
• Make sure that the main Android device manufacturers support PSM

Games : Additional efforts to get more support from devs?
My thoughts:

• Hire more people and restructure your main studios (Media Molecule, Team Ico, Polyphony, Sony Santa Monica, Naughty Dog, Guerrilla, Evolution) to have an additional new dedicated team to work on portables inside each one of them. Some of their current members would like to make Vita games, hire experienced people to help them and make it real. while don’t affecting home console stuff.
• Buy Ready At Dawn, That Game Company and Quantic Dream. Or hire their great individuals from them (their games aren’t only made by their popular faces who appear on PR). Bring back onboard some of the valuable individuals you fired in Liverpool or Zipper if you didn’t already moved them to other studio when close their ones.
• Reduce the share you take from the 3rd party game revenues to 25%, making Vita more appealing for 3rd party once it reaches a bigger user base than 3DS, iOS, Android, Facebook or home consoles
• Keep supporting and improving interaction with home consoles thanks to cross play, cross save, cross controller, cross buy and incentivate the 3rd party who support them with marketing help (ads/PS blog/PSN visibility/PS+/conferences etc) and less take on their earnings
• Reduce dev costs as did with PSM, allowing to use normal Vitas as debug consoles to test games (debug with extra ram will be still needed) only needing a normal PC to develop games. This goes for PS3 and PS4 too.
• Create tools (maybe they only know to code in ActionScript or other tech) and a dedicated team or studio to help small indie teams to port their phone/tablets/Steam great games and to develop for Vita in a very cheap and profitable way for them even without porting/budget efforts in their side. To have gems in Vita like Tiny Wings, Triple Town, Botanicula, Angry Birds, Bit Trip series, Edge or Bastion to name some few would be appreciated even from the core players.
• Pay whatever needed only to have the few games that sell consoles in each market and that made the PS brand popular. If possible as exclusive and make sure they are released with the proper quality (learn from CoD Vita). As examples I’d mention : Monster Hunter 4 and 5, Dragon Quest X and XI, Final Fantasy Type 0 Vita and all the PSOne and PSP ones in PSN plus a new FF Vita, GTA San Andreas Stories (and/orGTAV too), CoD 2013 multiplatform (PS3/360/WiiU/PC/Vita) with Vita exclusive stuff, proper quality in FIFA and Madden for next year, Assasin’s Creed Liberation 2, Resident Evil Revelaitons + Resident Evil Vita, Metal Gear V, Layton, Ace Attorney.
• For the other important 3rd party IPs and publishers, just help them when adding important new / important IPs or games to Vita with the proper quality and/or sales potential with some marketing help, don’t pay them money.

Some are good ideas, but the bolded ones are either non-issues, or terrible ideas.

 

[metalslimer]

Vitas graphical abilities have nothing to do with the price. Launching a underpowered handheld would not make the situation better IMO. If you are talking about removing the back touchpad I can agree on that. I also don't think Sony should cheap out on hardware like Nintendo does.

Seriously? It has everything to do with why they can't drop the price. Sony pretty much set themselves into a trap where if Vita didn't do well they wouldn't be able to drop the price anytime soon.

 

[Weltall Zero]

I don't have a Vita (will probably buy one soon or down the road) but:

Don’t erase the savedata of the games when deleting a bubble

What the hell? Are you telling me that the Vita deletes your savegame when you delete a downloadable title? Is Sony insane?

 

[Ravidrath]

The hardware is great - they really just need marketing, at this point. Once they sell more units, more software support will follow.

I think the best thing they could do is...

-Bundle it with a larger memory card - 8GB should be enough
-Include a free year of PS+ and cover the box with "One year of free games!"​

 

[Boogdud]

Stop using the actual buttons/d-pad/dual analog sticks and start making .99c shovelware that uses only the touchscreens.

The vita has two touchscreens! It's twice as good as an iphone/ipad.

...obviously that's what everyone wants right?




On a serious note, besides money hatting some real, new, titles, one thing they should do is start selling games ON the memory cards. People would feel like there's a lot more value to a 32gb mem card if they actually got a game or two bundled on it.

