Support NeoGAF

[Jacknapes]

The Vita memory card pricing is not justified. Don't get me wrong, the Vita is a great handheld and i enjoy playing games on it. It's just i really don't like the way Sony made it so only these memory cards worked on the system, if they allowed all MicroSD cards work then the Vita may have sold more.

I think it was lucky i got a memory card in a nice bundle when i picked up the system.

Sometimes i do think that if Sony had included built in memory, maybe that might have helped sales.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Memory card prices weren't high due to being tied into the cost of the hardware. They're high because they're proprietary, and there is literally no one else bothering to offer them.

With PSP there was at least a cheaper Sandisk version on offer. Other Sony products used the Memory Pro Duo. But nothing to my knowledge used the Vita memory card, so prices remained sky high.

 

[mocolostrocolos]

SD Card prices:

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

And we're done.

 

[ScientificPizza]

I ended up playing my Vita a lot less than I otherwise would have because I didn't want to continually deal with storage management because I only had an 8gb memory card due to the ridiculous prices.

The criticism is entirely warranted, especially when you look at the buy in to the Vita at launch.

 

[hongcha]

I agree with the OP that people complain about this too much these days, though I suspect many of the complaints are from people who wouldn't buy a Vita even if it had microSD - they'd simply find something else to complain about in regard to the system. I do not consider it to be a big deal anymore, especially with the console being so cheap now (cheaper than a N3DS XL!). Furthermore, you can get a 16GB card for like $25-$30 and that is really all anyone needs. I do have a 64GB card in my JP Vita, but I am fine with the 16GB in my USA one. No one really needs to have 30 JRPGs on their system at all times, and you can back up all your games to a PC anyway.

When you think you can get a brand new vita + 16gb card for about the same price ($175) as a new N3DS XL with 4GB which doesn't even include a charger, I have to wonder what's so awful about that.

 

[GametimeUK]

You guys have totally missed his point. I can not believe people's inability to read sometimes. I don't believe Sony had the intentions that OP believes in, but here's a quick look at his argument.

I seen an ipad where the difference in price between 16gb and 32gb was around £40.
I seen the difference between a Vita memory card at 16gb and 32gb was around £14.

 

[JP]

They can charge whatever the hell the want for the cards but it will clearly have an effect on people thinking about buying the machines. Although it's a lovely machine the Vita would never go mass market due to the memory cards and the price of the cards would never drop to a price point that would allow that because of the price of the memory cards, because the Vita is not mass market, because of the price of the memory cards, because the Vita is not mass market, because...

I know that it isn't that simple but it's a pretty big contributing factor.

They should re-release the Vita at a lower price but make it use microSD/SDXC.

Was there ever an memory card adapter released for the Vita that allowed people to use other memory cards? I remember there being discussions about years ago but I've no idea what happened to it.

 

[redcrayon]

I agree with the OP that people complain about this too much these days, though I suspect many of the complaints are from people who wouldn't buy a Vita even if it had microSD - they'd simply find something else to complain about in regard to the system. I do not consider it to be a big deal anymore, especially with the console being so cheap now (cheaper than a N3DS XL!).

Many are also Vita owners, plenty are in this thread.

Furthermore, you can get a 16GB card for like $25-$30 and that is really all anyone needs.

I don't agree with that, it depends on their usage. Portables are my main consoles, and half a dozen Vita games plus a handful of back catalogue PSOne/PSP titles are going to fill that up easily, plus the PS+ games can be up to a GB each even for indie titles.

You wouldn't catch anyone saying that only being able to fit a dozen or so games on your home console in 2016 is all anyone really needs, 16 GB is nothing these days, it's fine for people who might play a handful of games a year on their portable but for heavy users like me who use it every day on their commute, it's too little.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

You guys have totally missed his point. I can not believe people's inability to read sometimes. I don't believe Sony had the intentions that OP believes in, but here's a quick look at his argument.

I seen an ipad where the difference in price between 16gb and 32gb was around £40.
I seen the difference between a Vita memory card at 16gb and 32gb was around £14.

So his point continues to be "machines with built in memory cost more with every jump in storage than storage cards do and you shouldn't hate Vita for costing so much" despite the fact that at launch the difference between 16gb and 32gb cards were around the same difference as the iPad?

And in response to hongcha, I bought my Vita used and only bought the 16 gb when it was on sale for 20 dollars. And now I don't buy vita games anymore because I have no space for them and I don't want to bother with storage management and redownloading things. And the Vita is currently being sold new for the same price as a New 3DS XL ($199).

 

[Gen X]

You're comparing the PSone card to Floppy disks, just so you know.

Haha, wow you're right. Too bad the cards weren't double sided or at least double density!

 

[LewieP]

You guys have totally missed his point. I can not believe people's inability to read sometimes. I don't believe Sony had the intentions that OP believes in, but here's a quick look at his argument.

I seen an ipad where the difference in price between 16gb and 32gb was around £40.
I seen the difference between a Vita memory card at 16gb and 32gb was around £14.

We got his point but rejected it.

