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Sony's Scott Rohde on Protecting Studios and Vita's Advantage over Wii U

Roto13 said:
Features like the Vita as a second screen are nearly worthless because no games are going to be designed around it. Nobody's going to make a PS3 game that assumes you have a Vita. Lots of developers will make Wii U games that assume you have a Wiipad. The most Sony can hope for are a few games with tacked on Vita functionality before the feature is largely forgotten.
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Developers will do more than assume people have a WiiPad since one comes with every system sold.
 
The Wii U Pad could eventually end up assisting the Vita. I can easily forsee third parties porting over whatever the Wii U is doing straight to the Vita. It wouldn't be hard, it could easily work out, and it would check another box.
 
ReaperXL07 said:
I would love to see the guys at ND, SSM, GG, etc working on Vita games, but sadly at this point SCEA, and SCEE are a huge part of what makes their consoles worth owning and they only have so many resources to make so many games. I could imagine there was some sort of power struggle between SCEA, and SCEJ over the Vita because SCEA's best are the major content providers for the PS3, and will likely be on PS4 aswell. Things would probably be alot better if SCEJ were worth anything(not counting PD of course).
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How many PS3's do you think GoW:A, Last of Us and their other 2013 games are going to sell? I'm guessing the vast majority of their sales will be to the existing fanbase, which kind of defeats the point of first party support, doesn't it? It's not like the PS3's suffering for games, it has plenty of third party support, so it'd be fine without them. So imagine if Sony Santa Monica and Naughty Dog were instead making games for the Vita. Do you think they'd be selling more Vita's than they would PS3's in the other scenario? I do.

Sony need to get their shit together and recognise why Nintendo has been so successful with both their consoles and handhelds. They alternate all their dev teams (including their best and biggest) between their systems, usually throwing most of their support behind the first few years of the systems life. Why? Because they need to sell systems and that's the easiest way of doing so. Sony seemed to realise this with their consoles, throwing a ton of support behind the PS3 when it was failing and yet they continually have no clue when it comes to their handhelds.

And if SCEA has a problem with supporting the Vita, they should be fired. It's essentially sabotaging their own companies product.
 
I keep seeing this thread at the corner of my eye and thinking its a Ridley Scott thread about Prometheus, then I realize im in gaming
 
thuway said:
The Wii U Pad could eventually end up assisting the Vita. I can easily forsee third parties porting over whatever the Wii U is doing straight to the Vita. It wouldn't be hard, it could easily work out, and it would check another box.
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I think porting wiiu features will be harder thn you think. Wiiu is just streaming video content to wiipad, while to do the same thing to ps3vita, they need to create the vita client, which is basically downporting the game to vita asset etc. I think if sony push the crossplay feature to third party, what we'll get is simple stuff like maps, or menu etc. Just like the most feature 3rd party use for kinect is basically voice command.
 
Did he forget that Nintendo actually has a handheld too, so if they wanted to do what Vita does, they could.
 
AzaK said:
Did he forget that Nintendo actually has a handheld too, so if they wanted to do what Vita does, they could.
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Er, not really. But the Wii U is already accomplishing it (in a much more practical manner, too) so it doesn't really matter.
 
thuway said:
The Wii U Pad could eventually end up assisting the Vita. I can easily forsee third parties porting over whatever the Wii U is doing straight to the Vita. It wouldn't be hard, it could easily work out, and it would check another box.
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That's the best Sony could hope for. Same with MS and smart glass, because if it doesn't come with the system it is not going to be used much.
 
Ryoku said:
Eventually.

You have to factor in the fact that someone from Sony (I don't remember who) recently said that there are no planned price-cuts in the foreseeable future. I don't see why they would. They're already taking a loss on the system for three years, and on top of that, it's not selling great. They've also spent money on R&D for the PS4 and eventually, they will also spend money on manufacturing the actual PS4.
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where did you read all of that? 3 years seems dubious, I'm not even sure they are losing money on Vitas right now.

anyways, big talk from Sony, and the guy actually has a point about the separate proc, but the proof is in the software and they need to do more than just blow wind.
 