 

[icecream]

I never said price drop was the only thing to do. But at 250 dollars they will never find a market in the west.

At the value it's presenting right now, perhaps not. But like pointed out earlier, there's a lot more Sony could have done to improve the Vita's perceived value that would have nothing to do with pushing in better hardware or raising hardware costs. They failed to take advantage of that.

Yep. You can do a lot more with an iPod touch than you can with a Vita. Maybe if Sony had offered access to the Android app store it would be different, but there is a reason people would pay that much for an iPod and 250 dollars for a Vita is not even on their minds. And forget the iPod for a second, there are tablets that are much cheaper than Vita.

What more can you do with an iPod touch, besides the miscellaneous productivity apps, but surely you're not suggesting those make up the bulk of the iPod Touch's sales?

As for comparison with cheap Android tablets, why would they be comparable? They'd either be weaker in terms of hardware capability, or less in terms of features than a Vita or iPod Touch. They have their own utility, but those aren't selling points for either of the other two devices, so it's not really all that comparable.

 

[Sophia]

As for comparison with cheap Android tablets, why would they be comparable? They'd either be weaker in terms of hardware capability, or less in terms of features than a Vita or iPod Touch. They have their own utility, but those aren't selling points for either of the other two devices, so it's not really all that comparable.

That's what you think. The Nexus 7 tablet is very capable in terms of hardware, and the Android market has tons of fairly good games out for it, on top of all the emulator support.

It's not up there as a dedicated gaming machine obviously, but if you so much as regularly use even a fraction of the available stuff for it, it's value could far outweigh the Vita.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

Seriously? It has everything to do with why they can't drop the price. Sony pretty much set themselves into a trap where if Vita didn't do well they wouldn't be able to drop the price anytime soon.

I could have swore that vita uses a regular arm a9 and a power vr GPU. I could have swore that those things cost pennies to make. If you are talking about vitas oled and back touch pad,yeah i agree. But vitas current price has nothing to do with the graphics it produces.

 

[Sophia]

I could have swore that vita uses a regular arm a9 and a power vr GPU. I could have swore that those things cost pennies to make. If you are talking about vitas oled and back touch pad,yeah i agree. But vitas current price has nothing to do with the graphics it produces.

It uses the same CPU as the Nexus 7, actually.

 

[kinggroin]

Desireable unique exclusives. Then, the advertising it deserves.

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

It uses the same CPU as the Nexus 7, actually.

Tegra 3s are dirt fucking cheap. The vitas GPU takes a absolute shit on the nexus 7s but that absolute shit should only be like...... $2.25 more.

 

[Hatten]

Apple can announce shit in a box and people will preorder and line up outside the store.

No joke, a marketing study proved Apple could launch anything and it will sell.

It might not be a success but it wont be a failure either, unlike many other truly great products.

As for the Vita, at this point the only solution I see is make it cheaper: do like those cheapo OEM chinese phone clones and use cheaper materials. As long as it has the same Samsung processor it will be compatible, but everything else has to be cheapened or removed (eg: that touch backplate). And add a mSD slot since as many other users have said the vita cards are too damn expensive, you can get a nice 32GB mSD for 24 bucks now.

 

[Gestahl]

That's what you think. The Nexus 7 tablet is very capable in terms of hardware, and the Android market has tons of fairly good games out for it, on top of all the emulator support.

It's not up there as a dedicated gaming machine obviously, but if you so much as regularly use even a fraction of the available stuff for it, it's value could far outweigh the Vita.

Yeah the Nexus 7 is a slick little piece of hardware that's potentially $50 cheaper than a Vita. The Vita's at the point where it's too expensive to compete with other dedicated handheld systems, especially with the memory issue, and, besides not offering enough to compete with more expensive tablets, is starting to get outpriced by very capable tablet hardware.

