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[Jimrpg]

The general consensus on GAF is that the price of the Vita Memory cards are too high and its become a running joke that seems to have no end. But I don't think Sony are doing it on purpose because they are ignorant to people's pleas on this. It's just that the memory card price is tied to the hardware cost.

It seems Vita Memory Card prices are always compared to SD or micro SD card prices, which to be fair is obvious and a normal thing to do but the way Vita and memory is priced is more like devices that have internal memory like the iPhone. The difference is that Sony wanted to put out one Vita SKU and 4 memory cards SKUs, rather than 4 Vitas with different memory capacities.

Now here are the Vita Memory Card Prices I got from Amazon.

8GB: $28
16GB: $42
32GB: $58
64GB: $107

The price of the Vita on Amazon is $153. If you were to buy the system together with a memory card just like an iphone the costs would be -

8GB: $181
16GB: $195 (7% more than the Vita system + 8GB card)
32GB: $211 (16% more)
64GB: $260 (43% more)

Therefore I wonder whether people would still have an issue over the memory prices if the memory was internal on the Vita (ie Sony could just seal the door on a new Vita model update). It looks to me like they are trying to capture a wider market by offering the Vita and memory at a range of prices just like the iPhone. And each iPhone memory level is a $100 jump, but most people seem to have gotten over it.

Then there's the issue of whether the Vita is making money on the hardware itself which probably led to higher memory card prices. The true price of the Vita probably lies somewhere in the middle so that Sony can capture as wide a market as possible where some people can only afford the base model, but many others are happy to pay for more memory and can afford the higher tier card.

If you compare the 3DS and the Vita, its clear the Vita has better guts inside, yet the Vita was only a little bit more expensive when they launched, with the memory card being where Sony was going to make some of their money back on the hardware. By offering the Vita Memory card at higher prices for the higher tier cards, it offered a lower price of entry on the hardware itself.

So to sum up, obviously Sony bungled the marketing on this and probably should have gone with internal memory, with multiple Vita SKUs just like the home consoles. But can we as knowledgeable gamers at least understand where they are coming from? And if you haven't got a Vita yet, and are put off by the memory card price, the Vita + 32GB seems to be a nice sweet spot.

 

[RoninChaos]

No it's not. You're making that comparison now. When the system launched it launched at $249. Sony went with a proprietary format for memory because that's what Sony does and it uneccesarily handicapped the Vita from the jump. Proprietary formats = $$$ to Sony, that's why they've launched so many. This was further compounded by the fact that some games wouldn't even run with out a memory card in the system and that pretty much means you had to buy one. It was basically a hidden cost, and a very large one at that.

 

[night814]

Nah it's unjustified


Using a proprietary format now a days is crazy talk. Even Nintendo uses SD cards

 

[Jimrpg]

No it's not.

Why not?

 

[Not Spaceghost]

Considering they're just specially formatted SD cards with a 4x mark up.

Yes yes they are.

I still only own a 4gig card.

 

[PassiveObserver]

They could've used microSD if that was what they'd worried about.

 

[Aselith]

Allow SD cards. Problem solved

 

[Toki767]

It's unfair when you consider microSD cards are a fraction of the price.

And it's not like the Vita is selling well enough that they can charge extra for memory cards.

 

[Brutalitops]

No, Sony got greedy and it almost makes me glad it never took off for them

 

[MasterForm]

Or they could've simply used microsd. Is there some technical limitation to those?

 

[BigDes]

Why not?

Because you can pick up 32gb so cards for like 25 dollars

 

[rje]

SD Card prices:

8gb: $6
16gb: $9
32gb: $21
64gb: $31

 

[Jimrpg]

I have a 64GB card. But I could have bought a 32GB and been perfectly happy.

Yes a 32GB card is still expensive if you compare it to SD Cards, but if they are making a margin on the hardware, they have to make the money back somewhere, and they may as well make their profits on people who are willing to pay more.

 

[nusilver]

I can't believe you actually spent time writing out a defense to Sony's ridiculous prices on these things.

They're too expensive - the end.

 

[karnage10]

I'd still prefer the console had like 8-16GB of internal memory and you could use microSD to expand the memory.
Note: my opinion is invalid since i'm not the market for these consoles, i bought the vita at launch because i wanted console gaming on the go, i'm still sad it didn't get many western games but it's my favorite gundam machine to date!

 

[Grim Patron]

Vita memory card pricing is worse than having to use a shitty tablet to access console settings when you sell a standard form factor controller. So yea.

 

[Tripon]

Sony made the choice to go with propriety memory cards.

Who else is there to blame?

 

[clay_ghost]

Why defend this? Even the Vita fans are not defending this.

 

[DNAbro]

lol fuck that, the memory cards are complete bullshit.

