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Poor Vita performance dragging down Sony's entire gaming unit

9thwonder said:
if it were a tablet it would do well..... I think
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I sincerely don't see how it could. If it was Android based, it sort of already exists in Sony Tablet format and it's been a huge failure for them. If it was based on the Vita's UI, it would be a tablet with no software other than games, and I think that's a very hard sell at the $300-400 it would cost.

I'm a firm believer that there's nothing wrong with the actual Vita hardware; the issue is entirely Sony's improper handling of nearly every situation that has taken place regarding it since E3 last year.
 
OldJadedGamer said:
There is also an issue on how Sony is ignoring the Vita with Ps+.
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Not totally, they just had their first PSN+ sale for a few games a couple weeks ago. Before that I was beginning to think that the Vita was PSN+ incompatible or something.

Edit: Isn't CoD Vita due in November? We don't even know what dev team is working on it much less what it looks like. That's really strange...
 
I love the vita hardware. I really hope that it succeeds, because I want to pick one up eventually. However, since its selling like shit, its less likely to get great games on it, which gives me less reason to pick one up... Its a vicious cycle.
 
Mercutio said:
I sincerely don't see how it could. If it was Android based, it sort of already exists in Sony Tablet format and it's been a huge failure for them. If it was based on the Vita's UI, it would be a tablet with no software other than games, and I think that's a very hard sell at the $300-400 it would cost.

I'm a firm believer that there's nothing wrong with the actual Vita hardware; the issue is entirely Sony's improper handling of nearly every situation that has taken place regarding it since E3 last year.
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The hardware is fine, but I dislike the way that most things work on it. I think a tablet with the same sorta quirks would probably be worst in class type damnation (not to mention the fact that non iPad tablets only sell if they are $200 or cheaper).
 
leroidys said:
I love the vita hardware. I really hope that it succeeds, because I want to pick one up eventually. However, since its selling like shit, its less likely to get great games on it, which gives me less reason to pick one up... Its a vicious cycle.
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If you want it to succeed, you'll need to help its sales by buying the unit and the games yourself. Who knows, maybe there's a million others like you that's sitting on the fence, just watching the system die when it would have succeeded if everyone just went out w/ their gut instincts and bought what they liked.
 
goonergaz said:
lol, love the endless baiting but let's be honest - in terms of actual "marketshare" us = about 50% the total, so let's try to be fair...
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Baiting? The US, UK, and Canada did equal about 50% of the market at a time which is why I said 1.5 (half of 3 markets). These days though with the utter collapse of the UK market and the US not doing much better I doubt that still applies (but I don't have the numbers handy so I could be mistaken).

goonergaz said:
yes, that's right - it was bombing - had a price drop and then sales picked up...if it didn't need the price drop then why do it!?

https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=...0.14.14.0.92.158.2.2.0...0.0...1c.wYrE-1Ocdgg
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True the 3DS needed a price cut to start selling well, though it was never a bomb or at least never one of Vita magnitude. $250 is way too expensive for a dedicated handheld, not just today but since the beginning. Nintendo though was able to afford a price cut and Nintendo had actual games and ones a lot of people want coming to maintain the higher sales allowed by the 3DS' lower price. Again, Sony not only has effectively a $300 price but has neither of those things.

As for your link, are you shocked any system sees a sales surge after a price cut? Both the PS2 and GCN did, but one had the software to maintain those sales and the other didn't. Think about how that turned out.


muu said:
If you want it to succeed, you'll need to help its sales by buying the unit and the games yourself. Who knows, maybe there's a million others like you that's sitting on the fence, just watching the system die when it would have succeeded if everyone just went out w/ their gut instincts and bought what they liked.
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Ummm, errrrr,... who is this "everyone" you speak of?
 
I know I am a minority but...

I bought a PSP for all the JRPGS and SRPGS. It seems like the Vita is not targeting the original PSP audience with it's software lineup. I think that's a big reason why people still buy the PSP. It's like they didn't like the RPG audience, and we didn't buy the system.

:-/

Note: Pretending it didn't exist in the E3 conference sure didn't help. It makes you wonder if they had nothing worth showing.
 
Handheld console games is a niche market. Sony has two options:

1.) Kill Vita-Cut its losses

2.) Sell Vita for $500 with $100 games and make a hefty profit per unit as those who support it will pay that price. Archery equipment is a niche, but the equipment vendors survive because they make a hefty profit on each unit sold.

Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
 
FoxRomeo said:
Handheld console games is a niche market. Sony has two options:

1.) Kill Vita-Cut its losses

2.) Sell Vita for $500 with $100 games and make a hefty profit per unit as those who support it will pay that price. Archery equipment is a niche, but the equipment vendors survive because they make a hefty profit on each unit sold.

Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
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...I...What?
 
FoxRomeo said:
Handheld console games is a niche market. Sony has two options:

1.) Kill Vita-Cut its losses

2.) Sell Vita for $500 with $100 games and make a hefty profit per unit as those who support it will pay that price. Archery equipment is a niche, but the equipment vendors survive because they make a hefty profit on each unit sold.

Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
Click to expand...


What the hell??? This whole post is just madness... what are you on???
 
FoxRomeo said:
Handheld console games is a niche market. Sony has two options:

1.) Kill Vita-Cut its losses

2.) Sell Vita for $500 with $100 games and make a hefty profit per unit as those who support it will pay that price. Archery equipment is a niche, but the equipment vendors survive because they make a hefty profit on each unit sold.

Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
Click to expand...

LOL
 
FoxRomeo said:
Handheld console games is a niche market. Sony has two options:

1.) Kill Vita-Cut its losses

2.) Sell Vita for $500 with $100 games and make a hefty profit per unit as those who support it will pay that price. Archery equipment is a niche, but the equipment vendors survive because they make a hefty profit on each unit sold.

Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
Click to expand...

Lmaoo. The trolls are out on gaf full force today
 
I just want my PS1 support already :(
 
muu said:
If you want it to succeed, you'll need to help its sales by buying the unit and the games yourself. Who knows, maybe there's a million others like you that's sitting on the fence, just watching the system die when it would have succeeded if everyone just went out w/ their gut instincts and bought what they liked.
Click to expand...

Nah, that's not how it works. I did this with the PSP because even without compelling games it was an awesome portable multimedia device. Nowadays, most people have smartphones that get the job done when it comes to multimedia.

I need some really cool games to convince me to buy a Vita. I really hope they happen.
 
FoxRomeo said:
Handheld console games is a niche market. Sony has two options:

1.) Kill Vita-Cut its losses

2.) Sell Vita for $500 with $100 games and make a hefty profit per unit as those who support it will pay that price. Archery equipment is a niche, but the equipment vendors survive because they make a hefty profit on each unit sold.

Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
Click to expand...
Possibility to check post history again in GAF is pure gold. :)
Please be joking
 
Taurus said:
And he was saying only thing that helped sales was a price drop, which is pure horse shit in my opinion. That's why I highlighted "only".
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ok, my bad (or rather lazy) typing, but what came first?

Crap sale then price drop = big sales boost then the games improved so until the price drop sales were shit.
 
goonergaz said:
again, why price drop? why not see how it goes with the games then drop if needed.

no company will give money away unless it feels it has to.
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Because they weren't happy with the sales/projections? You have to build a certain momentum to your new hardware after launch to keep the customers coming in. That's how you build an install base so that software sales can bloom.

For reference: See what Nintendo did with 3DS when they weren't happy with results.
For reference: See what Sony doesn't do with Vita when they aren't happy with results (actually, it's all going according to keikaku if you ask a Sony presentative)
 
FoxRomeo said:
Handheld console games is a niche market. Sony has two options:

1.) Kill Vita-Cut its losses

2.) Sell Vita for $500 with $100 games and make a hefty profit per unit as those who support it will pay that price. Archery equipment is a niche, but the equipment vendors survive because they make a hefty profit on each unit sold.

Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
Click to expand...

What the fuck is this?
 
FoxRomeo said:
Handheld console games is a niche market. Sony has two options:

1.) Kill Vita-Cut its losses

2.) Sell Vita for $500 with $100 games and make a hefty profit per unit as those who support it will pay that price. Archery equipment is a niche, but the equipment vendors survive because they make a hefty profit on each unit sold.

Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
Click to expand...

Please continue to elaborate.
 
Taurus said:
Because they weren't happy with the sales/projections? You have to build a certain momentum to your new hardware after launch to keep the customers coming in. That's how you build an install base so that software sales can bloom.

For reference: See what Nintendo did with 3DS when they weren't happy with results.
For reference: See what Sony doesn't do with Vita when they aren't happy with results (actually, it's all going according to keikaku if you ask a Sony presentative)
Click to expand...

how long between launch and price drop for 3DS?
 
It seems that they've thrown in the towel on portable. I don't understand why Sony hasn't learned from the PS3 and PSP launchs. No one is going to buy your advanced and expensive hardware if it doesn't have interesting software. Forget the expensive hardware, invest in new, innovative IP and software. I would have been perfectly satisfied if the PS Vita was a mere PSP clone with a slightly better screen but had new, exclusive games developed for it by Sony.
 