 

[Sophia]

Yeah the Nexus 7 is a slick little piece of hardware that's potentially $50 cheaper than a Vita. The Vita's at the point where it's too expensive to compete with other dedicated handheld systems, especially with the memory issue, and, besides not offering enough to compete with more expensive tablets, is starting to get outpriced by very capable tablet hardware.

I was originally considering the Nexus 7 as a Christmas gift. It was only the magnificence that is Persona 4 Golden and Playstation Plus that convinced me otherwise, and even then it was still more expensive. Plus that dinky 4GB card has nothing on the Nexus 7's 32GB.

Tegra 3s are dirt fucking cheap. The vitas GPU takes a absolute shit on the nexus 7s but that absolute shit should only be like...... $2.25 more.

Can't say I know the price of such individual components, nor am I exactly going to trust your word on it, but I see what you're getting at here.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Price drop, bundle an 8gb card as standard, free month of PS+, and new far superior marketing that is on point and everywhere on TV. Really drive home that console quality everywhere you go in one ad, play up the PS Mobile and PSN stuff in another. Just make the thing a must have, thirst inducing desirable product.

Also: use a time machine to go back and drop all the money required on acquiring Monster Hunter exclusivity.

 

[Hatten]

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?

 

[Culex]

I would LOVE to see some actually scientific statistical research done, at least in Japan showing why the public has abandoned the Vita, compared to the PSP.

It makes no sense....the system has everything you could want, on a hardware side, and less so, with even the software!

 

[timetokill]

I would LOVE to see some actually scientific statistical research done, at least in Japan showing why the public has abandoned the Vita, compared to the PSP.

It makes no sense....the system has everything you could want, on a hardware side, and less so, with even the software!

Because the 3DS is cheaper and has all the best software?

This isn't rocket science, people.

Even the PSP was drowning until Monster Hunter came along and gave it a new lease on life. And that was a platform where it seemed that Nintendo might be on its last legs, Sony was on top of the world, etc.

 

[Pie and Beans]

I would LOVE to see some actually scientific statistical research done, at least in Japan showing why the public has abandoned the Vita, compared to the PSP.

It makes no sense....the system has everything you could want, on a hardware side, and less so, with even the software!

Consider the launch lineup, while incredible, of Uncharted, Wipeout, et al. Not very japanese. No Monster Hunter means no big sales. 3DS now has Dragon Quest, Mario, and Monster Hunter all on the same box. That is their trio of "time to buy that fucking new console I guess!" games.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

I would LOVE to see some actually scientific statistical research done, at least in Japan showing why the public has abandoned the Vita, compared to the PSP.

No MonHun
No Dragon Quest
Not made by Nintendo
Final destination

 

[timetokill]

Consider the launch lineup, while incredible, of Uncharted, Wipeout, et al. Not very japanese. No Monster Hunter means no big sales. 3DS now has Dragon Quest, Mario, and Monster Hunter all on the same box. That is their trio of "time to buy that fucking new console I guess!" games.

You forgot Pokemon, the inevitable game to round out the quartet.

 

[Pie and Beans]

You forgot Pokemon, the inevitable game to round out the quartet.

All the Pokemons blur into one for me, but yes. That Sony didn't lock down MonHun is an eternal mystery to me. Everyone involved should have been fired or had their wages halved. "Well done, you've fucked our Japanese sales from now because YOU DIDN'T THINK". Woulda sooner seen The Last Guardian shitcanned and staff fired and all those funds channeled into a "4 MONHUN XCLUSIF" jar.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

As ive said before the cure for vita sales is simple. Incentivise the top PSN developers to port their games to vita. Outside a select few, almost all PSN titles would work just as well if not better on vita.

This would get a wealth of content on the device quickly, which in turn would enourage publishers to create new and fresh IPs

The vita should never have been thought of as a portable PS3 but rather a way to play the best downloadable games on the move.

We need less Uncharteds, and more Castle crashers.

Hell, at this point Id make it mandatory for any new PSN game to have a vita version.

 

[orioto]

Vitas graphical abilities have nothing to do with the price. Launching a underpowered handheld would not make the situation better IMO. If you are talking about removing the back touchpad I can agree on that. I also don't think Sony should cheap out on hardware like Nintendo does.