People don't even buy iPads with the intention of playing multi-gig games on them.

iPads don't have a memory card slot.

 

[Maxey]

WILL SOMEONE PLEASE THINK OF THE SHAREHOLDERS!

I understand OP's logic but the prices are still ridiculous however you spin this. They're just applying ink cartridge pricing scheme to the Vita memory cards. Sell the hardware for relatively cheap and then make the actual profit on storage and games.

The issue is that games devalue over time but it seems the memory cards are still as expensive as they were when the Vita launched, which is just silly.

 

[KojiKnight]

I agree with the OP that people complain about this too much these days, though I suspect many of the complaints are from people who wouldn't buy a Vita even if it had microSD - they'd simply find something else to complain about in regard to the system. I do not consider it to be a big deal anymore, especially with the console being so cheap now (cheaper than a N3DS XL!). Furthermore, you can get a 16GB card for like $25-$30 and that is really all anyone needs. I do have a 64GB card in my JP Vita, but I am fine with the 16GB in my USA one. No one really needs to have 30 JRPGs on their system at all times, and you can back up all your games to a PC anyway.

When you think you can get a brand new vita + 16gb card for about the same price ($175) as a new N3DS XL with 4GB which doesn't even include a charger, I have to wonder what's so awful about that.

Damn that strawman... As the owner of 2 vita, a pstv, and 2 4gb memory cards and 1 16gb one let me just say.... You're wrong and should probably stop.

Not everyone is in love with way over priced memory or constantly transferring too and fro from pc...

 

[jadjei]

The prices of the memory cards deserve to be criticized. The prices are outrageous, these 64 GB memory cards shouldn't be sold for like 100 and something dollars (I haven't been following the price for that memory card recently). I honestly wonder why Sony hasn't dropped the prices of the memory cards down yet.

 

[NewDust]

Because company X has a consumer unfriendly practice, but people still buy their products, we can't criticize company Y for their consumer unfriendly practices?

This is probably the one of the most fallacious arguments I've seen here on gaf.

 

[The Boat]

That's some mental gymnastics alright. It's like we live in a world without SD cards.

 

[legend166]

Next up: why Nintendo's region locking is the best!

 

[Corpekata]

The idea that this thread is full of Vita haters is hilarious. Have you been on this forum at all? This place has a HUGE Vita fanbase, and a lot of them are in this thread laughing at the OP's assertions.

 

[Crispy]

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.

To me it's kind of unbelievalble that a 64GB memory card is roughly equivalent to 2/3 of the price of the system itself...I really can't defend these prices. Oh and I love my Vita!

 

[jsnepo]

Next up: why Nintendo's region locking is the best!

LMAO

On topic: The memory card price criticism is fair and justified. It's crazy expensive.

 

[Raysod]

We cannot compare ipads or mobile phones memory or price midels with Vita

When your plan to make a profit for your mobile gaming device is to sell lots of content to your users through your digital store, it is stupid to overcharge for storage memory

And add to that digital content the monthly games that Sony gave for ps vita through ps plus

When the Vita launched, we all had devices to our homes that used sd memory cards and the initial memory cost difference (before the 64gb cards come to market and the price drop for memory) was very obvious to the average person, especially people that used nintendo handhelds or psp's, the main sales target group for ps vita

memory prices when Vita launched were:

20$ for 4gb
30$ for 8gb
60$ for 16gb
100$ for 32gb

I remember that you could not even patch games if you had a 4gb memory card

Even today you can buy a 128gb sd card for 40$ or less, compared to the 100$ for a 64gb Vita memory card

And it is crazy that the 64gb card almost costs the same as the system

Personally I have a 32gb card and I have to micromanage my games when I want to buy something new

And because I travel a lot, I mostly use my Vita on the go and not being able to have all my content with me is a problem

The memory prices for Vita was a very bad decision from Sony, they became very greedy, and I believe that it was another factor that contributed to the failure of the system sales

 

[Audioboxer]

Worst title I've seen on GAF in a while. Post isn't much better but at least the OP put some effort into it.

Vita memory card prices are a joke and they deserve to be dragged through the mud for going proprietary. I'm a 3DS owner with a 128GB microsd card. Get fucked Sony.

Spoiler

I own a Vita and love it as well

 

[RealityCheque]

Again, being proprietary had nothing top do with securing the device... If Sony thought that was a real concern, they wouldn't let you use any of the shelf parts for any of their consoles (see external and internal hdds for ps4).

This was primarily a money grab, and maybe secondarily a means to guarantee performance in terms if speed for developers.

Good to know. So they are even bigger dicks than I thought.

 

[LewieP]

When your plan to make a profit for your mobile gaming device is to sell lots of content to your users through your digital store, it is stupid to overcharge for storage memory.

This is key.

It's a terrible strategy for Sony to place a massive barrier between their customers and their digital storefront.

 

[LiamR]

I love my Vita, despite its flaws, but the memory card system is such bullshit. There's no defending it.

 

[EmiPrime]

The PSTV whitelist and the Vita memory card prices are hands down the two worst things about the Vita.