LiquidSolid said:
How many PS3's do you think GoW:A, Last of Us and their other 2013 games are going to sell? I'm guessing the vast majority of their sales will be to the existing fanbase, which kind of defeats the point of first party support, doesn't it? It's not like the PS3's suffering for games, it has plenty of third party support, so it'd be fine without them. So imagine if Sony Santa Monica and Naughty Dog were instead making games for the Vita. Do you think they'd be selling more Vita's than they would PS3's in the other scenario? I do.

Sony need to get their shit together and recognise why Nintendo has been so successful with both their consoles and handhelds. They alternate all their dev teams (including their best and biggest) between their systems, usually throwing most of their support behind the first few years of the systems life. Why? Because they need to sell systems and that's the easiest way of doing so. Sony seemed to realise this with their consoles, throwing a ton of support behind the PS3 when it was failing and yet they continually have no clue when it comes to their handhelds.

And if SCEA has a problem with supporting the Vita, they should be fired. It's essentially sabotaging their own companies product.
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I don't disagree with you entirely, and I agree that GOW:A probably won't sell a ton of PS3's mainly due to it being in an exsisting franchise that will appeal mostly to it's established fanbase. However with games like Last of Us, and Beyond, I could see them selling PS3's due to them being brand new IP. Sure ND has a fanbase aswell, but Sony has for the most part never dropped development for their "consoles" until sometime after the launch of their next.

As for the Bolded, I actually think it has more to do with the western dev mindset of handhelds than it does with SCEA specifically. The vast majority of major developers in the west focus on main console, and PC development. Devs like SSM, and ND don't appear to be much different in that reguard. Also I would think that development of Last of US probably started quite abit before the Vita was fully realised. I just don't see Sony taking ND, or SSM off of console development when it's likely that PS4 is coming within another year/year and a half.
 
ReaperXL07 said:
I don't disagree with you entirely, and I agree that GOW:A probably won't sell a ton of PS3's mainly due to it being in an exsisting franchise that will appeal mostly to it's established fanbase. However with games like Last of Us, and Beyond, I could see them selling PS3's due to them being brand new IP. Sure ND has a fanbase aswell, but Sony has for the most part never dropped development for their "consoles" until sometime after the launch of their next.

As for the Bolded, I actually think it has more to do with the western dev mindset of handhelds than it does with SCEA specifically. The vast majority of major developers in the west focus on main console, and PC development. Devs like SSM, and ND don't appear to be much different in that reguard. Also I would think that development of Last of US probably started quite abit before the Vita was fully realised. I just don't see Sony taking ND, or SSM off of console development when it's likely that PS4 is coming within another year/year and a half.
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Alright, well I doubt Last of Us or Beyond will sell many PS3's, as I think most of the people interested in them are probably already fans of their developers but let's say they do, will it matter? Aside from beating the 360 in childish numbers battle, does the PS3 really need to sell more units at this point? Because I really don't think it does, especially when the Vita is floundering.

As for the second bit, I think it's pretty simple. If they don't understand or they look down on the handheld market (a market Sony competes in), they shouldn't be working there. If their developers don't want to make games for it, too bad. Again, it's simple. It's a Sony product, if they don't support it then they shouldn't be working at Sony.

Now, I would agree that if Last of Us was started before the Vita was anything more than an idea (conveniently ignoring that Gravity Rush was moved from the PS3 to the Vita in 2009, before Uncharted 2 was even out), they should be able to finish it. But I don't think that should suddenly exempt them from anything. From there they should go straight onto the Vita and only afterwards onto the PS4. That's exactly what Nintendo does and it's how they manage to properly support both their consoles and handhelds with far less studios than Sony.

Sony needs to start co-ordinating better and coming up with an actual direction for the company. Sure it'll result in some people getting pissed off because they've got a lot less freedom, but ultimately it'll result in a far more focused company and far better products as a result.
 