It's not only an hardware cost problem, it's also a problem of what type of game people are waiting.

I honestly don't know what should be done for vita right now, but i know what i think should have been done as a psp successor.

Cause that's main vita problem in japan (In the west, honestly, i don't have a fucking clue if there is even a market). I was saying it already when it launched. Vita isn't focused at the actual psp market.

People who bought a psp in the last 4-5 years in Japan could be interested in a new console, but the Vita isn't what they want. I think they would like something not too expansive, not to huge or heavy, compatible with the psp (maybe a sku with an umd or an umd reader), powerfull enough to have clean colorfull ps2 level games, that's it, nothing more. Japanese people doesn't give a shit about uncharted graphics. A PS2 game with pefect IQ, richer textures and a good framerate would be more impressive than a precarious PS3 game. That, with multiple psp port for transition, a great online system (that Vita has !), would have been enough for people, i think. It could have launched as or less expensive than the 3ds, and would have used the psp momentum to gain some market share.

 

[grimshawish]

Support the PSP...sure Vita has Uncharted...Why didn't PSP?
Compared to Nintendo this looks uncompetitive.

Why support Vita? Its sales give you every reason 'why not'.

 

[metalslimer]

I would LOVE to see some actually scientific statistical research done, at least in Japan showing why the public has abandoned the Vita, compared to the PSP.

It makes no sense....the system has everything you could want, on a hardware side, and less so, with even the software!

You've been following Japanese sales for years, so it's pretty damn easy to figure out. Vita's Japanese 3rd party support is abysmal in terms of actual big series. It's two biggest games are Project Diva and Persona 4 Golden. Now let's look at the 10k yen cheaper alternative with Mario, Pokemon, Monster Hunter, and Dragon Quest aka the 4 biggest series in Japan. It would be like if the 360 got Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto all exclusive in America and wondering why the PS3 was selling like shit.

I think the much more interesting question is why Japanese 3rd parties abandoned Vita coming off the PSP unless they were really just waiting for Nintendo to release a system that could run PS2 level games the whole time the PSP was out.

Cause that's main vita problem in japan (In the west, honestly, i don't have a fucking clue if there is even a market). I was saying it already when it launched. Vita isn't focused at the actual psp market.

True, and this is not a problem with marketing as people in Japan definitely seem to know Vita exists. If Sony had spent the money to get 5-6 games like Soul Sacrifice (decent looking games exclusive focused on the Japanese market) they would probably be in a much better position. Instead, there Japanese side relies way too much on 3rd parties.

 

[Culex]

You've been following Japanese sales for years, so it's pretty damn easy to figure out. Vita's Japanese 3rd party support is abysmal in terms of actual big series. It's two biggest games are Project Diva and Persona 4 Golden. Now let's look at the 10k yen cheaper alternative with Mario, Pokemon, Monster Hunter, and Dragon Quest aka the 4 biggest series in Japan. It would be like if the 360 got Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, Grand Theft Auto all exclusive in America and wondering why the PS3 was sell like shit.

True, but PSP didn't have a stellar first year, at least in hardware, yet the public still supported it enough before Monster Hunter. PSP had a respectable 2nd Holiday period for Dec/Jan.

 

[MDX]

If its true that games sell consoles, then the following:

Delay the PS4 till 2015 with a disruptive launch.
Have 75% of 1st party developers to make games for the Vita.
Have 25% of 1st party developers to make games for the PS4
Fund all 2nd party developers to focus on making games for the PS3
till 2014, then have them focus on Vita and PS4.

Third parties need to see that Sony is supporting the Vita.
PS3 can live off multi-plats, price drops and be used to compete against the WiiU.
Give developers more time to develop games for the PS4, and don't compete
directly against MS. Instead, get a head start by offering an alternative console to Nintendo's next console that should release in 2017.

