sixteen-bit
Member
Amazing.
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Sony in big trouble with PS Vita, Portable market in perm decline, rotting - Forbes
- Thread starter marc^o^
- Start date
Amazing.
Zoe
Member
But it's better than even what Sony had reported?
Reluctant-Hero
Member
Seriously! Forbes, stay the fuck away from my hobby.
All this Vita hate. It's a redux of the 3DS hate from earlier this year. Lame.
Agreed. Thankfully, consumers are in agreement. Android and iPhone revenues are in a freefall as we speak:
With Kindle Fire a 200 dollar tablet selling a shitload, won't be surprise if that IOS/Android percentage goes over 60% soon.
walking fiend
Member
uughhh, that article...
Horsemama1956
Member
I think it's going to bomb by the time the first year hits. Most people that care about fancy tech have smart or "super" phones which are getting better and better every few months(VITA will be pretty weak in a year by comparison)and Sony's first party franchises aren't any where near as fun or popular as Nintendos.
Big-ass Ramp
hella bullets that's true
the $50 price point for the software is what will really kill them.
Nokia sells 100 million phones every quarter and they are also doomed. Just think about how doomed Nintendo and Sony are in that light.
Things are looking up for Vita all of a sudden.
Correct. You're talking about the current situation where 3DS and its big games are doing great in Japan - where phone gaming isn't as strong. I'm talking about the future handheld situation, where the beloved dedicated handhelds from Nintendo and Sony will slowly be replaced by tablets and phones.
PetriP-TNT
Member
^AFAIK, yes.
Wario64 was right, again.
Wario64 was right, again.
Agreed. Thankfully, consumers are in agreement. Android and iPhone revenues are in a freefall as we speak:
So are they saying they're extrapolating revenue based on iTunes rankings or am I mistaken?
gutter_trash
Banned
this!
the PSPGO had a sizable flash memory (16GB if I am not mistaken)
the turn off on the Vita is the small flash memory on the unit forcing you buy expensive proprietary mem cards for people who want to live by Digital Distribution.. people who don't want to swap physical game carts/disks on a plane
The Faceless Master
Member
because all of the other details weren't known then...
diffusionx
Gold Member
Forbes man is more right than wrong (it pains me to say that). The "handheld game market", consisting of handheld systems dedicated to playing games, is nearing its end. That's not really a problem, as markets evolve over time and companies adjust. How are arcades doing nowadays, for example?
Gamers operate in this little bubble where, I mean, OBVIOUSLY smartphones and tablets are totally inadequate because buttons are better and handhelds will be fine for that reason, right? Well, it doesn't really work that way. The PS Vita is competing with the Kindle Fire, of course it is. Peoples' wallets and time for content "consumption" is not infinite.
Gamers operate in this little bubble where, I mean, OBVIOUSLY smartphones and tablets are totally inadequate because buttons are better and handhelds will be fine for that reason, right? Well, it doesn't really work that way. The PS Vita is competing with the Kindle Fire, of course it is. Peoples' wallets and time for content "consumption" is not infinite.
Sorry but nobody gives a fuck about smartphones when talking about the price, they're looking at the 3DS. Smarthphone gaming is a total and utter joke.
Souldriver
Member
Can we have a thread title change? "PS2 to bankrupt Sony - Forbes"
ThingontheFloor
Member
My cheap ass would love a $199 version for the US launch, but I don't see it happening. I don't think any console has ever been announced at one price point and dropped before it even launches in that region. Maybe shortly after however, I'm thinking I will hold off for a couple weeks/months just to get a feel to how the market is receiving it and make a decision based off of that.
DeaconKnowledge
Member
I think there's a very specific subset of gamers who truly believe this, wink wink.
BrainZEROX
Member
The problem for Sony is that people will buy a phone then, they'll ask themselves if they really need to buy a portable gaming console. Who will answer yes when you already have an Iphone 4S or a Samsung Galaxy S2?