 

[Gaspard]

Using proprietary memory instead of an established standard is backwards no matter how you look at it.

We can buy 3 128GB SD cards on amazon for the price of one 64GB Vita card.

 

[Vena]

128GB Class 10 MSD is 40$.

Charging 107$ for 64GB is laughable.

 

[The Spoony Hou]

It seems Vita Memory Card prices are always compared to SD or micro SD card prices, which to be fair is obvious and a normal thing to do but

There's no buts about it. Vita should've used SD cards, or at least have their cards priced as much as an equivalent SD card. That's it.

 

[jdmonmou]

Why not?

There was no reason for Sony to use a proprietary format. If you look at regular SD cards with the same capacity, they are much cheaper. Nintendo didn't create it's own proprietary cards with the 3DS. This was just a dumb move by Sony.

 

[Darkspineslayer]

You're basing your whole argument on poor little Sony being forced to use proprietary memory on the Vita. Which is not a train of thought I'm willing to jump on.

Love the Vita, but god damn if they just kept it simple, it would have had a better shot.

 

[Jimrpg]

Considering they're just specially formatted SD cards with a 4x mark up.

Yes yes they are.

I still only own a 4gig card.

Did you read the OP, if they offered SD cards - the hardware RRP price would probably most likely go up. The Vita system is probably cheaper because of the memory cards, because Sony knew that if they priced the system $50 higher then it would get a lot less sales. They saved you money.

 

[Leafhopper]

Why not?

SD cards are dirt cheap and proprietary storage devices are really backwards at this point.

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

Yes, the Vita memory card prices should be cheaper. Yes, Sony used the markup on the Vita memory cards as a way to subsidize the cost of the system. Yes, if the Vita used cheap generic memory cards, the initial price of the Vita system itself would have been higher to make up the difference. Yes, Sony could lower the price of both system & memory cards now, but they have no incentive to do so since the Vita is firmly in the niche category and sales aren't going to suddenly skyrocket if they're cheaper.

 

[Aselith]

I have a 64GB card. But I could have bought a 32GB and been perfectly happy.

Yes a 32GB card is still expensive if you compare it to SD Cards, but if they are making a margin on the hardware, they have to make the money back somewhere, and they may as well make their profits on people who are willing to pay more.

Nintendo seems to do all right and they allow SD cards. I'm going to go ahead and partially blame the failure of the Vita on having very expensive memory combined with being an already more expensive system.

You don't make any margin on $0 from lost sales.

 

[hodayathink]

Nah, the criticism of the memory card prices is generally fair. I get why Sony did it, and it made some sense at the time, but it's fair to criticize it.

The idea that the memory cards are even in the top 3 reasons why the Vita failed, though? That's BS.

 

[Korezo]

I've had a vita on my checkout on playasia for months and always decide not to buy when I see the price of those memory cards.. not paying no 90+ for a mem card.

 

[Alphahawk]

It's not just Gaf, it's the entire marketplace that generally seemed to say it's a bad idea. You can do the mental arithmatics all you like, but the fact of the matter is that Sony shouldn't have released such a poorly thought out solution.If it was too tough for Sony to make their own proprietary memory cards, then they should have stuck to using regular ones. If that was not an option than they should of included it as internal storage.

In general consumers aren't worried about what it cost to manufacture the product, they care about the price that it costs them to buy it.

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

It was criticized back when the PSP had Memory Stick Pro DUO as its memory format, though prices were somewhat higher on other forms of memory back then. I don't know why Sony thought it would be a good idea to try it again, but, here we are!

Certainly led to some lost sales, but likely not one of the top reasons why it's floundered.

 

[Jafku]

I love the Vita, however the memory card criticism is totally justified. Why go with a proprietary format when your competitor (who is far more successful in the handheld market) is using standard Micro SD cards that can be obtained for a fraction of the price?

 

[Kindekuma]

I could get a 64GB MicroSD card for sub $20 on Amazon right now. The Vita memory cards are undeniably overpriced. Plus they can have faster read/write speeds and are relatively the same size. Sony wanted extra money from memory card sales so they made the proprietary cards.

The one thing I despise about the vita, since overall it's a very good system.

 

[Corpekata]

Your basis for defense is pretty much just unfounded guesswork.

I don't think people give a shit about internal memory or not. Nintendo didn't need to sell 4 versions of each 3DS for different memory sizes. They did the sane thing and went with SD cards.

Furthermore, even if your theory was true, the making up for the cost of the Vita has to stop somewhere. Let's say it's at 16GB for a roughly round 200 bucks. Either way they are taking advantage of their fans by continuingly doubling up the memory price. If a 16 or even 32 gb card subsidized the cost, that 50+ jump to 64 GB still is pretty shitty.

 

[Deadstar]

The 64 gb memory stick is almost as expensive as the Vita itself! Something is definitely wrong with that picture. These memory cards should have launched MUCH cheaper than they did.