I don't think the vita + ps3 combo could handle streaming data as fast as the Wii U does to the Wii U Controlpad, which means it would be very limited in what it can display on the Vita screen. Things like that wii sports-like tech demo where they hold up the Upad to the TV screen to get an alternate view and stuff? Yeah forget that.
 
LiquidSolid said:
Alright, well I doubt Last of Us or Beyond will sell many PS3's, as I think most of the people interested in them are probably already fans of their developers but let's say they do, will it matter? Aside from beating the 360 in childish numbers battle, does the PS3 really need to sell more units at this point? Because I really don't think it does, especially when the Vita is floundering.

As for the second bit, I think it's pretty simple. If they don't understand or they look down on the handheld market (a market Sony competes in), they shouldn't be working there. If their developers don't want to make games for it, too bad. Again, it's simple. It's a Sony product, if they don't support it then they shouldn't be working at Sony.

Now, I would agree that if Last of Us was started before the Vita was anything more than an idea (conveniently ignoring that Gravity Rush was moved from the PS3 to the Vita in 2009, before Uncharted 2 was even out), they should be able to finish it. But I don't think that should suddenly exempt them from anything. From there they should go straight onto the Vita and only afterwards onto the PS4. That's exactly what Nintendo does and it's how they manage to properly support both their consoles and handhelds with far less studios than Sony.

Sony needs to start co-ordinating better and coming up with an actual direction for the company. Sure it'll result in some people getting pissed off because they've got a lot less freedom, but ultimately it'll result in a far more focused company and far better products as a result.
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I don't know how many PS3s games like Last of Us, or Beyond will sell either, but thats always been apart of Sony's thing in supporting their consoles longer than most others would, or maybe even should. I mean if you look at Nintendo for instance, last year they "announced" the WiiU, and pretty much dropped Wii development entirely more than likely to be focused on the 3DS, and making games for the WiiU, it was a similar situation with the Xbox, when the 360 was announced.

I've always been split on this issue myself, because I imagine what those games would have been like on their next console (god of war 2 for example), but it's something thats also always made a large part of their consumer base happy which is ultimatly always in Sony's best intrest to what they can to do that.

I own a Vita, and I would love to see Sonys major studios working on new games for the Vita without question, but I also can't say I would be all that upset if instead they created new studios, or teams to make Vita games either. Sony Bend has been on their handhelds probably the longest, and I enjoy more that they have put out then I have not.

Again @ the bolded, I agree that Sony needs to get it's direction set, and would like to see this happen sooner rather than later, but it's going to take time at this point wether we like it or not. Kaz just took over the company earlier this year, they are currently replacing their Board, and Kaz plans to make Sony focus on key areas were they tend to succeed. He's already laid out that their gaming division is one of those three main pillars, but seeing the fruits of all this is still going to take longer than than anyone would like probably.

I know that the Vita needs more in terms of large tent pole releases, it needs those big games that are designed exlusively for it, but at the same time right now looking at the Vita game list thread there is currently alot slated for it that i'm pretty excited to get my hands on. Yoshida also commented himself in the IGN Beyond podcast that they have some "surprises" for TGS, and that game heaven thing which the first one was not the best despite announcements that i'm interested in, but they say they have learned and it will be an actual event now, so we will see how that turns out.

Also as long as it's still being developed i'd imagine Killzone Vita will be at Gamescom, and I remember reading that it was likely that MM was working on a Vita title.
 
ReaperXL07 said:
I don't know how many PS3s games like Last of Us, or Beyond will sell either, but thats always been apart of Sony's thing in supporting their consoles longer than most others would, or maybe even should. I mean if you look at Nintendo for instance, last year they "announced" the WiiU, and pretty much dropped Wii development entirely more than likely to be focused on the 3DS, and making games for the WiiU, it was a similar situation with the Xbox, when the 360 was announced.

I've always been split on this issue myself, because I imagine what those games would have been like on their next console (god of war 2 for example), but it's something thats also always made a large part of their consumer base happy which is ultimatly always in Sony's best intrest to what they can to do that.