Even I, as a gamer and a geek, I gave up on buying a Vita. I'll buy an Iphone instead to replace my ageing cellphone. I'll play mobile games on the go (reading the Iphone/Ipad thread, some of them seem really great, even for gamers) and gamer's games at home on my PS3. Heck, I'll even be able to play Ruin or Dragon's Crown on my PS3 so why should I care? Being a mini PS3 is really what kills the appeal to me. Vita looks like a very well crafted piece of hardware but... I really don't see the appeal. Vita needs unique software, this console needs reasons to be bought and software is the key, Uncharted is a beginning but it's not enough.
Even I, as a gamer and a geek, I gave up on buying a Vita. I'll buy an Iphone instead to replace my ageing cellphone. I'll play mobile games on the go (reading the Iphone/Ipad thread, some of them seem really great, even for gamers) and gamer's games at home on my PS3. Heck, I'll even be able to play Ruin or Dragon's Crown on my PS3 so why should I care? Being a mini PS3 is really what kills the appeal to me. Vita looks like a very well crafted piece of hardware but... I really don't see the appeal. Vita needs unique software, this console needs reasons to be bought and software is the key, Uncharted is a beginning but it's not enough.
The Faceless Master
Member
lol, nobody plays those games on handhelds.
wait, ohhhhhhhhh... this is a joke post... right? RIGHT??
Risk Breaker
Member
Yep. The american industry clearly wants them to fail for obvious and stupid/selfish reasons.
diffusionx
Gold Member
But then again, that market was $0 not too long ago. It's not really about absolute numbers today - it is about trends. I think it'd be tough to find anybody who thinks the App Store will continue to grow.
I think Nintendo is sort of safe because they have a kid market to sell to, but Sony is generally selling to the same crowd that is buying tablets and smartphones. They've always targetted that older market.
The portable market is evolving but it doesn't happen overnight.
Even though the time of dedicated handhelds will probably be over sooner or later, at the moment the market still exists and it doesn't make sense for Nintendo for instance to abandon it. There is still a lot of money to be made before making the jump to a new type of market.
SneakyStephan
Banned
And the games.
Until a purchase works on both ps3 and a handheld they are not worth 40 euros.
PSP game pricing was at a sweet spot, not quite as expensive as pc games, but not far off, expensive enough to allow big budgets.
I want a vita, I'll gladly pay the price for the hardware (because it seems like really good value), I'll even put up with the premium for the memory card, but with such expensive games I'll be waiting for platinum releases for most of them.
(please don't misinterpret this as me being one of those iphone snobs who think 99c games are somehow a good idea, I'm talking 20-30 euros for a game)
Gentleman Jack
Member
You'll have to update your avatar again.
PSP games were 40 too man.
GTP_Daverytimes
Member
There are only 2 companies in the dedicated handheld space and a few thousand in the mobile phone/tablet scene, if anything the PSV and 3DS are beasts if they manage 200 million combined.
Souldriver
Member
I always appreciate a good condescending post.
Exterminieren
Banned
Mobile gaming is a factor in Japan, arguably longer than it has been in the West. Didn't stop 3DS from achieving the single best month for a console ever in Japan this December.
Even so, Super Mario 3D Land sold in excess of half a million in the USA in November. Pokemon is selling in the multi-millions despite having launched 9 months ago; selling more, in fact, than the titles sold in the heyday of the DS in 2006. We don't know how Mario Kart 7 and Super Mario 3D Land did in December, but Nintendo is traditionally very strong in the run up to Christmas.
In terms of pure profit, when single sets of games are outstripping the profit margins of the entire App Store service, it doesn't particularly point to your imminent glorious smartphone future.
Well, I was under the impression that games would all ave to their cartridges. Now that I have to buy a card and the game that sold me on it at the time is so expensive I'd rather wait.
-Pyromaniac-
Member
haahahaa
diffusionx
Gold Member
I think Nintendo will be fine for a while. In fact I think they can keep releasing handhelds and sell Mario and Pokemon to kids for a long long time. That's a different market from Sony entirely.