 

[outunderthestars]

I always found it odd that people flipped out over Vita memory cards yet seem fine spending. $50+ a year for online play on other systems.

 

[Aselith]

It was criticized back when the PSP had Memory Stick Pro DUO as its memory format, though prices were somewhat higher on other forms of memory back then. I don't know why Sony thought it would be a good idea to try it again, but, here we are!

You could also use an adapter back then to make microSD fit the Pro Duo slot and get much cheaper memory then.

 

[random25]

By offering the Vita Memory card at higher prices for the higher tier cards, it offered a lower price of entry on the hardware itself.

Lol no. Vita is priced lower right now because it has underwhelming market reception. And they are selling their memory cards at a premium simply because it's a Sony proprietary thing that they thought they could monopolize.

 

[chrominance]

Sure, if I think of it like internal memory, maybe the prices are more understandable. Except

a) it's NOT internal memory, it's external;
b) there seems to be very little reason why Sony couldn't use MicroSD instead, except possibly piracy prevention, and who knows about that one;
c) people don't actually like paying through the nose for internal memory either, and some people gravitate towards phones with external memory slots as a result.

I don't get the whole fair or unfair argument. Either you're willing to pay the prices or you aren't. I was, because I'm a giant sucker. But clearly there are many who didn't and wouldn't. And if you asked me what Sony should've done, I will absolutely tell you they should've used MicroSD.

 

[RoninChaos]

Did you read the OP, if they offered SD cards - the hardware RRP price would probably most likely go up. The Vita system is probably cheaper because of the memory cards, because Sony knew that if they priced the system $50 higher then it would get a lot less sales. They saved you money.

Okay, first, the price wasn't lower because they didn't have a memory card. The original vita didn't have any on board memory so that doesn't fly.

Second, they didn't save anyone money if you have to buy the memory card anyway. Its just shifting the price on to something else while making the total cost the same. It doesn't matter if the system is 250 and you have to buy a 50 dollar memory card or if the system has on board memory and the price is 300. The end cost is the same and a memory card is a mandatory need for the vita.

Third, that reasoning completely falls apart because everyone and their mother has spare SD cards around the house. And if not you can spend 30 bucks to get a huge one. Sony didn't want to leave money on the table so they came up with some proprietary bullshit and charged 4 times more for it than microSD which is, for all intents and purposes, the defectors standard for memory.

It's basic math, cmon man.

 

[malfcn]

How much better would the Vita have done without the proprietary memory..

 

[krae_man]

I'm going to guess that the reason Sony went with those prices is Apple gets away with charging more for memory on iPhones. Didn't work because:

1) "Apple gets away with it" doesn't mean you will
2) By making a card, people compared it to other card prices, not built in internal memory prices.

Nobody was going "Wow, I can get more memory without buying a new Vita. This is so much better then the iPhone, and the memory is cheaper to boot!"

Sony forgot that games were several GB's not a couple mb each like songs. Memory that expensive hindered people buying more games.

 

[Blam]

If I can buy a 32gb sdcard for $15 then have to pay double that. For a sdcard for a vita. Yeah no its not justified.

I actually sold my vita because this.

 

[Hyoukokun]

The pricing model you're comparing to (iPhone memory capacity) is widely considered a bit of a rip-off, too. People have "gotten over it" in many cases by buying the competition, which frequently offers expansion options through MicroSD cards.

Also, you at least know that price up front when you buy an iPhone. It is (or was) possible for someone to buy a Vita not knowing that it'd cost an arm and a leg to expand it to a reasonable memory capacity.

I say all this as a more-or-less happy Vita owner. And their competition isn't exempt here. Nintendo's shenanigans with the New 3DS power adapters are almost as bad.

 

[Spukc]

If those memory cards where cheaper buying digital games would be a lot more popular imo.

Such a waste.

 

[clay_ghost]

It was criticized back when the PSP had Memory Stick Pro DUO as its memory format, though prices were somewhat higher on other forms of memory back then. I don't know why Sony thought it would be a good idea to try it again, but, here we are!

You can use pro Duo on devices outside of PSP too, Sony force users to buy something that cost more with less usage.

 

[SenkiDala]

I'm a huge fan and defender of the PS VITA, I love it since day one, but the memory card pricing is not defendable.

Ok they have to make a margin somewhere because the system is not expensive itself... But it coasts what it shoulds coasts, it's not like the VITA was sold 99$ since day one. Then yeah I would accept the memory price, but it's not the case.

 

[SalvaPot]

They seem arbitrary and scummy because SD Cards exist. They also still are very expensive.

 

[SOR5]

How much better would the Vita have done without the proprietary memory..

I don't think it was that big a factor outside of enthusiasts... Was it?