 

[metalslimer]

True, but PSP didn't have a stellar first year, at least in hardware, yet the public still supported it enough before Monster Hunter. PSP had a respectable 2nd Holiday period for Dec/Jan.

Despite the fact that the DS sold better than the 3DS, the DS didn't have to looming overwhelming support from 3rd parties the 3DS had. If you were going to buy a PSP they was still the looming FF7 Crisis Core. What is there from Square Enix this time? A FFX HD port with no info. I think it's just a matter of perception.

Delay the PS4 till 2015 with a disruptive launch.

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.

 

[squall23]

How I read this topic:

"How would you if improve the Vita situation if you had infinite money?"

Something that Sony clearly does not have.

 

[To Far Away Times]

Too many of Sony's own devs want nothing to do with the Vita, and as a result most of Sony's "big" franchises are farmed out to B Tier devs.

Much of the problem lies with Sony's western dev studios, who are aware that cinematic "AAA" style games generally don't review very well without the latest and greatest technology.

It's not the wild west of the early Saturn/N64/PS1 era anymore, and with nearly all third party games being mulitplatform these days, first parties need to produce quality exclusives to distinguish their systems.

Third parties are understandably afraid to commit resources to the Vita (or any system) until it grows.

Sometimes it really is as simple as software quality. Sony closing their most talented and most gameplay oriented studio, Studio Liverpool, was a sign of Sony's commitment to the Vita.

Sony could try to save the Vita by putting all of their software resources into it. Their best devs, on their best or (preferably) brand new franchises. But then that takes away from the PS4. It's extremely risky for their gaming business and probably not worth the risk at this point. I think the system's software reputation has pretty much been cemented at this point, and Sony will ride the system out but won't be making any long term plans for it.

 

[dragonflys545]

Price cut and more awesome games.

 

[Skyzard]

Aren't the Japanese broke like the rest of the world? Apple and the economy taking their money.

 

[Shahed]

You forgot easily the most useful firmware addition they could do.

Allow multiple accounts on the Vita. Then not only could my sister play on it, the device would then be truly region free

 

[Agent X]

As ive said before the cure for vita sales is simple. Incentivise the top PSN developers to port their games to vita. Outside a select few, almost all PSN titles would work just as well if not better on vita.

This would get a wealth of content on the device quickly, which in turn would enourage publishers to create new and fresh IPs

The vita should never have been thought of as a portable PS3 but rather a way to play the best downloadable games on the move.

We need less Uncharteds, and more Castle crashers.

Hell, at this point Id make it mandatory for any new PSN game to have a vita version.

I agree with everything that you said, except for the last sentence. I would say that Sony should strongly encourage (possibly with incentives) simultaneous PS3/Vita releases for PSN games, but I wouldn't make it a solid requirement. Making a Vita game requires an additional investment of time and resources...even if the investment isn't terribly large, there's still something additional needed. Making it mandatory could tick off some developers, to the point where they might cancel the PS3 release.

But yeah, I think downloadable gaming on Vita can and should be a huge attraction. I said in an earlier post that they should also seek out the best games from iOS and Android. I want to expand on that for a few moments.

They need to convince the biggest, most prolific, and most respected developers on iOS/Android to port their wares over. They need guys like Rovio, Zynga, Gameloft, and PopCap. They need to convince the mobile divisions of EA, Ubisoft, Disney, Take-Two, Sega, Capcom, etc. that this machine is worth working with, and that their games will shine brightly on Vita.

While they've got some great games from smaller developers now (and should in no way lessen their role), having the biggest hit games on board would increase visibility of the platform. It would legitimize the system in people's eyes.

Take Angry Birds, for example. It is one of the most successful and recognizable video games in recent years. Right now, the Vita is one of the only major portable platforms on the market that you cannot play Angry Birds on (the only other notable one is the original DS). Before someone mentions the PSP Mini version, this presently doesn't work on Vita. Now, the arrival of Angry Birds alone isn't likely to shift millions of systems...but the absence of such a high-profile game might make some people wonder, "What's wrong with that system?" Therefore, they need games like this to round out the library.