I own a Vita, and I would love to see Sonys major studios working on new games for the Vita without question, but I also can't say I would be all that upset if instead they created new studios, or teams to make Vita games either. Sony Bend has been on their handhelds probably the longest, and I enjoy more that they have put out then I have not.

Again @ the bolded, I agree that Sony needs to get it's direction set, and would like to see this happen sooner rather than later, but it's going to take time at this point wether we like it or not. Kaz just took over the company earlier this year, they are currently replacing their Board, and Kaz plans to make Sony focus on key areas were they tend to succeed. He's already laid out that their gaming division is one of those three main pillars, but seeing the fruits of all this is still going to take longer than than anyone would like probably.

I know that the Vita needs more in terms of large tent pole releases, it needs those big games that are designed exlusively for it, but at the same time right now looking at the Vita game list thread there is currently alot slated for it that i'm pretty excited to get my hands on. Yoshida also commented himself in the IGN Beyond podcast that they have some "surprises" for TGS, and that game heaven thing which the first one was not the best despite announcements that i'm interested in, but they say they have learned and it will be an actual event now, so we will see how that turns out.

Also as long as it's still being developed i'd imagine Killzone Vita will be at Gamescom, and I remember reading that it was likely that MM was working on a Vita title.
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Well the thing is, Nintendo dropping first party support for the Wii killed it because there's absolutely no third party support remaining on the system. The PS3 on the other hand, has plenty of third party support and will for a couple more years, so those first party developers really aren't needed.

There are a number of Vita releases I'm looking forward to as well but the thing I'm most concerned about is next year, as there really doesn't seem to be much coming. Sure Yoshida might promise a lot but then he also said that half of Sony's studios were working on Vita games and I've yet to see any proof of that (unless he was counting PS3/Vita titles as only Vita games or something). So basically, I'll believe it when I see it. I really just don't have much (if any) faith in Sony to deliver, not after that E3.

As for MM, I'm pretty sure the rumours have said they're working on a PS3/Vita title, which is not exactly encouraging for the Vita.
 
Doesn't the LBP demo requires you buy 2 games, for the PS3 and Vita?

If so, this PS3/Vita connectivity is not exactly marketable, beyond some happy fews.
 
Roto13 said:
Features like the Vita as a second screen are nearly worthless because no games are going to be designed around it. Nobody's going to make a PS3 game that assumes you have a Vita. Lots of developers will make Wii U games that assume you have a Wiipad. The most Sony can hope for are a few games with tacked on Vita functionality before the feature is largely forgotten.
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Yap ! If Sony want ported WiiU games, they should just use the PS Mobile stack instead. Basically use PS Mobile clients to run RemotePlay and SmartGlass-like apps. They'll need to make the PS Mobile stack run on iOS too (Since the Mono VM does).

As for Vita, it is a "PS3 on-the-go". That means, it should be able to:
(1) Run PS Mobile stack, acting as the best RemotePlay, SmartGlass-like client for PS3 games
(2) Act like a game server, serving other PS Mobile clients (e.g., iPad vs Vita)

There is no reason to only use Vita as a client.
 
marc^o^ said:
Doesn't the LBP demo requires you buy 2 games, for the PS3 and Vita?

If so, this PS3/Vita connectivity is not exactly marketable, beyond some happy fews.
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No, the LBP2 Vita app is not a full game. It is a controller app. The same way DUST514 has a Vita companion app.

LBP Vita is a standalone game.

They are 2 different titles.
 
jman2050 said:
Sony has no idea what to do with the Vita.
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As time progresses, this is becoming apparent. Hopefully this is wrong and they have something that will boost sales significantly. If by the end of Holiday season nothing of a significant sales boost appears then it's pretty much game over.
 
marc^o^ said:
Interesting. What's the best video you saw showing it in action?
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It's in one of the LBP2 Vita controller threads. I believe there were 2. donkeyshow created one of them.

I think Sony is underselling PS Mobile and Vita now.

PS Mobile should be able to subsume SmartGlass and WiiU pad easily.

Vita should be a standalone, free floating PS3-on-the-go. PSP totally failed to deliver that promise. Vita is the first and only portable console that could deliver a home console like experience right now.