FoxRomeo said:
Handheld console games is a niche market. Sony has two options:

1.) Kill Vita-Cut its losses

2.) Sell Vita for $500 with $100 games and make a hefty profit per unit as those who support it will pay that price. Archery equipment is a niche, but the equipment vendors survive because they make a hefty profit on each unit sold.

Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
Click to expand...

Your gonna enjoy your stay lol
 
rookiejet said:
It seems that they've thrown in the towel on portable. I don't understand why Sony hasn't learned from the PS3 and PSP launchs. No one is going to buy your advanced and expensive hardware if it doesn't have interesting software. Forget the expensive hardware, invest in new, innovative IP and software. I would have been perfectly satisfied if the PS Vita was a mere PSP clone with a slightly better screen but had new, exclusive games developed for it by Sony.
Click to expand...

They probably thought like this "Hey guys, remember me? Remember the old days when our consoles that combined sold over 250 million worldwide? Yeah it's called Playstation1/2. Remember PSP? It was also a hit! Now we just sit back and let the developers come in and make games for us!"
 
People should stop implying 3DS price cut was a bad thing, something to make fun of, and they should realise that it was also thanks to this strategy that 3DS could take off. Nintendo made a mistake in setting such a high price to begin with, but it admitted that and immediately tried to repair... And this is something Sony must take into account, I mean, not necessarily the price drop, but the fact that Vita is selling like shit and they're not conditions for things to improve in the next months.
 
Sid said:
Everybody expected e3 to be a have a major focus on the vita instead we got wonderbook and an hour of gameplay from already announced games,disgraceful
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I'm still shaking my head over that.

I fired my Vita up for the first time since February today. My first thought was "Damn, I forgot what an awesome piece of hardware this is. It just feels right." My second thought was "The list of new games added since I last powered this thing on reminds me of why it's been 5 months since I touched it."
 
Nintendo saved the 3DS with a drastic price drop, big games and heavy marketing. I remember seeing tons of adverts for 3DS and billboards, games like Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 as well as the huge price drop all happening around the same time.

The Vita needs the same, huge price drop, big games (Gran Turismo, GTA, Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter). As well as heavy marketing. LittleBigPlanet, Assassins Creed and COD should be a good way to get the ball rolling. Of course once Vita hits the really cheap price they can start marketing Vita at kids as well with different colors and games targeted at kids (Invizimals, EyePet, Ratchet and etc).
 
Mr Swine said:
They probably thought like this "Hey guys, remember me? Remember the old days when our consoles that combined sold over 250 million worldwide? Yeah it's called Playstation1/2. Remember PSP? It was also a hit! Now we just sit back and let the developers come in and make games for us!"
Click to expand...

Not much changes in six years!

In a recent interview with Computer and Video Games, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe CEO David Reeves told the Web site he was worried less about moving units at the PS3's launch than he was about maintaining sales after early adopters had purchased their systems. "We have built up a certain brand equity over time since the launch of PlayStation in 1995 and PS2 in 2000 that the first five million are going to buy it, whatever it is, even [if] it didn't have games," he told the site.
Click to expand...
 
electroplankton said:
People should stop implying 3DS price cut was a bad thing, something to make fun of, and they should realise that it was also thanks to this strategy that 3DS could take off. Nintendo made a mistake in setting such a high price to begin with, but it admitted that and immediately tried to repair... And this is something Sony must take into account, I mean, not necessarily the price drop, but the fact that Vita is selling like shit and they're not conditions for things to improve in the next months.
Click to expand...

Was that really an unintended mistake though? With that mistake Nintendo still sold a lot $250 handhelds and then managed to get the price low enough to totally undercut the Vita prior to its launch.

It's probably just my cynical mind at work but I've wondered if Nintendo didn't plan things that way from the start.
 
FoxRomeo said:
Handheld console games is a niche market. Sony has two options:

1.) Kill Vita-Cut its losses

2.) Sell Vita for $500 with $100 games and make a hefty profit per unit as those who support it will pay that price. Archery equipment is a niche, but the equipment vendors survive because they make a hefty profit on each unit sold.

Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
Click to expand...

The fuck?

Please tell me this is some inside joke that's gone over my junior head...
 
FoxRomeo said:
Handheld console games is a niche market. Sony has two options:

1.) Kill Vita-Cut its losses

2.) Sell Vita for $500 with $100 games and make a hefty profit per unit as those who support it will pay that price. Archery equipment is a niche, but the equipment vendors survive because they make a hefty profit on each unit sold.

Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
Click to expand...

castle_confused.gif
 
I love it how people point as 3DS low sales in America as proof of handhelds dying yet completely ignore that the DS is selling almost the same as the 3DS.

I guess handhelds were dead too when DS launched and GBA had all the glory.
 
rookiejet said:
It seems that they've thrown in the towel on portable. I don't understand why Sony hasn't learned from the PS3 and PSP launchs. No one is going to buy your advanced and expensive hardware if it doesn't have interesting software.
Click to expand...

I can't agree with this.

People bought the PS2 at launch and its launch library was a fucking joke.

The PS3 stuggled because of (a) supply issues and (b) FIVE-HUNDRED-NINTY-NINE-DOLLAH.

The PSP also enjoyed fairly good sales and lots of hype despite a rather thin launch library too.

The PSV is a handheld launched a year behind its biggest competitor, and at a time when dedicated portable gaming systems are seeing more competition than ever. Not just in the context of gaming on other mobile devices, but more simply...being able to do other things with your on-the-go time. People may not be gaming on their phones, but the fact that most have smart phones at all is a big difference from 2005. It means they're talking on the phone, texting, checking facebook, taking pictures, updating their twitter, browsing GAF. Point is, they're busy enough with other things they can do on the go to make them not feel a need to game at all. Given the target age for the PSV is in the 20s, it makes even more sense that they'd struggle. The number of 20-somethings looking to game a dedicated device on the go instead of do something else with that time is getting smaller.

Ultimately, I think the PSV will be fine, but people need to amend their expectations. Or, those that expected this device to equal or surpass PSP numbers will have to. If the PSV meets 50% of PSP lifetime sales, I'll be impressed.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
I can't agree with this.

People bought the PS2 at launch and its launch library was a fucking joke.

The PS3 stuggled because of (a) supply issues and (b) FIVE-HUNDRED-NINTY-NINE-DOLLAH.

The PSP also enjoyed fairly good sales and lots of hype despite a rather thin launch library too.

The PSV is a handheld launched a year behind its biggest competitor, and at a time when dedicated portable gaming systems are seeing more competition than ever. Not just in the context of gaming on other mobile devices, but more simply...being able to do other things with your on-the-go time. People may not be gaming on their phones, but the fact that most have smart phones at all is a big difference from 2005. It means they're talking on the phone, texting, checking facebook, taking pictures, updating their twitter, browsing GAF. Point is, they're busy enough with other things they can do on the go to make them not feel a need to game at all. Given the target age for the PSV is in the 20s, it makes even more sense that they'd struggle. The number of 20-somethings looking to game a dedicated device on the go instead of do something else with that time is getting smaller.

Ultimately, I think the PSV will be fine, but people need to amend their expectations. Or, those that expected this device to equal or surpass PSP numbers will have to. If the PSV meets 50% of PSP lifetime sales, I'll be impressed.
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Equating the vita with the ps2/ps3 launch isn't really fair.

I knew/know dozens of people who only bought a ps2/ps3 for the dvd/blu ray abilities. Including my parents/many parents of friends.

I know when I got a ps2 as a teen it was mostly because my parents wanted a dvd played and figured two birds one stone.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
People bought the PS2 at launch and its launch library was a fucking joke.
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The PS2 was an exception because of it's DVD playback feature. When Sony tried to repeat the trick with the PS3 they failed miserably.
 
FoxRomeo said:
Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
Click to expand...

Sure...MGS3, RE:R, Mario platformers, Starfox, Zelda OoT, SSF4, DOA:D, Tekken Prime, Ace Combat, WWE Allstars, Sonic Generations, Rayman Origins, Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion, Animal Crossing, Paper Mario, etc but please don't bring up console games on 3DS, because only Nintendo's allowed to do it.
 
Marketing, or more accurately, a lack thereof, is a real problem.

I recently took a trip from Atlanta to Chicago, and in BOTH airports, I had at least two people ask me what the system even was. Asked once playing Gravity Rush, another time playing the PSN version of Nayuta no Kiseki.
 
FoxRomeo said:
Handheld console games is a niche market. Sony has two options:

1.) Kill Vita-Cut its losses

2.) Sell Vita for $500 with $100 games and make a hefty profit per unit as those who support it will pay that price. Archery equipment is a niche, but the equipment vendors survive because they make a hefty profit on each unit sold.

Please don't bring up 3DS. It's not a handheld console and has games specifically designed for it and targeted to 6-14 year olds.
Click to expand...

Best comment of the month so far lol.

This has to be a joke comment
 
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