Look at what they're doing with the new, free version of Jetpack Joyride that's coming out for Vita in a few days (complete with leaderboards and trophies!). I'd like to see more mobile games make a similar jump to Vita.

 

[Zoc]

My biggest disappointment with the Vita is Remote Play.

The Vita itself doesn't necessarily need to change, but a quick revision to the PS3 adding a second Wifi chip dedicated to Remote Play and a firmware update enabling it in all games would make my day.

 

[RedSwirl]

All the Pokemons blur into one for me, but yes. That Sony didn't lock down MonHun is an eternal mystery to me. Everyone involved should have been fired or had their wages halved. "Well done, you've fucked our Japanese sales from now because YOU DIDN'T THINK". Woulda sooner seen The Last Guardian shitcanned and staff fired and all those funds channeled into a "4 MONHUN XCLUSIF" jar.

And this is why I think they need to invest in first party for the Vita. Try to sell their own killer app because they can't depend on a third party to come around and save their ass again.

 

[Currygan]

massive price cut, games that resonate with the masses and more marketing...much more marketing

one can analyze the situation with essays and scenarios, but it all boils down to this imo

 

[jchap]

At this point their only hope is to prioritize first party A teams to make as much must have non console related software as possible. Unfortunately, they have to support the PS4 as well and can't devote such resources to what is essentially already a lost cause. There is no saving the Vita I'm afraid.

The price is not the problem it is the software.

Alternative plan to salvage something out of it: Make it an Android phone. This would probably have the effect of killing quality 3rd party software support as prices would be compared even more so to games on google play.

 

[Agent X]

My biggest disappointment with the Vita is Remote Play.

The Vita itself doesn't necessarily need to change, but a quick revision to the PS3 adding a second Wifi chip dedicated to Remote Play and a firmware update enabling it in all games would make my day.

Perhaps they could make a Wi-Fi 802.11n attachment that connects using USB, much like the old Xbox 360 Wi-Fi adapter. That way, all PS3 systems could utilize it, and it could also have other benefits as well.

 

[maverick40]

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

 

[To Far Away Times]

And this is why I think they need to invest in first party for the Vita. Try to sell their own killer app because they can't depend on a third party to come around and save their ass again.

"...In retrospect, there are so many options for publishers now that we cannot take it for granted that our new platform would be supported by third parties, like [it would've been] many years ago."

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

 

[BLACK AMERICAN PSYCHO]

It's not only an hardware cost problem, it's also a problem of what type of game people are waiting.

I honestly don't know what should be done for vita right now, but i know what i think should have been done as a psp successor.

Cause that's main vita problem in japan (In the west, honestly, i don't have a fucking clue if there is even a market). I was saying it already when it launched. Vita isn't focused at the actual psp market.

People who bought a psp in the last 4-5 years in Japan could be interested in a new console, but the Vita isn't what they want. I think they would like something not too expansive, not to huge or heavy, compatible with the psp (maybe a sku with an umd or an umd reader), powerfull enough to have clean colorfull ps2 level games, that's it, nothing more. Japanese people doesn't give a shit about uncharted graphics. A PS2 game with pefect IQ, richer textures and a good framerate would be more impressive than a precarious PS3 game. That, with multiple psp port for transition, a great online system (that Vita has !), would have been enough for people, i think. It could have launched as or less expensive than the 3ds, and would have used the psp momentum to gain some market share.

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.

 

[OldJadedGamer]

Don't store all of your games on a card at all times?

With the $30 card you mentioned it could hold one game making the user constantly download games. It is a barrier to the consumer.

Why? When the iPod Touch starts at $299?

The oddest thing about the Vita is the steps back it took compared to the evolution the PSP had throughout its lifetime, feature-wise. The only reasoning for that seems to be that Sony was leaving room to grow for subsequent iterations.

iPod Touch current model is $199 MSRP.

Well what do you know, so is the Vita!

The Vita cannot steam video like the iPod Touch can.

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

I think if a lot if GAF'ers worked at Sony, the Vita would have never left the design table.