 

[Silent Chief]

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

High sales don't equal high prices.

For what you get, the Vita has always been dirt cheap. The memory card is just a convenience. Minecraft, for example, requires little memory.

The goal of the memory card was to prevent piracy it has worked perfectly.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Christ GAF let me hate Federation Force and Vita memory cards in peace.

 

[AHindD]

I didn't think a thread like this would ever exist, but here it is.

 

[NewDust]

High sales don't equal high prices.

For what you get, the Vita has always been dirt cheap. The memory card is just a convenience. Minecraft, for example, requires little memory.

The goal of the memory card was to prevent piracy it has worked perfectly.

In a time where games require patches, have DLC or are only available digitally, a memory card isn't just convenience. It's a necessity.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

So because Apple gouges consumers with higher priced skus of the most desirable piece of kit on the planet, Sony should get away with it because...reasons?

 

[PtM]

Guys, don't hate on Sony, they were just trying to deceive you on the actual cost of the Vita.

 

[Xiao Hu]

Are you fukkin trippin, OP?...

 

[Roto Prime]

Next up: why Nintendo's region locking is the best!

lol....Never this, I don't think anyone would ever say that, just inconceivable......There just no way.

 

[Vital Tundra]

I love my Vita, but there is NO justification for its memory card pricing. Shit is anticonsumer as hell and defending it blows my mind. They should have went SD like what use to be their competitor but nope, just another bad decision that sealed the Vitasfate.

 

[Trojita]

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.

Someone let Wii U know

 

[Jebusman]

High sales don't equal high prices.

For what you get, the Vita has always been dirt cheap. The memory card is just a convenience. Minecraft, for example, requires little memory.

The goal of the memory card was to prevent piracy it has worked perfectly.

The memory card is a literal requirement of the OLED Vita, unless you consider every feature outside of "the game runs" as a convenience. Not every single game saves to it's own cartridge, so saving is a "convenience" too I guess.

 

[Retrobox]

Next up: why Nintendo's region locking is the best!

lol....Never this, I don't think anyone would ever say that, just inconceivable......There just no way.

Brb, making a thread real quick. Just gotta think of a juicy OP. Hmm yes, Nintendo is just looking out for their American consumers so that they don't pop in a game that speaks a language they can't understand! As we all know, Americans only speak American after all.

 

[Stone Ocean]

High sales don't equal high prices.

For what you get, the Vita has always been dirt cheap. The memory card is just a convenience. Minecraft, for example, requires little memory.

The goal of the memory card was to prevent piracy it has worked perfectly.

Its a convenience until you get a game that requires it like Sony's first party titles.

Preventing piracy at the cost of your paying customers is asinine.

 

[Arttemis]

This reads like corporate Stockholm syndrome. It is overpriced, proprietary hardware that Sony forced onto its customers for their own agenda, then tried to capitalize upon.

 

[MilkyJoe]

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

Oh that's alright then.


Fun fact: my ipod died so I had to get a new one to hold 80GB of music

iPod Touch 16gb - £139

iPod touch 128GB - £329

I bought a FiiO

 

[rayman1900]

You can see why Sony opted for their SD cards. To the consumer, they appear and are just like any SD cards, but in the background, those cards are developed by Sony for countering piracy and inputing tech that would tie your memory card to your psn account. I don't approve of those practices, but you can better see now the reasons for the insane price and the tech behind it.

 

[Nightbird]

I don't understand the "they saved you money" excuse.

In the end you have to fork over the same amount to use the device. And worst of all is that those cards aren't even that durable.

I still remember how my first vita memory card stopped working. Not only did I had to buy another one, I also lost all of my save files.

A GAFer was so friendly to send me his old mem card, but it was small, and on a system where most games release digitally, that's awful.

I will never defend those memory cards, because they may be the worst thing that happend to the Vita in my opinion.

 

[Portugeezer]

Next up: why Nintendo's region locking is the best!

#dead

 

[ebullientprism]

This fucking industry lol. You can make the most blatant price gouging borderline extortionate things and your consumers still go around defending you.

 

[redlemon]

Nope the prices are a pile of shite and made worse by saves being tied to game data making memory management a pain in the hole.

 

[Thud]

You can't defend this. Sony tried to push their junk, it didn't work.

 

[Vince DiCola]

I considered the launch price of 300 bucks expensive and the fact that a memory card was essential (if you want to save games or downloads), made the pricing of them ridiculous.

 

[Krejlooc]

Vita resisted being hacked until basically 1-2 months ago.

It lasted longer than the PS3. And the PS3 had to be stripped apart to be hacked initially.

I hacked my Playstation TV to play all games (like Ys 7) the day I got it, which was over a years ago.

 

[manueldelalas]

The worst part is that I honestly don't think Sony even earned money with this thing, when you consider VITA is the only device in existence to use it, only a small quantity of this cards were made, packaging, allocation, fabrication, store share, etc.

SD cards are a commodity, and even Sony cameras support them.

Stupid move, and the excuse that it would have been more expensive is just dumb.