A lot of people questioned the wisdom of Sony releasing the Vita when it was first announced, unveiled, priced, etc. People should not be surprised that these questions are being asked again as it underwhelms in Japan.
SneakyStephan
Banned
Not where I live (and we pay 21 percent vat like tax too!)
They were always 29.99 for as long as I can remember. (I only own like 10 games but I've had my psp since eu release)
edit: lol@ 2001 forbes article... 'analysts'.
Seriously though, please don't try to sell handheld games at pc game prices sony, do not want.
Kermit The Frog
Banned
Protip Sony: Stuff like this isn't worth $40 in the slightest, in fact, you'd be pushing it at 99c on the appstore.
Even non iOS quality shovelware games like UC are pushing it at $40, $30 would be a much better pricepoint for those kinds of titles.
Even non iOS quality shovelware games like UC are pushing it at $40, $30 would be a much better pricepoint for those kinds of titles.
Steve Youngblood
Member
This is kind of what I'm talking about. I really don't have a dog in this fight. I just like to play games when I have the (increasingly decreasing) time, and as such don't have any vested interest in seeing the Vita or 3DS fail. There's games for the dedicated machines that don't really have much competition from the convergence devices.
But that aside, I don't understand the vitriol by some to completely undermine the expansion of the markets. As we approach 2012, I just can't fathom -- at least from the business side -- how anyone can look at market trends and think cell phone gaming is some dying fad, and that the traditional handhelds have nothing to worry about going forward.
I personally just don't see it. And there's some discrediting in the form of pointing out that the heavy hitters still make money. That just seems shortsighted. I feel like I should go over to the OT and respond to that thread where Ebert lays out the problems with theaters nowadays. "Is that old man crazy? What the fuck is he talking about. Mission Impossible and Sherlock Holmes are doing great. Theaters are doing fine!"
We have 19% VAT and they sold us the games (high profile titles) for €40. D:
They're now sold for €29.99 at release though.
The smartphone market of today was a big hole in which the phone companies jumped in, people used to play snake on their old Nokia phones too but never was it so easy to pay and download games as it is now.
The majority of the people playing smartphone games didn't have interest in handheld devices anyway, they just like the new way of playing 'snake'. I understand that there will be some people who will jump from handheld to smartphone but that isn't because they like gaming on their phone so much better, they are just getting older and have less time to spent.
So I do not think the smartphone market is a fad but they will never be able to do gaming as good as the dedicated devices (talking in terms of software and hardware). At least in the foreseeable future.
No evidence, but based on how it's been selling that's a very safe guess.
However, that 16 million target was for just this fiscal year, which started on April 1st. Without counting those launch units, Nintendo will miss the target. 16 million LTD by March isn't out of the question, though.
Protip Sony: Stuff like this isn't worth $40 in the slightest, in fact, you'd be pushing it at 99c on the appstore.
Even non iOS quality shovelware games like UC are pushing it at $40, $30 would be a much better pricepoint for those kinds of titles.
...You do realize not all games will be $40?
Risk Breaker
Member
Yeah, remember the times of Nokia and the Snake game? They RULED the handheld market, Nintendo didn't do shit!
Yes, we all know about the multi-million selling Madden and shooters on the PSP.
Hey, it was only slightly behind the like 5 million sold on Wii.......
Seriously though, Madden isn't going to move people like some people hope.
The market that Sony aims to reach with Vita definitely exists.
The problem is though that Nintendo has stepped into that same market and has secured games like Monster Hunter, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, Resident Evil, etc. for 3DS. That's a very different situation compared to last gen when 3rd parties generally avoided DS for the first few years.
GTP_Daverytimes
Member
What details? is it the Memory cards? $250 for such a beastly machine is amazingly low. People were rejoicing when Sony announced the price but after Nintendo dropped the 3DS's price people started overlooking the technology that is packed for such a low price. Now you hear stupid shit like "Sony being arrogant for pricing the Vita at $250" according to Forbes.
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