If PS Mobile can run SmartGlass/WiiU app for PS3, then it can also be the companion app for Vita. Plus Vita can run PS Mobile apps any day.
 
Hey, another Vita bashing post. It's always the same chore, the same "Vita needs killer apps, killer games, Vita needs this, needs that, price cut".

I doubt anyone here really knows what Vita needs. It's like everyone here's a stock/shareholder or something.

One advantage the Vita has over the Wii U is being an actual portable. Do we know if the Wii U controller will even work out of the range the console provides? It doesn't have a process unit, right?
 
While we are at it, Mr. Scott Rohde, could you tell Mr. Andrew House that Wonderbook should have a digital version too ?

It would complement your PS Mobile strategy if you make PS Mobile Wonderbooks.
 
Ideally Sony studios will all work some kind of connectivity with psvita.

For example, if Sony was more MS like and enforced its first party studios to support their shit, you could possibly have a free vita app for TLOU and GOWA. On TLOU it could be something that if you played with the Vita you could get your ammo count and life bar when you pressed a button to check it, your bag inventory there when you checked on the bag or tried to do some alchemy, and so forth. I think that would definitely add to the experience as that's the type of game where I don't want any screen hub on my TV. Not even iron sight. On GOWA, I don't know what they could do that wouldn't be gimmicky, so I'll refrain from making suggestions.

However, we know SSM and especially ND do what they want and Sony doesn't interfere. I don't expect either to develop some kind of app for psvita play for their AAA games. SSM has developed for move, but doesn't care about it for their biggest game (GOW3 didn't get a patch and Ascension is not supporting it). ND doesn't give a shit about move and will never support it.
 
Problem is like with Glass.

Vita is still a 'peripheral' for this example. I doubt many companies outside of first party will bother shoehorning in some vita features.

Now if PS4 came packaged with a vita...
 
chickdigger802 said:
Problem is like with Glass.

Vita is still a 'peripheral' for this example. I doubt many companies outside of first party will bother shoehorning in some vita features.

Now if PS4 came packaged with a vita...
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it's up to Sony to persuade third party to do it. just like more and more 360 games getting kinect feature from 3rd party. sure Kinect selling well make it easier for third party to add something even if it's just a voice command which imo could probably be done on PS3 as well.
 
Plinko said:
/thread

I'll believe it when I see it. I'd love for them to do something special right now, though. They also promised that Remote Play would be better and it is still terrible.
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So you can take the WiiU controller out on the town? WiiU controller has multitouch? WiiU controller is OLED?

Yeh, guess the thread is quite over yet.
 
I don't see where they're going with pimping the vita like that over wiiu.
Sounds like temporary damage control they will gladly forget when they'll have a proper solution if they're really interested in it.
 
Sintoid said:
That's almost the same problem of WiiU
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joke post?
it 'may' be true that Nintendo may face the problem of people thinking GamePad is a 'wii' accessory; but it doesn't mean that developers which develop for Wii U cannot be certain that every person who owns Wii U also owns the GamePad.
 
Horse Armour said:
Wii U controller isn't optional, Vita is. Vita will get as much support as PS Move at best when it comes to working with PS3 games.
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WiiU controller is not optional but features like touch and gyroscope are. Third parties are not forced to use them and probably won't use at all when games are multiplatform

Of course using Vita like controller is not the primary function but if I'm a PSV user and I have a PS3 things like Little Big Planet integration is quite awesome and based on consolidated hardware like PS3 (remember that LBP Vita integration is a DLC for LBP2...)
 
onQ123 said:
you also have to buy the Wii U before you can play it.
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Yep, you have to buy a Wii U and a game to use all the functions the box supports.

With Sony, you have to buy a PS3, a Vita, a game that supports this connectivity function, buy the same game again, if you don't get it for free.

I love competition. Sony giving away games is cool with me. I wonder whether it will just be PSN games and not retail games. I don't have a Vita, maybe i'll buy one in the future. There are some games i'm interested in, but not enough to justify buying HW for it.
 
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